They looked at each other suspiciously, each looked at each other while moving away from each other.
"Stay away!" Arthur said as he entered the guard position with his sword.
"Who's the damn traitor?" Lee questioned angrily as he walked away from them.
"I don't know!" Kenkiro replied as he unsheathed his katana.
"I did nothing!" Rayssa said frightened.
"If he said that someone told that guy about our plan ... The traitor can only be Tooru or Henri." Felber said as he walked away.
"I see ..." Kenkiro said as he sheathed his katana.
"Hmm ... Now we have to find out which one is the traitor." Arthur said as he sheathed his sword.
"It's Tooru! I'm sure!" Lee said as he pointed at him.
"It is still too early to make accusations, you should know that since you think you are the owner of justice." Felber replied.
Lee was very annoyed to hear Felber's response.
"I dare you to repeat what you said." Lee said as he walked towards Felber.
"You two stop this now, now is not the time for childish teasing." Rayssa said as she separated the two.
Lee walked away angrily and sat in a chair next to the fireplace.
"We will have to interrogate both of you." Arthur said as he approached Tooru and Henri.
"I have no problem with that." Henri replied as he sat in a chair in front of Arthur.
"And you?" Arthur questioned looking at Tooru.
"Do what." Tooru replied annoyed as he crossed his arms sitting in another chair beside Henri.
The others approached Arthur to hear what the two suspects had to say.
"Tell the truth! I can tell when someone is lying just by looking!" Arthur said seriously.
"Did you two meet that man in the black uniform?" Kenkiro questioned.
"Yes, but he just told me philosophical quotes about regret, frustration, selfishness, and not achieving his goals." Henri replied with a sad semblance.
"He told me some philosophical quotes, and made me a proposal to join the Time Patrol." Tooru replied closing his eyes.
"And what is that proposal?" Lee asked a little angry.
"It is not necessary for you guys to know this now." Tooru replied.
"It's him! This son of a bitch is the traitor!" Lee shouted angrily as he hit the table.
Rayssa pulled Lee away from them.
"What are you doing?" Lee questioned.
"I know the situation is strange but it is still too early to make an accusation." Rayssa replied.
When Lee looked at Rayssa's face he realized that she was very sad about to cry.
"For now you are the main suspect Tooru." Felber said.
"No! Don't you remember what he told us? Was that all in vain?" Rayssa questioned crying.
"I don't know what he said to you, but it must be his plan! His Gear is intelligence, after all." Lee replied.
"It's logical reasoning." Tooru said in a provocative tone.
"It's the same thing! It's all his plan! To win your affection, put together an escape plan and lure us to where he wanted to be!" Lee shouted angrily as he pointed at Tooru.
"That's enough, shut up now or I'll make you never speak again." Arthur replied angrily.
"I want to see you try." Lee said with a serious semblance.
"This is no time for this!" Felber said as he separated the two.
"Okay so both of you met the Captain in the black uniform ..." Kenkiro said thoughtfully. "What did he told to you exactly?".
"He told me about Corrupted Gears, which are given artificially by a man named Prophet that according to the Captain, the Prophet is the God of this world and those Corrupted Gears are called like that because it corrupts your soul for not being an original desire from your soul, and he said something about temporal cracks. " Henri replied.
"Hmm ... Interesting." Felber said.
"But why did the Captain in the black uniform told him so much information?" Kenkiro though.
"And you Tooru?" Felber asked.
"He said he knew me for a long time and made me a proposal to join the time patrol." Tooru replied.
"Why didn't he killed you?" Lee questioned.
"He said he would wait for my answer the next time we meet, but I don't understand any of the philosophical quotes he said." Tooru replied closing his eyes.
"I'm being fair, I was suspicious of Henri for knowing too much information but he told us everything, and after hearing Tooru's answer, I think Tooru is the traitor."
"I agree." Arthur said.
"We're running out of time, so this will be the last question." Kenkiro said. "Where did you go and why?".
"I went to the south, I sat on a bench in a square over the rain to talk to my late wife." Henri replied sadly.
Felber love to study astronomy, he knew all the cardinal points during the day and night, and he realized that Henri was lying, Henri didn't go to the south, he had gone east. After approached and looked closely at Henri.
"He's not lying." Arthur said.
"I went north, to get the notes that were in that house." Tooru replied in a bad mood.
Arthur looked closely at Tooru.
"He is lying!" Arthur said angrily.
"There is no reason to lie now, tell us the truth or we will assume that you really are the traitor." Kenkiro said with a serious look.
"I'm not lying." Tooru replied snorting.
"How many times I need to say ... He is the damn traitor!" Lee shouted.
Felber knew something was different, he realized Tooru was not lying about what he intended to do, but he saw that Tooru knew that he did not go north on purpose.
"Now I have no objections, I believe that Tooru is the traitor." Arthur said.
"There's not much to do ... Does everyone agree that Tooru is the traitor?" Kenkiro asked.
"Yes." Lee replied.
"Yes." Arthur said crossing his arms.
"Y- Yes." Rayssa said crying with sadness.
Felber was silent for a moment while watching Tooru intently and then realized that Tooru was looking at the ring on the ring finger of Henri's left hand. Felber immediately remembered that the man in the black uniform wore a ring that only the Time Patrol wore to travel back in time when they snap the fingers with the left hand.
"Wait a minute, according to my knowledge of astronomy, Tooru said he went north, but he missed the route by going to the southeast even looking at his wrist compass. But how did you know exactly where was east, Henri?" Felber questioned.
"I looked in Tooru's compass." Henri replied.
"You are lying because you were away from Tooru, the only person who was beside Tooru in that moment was Arthur." Felber said.
Everyone was surprised by what had just happened.
"Arthur, can you watch Henri and tell us if he is lying?" Kenkiro asked.
"Mhm." Arthur replied.
"And do you happen to have a wedding ring?" Felber questioned.
"Yes! I have!" Henri replied sweating in dispair.
"Can i see it?" Felber asked.
"Sure." Henri replied.
Felber approached Henri and checked the ring while he held out his left hand. Suddenly Felber started to laugh like a detective who has been investigating a case for years and finally finds out.
"Checkmate! I have to admit, Tooru you are a genius." Felber said as he laughed.
"What? Don't tell me that ... You understand." Tooru replied surprised.
Everyone was confused by what had just happened and frightened by Felber's behavior.
"I don't understand anything, what are you talking about?" Lee asked confused.
"Now I understand ... Everything makes sense, everything that happened, Tooru's answers, he misguided the direction on purpose, not answering what is not part of the question ... everything now makes sense, I understand your plan, your suicidal genius." Felber said.
"Did you really got it?" Tooru asked still surprised.
"Yes, but narrowly, did you not imagine what could happen if your plan failed?" Felber asked.
"It was a risk I had to take ... But now that you understand, I leave the explanation to you." Tooru replied closing his eyes.
Everyone paid attention to Felber while Arthur watched Henri's behavior.
"I'll explain everything. The plan that Tooru put together was perfect, he already suspected that there might be a traitor, he intended to take us to a tight spot hoping that someone would leave the group when he heard about our plan, so he also had to walk away in order to attract the traitor's attention and make him unite with the group again trying to eliminate Tooru instead." Felber explained.
"And how can you be so sure that Henri is the traitor?" Lee questioned.
"Everything will make sense now." Tooru said crossing his arms still with his eyes closed.
"We are running out of time, what are you waiting for?" Kenkiro questioned angrily.
"Henri snap your fingers with your left hand." Tooru ordered as he slowly opened his eyes.
Henri was silent and lowered his head.
"What's up Henri? Why don't you snap your fingers." Felber said with a psychopathic smile.
Henri was silent with his head lowered while he was sweating.
"Don't tell me that this is true." Rayssa said surprised.
"Damn, how can someone think of such a plan." Lee said awkwardly
"Henri, do what he ordered." Kenkiro said suspiciously as he looked to Henri.
Henri still with his head down did not answer and did not move. Suddenly they started to hear a sound, as if a marching army was approaching them. Henri raised his head and stared at the door, everyone was looking at him concerned with what he could do.
"My part of the proposal has already been fulfilled, I don't care what happens here anymore." Henri said as he drew a pistol from under his clothes and pointed at Felber's head taking him as a hostage.
"Holy shit! He got a gun!" Lee said as he raised his hand.
"He is armed with that magic that you guys call as a firearm." Arthur shouted frightened.
"Hands up! Or everyone here will die including me!" Henri shouted angrily.
When everyone raised their hands, the door was broken into by a squad of Time Patrol soldiers.
"The time has ended." The Captain said as he walked in.
When he entered the house and saw the whole scene, he immediately understood everything.
"I see ... I underestimated you guys." The Captain said as he lit a cigarette with an indifferent semblance.
"Henri ... Why?" Rayssa asked crying.
"He promised me that he would give me a Gear, do you think I like to be excluded and thrown aside for not having a Gear? How would you feel in my place?" Henri questioned angrily while crying.
"What ... So since that time at the restaurant ... Why didn't you come home ... You had already gotten all this up?" Kenkiro asked sadly.
"Exactly! Now shut up or I will blow this boy's head." Henri replied.
As they looked around, they noticed that the soldiers were armed with rifles but the Captain in the black uniform had a sheathed sword and a pistol at his waist.
"Felber ... You know the only way out of this." Kenkiro said looking at Felber's left wrist.
"I can only use it one more time today, I have to choose between them or Henri." Felber replied scared.
"So you have to choose between your life or ours." Lee said sadly.
"No, please ... You don't have to do that Henri!" Rayssa said crying even more sadly.
"Shut up or you'll be next after him." Henri replied angrily.
"Felber, the decision is yours." Tooru said with his arms crossed still sitting on the chair.
Felber looked at each of his companions and remembered the short adventure he had with them and for the first time, when he looked at Rayssa he felt as if she were something like an older sister who always cared for him, when looking at Lee, he saw him as a classmate who shared the same lifestyle, when looking at Kenkiro, he saw him as a teammate in some sport, he was reliable and dedicated in his goals, and when looking at Tooru, he saw him as the astronomer he most admired and read all of his books and articles, and so finally Felber felt that there were real friends.
"Thank you guys ... Thank you all." Felber said crying as he raised his open left hand towards the soldiers that were aiming at his friends.
"What are you doing? No sudden movements!" Henri shouted.
"I think I will finally have peace ... I will no longer be able to see the sunrise or even the starry night anymore, but I ask that you guys stay alive to feel and enjoy these sensations for me ... For the last time, thank you and goodbye..." Felber said closing his eyes.
And then Felber closes his left hand, causing the ammunition to drop from the rifles that the soldiers are carrying.

Maureen's POV
"I can teach you how to play polo. It's pretty easy," I offered and shrugged. "But I want something in return."
He chuckled and said, "Of course, you do. How can I forget that you're a girl?"
"Well...Sure and in fact, I want three things in return," I demanded and Noah's eyebrows rose high up.
"Hold on Cinderella, I'm not your fairy godmother."
"First you listen to me...Hey! Are you listening?" I nearly shouted when I saw Noah's back turned to me.
"You're not at all interested in me...I mean in my talks. Sorry, slip of tongue," I muttered the last few words and mentally facepalmed. Since Noah's back was still turned to me, I continued talking or rather demanding, "One, I want you to narrate to me the history of the country, stories, quotes, anything, and everything. You are basically going to tutor me. We can do this while I'm teaching you how to play polo since it isn't a big deal, but I'm really failing in history at school."
I stopped talking for a few minutes and waited for his reply, but I was quite sure that he was listening since I saw a slight movement of his head.
"Two, I don't want you to ask any questions about me. Don't ask why because that too will be included as a question. And three, I want your friendship. I mean I want us to be friends which automatically includes me to trust you, you should be loyal, you know what I mean. Only if you want to," I blabbered and fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, waiting for his valuable response. Suddenly, he turned to me, his deep blue eyes gleaming.
"Yeah, that'll be cool," he agreed and I smiled slyly.
"So you heard me, good boy."
"But isn't it unfair that you get three wishes fulfilled while I get only one?" He questioned and I pouted while tapping my chin with my index finger thoughtfully.
"Hmm...but I can't help it. Let me be philosophical for once and tell you that this is life, Noah. It can be unfair sometimes, but you have to live with it. You have to survive. Rather than grumbling and ruining your whole life, you can concentrate on how to make it better," I ranted some pretentious quotes and recalled my sister saying this when I was crying continuously, seeing her in that terrible condition. Hopeless tears welled up in my eyes when the fresh, dark memories awoke in my mind.
Noah watched me curiously and asked, "You have experience about all this, don't you? Trust me, I know too how life can deceive you, but I learnt it the hard way. You sure can make it better. Besides, memories can be rewritten, right?"
I pretended that I was not crying by putting up a cheerful façade.
"Are you okay, We can go back home if you are feeling ill," Noah suggested, concern lacing his voice.
I shook my head while blinking back the tears and said, "I'm alright, let's just walk."
*    *    *
"So, did you think about what I said earlier? When shall we start with your practices?" I asked sincerely but he didn't reply. Instead, he just admired the spectacular scenery before us. It was mesmerizing with the river flowing and making its path through the small, green hills and rocks. We ended up sitting on a huge rock on the river bed, dipping our toes in the cool, shallow water.
Noah kicked the water coltishly, splashing the water on me and making my legs wet till the knee.
"Hey!" I slapped his arms playfully and tried to splash the water over him. Instead, I kicked a solid, hard pebble.
"Ow, ow, ow!" I groaned at my feet and quickly lifted my feet up to try and examine them. Noah chuckled and my face immediately reacted by turning redder than my toe, ugh me.
"Did your toe hurt or your face, strawberry?" Noah teased slowly and I punched his stomach hard. He mocked me by screaming 'ow ow, ow' in high pitch tone while holding his stomach.
"Serves you right!" Are you annoyed?" He asked as I was still trying to examine my wound when suddenly, Noah took my feet and placed them on his lap. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep me from blushing. He brushed my toe slightly, sending jolts of electricity throughout my body as I shivered. His lips curled into a broad smile, his eyes never leaving mine.
I cleared my throat and quickly got up. I sprang my feet and straightened my posture. My feet hurt like hell but I took a deep breath and I briskly walked ahead.
"Wait!" Noah quickly rolled his pant down to his ankles and sided up to be.
"Do you agree to what I offered earlier? I can teach you, but I want what I asked. Besides you're desperate to learn polo and you cannot get any better coach than me," I declared proudly.
"I can always ask one of the players to teach me. They'll be happy to teach me, that too for free." He smirked and my shoulders slouched my pride dissolving.
"Don't worry, I'll be better than our French teacher. And besides, we wouldn't be friends if you don't agree on what I said," I blackmailed him and a whimsical smile stretched across his face.
"We wouldn't be friends, strawberry. We would be something else," He whispered and I gawked at him.
I blinked several times in disbelief and he just chuckled, walking away. I was rooted on my spot deciding whether Noah really liked me or was it just flirting or teasing? Whatever it was, it felt good.

Audenzia Dola Aimee (e-ya-me) is an undercover princess wearing a black wig and thick-rimmed glasses and going by the name Maureen Harris, to hide away from her dark past. She has to stay hidden from the enemies who just wish for her misery, so she moves into a quaint town near the countryside where she meets Noah, a boy with his own share of problems and mysteries. 

Their worlds collide brutally and just when they find themselves growing closer, secrets begin to unravel which questions everything. 

Her identity. Her honesty. Her love.

"You are the most sadistic person that I've ever met." Fariz's loud nag colored the entire journey to their resting place. Pulling Eve and Elizebeth together with both of his hands, he badgered them with his own philosophy.
"Ahh, so loud. Uncle, we don't need your philosophical thoughts." Eve shoved a finger inside her ear to terminate any sound from Fariz.
"The audacity…" Fariz's lizard eyes emerged and glared at Eve and Elizebeth.
"Me too? I shut my mouth the whole journey though." Elizebeth was utterly offended.
"Kids…" he rolled his eyes hard. If he was lucky, he might see his toasted brain thanks to these two kids.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Elizebeth's eyes jumped in between the annoyed Fariz and the playful Eve simultaneously, outrageously offended.
"My Lady," Benjamin sprinted at them as soon as he saw them amongst the trees. "Is there any distraction that needs our utmost care, My Lady?" He scrutinized the cloak.  
Thankfully she was wearing the magic cloak while battling with the mountain tigers. The bloodstains could be easily washed away. This cloak was so dependable to cover up her crime.
"There's nothing I can't handle alone." She said arrogantly with her stoic face. "Is there any food? I am surely famished."
"Food? Of course, My Lady. We already divide the fair fairly. Please come with me." Benjamin outwardly ignored Eve and Fariz or actually couldn't see anything else aside from Elizebeth due to his panic. Although his calm face was so misleading.
"Alright," the stoic face nodded.
"Oliv-" Fariz was cut off by her and unable to finish his sentence.
In disdain, she looked between her wrist and Fariz's pitiful face. Wordlessly, she shoulder punched Fariz into oblivion in an attempt to be freed from his hold. Almost because Fariz could withstand the attack but at what cost? It left a bruise.
"Na'ah. You need to learn the word moderation, young lady." Fariz refused to back down. He followed closely behind then bothered her with his colorful philosophy.
"Here we go again," Eve whispered at Elizebeth's ear. "Remember when he was so shocked years ago? During our dominion's adjustment?"
Elizebeth groaned, letting Benjamin put away the cloak that both Eve and Elizebeth wore and put on the warm blanket on both of them.
Of course, she remembered. It was a hellish month for her. Thankfully she wasn't living with her family but at Max's residency or her trouble would increase tenfold. If her family knew the secret of a dominion eater and how to control their power, they would let neither Fariz nor Eve survive.
The process was so exhausting. It drained both her mental and physical; both also for entirely different reasons. To adjust to a new dominion inside her, she needed peace of mind and a good night's sleep. Also a good physique. For some reason, she couldn't sleep due to an external crisis. Let's just say it's because of… erm… excessive care.
Anyway, as the story suggested so far, dominion eater was an uncommon ability. It was not meant for anyone especially to those who had a weak stomach and had a certain level of dominion inside them. It could be done, but the process was a little complicated. She suffered quite a feat to obtain phoenix and dragon's dominion herself.
Even to eat any weak mythical beast dominion, one might suffer a few symptoms. In most of the cases, they died. It was the most cumbersome ability anyone could possess but not everyone could have a good end result.
She was the lucky few who pulled through until the end. Eve and Fariz played a large part to keep her alive even now. They were the ones who guided her until the end. It took her a full year inside the magical forest to recover from the after effect.
Max didn't interfere only because she sent a letter religiously every two days. To show him that she was indeed still alive.
During her long recovery, Fariz intentionally became her personal philosopher. Yeah, it's on purpose. He did it to make her suffer in the pretext of enlightenment. It's definitely on purpose, god damn it.
"... blah blah blah. As my teacher Socrates said and I quote, 'every action has its pleasure and its price'. Oliv, I want you to think through blah blah blah…"
She sighed when Fariz sang a praise song to Socrates and quoted all of his wise words for the rest of the night.
"Grrr…" She adjusted her blanket on her body and buried her face in Jihoon's fur. Apparently, he also suffered the same. His ears twitched in the mention of Socrates numerous times in a single night.
"... blah blah blah… My other teacher, Plato, is the wisest yet. Let me quote his words for yah. 'The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself, to be conquered by yourself of all things most shameful and vile'. A beautiful quotation. A beautiful man. A beautiful soul. He is the greatest teacher… blah blah blah…"
Elizebeth's pale face blinked at the strong gust of the wind that attacked as Fariz flew in the air with her on his body. His active mouth never took a rest even for a second. She only adjusted the cloak that was on top of her head, tiredly listened to the quotes that still went on for days already.
"My buddy Kant once said, 'live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.'  Marvelous. Oliv! I want you to have a decent life, act like a lunatic blah blah blah…"
Elizebeth ate the chunk of meat that was prepared by Benjamin with his great love, staring blankly in front of the fire pit. She let Kekwa slide on the blanket that had slid off her slouched shoulders.
Ah~ there's no star tonight. A bleak night again; her lethargic eyes looked at the black sky above without any energy left.
"Oh. Another of his quotes!!!" Fariz mumbled excitedly while cutting the meat into small pieces for Elizebeth diligently.
"Who?" Elizebeth asked mindlessly.
"Kant. Immanuel Kant. My pal. Why don't you know this by now?"
Elizebeth nodded. "Hah~ no, you're right, I should have known."
"He said and quoted, 'Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.' Wise young man. Applaud." Fariz applauded as his eyes shone brightly in the dark.
Elizebeth rubbed her forehead with her palm. She didn't sign up for this.
"Master Eve, what should we do?" Dante came closer to Eve that purposely sat far away from those two. Purposely ran away from eternal suffering.
"Save it. He ain't stopping anytime soon." Eve waved her hand in dismissal.
"But sister, the princess is suffering…" Kekwa pouted and the brim of her eyes was watery.
"Apologize. He is her partner for life. Can do nothing to save her." Eve shrugged. The beautiful phoenix had clearly discarded Elizebeth for her own gain.
"It's been weeks. We are near the Trumple border. He had never shut up ever since." Tanaka glanced at tired Elizebeth listening to the long praise of his so-called friend.
"Let them be or else we will get dragged." Kay shivered for a mere thought of it.  
Listening and quoting the so-called friends and teachers day and night, and every single day could make people go crazy. It was a miracle that Elizebeth stood still this entire time.
Everyone shuddered with the thought of them listening to those poetic quotations every single second.
"It's not ethically right, but not morally wrong either. At the end of the day, every man is for himself." Kay solidified his stand.
"... right." After a long pause, everyone decided to abandon Elizebeth too.
Not ethically right, but not morally wrong my arse, I'll kill you; Elizebeth gritted her teeth.
"Oof, don't look at her," Kay, who connected the gaze with Elizebeth by an accident, moved his head in a millisecond. "We don't want to be on that team."
I ought to…; Elizebeth's eyes almost burned with anguish fire, metaphorically.
"Blah blah blah… My best friend Aristotle once said, 'educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all'. A splendid idea. We need to understand the knowledge and make our hearts understand the meaning before we share it to the mind. Oliv you need to blah blah blah…"
Elizebeth stared into the void at the scenery that already changed into white. The coldness around them, fortunately, had no effect on her nor her members as long as they had their official cloak wrapping around their bodies.
Shuuuuuuu~~
The strong wind fluttered her hair, covering her whole face. She had no energy to push it away. Her ears almost melted away thanks to the long unofficial philosophy class that she obviously didn't need.
"Blah blah blah… education is important. The life without knowledge-"
"We are almost there." Eve cut off Fariz arse long rambling as she pointed her beak at the massive gate of the Trumple castle.
"Thank god," Elizebeth mumbled wearily. Her dark circle has become her permanent resident under her eyes. It was not fun at all.
"Is she okay?" Evergreen glanced at the sky. Even though the dragon hid with concealment, she knew precisely where Elizebeth was.
"Don't ask," Dante distorted his face as if he was in pain. Probably understood her long-suffering.


The 26-year-old Olivia was a poor lady who did everything to survive. Every day, she wished to become rich or to have the power to control people before she retired and led a slacker life. 

Her life took a turn after an overdose of sleeping pills and transmigrated into her old favorite novel. 

Became Elizebeth; the ducal family's youngest child, she expected to lead a good life and planned to leech off on her three brothers for her entire life. She was happy until she dreamt about the future. 

Fallen kingdom and her miserable future.

It happened again. Peace was never an option. 

Well, it seemed she had to step up for this one as well. Saving the kingdom and fighting for her freedom. 

Let’s just say she had a prior experience from her previous life. *wink.

"Huff, huff… I can't take it anymore either," Li Ming Hao collapsed on the rocky ground beneath.
"Come on, it is just right there. I will help you," Su Xin Yu offered her hand to the visibly tired guy. They had been hiking this weird hill for past half hour. But these thirty minutes felt like multiple years to Lu Ming Hao who was not used to climbing such steep hills. The earlier grassy patch had turned into completely rocky trail just after a few steps a few steps. From there on, it was a test of their stamina, in which young master Li was definitely failing.
By the time they had started to come out of the thick forest, where not a single sunray was peeping into, it had become very hard to walk with just using the legs. Su Xin Yu was used to hiking even higher altitudes, so she did not have any problem at all.
She chuckled looking at the guy.
"With all the action you seemed to be getting back in the school, I thought you would have much more stamina than this," she smirked.
Li Ming Hao was not in the condition to interpret her words, but the double meaning jumped out instantly to him. His already red face due to heavy workout just now became redder. What did she mean by all the action?
"You… are you jealous?" Li Ming Hao turned it around. He had really wanted to ask what was going on in her mind or if she thought he was a Casanova. But from his past observations, he had some idea what made this girl tick. And probably, the most fun thing in his life right now was to tease this girl.
Su Xin Yu scoffed. "Jealous? Me? What for? Don't you think you are giving too much importance to yourself" she fired questions left and right. Why would she feel jealous of those no name seducers? Oh wait, why was she feeling irritated when she thought about all those flies swarming around him? She thought the heat must be getting to her.
She fanned her face with her hand and then continued taking steps. Li Ming Hao grinned at his small victory.
"See, it is just like ten steps. Get up!" she tried pulling Li Ming Hao from the ground and showed him the clear path in front of them.
He was regretting his decision to accompany her for this. It was just the sun, something they saw every day. Why did she need to be so enthusiastic about it? It would have been better if he had stayed behind.
But, wasn't this girl cruel? She left her cousin just like that, believing a stranger like him and using that ointment, without any worries.
"What are you thinking about? We are almost there," she repeated. Li Ming Hao found himself climbing up again. When did she lead him to get up and start again? Damn that bewitching smile of hers. They were ascending at the hill almost as steep as stairs in the house. Stairs did not sound that much, but when combined with high rocky steps here, Li Ming Hao was out of breath again.
After a few steps, Su Xin Yu halted and nodded, almost blocking Li Ming Hao's view with her butt.
"Here I present to you…," she looked back, smiled and jumped at the seemingly last step. Li Ming Hao raised his head and almost lied down on the ground knowing that they had arrived at their destination. He did not have any strength left to take that last step.
"Hey, if you don't put any efforts, how will you reap the rewards?" she issued a philosophical quote. Guess, things like sunrises made people like this, making nice quotes and all. Now he understood the reason behind all those quotes and their lofty background images in those messages circulated as good mornings and good nights.
"Just a second," with the last ounce of power, he pushed through and peeked behind the rocks.
No wonder! No wonder this girl was crazy about the view! Although it had been quite some time since the 'official' sunrise time according to the meteorological sources, but this was a mountainous area, the sun was still coming out behind the mountains.
"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. He had never seen such a scene in his life. The big orange sun was spreading its golden rays all over, the few clouds in the sky scattering the light, giving it a look like a crown, like a celestial being was just floating in the sky. In the distance, there were higher mountains. The scenery was not only mesmerizing but also inspiring, inspiring to do something more in life, to create something more.
Then he glanced at the girl beside him, whose high pony tail was swaying slightly in the breeze. Her face was being illuminated by the rays, her rosy red lips parted in a beaming smile, being sun kissed. He gulped hard, more than the scene, looking at the girl was more surreal.
He subconsciously took out his hand and tucked her lock behind her ear. She turned her head sideways and looked at him quizzingly, only to find him staring at her with infatuation. His deep eyes made her blush, he had exact same expression as when he was kissing his fiancé that day.
When she remembered about that lecherous scene, her face flushed some more, she tactfully removed his hand from her cheek, which seemed to linger for some time. This guy was from enemy faction and she was yet to find his true motive. There was no time to be falling for him. Although she had to admit, she really was enjoying his company. He might not be bad as a friend after all.
"Thank you," he suddenly spoke up, withdrawing his hand. "This was indeed one of a kind experience. I enjoyed it very much," he smiled. Yes, getting to see her looking so pretty was definitely he never wanted to miss.

Su Xin Yu was the only person in the whole country who could unlock the secret to the dungeons beneath her school because she possessed the blood and inherited her tribe's will. In reality, she was just running away from her day to day life under her tyrannical caretaker, the Dean of the school and looking for her dad. She did not care about the riches buried underneath.

Li Ming Hao was the only son of the Dean and was sent to spy on her for his dad did not completely trust her. First he started helping her because he was interested in the adventures and looking for whereabouts of his mentor. Then he started realizing there was more to these dungeons than met the eyes. Now he had a decision to make, to help Su Xin Yu to break free from her cage or his own dad to become the richest person in the world.

Follow Su Xin Yu and Li Ming Hao in their journey of discovering the truths about the dungeons and their lives and run away from their fates of being the puppets of the old Dean.

*Cover credits to the respective owner. I do not own the picture. Please DM or contact on Insta for taking it down/ credits*

The sky was still dim red from the sunset, and the lawn of the house was overrun with weeds and vines, archeologist/adventurer john Osawe made his way through the olden neighborhood covered in wildlife alone- sporting a long forrest blade and a pistol in his holster , two orbs of light floated before him illuminating his path and ready to notify his colleagues of his location should he find something, or find trouble

The house was nothing special in the grassy ruins, but strangely it was the only one still untouched by the wild vines , marked only by passage of time and a little patches of algae who knew no better, john made his way to the inner gates of the house which were bounded by thin rusted chains, and all it took was a heavy push and the gates fell open hinges leaning inwards, the remaining wooden door barring entry came down in pieces with a light swing of the blade

A sea of dirt made of aging furniture and torn fabric holding little signs of biological decay lay on the floor, john gingerly stepped on a narrow patch of floor which had little obstructions, the light orbs brightened and trailed around him recording as he moved through the house

He moved room to room looking for any thing note worthy to record and observed, so far the only interesting thing he found where melted candle spots and crude isolation boxes or holmic refrigerator boxes as they were once called

That's when he saw it, a makeshift jotter made with torn sheets of the exercise notes that were popular a hundred or so years ago they crudely tied together by twisted fabric which john unbound and began to look through as he moved around the room

the pages were frail and powdery with missing edges, showing great age lasting only till now due to the strange circumstance of the house 

the writings were barely readable, faded or totally erased john only managed to make sense of a sentence , the style was old but there was not much language change in the hundred or so years,

it read,

"we are, in life, shackled by many thin….'

Hmm I wonder, which philosopher wrote that one John said sarcastically to the light orbs, the people of a hundreds of years ago loved vague sounding wisdom and motivational quotes, placing them every where with a profound looking background pictures

He still had the paper residue scanned though, but got nothing except its age, it was made about 300 years ago and the words were written 30 years after that, 

So 270 years ago, a man thought himself a poet,he chuckled and looked around the room, then he left to the corridor, stopping suddenly as he saw a glimpse of a scribble on the wall, he bunched his eyebrows for a moment 

Totally unreadable

with a mental nodge he got a light orb to analyze it and another one to read it

'Apologies' he heard the calmautomated voice of a middle-aged man through his hearing pods lodged in his middle ear

'Apologies 'it read ' I realize lately that paper may not hold my word for long unfortunately I am older and weaker now so I can only carve a little now of what I wrote,'

The carvings were forty years younger than the writings 

'Old men stress themselves for rest' john sigh and nudged the machine on

We are most free when we are young suckling babies giggling in our cots, for we know nothing except what we get, milk from mommy warmth from daddy, boobies from strange women who think were cute'

John choked when he read that line 'pervy old man' he laughed

As we get older responsibilities increase and we start to think, this isn't really fun anymore 

Still we seize the day how little we can, finding joy in what little we experience, a large percentage of us , those that 'grow up' realize we are even more shackled with this 'joy' than we were before it , when all we had to do was do the dishes 

The scribbling ended

John walked down the corridor illuminated by orbs until he found the next set , a single carving on a wall, ten years younger than the one before it

'we are, in life, shackled by many things' 

'Ah, there it is, a little sooner than expected though' he thought

The voice remained silent as it could find no more carving

John was solemn , great last words, he placed the old man's age to be about mid 70s or early 80s assuming he was about late 20s when he wrote on the paper

He went back around the house to check what else he missed, and he observed a curious thing

The number of moldy patches and wall incrases from inner to outer rooms

He retraced back in, making sure to take algae samples along the way and sure enough it at the base of the wall with the admittedly awesome quote there was no mold, no sign of life except the dead preserved wooden doors ending the corridors 

More writings littered the walls around the door

40 years younger 

'hmm, old crone when did you die'

The voice started again reading the carvings, some of them breaking mid sentence for a year or 10

'we are shackled by government, and law, occupation and wealth, society and family, friends…

Their chains, are made of taxes and money,and power and position and hate and love, nostalgia and memories " 

'Damn' though automated the voice carried so much passion and pain and fatigue

'I observed all these and wished to be free, ' the carvings stopped 

'from all' it continued a year later 

'but only the mad and the dead are truly free, I mused one day as I watched the earth cover my friend in a cemetery,

We were Close as the last two fingers on your hands, we shared ideals, and wisdom and granted foolishness, now he was free, no taxes no positions no hate no love to hold him no just peace, freedom '

'The only downside was that he didn't know this '

The carvings ended 

'He got personal' john said a bit excited to an faithfull light orb

'now I want to hear the and of this old mans tale'

He thought for a while and didn't enter immediately, he brought out a nose mask from a back pouch and secured it on his face, and then went in 

The air felt heavier here than elsewhere , the sudden feeling got him short of breath an be reached for his holster ready to fire on and wild life that may pop suddenly out of the corners or maybe under the large bed sheets where old crone probably lay, 

It took him while to find carvings becauseth ey where on the floor at the foot of the bed 

The age made him take a cold breath

The carvings were about 30 years old 

The voice read 

" I can't be mad, for a madman man know remains shackles in ways I won't want to be, I can't be dead, because I won't know it"

"So I bought this house in an unknown in an untraceble manner and fake my death"

"Acknowledge in death by government, Family and friends, and I lived as dead as a living man can be, aware of my freedom"

"Aware in every way of my total philosophical death"

At this point even John in precise could tell the carvings were getting sloppy, and he fell quiet imagining the old man leaning laboriously to carve this

The light orbs found the next carvings before he did

The automated systems trove to mimic the tone as humanly as possible as it read

"Those who frame death may unfortunately find that he is but a lazy and forgetful entity"

Age of carvings too early to say

John froze in step, 

He looked earnestly for the first time around the room, his mind slowly churning on the information he aquired 'i am getting older and weaker .... Death ... a forgetful entity

His eyes came to rest on the bed sheets under which lay a figure he hadn't noticed earlier,

a bony figure lay therewith its head and face covered in a stream of flat white hair

He watched it and caught what could only be called it's ribcage fall slowly,way too slow

The thin ancient frame took a long labourous breath, filled with pain and bitterness, and then exhaling slowly, and though unwilling he took a breath again

Ari Ahek

tangential short stories spanning various genres and themes

PROLOGuE
Takara plucked out her gleaming star from the Rokurokubi's limp neck, her fingers brushing across the warm wet blood, starting to form dark clumps on the alabaster pale neck of the dead yōkai. It had been a hard kill, the Rokurokubi kept on stretching its vicious ever elongating neck, its beautiful face, with a mouth full of sharp daggerlike teeth flashing at Takara with malice. It stretched its neck to which ever direction Takara moved in. Quick to notice that Takara had moved the slightest to her right, and let the hidden star in her closed palm free, flying swiftly across the distance between them, like a falling star, full of beauty and death, right into the left carotid artery of the yōkai. Takara followed the little rivulet of blood, to the corpse which lay in front of her. She bent down her, the edges of her dark kimono kissing the gurgling blood on the ground. Blood dripped from the Rokurokubi's pale stiff lips, red tears of her ghastly death staining the dark soil. She swiftly plucked her star, embedded in the soft flesh of the neck of the yōkai. Takara took out the silver blade, stained a wicked garnet, brought it close to her. She ran her finger over the blade, the once silver star, was now a storm of dark garnet and bright crimson, from the fresh blood from Takara's soft finger tips, and the stale dark blood of the Rokurokubi. She turned the star around in her cut fingertips, before plunging it back into the gaping wounds of the corpse, looking at her with distant glazed glassy eyes. More dark blood trickled down, warm and sticky, the stench of iron thick in the air. No movements. She was definitely dead.
Takara plucked red star out once again, grinning a devious grin at the open wound gaping at her with horror. She wiped the blood off on her dark kimono, her hands printed with the mark of death. She gave the star one final kiss, before tucking it into the folds of her garb. She looked at her hands, streaked with red, from the blood of her wounds, from the blood of her kill. Adrenaline pumped through the delicate web of her veins as the temporary sweetness of a kill clouded her mind. She laughed. She laughed a twinkling laugh, from her crimson blood- stained lips, the sweet laughter gilded with malice and caged with madness. She strolled down the path, heading towards her home, her dark kimono, embroidered with moon woven flowers, crusted with blood, billowing around her, her lips curved into a wicked smile of temptation.
                                                                    ********  
Takara's house was small yet majestic, a beautiful and elaborate minka, a traditional Japanese house, with ivory tiles placed meticulously on the roof gleaming in the moon light, and the phosphorescence of the pure white jasmine trees surrounding them giving an ethereal glow to the quaint house, which did not look like a part of reality or fantasy, it floated somewhere in between. The paper sliding doors were inked with her favourite philosophical quotes, the inside decorated with trinkets of her adventures, her collection pieces, things she had bought or stolen on whims and fancies. She went  to the water basin, and dipped the littlest bit of her finger into the water. It was cold. Her dark eyelids fluttered as she sighed and closed her palm into a tight fist. She let throbbing energy inside her concentrate into a crescendo into her palms. She opened her pale eyelids and looked at the manifestation energy, creation of life and mascot of death sitting on her now flat open palm. The spider had long dainty thin legs, its eight eyes shone like little diamonds, its delicate and deadly little body scampering off her hand. She imagined a bright warm fire at the base of the water basin, the little sparks popping in her mind. The spider swiftly made its way towards pale china clay water basin. It collected a little breath of air, before exhaling out dangerous and wicked little flames of fire onto the base of the basin. An inferno of blazing gold and war red spew from its little mouth, the shadows of the extension of her soul, the spider, forming big dark shadowy monsters behind her, reflecting its true self. Takara seized the spider, and closed her palm around it, the spider gone from existence, as though it was never there in the first place. Takara dipped her crimson hands into the scorching water, taking a deep breath of the irony perfume that wafted from her hands in the water. She looked at the water, slowly dyeing into a swirled pattern of red. A beautiful pattern of death. She watched as the water took the blood off her hands. She watched as it took her title of murderer, the blame for her kill.
                                                               ******

When I feel real bad
I just turn to my best friends
And I'll sure be glad

My next story theme
Or discussing latest trends
The funniest meme

"What do I draw next?"
We have a few suggestions!
Just give us a text

We even debate
Philosophical questions
We talk till it's late

We help each other
When we have creator's block
Always together

Really love this club
When I feel lost, they're my rock
These people I loveWhen I feel real bad
I just turn to my best friends
And I'll sure be glad

My next story theme
Or discussing latest trends
The funniest meme

"What do I draw next?"
We have a few suggestions!
Just give us a text

We even debate
Philosophical questions
We talk till it's late

We help each other
When we have creator's block
Always together

Really love this club
When I feel lost, they're my rock
These people I love

A collection of poems I have written during quarantine.

I found the first crush of my life after a decade and she didn't even knew that I existed. Just like a decade before, when we shared the same class yet she never noticed me. I know that feelings change and they fade over time, but for me those which belonged to her never changed. Its not that I was never in a relationship before and I was just waiting for her, but I had been single for a year now and all my feelings just gloomed when I saw her again. 

Those nostalgic and yet mysterious eyes with pinch of kajal, face covered with burkaah, that precious smile she wore and her vampire teeth's were still the same. I soon checked every post of hers on Instagram; I was totally in love already. I also felt a bit of stupid jealousy seeing some of her pics with my old classmates. 

I decided to contact her however but also didn't wanted to be marked as a despo. I sent a follow request on her profile and waited for her follow back, seeing so many of mutual friends she would be surely following me, after all my prediction in such cases were never wrong. And yes, even if it took a week, she accepted my follow request and followed me back. It was overwhelming, as if any of my drafts were been selected for publishing. 

The first step was completed, and now the next step was to start a conversation with her; to wait for her to upload any story on her profile which can be replied and I can get a chance to start the conversation. And as my predictions were never wrong, she did upload a story. It was a philosophical quote about life and still not knowing what made me do that..... maybe it was my philosophical part that made me reply to her story or whatsoever, but there it was. She replied in a way of debate. Well, this is how our first  conversation started, trying to convince each other about our POV's on love and life. She was quite impressed with my philosophical views and without losing the rhythm of our chat, I took my chance and told her that we were in the same school for years but maybe she just didn't remember me. But it was shocking for me to know  that, even she did some little research about me before accepting my follow request. 

I never thought this would all be going so good. It felt like being in a movie where the lead actor and actress meet for the first time and feel the zing of falling in love, or maybe I was just expecting a fairytale like a small kid. 

We soon started talking more often and were totally amazed to know that we almost shared the same likes-dislikes and even shared other common gossips about life. From our favorite songs to their specific lines and even our psychology linked a lot. I learned a lot about her life: her childhood, love-life history, and her secret wish to have a magical life. She was single, sorted out, beautiful, and everything I was searching for, after all she had been my crush since 10 years, Further, few days were spent thinking about her and the moments I wished to have with her. We both stayed in different cities, and the chance for us randomly meeting someday was already out of my head. Even if we spent half of the day talking with each other, I would still crave for her the next moment. The thought of her being just an online friend I fell in love with, started to eat me up. 

I wanted to feel her, I wanted to hold her hand. With each passing day our chats went even longer, growing my cravings more deeper. It was like even God wanted me to get tangled up with her soul. After all, he sent her back into my life after 10 years, and it was now this beautiful present in which we were unlocking different parts of our soul and love, day by day. Maybe she must be having this same feelings too, I thought.

♦ -The thoughts of our main character are in quotes.
ex:
"I love chocolate"

♦ -When someone speaks, there is a hyphen in front of the quotes and the text. Pay Attention!
ex:
- "I love chocolate" she said

/  Just to avoid confusion :D  \

♦-I also wanted to make it clear that English is not my native language.-
                             This is my first Novel on the platform, please indulge ;)

♦-Good reading !

Lee Yon, promising young team leader.

When she woke up from her assassination attempt, she was no longer in her world, she was now in a world that was both familiar and foreign to her.

She had become the elder sister of the villain, the second masucline role in the novel "Flower's love": Tasha Bellion, the only princess of the empire of the same name.

A secondary character who "almost always" had a "rich" and peaceful life.

A pawn frequently used by the villain who "hardly" used it.


So what was the problem?


This girl has a curse that takes her word away and because of it people are treating her like crazy. MUTE AND DISRESPECTED

And she's the older sister of the evil emperor, a bloodthirsty punk! IN RISK OF DEATH AT ANY TIME


- "Hmm ... Can we survive?"




Author: - "Who knows?"

---------------------------------------------------
You want a novel with R-18 (a little late), isekai, black magic, a vengeful and badass character (at times, by name she's the type to ignore you if you pissed her off) or just a little novel to pass the time. THEN YOU ARE WELCOME ! 

---
○ Info:

 -Pinterest- The cover is not mine, I just edited it a lot!

-Language- I am FRENCH ! So sorry in advance for any spelling mistakes.

-Outputs- Are irregular except during the holidays or when I have time.

-History- My first on the platform so be nice :D


Thank you in advance ! good reading ;)

philosophical love quotes novel

Love quotes

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Undercover Princess Maureen

Road to Laze Around

Romance In The Dungeon

Ari's random short stories

ECOOT12

Blue Ink

My Fictional Reality.

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