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“Clove, slow down. We are here just to observe today so don’t cause…”

To say that Aurora had an awkward smile while running into the two familiar faces would be an underestimation.

“Clove, Quince, it’s nice to meet you again…. I should get going now.”

Aurora was not running away, she was making a tactical retreat. What was there to be scared about anyway?

And it was not like she was wanted in this company anyway. Quince’s eyes were glaring at her to go back and not show her face in front of the pair.

However, it was Clove’s eyes Aurora was glued to. The younger girl was staring at Aurora with unseen emotions and her blue-colored crystalline eyes were tinted with a darker tone.

Aurora tried to go around Clove and make a quiet retreat but she was not able to bypass Clove. The younger girl had her arm in the hold which made it difficult for Aurora to move around.

Had Aurora wanted, she could have broken the hold Clove had on her arm and escaped. But Aurora chose not to do that because of the soft spot she had for Clove.

Instead, she turned toward the younger with eyes filled with question.

“Is something wrong? I’m afraid that I can not spend a lot of time with you. My partner is waiting for me.”

It was not until Aurora finished her words that she realized how misleading they could be. Clove looked taken aback by Aurora’s answer and even lightened her hold on Aurora’s arm.

However, Aurora was not able to make use of this opportunity to escape before she had her arm in a tight clutch again.

“Partners? Who are those partners you spoke…”

“Miss, are you very busy? Can you help us out? It is our first day on these floors and I was hoping to get a reliable guide to help our group out.”

Aurora could feel Clove’s anger bubbling under the surface. The words did not let out how the female was feeling but her aura was not able to hide her feelings.

However, Aurora was not the only one who noticed. Quince, who had likely noticed this change, quickly changed the subject to calm the situation.

‘Clove has changed. Is it because I am no longer at her side? Or is it due to her missing soul?’ the question plagued Aurora’s mind all of a sudden and it also caused her to feel guilty.

But no matter how much guilt she felt, she did not want to help the tower out in any way.

“I am quite busy so I will have to refuse your offer. You should look for a reliable informant near the auction house.”

Aurora cursed her soft heart for helping the tower out. She had wanted to erase the sour look on Clove’s face so she had ended up blurting that information out.

‘It’s for Clove and not the tower. I’m doing this all for her.’ Every time Aurora closed her eyes, the younger face of Clove overlapped with the older one in her memories.

Now that Clove was growing up a little, her face was beginning to resemble her older self. And it was getting more and more difficult to keep on looking at her.

“Aurora, what are you doing here? We should get going now,” thankfully, Rita’s timing was impeccable.

The redhead came to her rescue in the nick of the time. She even had a frown on her face to indicate how worried she was about Aurora.

“Ah, Rita. I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I just ran into some familiar faces here so I wanted to say hello.”

Aurora sneakily got her arm out of Clove’s grip and freed herself before joining Rita’s side. She did not ask where Natasha was and quietly positioned herself in a safe spot.

“Friends? Aren’t they too young to be associating with you? Also, aren’t they too young to be venturing this deep into the abyss?”

. “Maybe it’s because we are much stronger than you. You got here because you are clinging to Aurora, right? Otherwise, how can a powerless person like you make it this deep into the abyss? You don’t even have any divine power in you.”

Aurora tried to stop the gasp that was escaping her mouth. Never in her life had Aurora ever seen Clove behave like this.

Had someone told Aurora that Clove was capable of being rude like this, Aurora would have laughed their claim off and called them a liar.

However, seeing this with her own eyes was a different experience for sure.

“You little brat. What do you even know about me and my relationship with Aurora? How can you even guess how deeply connected we are?” Rita sounded pissed off.

“And what do you know about my relationship with Aurora? What if we are fated to be? What will you do then?” Clove replied, her voice cold as ice. She also sounded pissed off.

“As if that would ever happen. You are from the tower and Aurora hates the tower. There is no way she would ever consider…”

“Enough. Rita, it’s enough. We should start heading back since we are done with our work. Quince, make sure to check out the place I told you about. I have no intention of hurting you but I won’t help you either.”

Aurora tried not to flinch when she ignored Clove. The golden-haired girl was staring at Aurora with a betrayed look on her face.

But no matter how much it hurt to have Clove look at Aurora like that, Aurora had to draw the line somewhere.

Both pairs parted without any additional words spoken. A lot was left unsaid spoken between them and there were a lot of feelings of regret as well.

“Aurora, are you sure you are alright? Your eyes. They look a little redder than normal and also a little wet.”

“Leave me be for now. I am alright and I don’t want to talk about it for now. I will tell you later if I dare to face myself.”

Rita did not comment on Aurora’s shaking voice, nor the wet note in her tone.

No tear fell from Aurora’s eyes that day but her heart was heavy. It also made her wonder if she was doing the right thing or not.

But she did not get to think about it anymore when she reached Natasha who was waiting for the pair at the city gate.

Natasha did not ask Aurora to elaborate and Aurora did not say anything to her either. There was a silent pact between them to not mention this incident ever again.

===========================

Quince watched the blue-haired lady walk away.

She had a different look and air about her. The new streak of white in her hair was also interesting but not as interesting as the aura of darkness around her.

Seeing her in the abyss again, Quince could confirm that there was something familiar about her. The woman, Aurora, had a feeling about her that screamed ‘Abyss’ born.

“Clove, are you alright? I have never seen you break character before like that.”

However, as much as Quince wanted to chase after Aurora and solve her puzzle, he had a more important thing to tackle. And that important thing was Clove.

Ever since that late-night talk where he and Clove had that same dream, Clove’s behavior had changed.

She still pretended to be that sweet and charming girl everyone liked but she was slipping more and more. She was also beginning to show a weird detachment to this world.

But the most worrisome part of her was her disappearance.

Oftentimes, Clove vanished in the middle of the mission without telling anyone. She did return quite soon but no one could point out when she had left or to where.

These disappearances were worrying but they also made Quince nervous for some reason.

“Of course I am alright. Even I am allowed to break character once or twice so it’s no big deal.” Clove took in a deep breath and her aura of nervousness disappeared, “Are you going to take her advice?”

Quince was a little startled before he remembered what Clove was asking about.

She was asking about Aurora and the advice she had given to Quince. He did want to take up her advice but he had other plans.

The tower had already made sure there was a guide for their party. He had only asked Aurora because he had wanted to distract Clove.

Thankfully, Aurora followed his lead and rejected that offer. Quince had no idea what he would have done had his offer been accepted by Aurora.

“I will check the auction house out but I also know a few elder adventurers who can help us out. I will be going to check them out. What about you?”

“I would like to roam around this place and buy a few things. Then, we shall meet again in a few hours at the entrance of the night market?”

“Sure.”

Quince was skeptical about leaving Clove alone but this was his chance to know more about what she was doing.

As soon as she disappeared, he opened his fist and a bird made up of magic flew out to tail Clove.