With parted lips, Drishti leaned in until they were mere inches apart, her voice dripping with threat as she said, “It’s fortunate you didn’t push to learn more about us back then, or I would have lost such an interesting man like you.” But again with a smile forming, she added, “Hmm, So, You can’t copy his eyes exactly.”
‘….’ Ryuk’s eyes were fixed at a distance while standing a few steps before the two figures, among them his own image and Drishti herself.
“She is really strong,” Esme nudged Ryuk’s elbow the moment her eyes caught the slight turn of glance from Drishti’s pupil towards her added with those words from her, prompting Esme to understand that her illusion didn’t work.
“And here I thought you could copy anything completely,” Drishti, retreating back, glanced at Esme, who stood wearing a white dress with golden pupils looking back at her.
“Indeed, it’s true, but I can’t perfectly copy him,” Esme said with a smile while glancing softly beside, causing the young man standing beside her to glance at Regina, who stood with one hand resting on her sword and eyes reciprocating his, as if saying: can I help you?
[ Sugar levels are increasing in the air. Do you want me to add spices?]
‘…Tell me’ Ryuk, hearing the System’s voice, inquired, not paying attention to Esme’s departing figure towards Drishti, solely focused on his mind since he could still hear everything they say or maybe not…
[She activated Illusion.]
‘leave it and tell me,’ Hearing the System’s informing about Esme creating an illusion to hide her sound, Ryuk, not focusing on this matter since he would just ask her later, commanded.
[Host, while using the Battleship’s radars, I got access to energy signatures of upcoming ships. Infiltrating them is easy. Do you want me to self-destruct their ships? >.< ] '....' Ryuk didn't have any words to say after hearing the tone in which the System proposed this, which was indeed tempting, yet his eyes first glanced at both women busy in conversation. Though Ryuk definitely wanted to give this warm welcome to the upcoming guests but he was also thinking about the present situation where, in the end, he needed to not act rashly after hearing Drishti's declaration about Edward's special position. A helpless situation where he was tempted to provide a fire show, and on the other hand, he needed to be cautious about not getting caught while preparing the situation to provide a deep-bloodied body massage to upcoming guest. For the first time in his life, Ryuk chose to compromise something this tempting, placing a stone on his heart, he commanded, 'Blast one of the three ships accompanying Edward.' And with this, Ryuk instead of destroying all three ships choosed only one of them— a compromise indeed. Finally, with this, he will accomplish one of the two things were he needed to provide a warm welcome through—a fire show and a good massage with blood oil. ... "Your illusions are still interesting," Drishti remarked, looking at the approaching figure of a golden-eyed woman wearing a white dress, walking towards her with rhythmic steps. "Thank you for the compliment, Aunt Drishti," Esme nodded, her expression composed upon hearing praise from the woman who was very familiar to her, even though they had never met personally. "Actually, it shouldn't be 'Aunt,'" Drishti gently corrected with a smile, noting Esme's mispronunciation. "But..." Esme hesitated, her lips slightly trembling before she stopped, understanding that this matter could be handled sometime later after seeing Drishti's smile. She calmly nodded, "Fine, Grandma." "Did you use an illusion?" Drishti tilted her head to glance at the young man busy in his thoughts, understanding that this title from Esme would taint her image. "Yes, he can't hear us," Esme replied, assuring Drishti to some extent, while both of their expressions remained calm, not giving a single opening for each other. "Good. Now, what's with that grandma thing?" Hiding her facial twitch, Drishti inquired with closed eyes, trying to control herself for the sake of her interest. "But, aren't you older than my Grandma?" Esme slightly lifted her eyebrow as she inquired, reminding herself of the information her maternal grandma always provided her about that troublesome friend of hers. '....' Drishti reevaluated her calculations regarding the information she had thought would be a secret for this young generation after hearing Esme's words before continuing, "She must be joking. You can test my bone age; I am not older than 600 years." Drishti extended her wrist, prompting Esme to express her curiosity about the age of someone who was a friend of her grandma. Without hesitation, Esme placed her fingers on Drishti's wrist and infused it with mana. SWOOSH A stream of mana made its way from Esme's fingers to Drishti's wrist. "...it's 528 years," Esme loosened her hands, retreating fingers as she turned her eyes upward and met Drishti's, who had a soft smile. "I already told you, my age isn't that much," Drishti calmly reassured the young woman, maintaining her composure and conveying sincerity and honesty. "I see..." Esme nodded before putting this thought aside and focusing on the matter for which she had come to talk with Drishti. "What will happen if I killed that Edward guy?" "Woah." Hearing something unexpected, Drishti's eyes slightly widened with amusement before relaxing, understanding that she is not going to get bored with these people. "And why would you think of doing that?" Drishti didn't care about Esme's strength or doubt if she would be able to kill that young man or not, since Esme had already proven herself once by killing a legendary ranker. However, matters were different this time. Not focusing on the possibility of Esme killing Edward or not, Drishti inquired about the intentions and reasons which motivated her to ask something like this regarding someone unknown to her. "... Isn't he hates Edward?" Esme directly placed her thoughts forward while looking calmly at Drishti. "Who?" Due to the sudden words, Drishti inquired about the pronoun used by Esme here to refer to someone as 'he.' "He," Esme repeated herself. "Who?" Drishti, though slightly understanding that the 'he' here was none other than Ryuk, still persisted, finding it interesting to frustrate the young woman who had just caused her to lie. Indeed, it was true that Drishti was 528 years old, but only her present body, not exactly her real age, which would surpass numbers she could remember, making her lie to this girl to hide her real age. "Lady Drishti, you already know whom I am talking about. Please tell me, will there be any problem?" Esme understood that Drishti was feigning ignorance even after already knowing everything, causing her to inquire once again. "....For you, nope," Drishti gestured with her eyes towards Esme before glancing towards the young man whose eyes met hers. She added, "But for him, yes." "I understand," Esme noted, understanding that indeed she would be safe due to the support of her grandma, but what about him? Naturally, after hearing about the story regarding how Ryuk had dissected Edward's hand at just the age of 5, proving the hatred holding within him, but what about Esme. Her action wasn't logical at all, since she was unaware of everything including that unknown man called Edward. But, after hearing the conversation between Drishti and Ryuk, Esme became aware that he was a habitant of Heindal, which he never mentioned to her —not that she cared, since she knew he would tell her one day. Right now, the only thing that appeared in her sight was someone who was an enemy of the person she chose to spend life with was coming here. So, it was impossible for her to retreat or sit idle. But now, after getting confirmation from Drishti, it was clear that killing wasn't possible. "But what if Grandmother killed him?" "Come on, Esme, aren't you being too hasty?" Drishti felt slightly confused seeing the young woman acting so amature without considering different factors. Like, She had recently met the young man who she fell in love with him just few months back, and now taking decisions that might not be in her favor, all for him. '...she is right', Esme couldn't understand herself, knowing that indeed she was acting too rashly, completely different from her usual self, all because of the sensation she felt a moment ago. As soon as Drishti uttered Edward Abernathy's name, Esme felt a sudden surge of intense hostility emanating from the young man beside her. She sensed a rapid increase in heartbeat, the sound of clenched fists, all of which went unnoticed by those around her, sourced from the young man. But then, all those emotions rushed toward her in an amplified form. The sheer intensity of the emotions flooded her, filling her mind with hatred, momentarily stopping her heart, and causing her fingers to instinctively clench tighter, propelling her to act without concern for anything else. 'Is this the side effect of the Curse?' Esme's golden pupil glanced at her palm, eyes softening as she was reminded of the side effects of the curse, which were really making her decisions blurred. First Side-effect of Curse: The one who loves more will feel an amplified surge of emotions after both partners accept each other's love, Vocally. Naturally, if the Curse linked with the Tenebri Bloodline just made everyone find their soulmates and true love, wouldn't it be a boon? But no... There was a reason to consider it a curse, and that reason was the 7 side effects linked with this curse. Those side effects start to show their presence as the relationship moves from various steps like, Vocal Acceptance < Intimacy < Heart bonding < Spritual acceptance < Eternal love.... And lastly two more unknown stages. No one knew what the side effects would be at those last two levels since no one remained alive to witness it.... This was the sad story of the Tenebri Bloodline. It promised true love but ended up trapping its seekers, like a moth drawn to a flame, leaving them lost and consumed in oblivion. Things about curse will reveal slowly with the chemistry between both Esme and Ryuk increasing by the levels, which seems not more than 10 chaps ahead when both will have intimacy
