CHAPTER # 42

"Next!"

The man standing outside the closed door shouted as a girl crying came out of the room.

"Did she fail?" Ivy asked.

"I think so?" I said, looking at the crying girl. Soon another kid came out with a sad face, causing a little panic to rise inside us.

"What in the world of strawberries is in this round?" I asked myself.

"Hey, listen!"

Anne called out the boy who came out earlier. He stopped in his way as he turned in our direction. Anne approached him and asked a few questions before coming back to us.

"What did you ask and what did he say?" I asked.

"Nothing much. I asked about the second round and why he was sad. He told me that in this round the glowing globe chooses our major and the teachers test our eligibility. He was sad because he was enrolled in literature but he wanted to be a knight" Anne told us.

"Glowing globe? What's that? Aidi? Do you know anything about it?" I asked, facing Aiden.

"I'm not quite aware of that myself. It's the first time I took the test as well. And don't call me that!" Aiden said as I nodded, unbothered.

"Next!"

The man announced as Aiden proceeded towards the room. Students were called according to their assigned roll numbers and now it was Aiden's turn.

"All the best!"

Anne and I cheered and after witnessing us Ivy also gave him a thumbs up. Aiden just nodded before entering the room.

"What major do you think he'll choose?" I asked.

"He's a genius and he is most likely to go for literature but since he's a Royal, he might go for politics but medicine could also be an option." Ivy said.

I nodded at her statement because maybe her observation is right since in the novel Aiden went for politics to help his brother in the future but things turned out otherwise.

"I'm scared," Anne said. I held Anne's shoulders and said,

"Don't be. You are really special and talented. I'm a hundred percent sure that you'll be selected in the major you really want to go" She smiled brightly and nodded.

"You both are so close. I wish I also had friends like you" Ivy said with a tint of sadness in her voice.

"Yes. My Sabi is the best friend ever!" Anne exclaimed.

"You don't have any friends?" I asked as she shook her head as a no.

"No one talks to me because I am sick and whenever someone tries to be my friend, my sister makes them run away and my brother is also at the Academy which gives her an opportunity to bully me as well"

Ivy said with her head hung low. I held her one hand while Anne held the other, causing her to look up at us.

"We'll be your friends from now on" Anne said and I smiled.

'What a surprise? Anne's not jealous. As expected, a kind heart of a kind protagonist' I thought, looking at Anne.

"Next"

The man announced, surprising us. I looked towards the door which was closed, showing no signs of Aiden.

"Where's Aiden?" I asked as Anne and Ivy shrugged.

It was Anne's turn now. She proceeded towards the door with slow steps and I could definitely feel her nervousness.

She turned around one last time before entering the room as Ivy and I passed her thumbs up where I mouthed 'Best of Luck' to her.

A while passed by as the door flew open revealing a happy Anne who came running towards me and jumped on me.

"Sabi! I got selected! I was selected for the major that I wanted to go for!!" Anne exclaimed.

"Really! That's so great! What major?" I asked.

"Medicine" Anne said as I smiled.

'I knew it' I thought, looking at Anne while I congratulated her.

"Where's Aiden, by the way?" I asked.

"Go and see for yourself" Anne said as I got confused.

"Next!"

Now it's my turn.

I extended my steps towards the room and stood in front of it. I turned back one last time just to see Anne and Ivy cheering for me. It gave a lot of moral support.

I opened the door and entered the room and as soon as I stepped in, I closed my eyes due to the sudden bright light.

'Why is it so bright in here?' I thought.

I slowly opened my eyes and they widened upon witnessing the scene in front of me.

Aiden was sitting on a glass throne type seat which was capturing all the sunlight coming from the huge window and throwing it straight at my face.

Beside his rather extravagant seat, were sitting a few judges I guess and one of them was Miss Ambern, who was throwing daggers at me.

'What are you doing over there?' I gestured to Aiden as he shrugged, 'I don't know either,' he gestured back.

"Ahem. So, Lady Sabrina. I see that you have attained second highest score which itself is remarkable since the test was quite hard and I suppose you might have face some difficulties and it's impress-"

"No, I didn't" I said, cutting off the male as he looked at me confused.

"It was rather easy, I would say" I added, whereas all of them exchanged glances.

"So you say it was easy?" the same man asked to which I nodded.

"That's even more impressive. I believe you'll be one of our best students in the future, leaving behind the Folls' family. They have always scored high and even in today's test their youngest scored really good" the man said.

'They're talking about Ivy, I guess' I thought.

"Thank you for your kind words" I said and bowed as he chuckled.

"You may first go and stand in front of the globe and after that place your hand over the globe and leave the rest to it" the man said as he pointed towards the right side of the room.

I looked towards the directed place and found a glowing globe located over a stage where he instructed me to go.

I nodded and headed towards the globe. I climbed the stage and stood in front of the globe.

'What the heck is this thing? It looks like light purple neon light is fitted inside of it' I thought looking at the glowing globe.

I looked towards Aiden for reassurance. He understood my nervousness and nodded his head indicating that everything will be fine.

I extended my hand towards the globe as its cold surface touched my skin, sending shivers down my spine.

At first nothing happened which confused me and the judges as well but soon a light lustre started to emit from the globe which gradually started to increase, to the extent that I had to close my eyes because of the brightness.

Soon all the brightness disappeared and it felt...empty. I slowly opened my eyes and to my surprise I was not in the same room.

It was a cave, a rather beautiful cave filled with different types of flowers but what caught my attention was the huge tree in the centre which was covered with purple petals' vines.

"Wisteria..." I said looking at the tree. It was a wisteria plant which is a shrub.

It can be found in the form of a small tree or a huge colony but in this case the huge tree is covered with it or should I say that the tree itself is Wisteria and saying it's beautiful would be an understatement.

"I always wanted to see these. They were my favourite type of flowers but where I lived in my previous life, it was difficult to see them. I finally got to see it" I said, caressing the flowers.

"Really? I see them everyday"

Someone spoke. I looked around to see where the voice came from but found no source.

"Did I mishear?" I said to myself.

"No you didn't"

Again a voice spoke up. I again looked here and there but to my luck, found no one.

"Here, Miss. Look up"

The feminine voice again spoke. I looked up and saw a beautiful lady with golden eyes and lilac hair sitting on one of the branches of the tree. She had elf ears which only beautified her features.

"You?" I said, not knowing what to say. She giggled before jumping down, "Be careful!" I shouted as she vanished.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" I asked, looking around. Soon I felt a pat on my shoulder, causing me to turn around. It was her.

"Yes, me" she said as I looked at her confused.

"*giggle* Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you or something. I'm just like you" she said.

"Like me?" I asked.

"Not like you but like you" she said, making me more confused.

"I mean we relate to each other in some way but I'm not a traveler like you." she said as I tilted my head, still confused as she chuckled.

"You're from a different dimension, aren't you?" She said, moving towards the huge tree.

"How did you know?" I asked, shocked. She giggled upon my question.

"I just know," she said.

'What's going on? Where am I? I'm going mad!' I held my head, trying to digest the situation I'm currently in.

"Relax. I'll explain. Come sit first" She said as she sat under the tree and gestured to me to do the same. I hesitated first but eventually sat beside her.

"So, Sabrina or should I say...Felicia?" she asked as I looked at her in shock.

'Right. That was my name in previous life. I totally forgot about that,' I thought.

"Sabrina is fine" I said to which she nodded.

"Let's start from my introduction. I'm Ferina, the spirit of the Chosen Divinity. The 'stupid' book, you found in the library" she introduced herself as my eyes widened.

"That book? The one for Agnola?" I asked as she nodded.

"But aren't Augustus and Celimine, spirits of that book?" I asked.

"No, they're not. They are celestial spirits assigned to accompany you throughout your journey. Whereas I'm the official spirit of the book who is also obligated to help you and assist you through any calamity" she explained as I nodded.

"Whose voice did you think you heard randomly in your head? Like, the time you were finding Amelia." she said whereas I went into deep thoughts and my eyes widened on realisation.

"It was you!!!? I thought it was Celimine!" I exclaimed as she giggled and nodded.

I was still having a hard time digesting everything.

"So, why am I here? I was in between my aptitude test" I asked.

"Good question. The thing is that I was looking for a good opportunity to meet you for like forever! But wasn't able to find one and now was a good opportunity so I grabbed it. And don't worry time dimension here is different so when you'll go back everything will resume from where you left" she explained.

"Oh~ Like Miss Granny's antique lab" I said. She giggled and nodded.

"That's a cute name," she said as I passed a smile. Silence took over for a while before Ferina finally broke it.

"You must be wondering, why did I call you here?" she spoke.

"To meet me?" I replied as she shook her head.

"That is one reason I guess, but there is something more to it" she added, making me frown at her statement.

"Then what's the reason?" I asked again.

"To make you aware of the future, so that you can prepare well" she said as confusion took over me.

"You'll be encountering a lot of obstacles in your life ahead starting from this academic journey of yours. There will be tears, toil, severance, agony and fear..." she said as my heart started to quicken it's pace.

'What does she mean?' I wondered as bad thoughts took over my head.

"I'm exaggerating of course, but don't take it lightly" she added as I sighed in relief.

"You should not be telling someone that you just met about how unpleasant their life ahead is" I complained as she laughed.

"My bad. I was just pulling your leg" she said, still laughing as I heaved a sigh of relief.

"So what's the purpose of me being present at this venue?" I asked.

"Hm....The purpose of you being called here is to let you know about your responsibilities" she said as a frown took place over my forehead upon hearing her.