“You know, I heard from some of the villagers that they saw something spooky in the forest.”

Janet and Ivan were resting in the library, as she was looking at a map while Ivan was acting strange by himself in the corner.

“Oh? Which forest?”

He was scratching his beard again, which now looked full, like a man's. However, his eyes darted all over the place, not looking at Janet. He didn’t want to spoil anything, after all.

“Yeah, they said they saw ghostly apparitions around here.”

She pointed to a location that was really close to the lagoon Ivan had found a week ago.

“Hoh? And when was this?”

“When I had my break two days ago.”

Ivan's eyes narrowed and a slight smile crept onto his face.

“No, I meant when did they see it?”

Ivan had dropped his anxiousness as he was curiously staring at Janet.

“The night before, I guess?”

“Uh huh.”

“What?”

Ivan chuckled a little, as he was beginning to understand some things.

“Well, see, that is funny, since I took out a pack of Damning Butterflies around here.”

“Oh, you already got it? You definitely work hard, Ivan.”

“Yep, but that was a week ago, during our race. It was why I was late.”

Janet stiffened, as she was caught in a lie. Then she relaxed.

“Ah, then I guess it must be something else.”

“It must be…”

She made adult reactions, she knew how to perform certain things already, and she knew where the Midnight Monsters were located. Now she was trying to warn of an event. One that had already been dealt with, but a future event, nonetheless. If he hadn’t cleared those Damning Butterflies out, they would have eaten the Poison Stink Flower completely and gone to find other sources of food, or the villagers.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

But the biggest thing was why she knew how to fight, but not how to cast magic. Surely, she shouldn’t have known how to fight in the first place!

But then he remembered that only the high nobles in the Inner Kingdom had the privilege to learn magic. Even at the royal academy, they didn’t teach magic. So…she knew how to fight, ride a Midnight Monster, where they were located, and of future events. No, she also knew of special people that weren’t all that famous.

Alec was a good example.

Had she…had she seen the future? Or was she from the past? Maybe she was someone else entirely? Ivan was beginning to overthink, so he calmed down and looked at the sweating Janet, who couldn’t calm down.

“Well, I wanted to keep it a secret, but this was what I found there.”

He pulled out the refined Poison Stink flower, which was now odorless and safe. It was a resplendent purple with lime green veins coursing through the petals. Then, it also had a strange shimmering pattern along the top, like silver flakes that looked like glittering stars.

“What do I do with it?”

“Eat it.”

Janet gave a disgusted expression, but she went to take a bite. Just as she opened her mouth, Ivan moved, forcing the whole thing in at once, scaring her and almost making her choke.

“Sorry, but you wouldn’t have eaten it if you had a taste. I know.”

Her mouth was instantly filled with a vile taste and texture, but she could feel strange power running through her body. While she fought the urge to throw it up, she gulped it down with regret. When she was done, Ivan carried her to her bed and laid her down gently. However, she wouldn’t let go of his arm, meaning he had to stay the entire time.

Ivan had called in some maids to bring warm and wet cloths to keep her stabilized, while he also helped her drink water so she wouldn’t become dehydrated. For three days, Ivan watched over Janet, observing her changes. Her face had undergone a strange uplift, becoming more charming. Her skin paled and seemed to become clear. It started to shine when looked at in just the right way.

And unlike the actual flower, she gave off a nice scent. Ivan was a little worried, but he managed to stay calm. He didn’t realize what he had done, for sure.

A budding Poison Stink Flower hadn’t built up its system, so the smell itself was easily rid when refined. If it was an adult, then she would have had a noxious smell and possibly have even transformed from it. However, she took on more of the Damning Butterfly’s effects because of its deficiencies. Sure, she had affinity with plant and poison now, but her Illusion magic and poison effects would be even better now.

Now that she had not only affinity with poison, but also had increased effectivity, she would be a terrible assassin on the battlefield, defeating stronger opponents with very little effort. The worst part, though, was now she was hard to ignore. If it was probable that Janet would grow into a beautiful girl, now it was a sure thing. Ivan caught himself taking glances every now and then, making him feel weird.

After being with Janet for so long, he developed close feelings for her. Yeah, they weren’t completely romantic feelings, but as a young man without experience, he wasn’t the man with the purest of thoughts.

He even got to the point that he tried his best to keep his eyes closed. Seeing a pretty girl sleeping was a tough thing for Ivan to do continuously. Suddenly, he heard her wake up.

“Mm? Have I been ravaged? No? Do you want to ravage me? You can if you want, you know.”

Ivan nearly passed out from the way Janet spoke!