Chapter 55: The Second Trial [Final]: A Reward
Adrian thought of her words for a second. Did he still think of her as just a character from a manhwa?
Not once.
Maybe he had, for other events or other characters but never for Renelle.
She was always real to him, even when back on Earth, and that thought hadn’t changed even now, so he answered,
"No," Adrian shook his head, "you were and will always be real to me."
{True}
Even though the answer was what she expected, the look in his eyes really did catch Renelle off guard.
The look reminded her of the one his younger self had when looking at the pages that held her image.
Her butler truly was obsessed with her, not that she was complaining though.
"Then I suppose I have no choice but to accept it," she said.
"Accept what?" He curiously asked.
"Your obsession, all of it," She wasn’t fully aware of what she just said until she had already said it.
Renelle froze as she realized what she had just said and that there was no taking it back now.
Especially with the smile that had appeared on her butler’s face.
"Tch," She turned her head further away, clearly irritated at herself.
{Oh?} The founder’s voice was heard again, full of amusement, {that sounded dangerously close to a confession.}
"Silence," Renelle said immediately.
{My, my. Touchy.}
Adrian’s gaze rested on her for a second before moving to the side, of all the things he expected in this dungeon, his lady accepting his obsession was definitely not one of them.
"Alright,"
"That’s all you have to say?" she asked, a bit confused at his reaction.
"Yes," he nodded.
"You’re not going to make a big deal out of it?"
"Would my lady prefer I did?" He asked, and from the look in his eyes, Renelle had a suspicion that she’d regret saying yes.
She stared at him for a moment before clicking her tongue.
"Idiot."
’She looks cute when embarrassed,’ Adrian thought with a smile.
{Now then,} The founder spoke up again as he reappeared, {since that’s out the way, time for some rewards.}
"The trial’s over?" Renelle asked, looking around.
{Unfortunately,} the old man let out a disappointed sigh, {I was hoping for some entertaining drama, but I seem to forget that you two are....}
The old man suddenly stopped mid sentence before letting out another sigh, {never mind, now, rewards.}
{Since you two have completed the trial,} the founder said, {step forward and receive your reward.}
Adrian and Renelle walked towards him and stopped just a short distance away.
The next moment, a slight tremble was felt beneath their feet as a small podium made of the same rock as the walls and floor rose from the ground.
On the podium rested what seemed like a black chest with glowing blue texts running along it.
The chest let out a click as it opened and the mist from within was released. It soon cleared up to reveal two bracelets.
They rested side by side within the chest, faintly glowing, almost as if they were alive.
One was a deep obsidian black, thin and smooth, with faint silver lines running along its surface.
Whilst the other was a pale, almost translucent white, with a soft blue glow on it.
"This is..." Renelle started.
{A linked artifact,} the founder explained, {made from a single core, which means one that cannot exist without the other.}
He looked at them with a smile on his face, almost as if he was talking about more than the artifacts.
The duo were silent for a while as they looked at the artifacts.
"Are you going to tell us their functions?" Adrian asked looking back at the founder who had a grin on his face.
{And ruin the surprise?} The founder asked, {not a chance, now go ahead and pick one.}
"I figured as much," Adrian muttered as he picked up the black bracelet.
Following his lead, Renelle picked up the silver one and together, they put them on, causing the artifacts to light up.
They both felt a prickling sensation on their skins, but the next second, it was completely gone.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Renelle frowned slightly, lifting her wrist and turning it over, based on the founder’s antics so far, she had expected something a bit more dramatic.
But it seemed she spoke too soon, as the next second, her face went completely red.
{Oh?} the founder’s amused voice was suddenly heard, {looks like you’ve discovered one of its functions already.}
Renelle had wondered once before how heavy Adrian’s obsession was.... Well, she was currently experiencing it first hand.
One of the artifacts’ functions was to share the feelings of the wearers, hence the reason she was experiencing his obsession with her first hand.
And it was heavy.
So incredibly heavy that it almost drowned her.
"H-how do you suppress all this?" She wondered as she looked at him, drawing in a deep breath.
His every thought, feeling and imaginations was filled with her, it was so intense that she could’ve sworn she saw multiple mini her floating around her head.
"I don’t," Adrian answered honestly.
"..."
"Adrian," she called out again.
"Yes?"
"...Do you... think about anything else?"
Adrian paused before answering honestly, "not often."
"..." she slowly lowered her hand from her temple, "you’re hopeless."
Renelle then turned towards the founder and asked, "is there a way to turn it off?"
{You could will it to stop,} The founder answered, {but are you sure you don’t want to feel his love for a bit longer?}
Did she?
Yes it was so intense and obsessive, but did she hate it? No, not in the least bit.
The problem was, if she continued feeling it, she might just pass out from embarrassment overload.
"You’re really cute when embarrassed, my lady," Adrian suddenly spoke up and she could genuinely feel that he was happy to see her like that.
"That’s it," Renelle muttered and as if guided by instincts, she willed the bracelet to stop sending Adrian’s emotions into her brain, and it did.
She let out a sigh of relief as she finally tried calming herself down.
Her damn butler, on the other hand, seemed unaffected by this, which annoyed her, but before anything more could be said,
{Well then,} the founder clapped his hands once more, {since you’ve both received your rewards, I suppose it’s time to conclude this little game of mine.}
The space around them began to tremble slightly.
{You’ve passed my trials, uncovered truths about each other, and entertained me quite well,} he added with a satisfied smile.
He then looked at the bracelets on their wrists before saying, {take care of those bracelets, they have a couple more functions that should come in handy.}
{Goodbye...for now,} he finished and a golden glow enveloped the two.
When it died down, they were completely gone, leaving the founder alone in his crumbling dungeon.
{Should I have told them about that?} He muttered placing a hand on his chin before shaking his head, {I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine.}
{For now, let’s deal with the idiot messing with this universe.}
***
"...."
Renelle’s eyes twitched as she looked at the scene before her.
ROAR!!!