"Alvin… are you okay?" She knelt beside him, looking at him with tearful eyes, running her fingertips through his black hair as she added,
"I'm sorry! I was angry. Please forgive me!"
Alvin's body was slowly recovering thanks to Meryl's life thread. So, he needed some time to be completely fine and able to return to the fight.
"Zalia, I… I'm the one who should apologize!" Alvin whispered in a voice strained by the pain within him. His bones ached despite the slight coolness and pain relief provided by the life thread. "Actually, I… I have feelings for you… but I couldn't confess them!"
Zalia bent her upper body slightly as she burst into tears, and said between her sobs, "Do you really love me?"
She brought her face close to his and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Alvin noticed that the snakes had returned to her orange hair, which meant she had lowered her guard.
One more minute. He needed just one more minute to be okay again.
"Alvin, do you love me?" Zalia repeated her question in a trembling voice, her heart hoping to hear confirmation from his lips.
"Zalia, I can't talk… you're pressing… on my stomach!" Alvin said with difficulty, hoping to buy a little time.
"Oh!" Zalia gasped as she noticed her hand was indeed pressing on his stomach. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize!"
"It's okay! Come closer so I can tell you..." he whispered weakly.
Zalia smiled happily—she was finally going to get a confession from Alvin. She would hear the words "I love you!"
Alvin raised his arm to gently hold the back of her head, letting his fingers sink softly into her hair. Then, he slowly pulled her head toward his.
In a sudden movement, he wrapped his other hand around her neck and forcefully pushed her back.
Her back hit the ground as he tightened his grip, determined to strangle her.
"Go to hell!" he muttered bitterly through his breath.
Unfortunately for him, as she struggled to free her neck from his grasp, her hair transformed once again into venomous snakes.
Before he could fully pull away, one of the snakes bit his arm.
He backed away, leaning against a tree trunk, watching her as she gasped for breath, her face turning red.
Alvin looked down at his arm when he felt it grow heavy.
His heart clenched as he realized the life thread couldn't heal it.
The poison was likely too dangerous, and Meryl's healing level hadn't reached that point yet!
He quickly took out several high-grade healing elixirs labeled 'A-rank' and drank them all at once, even as stiffness began spreading through his arm.
If the poison wasn't neutralized, he'd soon turn into a statue.
"Alvin!" Zalia cried, her voice choking with sobs. "I keep giving you chances, and you never stop betraying me!"
"Aren't you tired of this pathetic act? I know you don't love me." Alvin decided to keep her talking until his arm healed. "And I know you're doing all of this just to get my emotions!"
"What are you talking about?" she asked with a frozen expression, a wave of worry flooding her heart. "Have you lost your mind?"
— "My planet told me everything about you. You're an Earth-born creature, and Earth-born beings feed on others' emotions. That's why you keep trying to make me fall in love with you—because you want my feelings and affection!"
Zalia's expression remained unchanged for several minutes as she stared into Alvin's eyes, which were slowly shifting from blue to green.
"I see your planet doesn't hold back information!" she finally said, the corners of her lips curling mischievously.
"There's something that puzzles me," Alvin said calmly, ignoring her mention of Mr. Pie.
"Why didn't you use your powers back when I first came here?"
"Because your current planet was with you and warned me not to consume your emotions," Zalia replied with frustration.
If it hadn't been for Mister Pie's protection of Alvin at that time, he wouldn't have been able to leave the forest.
His bones would have been buried here without anyone ever knowing...
Alvin kept looking at her with a calm expression, but his mind was in complete chaos.
Mister Pie protected him years ago? That means this planet has been watching him for a very long time... But why?
__________
Tulip was in a state of panic, his breathing rapid and his heart pounding violently in his chest.
He was in a dimly lit room, with a single lamp hanging from the ceiling, casting light over the wooden chair beneath it.
"We're going to play a game, Tulip!" said the young woman with reddish-auburn hair, a wide, cheerful smile on her face.
Under the faint light, her green eyes sparkled. Tulip took a step back, shaking his head in refusal.
"You're saying you don't want to play with me?" Her expression fell into a brief frown, then quickly sharpened as she continued,
"You misunderstood the situation. I'm not asking you to play — I'm telling you we will play!"
She leapt lightly toward the small table by the wall, grabbed the alarm clock on it, and began setting a timer.
"The game goes like this: one of us sits in the chair, blindfolded with a piece of cloth so they can't see anything.
The other person will circle around the chair for three minutes while singing."
She placed the alarm clock back, turned to Tulip — whose body trembled slightly — and continued with a small smile:
"If you open your eyes before the time is up, I'll cut your body. The same rule applies to me.
The game lasts for five rounds, and the winner will get to torture the loser."
Tulip shook his head again, his back pressed firmly against the cold wall behind him.
He didn't want to take part in this bloodstained game.
He swallowed hard as he saw the young woman draw a dagger from beneath the belt around her waist.
She ran the sharp tip across her moist tongue, her eyes fixed on him.
"Don't be afraid, Tulip. I won't betray you, I promise," she said with exaggerated gentleness.
She placed her hand on the backrest of the chair and added,
"Either you come and sit here so we can start the game… or I'll skin you alive and make a rug out of you for my room!"
Tulip had wanted to send a message to Alvin and ask for help, but he hesitated too much.
He was afraid of being a burden to Alvin — that one day, Alvin might grow tired of him and walk away...
But he truly loved Alvin. He didn't want to be separated from him!
Tulip glanced around the room, deciding to rely on himself to escape this nightmare and return to Alvin,
to tell him proudly that he managed to win on his own.
That way… Alvin would know he wasn't a burden to anyone. Tulip tried to encourage himself with this thought.
{You have a friend request from 'The pink Widow'
[Accept] [Decline]
}
The Rose Widow… Tulip always saw her in the public chat of the planetary network.
She often talked to "The Womanizer Planet" and "The Sad Clown."
Why was she sending him a friend request now?
Tulip walked slowly toward the chair. The young woman sighed with relief, her sharp features softening into a relaxed smile.
He would play this game — but if he sensed even a flicker of betrayal from her,
he'd use Blue Bell's blue flames to distract her… and then kill her.
He sat on the chair nervously. The young woman clapped enthusiastically, then grabbed a piece of cloth from beside the alarm clock and used it to cover Tulip's eyes.
She pressed the button on the alarm before walking around the chair in a circle, singing in a loud voice:
"Whether you win or lose, it doesn't matter, because I'll skin you and make a rug for my room…"
This was certainly not a song, but rather her inner thoughts, which she voiced aloud deliberately to instill fear in the little boy's heart.
Tulip tried to stay composed as much as possible, while his senses were at their peak, ready to fire at any moment. It was supposed to be only three minutes, but it felt like three hours. When the alarm rang, the young woman stopped singing.
She fell silent for a few moments, to the point where even her breathing couldn't be heard.
Tulip wanted to raise his hand and remove the cloth from his eyes, but he feared she would tell him the round wasn't over yet, so he remained still for a few more moments until the young woman said in a dark tone, "The round is over. You can open your eyes."
Tulip sat up from the chair and handed her the piece of cloth. He set the alarm for three minutes, and once he made sure her eyes were closed, he pressed the button and the second round began.
Since Tulip couldn't speak or sing, he clapped his hands. He quickly pressed 'Accept' and then clapped again before the girl could sense anything.
– [I know you can't speak. Move your lips and I'll read them.]
– "What do you want from me?"
– [I have an offer for you. Be my embodiment, and I'll grant you the power to get out of here safely.]
"I don't want to. Maybe you're a bad planet!" Tulip felt his heart about to leap out of his chest when he saw the girl move, then remove the cloth before the time was up…
– [I'll open a video call so your little friend, Bluebell, can see me. He knows who I am.]
"Oh, looks like I lost!" said the young woman with a small smile. Tulip froze in shock. Was this girl insane? She had lost on purpose…
Tulip reached out his hand toward her, pretending he wanted to touch her, but in truth, he opened the video call to the planet "The Pink Widow."
So this is what planets look like? Tulip wondered as his eyes studied the lady on the screen.
– [Her name is Celestine. She feeds on feelings of pain, misery, fear, and other negative emotions.
And just so you know, the game is already over. The moment you hurt her, she begins torturing you.] the woman said aloud.
Even so, her voice did not reach Celestine, who was looking at Tulip with a smile, waiting for him to carry out the punishment and torture her.
"You are…" Tulip moved his lips, directing his words to the planet reading them…