Chapter 175: Freedom of Choice
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As Bellona finished her declaration to Zhen Liu, the silence in the air had shifted from awkward to just plain tense. At some point, Bellona had collapsed to the ground, dirt getting all over her dress, tears quietly streaming down her face. Surprisingly, not even the kaijin had anything to say about this.
No quips, no jokes, no comments. Just…silence. Thankfully, Bellona was the first to break it…again.
“Are you gonna say something or just continue to lie there like a dead fish?,” she asked between tears.
“Give me a minute, I’m trying to think of a response,” Zhen Liu answered, “that said…”
[User will be at maximum health stats right about…now.]
‘Waitaminute, we’ve been talking for that lo-gah, whatever.’
“Hup!”
“Bah!”
[Yawn…that was a good nap. What did I miss?]
As soon as the voice in the head gave the go ahead, Zhen Liu got back up to his feet by springing himself off the ground with his hands, giving Bellona a small fright. Additionally, Hurricroak had woken up from her “nap” as well.
[Wait…did y’all get summoned with out me?! The betrayal!,] Hurricroak declared dramatically.
[We’re not on a casual outing, we’re on patrol.]
[Well wait for me then!]
In the span of a hot minute, Hurricroak had summoned herself from her ring and went off running in the same direction as the other kaijin. She threw a quick glance at the crying Bellona before she did, the latter (un)surprisingly not reacting to Hurricroak’s sudden appearance and movement out the door. Once she was out of sight, Zhen Liu brought his attention back to Bellona.
Zhen Liu offered the sitting Bellona a hand to help her stand back up.
“Come on mademoiselle,” he began to say, “sitting and crying may be cathartic, but it was only when we’re on our feet that we can change our circumstances.”
Bellona paused from her crying to stare at Zhen Liu with a mildly confused look on her face.
[I believe that was Maestro’s attempt to comfort and inspire?,] Hurricroak commented.
[Inspirational…?]
[Too wobly. Not sharp enough.]
‘Shut up, it felt appropriate for the moment,’ Zhen Liu defended himself while pointing a finger upward. He knew they couldn’t see them do this, it just felt right too.
“Pfft! Hahahahah!”
“Huh?”
[Huh?]
For the first time this afternoon, and since the first time he met her, Bellona had finally let out a full on, body shaking, laugh. In this moment, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but think Bellona was rather attractive in this moment, well…moreso. Granted, he wasn’t exactly sure why she was laughing so much.
“What’s so…oh! Right, you can hear what’s going on in my head. Found our little conversations funny, huh?”
“Very much so, yes,” Bellona managed to say between laughs. She eventually gestured for help to het back on her feet, while laughing all the while, to which Zhen Liu obliged. Once she was back on her feet, Bellona began to calm down a bit.
“Feeling better?”
“As a matter of fact…I do,” Bellona answered with a more relaxed smile. “I don’t know why…but I think I owe you thanks.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Zhen Liu smiled back while throwing his hand in a “forget about it” motion, “I’m just glad you’re less tense.”
When Zhen Liu had first met Bellona, he noticed that the young lady was…perpetually tense. While he wasn’t entirely sure others could see it, but Bellona’s were just bunched up the entire time during their initial meeting at lunch, and when he had met with her earlier today. It wasn’t until she had spilled her guts and told him what was bothering her that he could finally see her relax.
[Coast is clear milord. We can leave at any time.]
‘Thanks, Nepherage.’
“Well, you heard the kaijin. Ready to get out of here?”
“More than happy to.”
Zhen Liu offered a hand for Bellona to take into her own…but she decided to grab onto his arm instead. A soft pressure began to be applied to his upper arm.
“Now let’s go.”
[Ooh la la, maestro! I didn’t know you were such a ladies man!]
[Surprisingly sharp?]
[Suave…]
[Come on you lot…it’s only natural our lord should be able to seduce any woman he desires.]
‘Guys! Not in front of-‘
[Boo~]
‘Thank you-waitaminute! You could have prevented this the whole time?! Why didn’t you do so in the first place?’
Zhen Liu wasn’t sure if the brain voice in his head was just a voice or had an actual body…but right now, he wanted to choke it.
“Now that we’re open about my abilities, would you mind explaining what ‘choke the chicken’ means?”
Zhen Liu’s eyes went wide once he heard those words, but paused when he thought about something.
“Quick question: does your mind reading include images?”
“Nope, just words.”
“Huh…neat.”
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At some point in time, when the heirs to be were just beginning to vy for power, a little girl was born to the third prince of the royal family.
Now this little girl was the third child, first daughter, to the prince and she was born right around the time the other prince and princesses started to have kids that could become the next heir to the throne. (Un)luckily for them, she wasn’t born with the gift…at first.
For the next ten years, the little grew up as carefree as a royal child could be, blissfully unaware of the schemes of grown-ups, not having to participate in the conflicts of power, but that all changed on one ordinary day.
Out of the blue, she began to hear voices in her head. At first, she thought she was going mad or that she was possessed by some kind of demon like in the stories. However, she soon realized that wasn’t the case when she figured out the voices in her head actually belonged to the servants and her family. She was a bit of a late bloomer, but it turned out she also had the gift of [Innate Mind Reading]…and she hated it.
She had grown up “free” as it were, and was able to see how her cousins who had the gift were constantly watched over like rabbits in the eyes of hawks. Worst still, at least to her, this gift meant that now her future was set in stone.
The little girl didn’t want to be groomed to be a candidate for the crown, she didn’t want to become the future monarch of the kingdom, she didn’t want to become embroiled in conspiracy and conflict and forced to choose sides!
All the little girl wanted was…”freedom”.
And so, on the day she discovered her gift, she made sure to hide it away from everyone. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, nobody could know that she could hear them.
But keeping a secret such at this…had a tendency to create unforeseen problems.
