Suspicious old lady

"Now, then I didn't expect both of you to appear, but care for some soup?" 

F*ck

Theo exclaimed seeing the soup.

A bowl of green soup suddenly appeared on top of the table.

After Theo and Selene took a seat, Selene nudged Theo with her elbow.

<Drink up loser> Selene

<Shut up! I'm on it> Theo

Theo with trembling hands grabbed the bowl of soup with both hands and hastily chugged the soup.

AAAUGGGGUHUHUgGGG. SH************TTTTTTTTTTTTT

The taste of the soup was so bad, that it took everything in his strong willpower to not vomit the soup out. Selene on the other hand was a giggling idiot as she observed Theo hunched below the table.1

<Kekekeke Poor bastard> Selene laughing at Theo's suffering

After a minute had passed, which seemed like forever for Theo, He hunched back and straightened his posture and smiled forcefully, while giving a thumps up at the old lady.

"It was perfectly cooked ma'am" 

What the f*ck was in that soup!?

"Kuh...."

Selene tried as much as she could to not burst out laughing. 

<Your face is green!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!> Selene

<Your doing the next one, I swear> Theo

<Heh, as if I'll lose after seeing that> Selene

The mood in the tent brightened up and the old lady clapped her hands.

"Hohohohoho, I'm greatly flattered by your praise, Theodore Ignatius.... unlike that ungrateful brat"

The last statement was something the old lady said under her breath for the two to not notice

"Please, call me Theo ma'am"

Theo respectfully bowed his head, Selene followed with him.

"Hohoho, what a kind young man"

His face started to become lighter and back to his original skin tone.

The old lady in front of them was one of the earlier NPCs that you could possibly meet in the prologue.

However, this interaction can be only exclusive to Theo or Selene.

Usually only one of character can interact with the old lady, but this is reality, so Theo and Selene went together to confirm if they get double the benefit from usual

The soup was also some kind of test. If you said the soup was terrible, you'd get kicked out and end up empty handed, but if you stomach it and said it was good then you'd get a handsome start up reward that was a must for anyone trying to beat the game as Selene, Theo didn't need it as much, but everyone does it because of the immense benefit it gave. 

"As gratitude for your compliment, here's a book for you Theo"

"Are you sure ma'am? Just drinking your delicious soup?" Theo pretending to be surprised

"Of course, I personally selected this for you" 

Theo, who was internally upset, gladly received the thick book the old lady gifted.

"I am grateful for this gift, I shall read it in my free time."

"I suggest reading it when you get a bit more stronger or maybe if you have some friends to help you with it"

Theo nodded and placed it in his spatial ring, which was an item given to him by his mother and father.

Selene waited for a bit, expectantly if she was getting her exclusive gift, when the old lady turned to her.

The old lady grabbed something from under the table and gave a scythe keychain made of black like metal material.

"This'll help the young lady Selene perform better in battles, I feel this weapon will suit you well."

"Ah! But I never did anything to deserve this, unlike Theo" Selene masterfully acted.

"No no, take it, it'll be helpful for you in the future"

Selene pretended to reluctantly reach out and grabbed the scythe keychain.

It was a scythe made out of shadow lizard scales, obtained by defeating shadow lizards, a rare variant of dark lizards, and the only weapon that's worth having for Selene in the beginning of the game.

It also has size enchantment, giving Selene the option to enlarge the weapon or minimize it to its current keychain state.

Selene was over the moon getting the scythe, she was looking forward to using it in and out of training.

"I give you my gratitude, Miss." Selene said in a tone filled with genuine gratitude.

She also placed it inside her storage ring, which she also received as a gift from her parents.

They were extremely rich, it was only obvious that they'd have this kind of item.

"Oh don't worry about it. You guys are basically my grandchildren! Hohohoho"

Both Selene and Theo, again, pretended to tilt their heads.

"As a reward for being such respectful children, Here are some potions" The old lady slid 7 potions across the table.

Both tilted their head, this time actually confused

Seven? both thought

<Didn't she usually only give the player 3?>

<Yeah, so she was supposed to give us three potions each then, not>

The Old lady smirked under the table and spoke mischievously

"The the purple one's for fertility, after all both you are husband and wife to be"

....

""HAAAAAH!!!!????"" both Theo and Selene exclaimed in shock and embarrassment

Their faces went red as a tomato and stood up from their chairs in horror.

They both glanced at each other and looked away simultaneously, Then glared at each other.

Ah youth, they're so adorable. The old woman thought as she chuckled

<I'd rather HANG myself than to-to-to-to ma-ma-marry someone as cunning and arrogant you!!!!!> Selene

<HAH!? I should be the one complaining. A vulgar fox like you is last person I'd want to ma-marry!>Theo

<What do you mean Vulgar!? Excuse me, I'm literally the prettiest and strongest female protagonist was ranked 1st for being best girl! perfect woman to marry!>Selene

<What if your number one!? Your personality easily destroys any appearance even it's someone like Selene!> Theo

They raged on and insulted each other and brought up embarrassing moments from their past lives to get back at the other person. 

The good thing was that both used their telepathy to communicate than actually out loud.

"Oho, interesting" the old woman's eyes glinted purple.

They have some kind of telepathic connection. Even I can't interfere with it. This is far different from what I was expecting....

Lucky for them, they're telepathic communication, for some unknown reason, couldn't be breached despite the old lady being in the peak of Grand Master and was also specialized on Mind manipulation and many other magics.

While Selene and Theo were still arguing internally, the old lady spoke.

"Well it was nice meeting both of you for the first time. I'll send both of you and your servants home."

Selene and Theo were so distracted fighting internally, that they didn't hear what the old lady said.

Look at them passionately gazing at each other. I wish I had this kind of romance as a kid. 

The old lady waved her hand and in a flash of light Theo, Selene and their two servants were now at the drawing room of the estate they were staying at. 

Theo and Selene became wide eyed and stopped fighting. They didn't even feel the slightest bit of discomfort when transported, which made the experience 10x more bizarre.

"Ugh.... Young master Theo.." 

"... Young lady Selene"

Bennet and Elsa who were situated on the large sofa started to wake up.

Luckily, somehow they wholeheartedly believed that the servants drank something from a random vendor, which made them pass out, making Selene and Theo carry them back to the carriage. They acted normally afterwards and didn't question anything else after waking up.

Every other person who was watching was somehow also brainwashed into believing the same thing. So, they didn't have to do anything to explain.

<Ugh I can't believe we have to deal with that weird old lady again later>

<We can't help it, she's doing it for our sake. After all, she was the master of fathers>

Yes, the old lady was actually the master of their fathers back when they were young. Her name was Lisa, the prophet, and hardly any information about her was known. She would occasionally appear to help the chosen protagonist and more so when you choose Selene or Theo. 

She would also inevitably die later in the game.