Priceless Memories

Luckily with her make up, they were able to bypass any suspicions from the twins parents and the headmaster. The three then came to consult with her on how to best cover up the strange magic for the rest of the days as the black eye only seemed to get darker and darker.

It was the last day of their break when Lotus was busy recording the last of the information regarding the student's records of health. That morning, Jade had paid her a visit for more of the make up from her. It would seem that the bruise still hadn't vanished.

"Tsk, tsk." Ying Hui popped out of her ring with a huff of disappointment, "That's what he gets for being too nosy."

She then plopped on top of Lotus's head and continued, "I still don't understand why master didn't just go and wiped his memory. Besides, he's a huge creep too."

"There's no need to worry about him now." Lotus responded lightly with a small smile as she dipped the tip of her pen into the ink again, "After all, he's already done me a favor too."

Hearing this, Ying Hui puffed her cheeks in disappointment.

That night after she was discovered by the younger twin...

Having inhaled too much poison from her butterflies she had scattered throughout the dorm, she caught Jade before he could crash into the small console table near the door. Cradling his head in her arms as she sat on the ground from his body weight, Lotus breathed a small sigh of relief after having made certain that he hadn't inhaled too much of the butterflies' poison. She touched to check on the dark circles under his eyes and pulled open his eyelids to find no particular abnormalities to them. So, she pulled out the antidote from her ring and pushed the pill into his mouth with a little force. To her surprise, he easily swallowed it with ease.

"This guy..."

Could he be dreaming something already? She furrowed her brow in dismay and pouted, "To dream as soon as he falls unconscious... Does he not take into consideration what trouble he brought by doing so?"

With that, she softly poked at his cheek as she could hear him breath softly in her arms. Suddenly, Ying Hui's voice came into her mind, "I say we dump his body into the ocean! He's a merman, right? So, he should be fine if we throw his body into the waters!"

Lotus shook her head and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to, but he's actually rather heavy. Even I have a limit when carrying a body..."

"Boo..." Ying Hui puffed up her cheeks in disappointment.

Lotus looked down at the man before him again. She had thought that he called her beautiful there, but the way he acted towards her after only gave her the chills down her spine.

"What a creep..." She muttered under her breath and pinched his nose with one hand.

To her surprise, the guy didn't even move his face after she did that. She raised a brow, "Had the poison affected him a little too much? Then, if I punch him in the head, he won't wake up, right?"

"Uh... That's a little risky, Peony..." Ying Hui commented hesitantly.

Touching his forehead softly for his temperature, Lotus huffed, "And that means, your idea wasn't?"

"Well, I was only half joking..." Ying Hui muttered nervously, "The guy dare to poison himself and poke his nose into our business. It's only fair that he pays this much..."

"Are you really joking, though?" Xiao Li appeared from her ring as he said this to his sister in blatant disbelief.

"Sh-shut up!" Ying Hui pouted and turned her head ending the conversation.

Xiao Li decided not to pursue the matter as he knew that women can be rather vicious when you're not careful and turned to his master hesitantly, "Peony... Are you sure about this? You're already close to regaining the Nascent Soul too..."

She had only just made some progress in her cultivation since she last gave an imprint to Azul. When she shook Jamil's hand, she had instilled her imprint in him with the reserve of spiritual energy in her before they left. At that time, she had stabilized her standing in the beginning of Nascent Soul stage, but, if she make another imprint in another person now, she could descend back into the Soul Wandering late stage.

"It'll be all right, Xiao Li." Lotus responded, "As long as I'm under the Mirror's care and on this island, I can always grow stronger again. However, I can not bring the dead back to life..."

That day, if Jade had not had tea with her, she would've completely forgotten the feeling of her homeland and the fragile peace she had experienced during those days. Comparing what she regained to an imprint, the answer was obvious.

Seeing her made up her mind, Xiao Li and Ying Hui knew that she had already decided what to do and that nothing could stop her. With that, she touched her forehead quietly taking a large portion of her spiritual energy. Doing so, she could feel her body growing much weaker as she heaved a deep breath steading herself from falling. Then, she touched the center of his forehead inserting the energy into his forehead. After doing so, she no longer had the energy to move from her spot and had the two take the hostage into her ring to be interrogated and isolated.

Thinking about it now, can it be said that what she did was actually worth it? But, she can't deny that what he had done for her was much more priceless when compared to her imprint. Even though he was a calculating individual, his passion for tea was not a lie and talking of it brought back many priceless memories of her past. Her memories with her sisters and Mo Li was something that she can't bare to live without and he brought them back for her just by having tea with her.

.....

That cold night, she was hurrying back to her dorm after having finished her work for the day and made New Years meal when she noticed a presence nearby and paused before turning to find Lilia behind her with a look of surprise on his face, "Oh? Looks like you already noticed I was here."

The bat fae was hanging upside down in midair as he laughed and plopped down onto the snowy ground, "It's like I thought! You really are interesting!"

"Lilia?" Lotus looked to him in confusion, "Could you be on your way to see Big Brother Yuu- Ahem... Are you on your way to see the supervisor?"

Hearing her correct herself, Lilia grew all the more curious as he noticed her basket of something with a pleasant scent but he brushed it aside and responded, "Actually, I was here to invite him for a New Year dinner."

"Eh?" Lotus looked to him in surprise, "I actually-!"

"Lotus!"

She looked up and saw one of the ghosts from their dorm rush over to her with a wide smile as he arrived and responded, "The supervisor wanted me to tell you that they are going to Scarabia dorm to celebrate the New Years. Apparently, Kalim and taken Grim to the dorm out of the blue."

"Again?" Lotus sighed with a helpless smile over her face, "I guess, we can have the new years food to ourselves..."

"True..." The ghost sighed in disappointment before he noticed Lilia before him in confusion, "Um... Aren't you the vice-dorm leader of Diasomnia? If I remember correctly, Mister Draconia will not be returning home this year either. Could you be here to invite Lotus for a meal?"

"No." Lotus shook her head, "He's here to-"

"Actually, that's right." Lilia interjected much to Lotus's surprise.

"Huh?!"

Lilia laughed, "I wanted to ask the supervisor to join us too, but it would seem that he's a little busy."

"Then, you should bring Lotus with you!" The ghost responded with a wide smile, "It isn't our first New Years feast. There will be another tomorrow too, so you can just go with him, Lotus! We can just eat together tomorrow!"

"Huh?" Lotus was let in deep confusion as she looked between the two in surprise. Where's her say in this again?!

However, before she knew it, the ghost had shooed Lotus to go with Lilia and Lilia had taken her to the dorm in her daze. On her way to the dorm after entering the mirror, Lilia remembered the basket of food in her hands and took it, "I'll help you carry this. You look like you're still in a bit of a daze there, Lotus. Hehe..."

"Well..." Lotus finally remembered where they were as she continued with a small smile, "I've never seen the ghost make me do something like this before and I wasn't prepared either..."