After Serenity handed Ash the boxes, she explained the use of two of the three items and asked him to keep the third one closed and never open it unless he was in a life-or-death situation.
After that, she took her glasses and box from Ash, her psyche glowed in white, and she herself was swallowed by the butterflies till there were only a little more than ten of them; they flew outside, passing through the thick glass window, flying straight to her dorm room.
After the butterflies entered, they multiplied for her to appear in her original dark hair and dress; she stretched her arms and took a deep breath before heading to take a bath.
After she finished showering, she placed the artificial glass eye back in hers and then crashed on the bed in her white bathrobe, her lips curled, drawing a big smile.
"I can't believe he is still alive."
In an overwhelming, almost intoxicating scene of joy, she covered her face with her pillow, squeezing it hard, and curled her thighs towards her stomach and started kicking the air, screaming from joy.
"Kyaaaaa…he is here...oh my gooooood."
Her voice was so loud that the other students at the dorm started cursing at her.
"Shut the fuck up."
"It's two am; go to sleep, you bitch."
"Stop making noises; I need to catch up on my sleep."
Feeling embarrassed and startled, she jolted from the bed, saying out loud,
"Sorry."
But inside she was still complaining, "This dormitory's soundproofing is terrible; better pay attention for the future."
Serenity sat down, leaning on her bed. She hugged her pillow between her arms, squeezing it hard, and while resting her chin on it, her face was blushing faintly, saying,
"This is truly terrible; I can't even celebrate when I am happy...I am moved to tears, but unfortunately I can't cry. What a misfortune, but...speaking of misfortune …"
Serenity rolled her silver eyes to the side, her face turned serious.
"What are you doing here, Assistant Liu?"
Assistant Liu walked confidently from the dark shadow behind her doorstep, asking,
"I made sure to hide my breath, so how did you know I was standing here?"
Serenity, holding her pillow, adjusted her position to sit, crossing her legs, and she answered bluntly,
"It doesn't matter if you hide your breath since as long as you are alive your body heat can never disappear. There's no use hiding." She gave him a provocative smile. "Good luck trying to hide from me."
Assistant Liu, feeling challenged for the first time,
"You..."
Assistant Liu is known as the king of assassins. For an assassin, hiding your presence is crucial since they need to kill their targets and leave in silence. If someone can detect people depending on their inner heat, then a surprise attack is impossible; such a person must be dealt with head-on.
"You're saying you are my nemesis, huh?"
"I didn't say… you did... and..." Serenity placed her left arm beside her as she leaned forward. She smugly asked, "Can I have the pleasure of knowing why you pleased me by your majestic visit?"
"I am here to deliver something," Assistant Liu replied.
His straight face was in reality hiding a ton of complaints: "I am being mocked by a child; first her mother, now her. The boys never treated me like that...am I destined to be treated like that by this pair of mother and daughter?"
Serenity was confused by his answer, unwilling to believe him.
"A delivery?...at two am?...Is this some kind of joke?"
Assistant Liu took out a ring from his pocket and took out the box and dimensional sac the queen gave him previously and placed them on her bed.
"Although I have no idea why, Her Majesty Queen Luna asked me to deliver these things to you personally as fast as I could."
Seeing the things Queen Luna sent, she burst out in laughter.
"Pfft...hahahahaha...what the hell did she do?"
Assistant Liu was dumbfounded by her hysterical laughter and fell into deep silence.
"..."
After she finished laughing, her face turned serious as she stood up, gently touching the dragon eye engraved on the box. She said, "I remember mentioning wanting one of those a long, long time ago...I can't believe she still remembers "
"Her majesty said to deliver both the items within a day without opening any of them."
"Of course you can't..." Serenity quickly gave him the wrong impression that she knew he was coming before he even did, but her next words spiraled his curiosity.
"A single mistake and my treasures are ruined. Gotta admit that's a point for you, Mother."
Serenity asked again in concern, "How is my mother now?...Is she still angry about that day?"
Assistant Liu answered professionally, "I don't think so...if she was truly angry, I wouldn't be here today, don't you think?"
She felt a hint of satisfaction with a slight smile.
-chuckle-
"You've got a point; after all, she needed to vent her bottled anger, or some pitiful soul might get killed not knowing why." Serenity sat down slowly beside the box.
Bite her finger till it bleeds, which allowed her blood to completely cover the eye of the engraved dragon, surprising Assistant Liu by that move of hers.
She placed her finger into her mouth, sucking the remaining blood from it, while setting her sight on the box.
The dragon engraved on the box starts to gradually change into red; the previous cold glow around the box turns into an eerie red glow.
"What the hell is in that box?"
Serenity gave him a side eye, and then with no emotions, she turned her gaze at the box once again. After taking her finger out of her mouth, Assistant Liu's eyes widened seeing her finger completely healed. "What happened to you?"
She couldn't care less about his words as the glow around the box disappeared. The box regained its glassy white color again except for the eye that stayed dark red and stained in blood. Once serenity touched it again, this time it turned into light around her wrist. After clearing, it was formed into a wing-shaped ring wrapping around her index connected by snow crystals to a crystal dragon-shaped bracelet, a crystal hand chain bracelet stealing the attention of the lookers.
Serenity closed her hand as if she was holding something; the next second, a long, sharp blade
The handle is a dragon-like handle; in its mouth, a big ruby is held. The guards are two snow crystal wings, the blade is covered with runic spells, and the scabbard is glass-like—you can't tell if it's on or not.
Serenity looked at Assistant Liu with an ominous look. He knew, 'Something is off with the way she looks at me.'
His guess was completely right; without a single warning, she used her sword to cut through the air in front of him. A wave of energy formed, launching at him. Assistant Liu quickly activated his magic; he crossed his arms over his chest, stopping her attack with his bare hands.
-drip...drip-
Shocked and surprised at the same time, Assistant Liu got confused. "What the hell?!...She actually managed to injure me, even with a strengthened physique. What the hell was that weapon?"
He suddenly realized an important detail: "That's not right; it wasn't just a weapon. It's actually a sword intent...you can actually summon a sword intent?"
She held her sword outward, placing her index over her mouth. "Shh...that's to learn never to enter my room again without my permission."
Looking at his injured hand, he came up with a thought that made him scared: 'Your Majesty thought she is weak and needs your help, but from what I see, maybe it's best if she was without any magic, because even in her current state, she still looks down on others... This is my first time feeling fear in front of a little kid. She doesn't need help, but it's us... I am afraid you might have awakened a sleeping monster without realizing it yourself, Your Majesty...'
He swallowed his saliva, trying to stay calm, but still he couldn't help but speak his mind.
"A lunatic…you are definitely a lunatic."
"Oh!...thanks for the compliment."
The smile on her face made him even more terrified; he wanted to leave there on the spot. He fixed his cloth and kneeled politely.
"If nothing else, I already did my job; I will leave now."
Serenity slowly walked towards him, placing her sword over his throat. "Mother seems under a lot of pressure lately; you better take good care of her, or I will find you."
After she finished what she needed to say, she retreated to her seat, crossed her legs, and looked at the outside from her window as if nothing had happened.
Assistant Liu, on the other hand, after she pointed her sword at him, was shocked beyond belief. At that moment, he knew it wasn't just some empty words; it was a warning. The confidence in her speech and the look in her eyes made him believe she could kill him if she wanted.
'Is she still that weak princess I know?...You misjudged the situation, Your Majesty; at least right now that woman in front of me is nothing but a terrifying existence arousing my survival instinct with every passing second.'
He swallowed his fear and asked her,
"When are you coming back?"
She answered without any hesitation, "After the cup of glory we have a day off; it's enough for a trip back and forth."
"I will inform her majesty then." He suddenly remembered about the letter the queen gave him. "That's right...her majesty also gave me a letter to deliver with the items."
He took it out and handed it over to Serenity. She took it and didn't even bat an eye, answering casually, "Doesn't matter, leave already."
"Excuse me then."
Assistant Liu disappeared in the shadows of her room; a moment later, she finally moved back to her bed, opening the letter from her mother.
"I wonder what she wrote for me?"
She started reading the content of the letter: "Back then you seemed to really like the sword in your grandmother's hand, but since it was an emperor-grade weapon, it wasn't that easy to stumble upon one, so this one with you was custom-made for you by both my mana and your father's blood, using a divine spiritual bone as a base. While putting in consideration your ice physique, we used an ice core to ensure the capability with you. Maybe you turning human has something to do with the nature of our magic."
The smile on Serenity's face softens the more she reads from the letter. "This letter seems to have been written a long time ago. I wonder if it's since I mentioned it, but that would be 11 years."
She continued reading, 'But your state of mind after the accident was the complete opposite from before, and your state of mind wasn't that good to allow you to possess such a weapon, so we had to wait...This wasn't something we could risk giving to you carelessly; only when the time is right can you actually have it.'
Serenity took a lighter and burnt the whole litter, throwing it into the trash while it was still on fire. It burnt till the whole thing turned into ashes.
Serenity stared at the burnt litter blankly, thinking, 'I liked the first part; it was all on me, but the second part was all about her...once again I am responsible for solving the mess she created.'
"Sigh...I don't like the sound of this."
Serenity took the sack her mother left for her and opened it to be shocked by the amount of bills and armor inside.
"All of them are body strength bills; does she really think I am that weak?"
Serenity closed the sack in anger and placed everything in it. Assistant Liu got the items in, including the things she got from the abandoned city.
After getting under the blanket, she closed her eyes, ready to sleep.
'I was in such a good mood before he came; I better sleep, or I am killing him today.'
Under the night sky, different people with different stories, all under the same sky, each with a different destiny.
All fates started colliding, and the joint end is approaching; the sleeping beasts are about to awake, forcing the world to summon his own age of heroes to correct the path and fix what was broken under the curse of time.
Serenity suddenly screamed ,"Stop.....hah,hah,hah,hah.…what the hell?"
She grabbed her neck with both hands tightly after scratching it a few times, as if she was suffocating herself. Her breath was unsteady; she was forced awake, sweating profusely, trembling with a noticeable rapid heartbeat. She held onto her chest, her eyes wide open. The terrified look in her eyes tells that she had a terrible nightmare.
She slowly sat down and looked outside; seeing the birds outside, she felt relieved a little.
-chirp...chirp...chirp-
"It's already morning, huh...."
Serenity placed her hands over her neck, feeling the marks from shocking herself; she found blood on her neck.
"This shit will repeat again till that damn vision comes to light...aàh...that would be a long way to go."
-buff-
She fell on her back, staring at the ceiling with a blank expression, thinking, 'This is the worst time to have this shit, and I need to prepare for whatever is coming next.'
She shouted her grievance, "Oh god, can't I just have a quiet, carefree life for once?"
-ring...ring...ring...-
The sudden phone call made her face twist with anger; she answered on the spot.
"Can't you choose a better time to call, huh?"
"It's me…"
A grown man's voice came from the other end of the phone, shocking her.
"Why is it you?"