Strange

Jiang Yu held his bruised cheek as he walked towards the hedge maze behind the huge mansion, being careful not to alert anyone of his presence. He was sick and tired of being in the mansion, so even though him escaping might lead to another punishment, he was willing to risk it.

Absentmindedly, he caressed the leaves of the hedge maze whose edges caught onto his long sleeves, walking towards the centre. He had escaped to this maze during the night when the monsters were rampant in his head, which made him familiar with the way, but seeing it in the daylight felt different somehow.

In the daylight it was more… vibrant and rich compared to the comforting darkness that he was used to. Lost in thought, he didn't realise that he had already made his way to the centre, still staring blankly at the ground.

It was only when he bumped his head against the massive tree that grew there that he noticed, letting out a 'oof', a new bump forming on his forehead. He rubbed it, annoyed at himself.

Great. Not only was he already hurt, now he had to deal with another injury. At this rate, he might as well just die.

He sunk into a sitting position against the tree trunk, rubbing the bump.

However, it was at this moment that a peculiar voice sounded out, coming from above him.

"What's up."

The voice appeared so suddenly that Jiang Yu jumped before looking upwards to find the sound of that voice.

A girl was sitting on a tree branch, eating a bright red apple that had complicated dimly shining golden runes patterning it while holding what looked like a stick in the other hand. She swung her legs restlessly, causing a faint rustling sound that Jiang Yu had previously attributed to wind.

The girl was very peculiar. She wore robes the colour of black and gold, with red lines beading in and out of the robe, creating a flower in the middle of a gold circle that shone on her forehead. The apple definitely wasn't normal either as even Jiang Yu, who had seen everything magical as a duke's son, didn't recognise it.

Ironically, the stick looked completely normal, contrasting against everything else about her.

Jiang Yu frowned, hand already reaching behind him to secretly prepare a spell. He didn't bring his sword, so this was all he had to protect himself. Even as the weakest and worst son of the duke, he was still introduced to every important guest. This girl obviously looked important, but Jiang Yu had never seen her, so she must be an intruder.

"Who are you?" Jiang Yu asked in a frosty voice. The spell was now ready, so he could be bolder.

The girl only smiled carefreely at this act of hostility. At a speed that Jiang Yu couldn't catch properly, she hopped off the tree in utmost silence, poking his cheek and speaking.

"What happened here?" She casually spoke, completely disregarding any formalities that Jiang Yu was so used to receiving. However, her question and actions managed to successfully distract him not only from the disrespect, but also prompted him to release the spell out of shock.

The spell went everywhere, causing a small dent to form in the ground. The girl looked at it curiously, before ignoring it to stare at Jiang Yu expectantly.

A gold-red symbol appeared in the girl's eyes for a second before disappearing, making Jiang Yu unsure about whether he had imagined that up.

Jiang Yu frowned, staring uncertainly at the girl's eye. For some reason, he was suddenly hit by the urge to spill everything to her, as if she was his beloved friend or a diary. He restrained that thought, banishing it to a corner to reflect.

No matter what, he shouldn't ever reveal what he went through on a daily basis. After all, he'll only get disgusted looks and scathing words that burned him even worse than the wounds littering his skin.

So instead, he offhandedly replied.

"I got punched." And couldn't fight back. He added silently in his mind.

Normally, it would be embarrassing to say something like that. However, this had already happened too many times for Jiang Yu to care anymore.

The girl seemed to pause at his words though, hand going up to cover the eye Jiang Yu thought he had seen the red-gold colour all while wearing this considering frown.

With the cover of the distracting eye, Jiang Yu remembered his original goal, quickly preparing an easier spell this time. Stepping forwards, he tackled her to the ground and held the fireball in front of her.

"Enough with my story. Now explain, how did you get in here?"

Eyes widened, Jiang Yu could now properly look into her eyes to search for that distracting red-gold colour. Sadly, it didn't show up again. Instead, the girl broke out into this wide smile.

Once again, she moved quickly, popping the fireball using the stick. As he was still suspended in time, she went behind him and pushed him so he fell flat on the floor, before clambering up the tree with all the grace of a divine immortal.

Pearls of laughter came out of her mouth as Jiang Yu laid on the floor, still confused as to what had just happened.

"You have to be able to beat me first if you want answers." She blurted out this sentence before continuing to laugh. Jiang Yu scowled, sitting up and pointing at her angrily. Words seemed to be out of his reach though, as he couldn't come up with a response.

"Woah, calm down. Your pretty face is getting all red." Jiang Yu only flushed more, filled with an indescribable feeling of shame and anger mixed together.

Although, he didn't seem to mind as much compared to when his father beat him. Was it because she looked like she was doing it playfully? Jiang Yu had gotten the feeling that she was just messing with him multiple times during this little interaction.

"Ah, you look like you're about to explode. That's not good. Uh… how about this. I'm feeling generous today, so I'll answer one question of yours." The girl had stopped laughing at this point, instead looking mildly worried for the extremely red state of his face.

That proved to be sufficient to make Jiang Yu appeased. He focused on the question, thinking through everything that he wanted to ask her.

He could ask about why she was here, or why she decided to play around with him, or if she was his father's guest…

"How did you pop that fireball using a stick?" After saying this sentence, he felt extremely dumb. Why didn't he ask about something else, something more productive in nature? But he was… supremely curious.

The girl looked surprised at his question as well but didn't comment, instead breaking off a branch from the tree she was sitting on and throwing it at him. She motioned for Jiang Yu to pick up the stick as she held out her own, pointing at the ground.

"Watch closely, okay? I'll only show you once!"

Instantly, the stick seemed to be enchanted using some sort of magic frequency, vibrating minutely. Jiang Yu watched as she used this vibrating stick to attack the floor, making a hole that seemed to grow larger the more the stick dug. Finally, she pulled it back, catching it easily in her hands again.

"Just use vibrations. Fireballs are basically enchanted hollow balls covered in mana, so if you pop the ball, it'll naturally dissipate. Like a bubble." The girl explained as Jiang Yu watched in amazement.

"Try it." Seeing how enthusiastic Jiang Yu was, she tilted her head to point at the stick in his hands.

She didn't need to say anything, as Jiang Yu was already trying out this new form of using magic that he had never seen before. The sun slowly set as he tried over and over again, eventually succeeding.

"Nice." The girl offered a word of compliment seeing that he succeeded. Jiang Yu's eyes glowed brightly at her words, before snapping out of it.

The sun was already setting, the last traces of sunlight barely peeking through the tree's branches. Jiang Yu's eyes strayed to the girl, who still radiated that mystery.

Shifting his eyes away, he muttered out a few words of thanks. However, the girl seemed to be able to catch that, smiling softly.

Rummaging through her unseen pockets, she pulled out another apple that was also covered with runes. She had finished her other one a while back watching him, biting into the apple casually before pausing.

"Hm. Here. For learning quickly." She pulled out another apple, throwing it at him, landing directly in the middle of his hands. Jiang Yu looked at her, confused.

"Eat it."

Jiang Yu was surprised. The girl seemed to have a lot of these apples, seeing as she gave one to him so easily. Usually, for special magical items, no one would give it to someone else without hesitation. Carefully, Jiang Yu examined it, before giving up and just biting into it.

Whatever, if he died because of this, at least he died after learning a new spell besides boring beginner ones.

It tastes beautiful, somehow. Like the entire world had spontaneously exploded in his mouth, covering his tongue in this lovely, sweet aftertaste.

Then, as quickly as it came, it disappeared. Craving that taste again, Jiang Yu couldn't help but take another bite, savouring that delicious taste.

Finishing the apple, he couldn't help but feel disappointed, staring at it sadly before deciding to bring the apple core back to study. However, as he moved his arm, he felt a strange sensation.

Actually, it was more like a lack of sensation. All the bruises that had been plaguing his body were gone, even the newly formed bruise that was just present on his face. Jiang Yu absentmindedly touched his cheek marvelling at how smooth the surface felt compared to before.

Even his skin got affected.

"It's good, right?" The girl hopped down from the tree branch, landing without a noise. Jiang Yu continued to look at the apple core while nodding vigorously.

"That's good. Well, goodbye." The girl patted Jiang Yu on the shoulder again, smiling cheekily before slowly walking towards the exit.

Jiang Yu watched her walk away for a bit, before shouting out, unable to hold back his sudden worry. "Wait! Will I… see you again?" He flushed at his own words, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

However, the girl didn't seem to care too much about small things like embarrassment, instead grinning.

"Yup. You'll see me again. Next time I come, I'll give you more apples, okay?" With those words, the girl walked towards the exit again, turning left and walking out of sight.

Jiang Yu hurried towards the exit as well to catch one more glimpse of her, but when reached the exit, she wasn't there anymore, as if she had just disappeared.

He could only sigh, picking up the stick and the apple core to bring back to his room secretly.

Now, he could only play the waiting game and hope that she would come back really soon.