'The hell...?'

It was too quiet. In fact, it was way quieter than when we came.

"..."

"Ha..."

Howard was cupping his jaw, tossing his gaze out of the carriage's window. Alyson sighed like the old generations that were tired of all the shit the world threw at them.

As for the actual elders, Rygor and Bella? Well, they were more or less the same.

The strangest of them all was Helena, who happened to sit across from me.

She was staring at me. That's the problem, though.

All she did was staring me. She looked at me dead straight in the eyes and breathed as if to tell everyone that she, in fact, was not freezing.

She was Helena, but she felt nothing like Helena.

No, annoyed face. No grumbling. No budding rage.

Nothing...There was something buried in those eyes, but I just couldn't put a pin on it.

The worst part of this was how nobody seemed to care to explain what in the damn hell happened that made her like this.

I mean, there's gotta be something.

Judging by Howard and Alyson's reaction, apparently, the cause was me.

But that's it.

I don't know what and when exactly I pissed her off. Was it because of the thing with Giselle earlier? I did tell her I'd be back, though.

Or was it because of something I did after I successfully warded Giselle away?

Yeah...I didn't have a single fucking clue whatsoever.

'You know what? Fuck it. I don't care anymore...'

And just when I was about to give up, Helena opened her mouth.

"Why...Do you go with her? What did you two talk about? What...did she want?"

It was strange.

She tried to keep her face as straight as Bella's. But oddly enough, I could catch some kind of foreign emotions lying beneath her rigid expression.

It felt bizarre and left me unsettled, seeing Helena like that.

"Because she kept annoying us, I went to teach her a lesson. We talk nothing but nonsense. And...what she wanted? Hmm...nothing important. She was saying something about wanting to touch my hair and whatnot..."

Light flickered in Helena's emerald irises. She looked pained...

Thus, the strange feeling in my gut increased all the more so, forming a lump in my throat that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

'What in the fuck is this...?' I was shocked myself.

I could tell that I was not under any influence of magic, curse, or sickness. I knew for sure because my blessing of danger had been quiet as a mouse. Moreover, I also checked with Word Magic and found nothing weird...

"She wanted to touch your hair...?" Asked Helena hesitantly.

"Ha...I think it's better that we stop there." Sighing, Alyson urged us to stop, but Helena just wouldn't have it.

"Did she touch them?" She asked, demanding for an answer.

And the look on her face...I don't know...There was something about it that made my mouth move by itself.

"No...I told her she would get pregnant if she did." So, I told them the truth.

"You what!?" Yelped Alyson in shock.

Everyone was looking at me. Howard, who seemed to lose all interest in the world, was staring at me with his mouth gaping.

Heck, forget Howard; even the most chill out of us all, Bella, was raising her eyebrow in wonder. That was an achievement, I tell you...

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"You actually said that?" Queried Alyson in disbelief.

"Yeap. I told her she'd get pregnant if she touched me."

"What in the...That's not how it works, Alex. No, no, I mean, who taught you that?"

"You did, sister."

"...I did...? Oh, you still remember that? What a surprise, haha...You remember that one joke I told you...Haha..." Alyson's face turned beet red, peeking awkwardly at the elderly couple.

"I did remember that, sister. You told me I shouldn't touch other girls except you because they'll get pregnant and have a bunch of little babies popping-"

"Okay! That's enough. That's not how it works, Alex." Alyson shouted and cut me off flusteredly.

"That's what she said. And by the way, I know that's not how it works, sister." Having enough of my fill of teasing Alyson, I moved on.

"Then why do you say that?"

"Like I said, she was annoying us, and I wanted to teach her a lesson. So, I kept playing stupid to annoy her. And it did work remarkably, too! You should've seen her face when she realized I was beyond reasoning." I explained.

"..."

Then, silence.

"..."

And more silence.

"Pfft!" Finally, it was Howard who broke the still air. "Hahaha!"

----------------------------------------

"Huhuhu...Haha...My sides hurt..." Chortled Howard painfully.

We arrived back home, in my room, chilling after dinner. It was only the four of us, without Adam or the adults.

"Then stop laughing, man. You might choke yourself at this rate." I looked at him and shook my head.

I mean, sure, it was kinda funny to mess with someone like that, but was it that funny enough to make you laugh for so long? I don't know...

"Hey, it's not just me, Alex. See, Alyson is still laughing too."

He was right, though. Alyson was giggling lightly from time to time. I believe she also played the part of why Howard just couldn't stop laughing.

You know, that saying, laugh is contagious. Alyson was the start of the reaction, and Howard was the end.

"You don't know this, but I hate that woman. She's notorious, you know. I think Alyson can attest to my claim." Commented Howard.

"Howard is right. Lady Giselle...No, that woman is, in fact, a subject of many talks, even in my circle of friends. There is no shortage of victims who fell for her honey trap. It is cruel, and I don't like it one bit..." Responded Alyson mellow.

"Right? That's why seeing her get played is so satisfying. And don't get me started on that miserable dude. That Justin or whatever. I bet he is pulling all that show, following that woman's plan all along." Reasoned him further.

And once again, he seemed to have hit the mark.

"I do think the guests' reactions are somewhat off, and Sir Rotter is way too confident."

While Howard was ranting and Alyson tried to analyze his claim objectively, I slipped away from the two and floated closer to the wide couch in front of the window.

Helena was sitting there quietly, gazing at the endless horizon serenely.

"Hey...You're okay?" A bit hesitant at first, but I chose to open my mouth nonetheless.

"...I'm fine." She replied after a while.

"You're still mad at me?"

"I don't know, Alex."

"Then try looking at me. If you see my face, do you get the urge to punch me in the throat? Or maybe swears at me harshly?" I flew to the side, trying to throw in some harmless joke to lighten the mood.

The joke might suck, but what do you expect from me...It was my best one at that moment...

"..." Helena laid her eyes on me, blinking a couple of times while time passed by.

"You don't?" I asked her again.

"I don't know, Alex." And her answer remained the same.

She then shook her head with her eyes closed.

"I think I am mad. Mad at her, or at you, I don't know. I think I forgot about it, but I don't know why. It's different this time, Alex. You know, when I get mad, I always get crazy. But now, it's just different. It feels strange. I don't know...This was different than usual..."

"...I'm sorry, Helena."

"..."

To be honest, I didn't even know what I was sorry for.

And right now, once again, I truly felt how suck it was, being someone so socially inept as I was. Other people would've at least been able to relate to her a little, wouldn't they?

As for me? I knew jack shit and had no solution at ready...I had nothing...

But even then, I do believe that something was better than nothing. And if saying sorry had the chance to make things better, I'd do it.

"I hate it when you leave me like that...Don't do that again..."

And she caught me off guard. Helena completely caught me off guard.

I was looking at her right in the eyes and contemplating what the best answer I could give to her.

And the answer was...honesty...

"I can't promise you that...But if I say I'll be back, then I will be back..."

Helena lowered her head.

It was unknown what she was thinking at that moment as we sat there in silence.

After a while, I could see her trembling. I was just about to see what happened to her before Helena herself snapped her neck up and glared at me.

She was gnashing her teeth in anger.

"Fine! Since you do whatever the hell you want, then I'll do the same! The next time you pull that kind of thing, don't expect me to stop! I'll drag you out myself and blow everyone if I must!!"

A heartfelt scream pierced across the room. It was so sudden I could only watch in shock.

'...Hahaha...Now you're back.' Before I knew it, my hand had landed on top of her head, patting the girl carefully and as gently as I could.

"That is so like you, Helena..." I teased.

"S-Shut up! I told you to stop doing shit like this!" Scolded Helena.

That's what she said, but I didn't see her swatting my hand away like the last time.

So...I kept patting her...