Chapter 80 - Verrills Birthday Party (Part 2) (1/2)

[Music Recommendation: ”A Sweet Smile” by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

We headed out to the dining area since Kaiden complained of his hunger. The maids served the food and we all happily ate. Okay, maybe not all. Crystal barely touched her food. She only took spoonfuls when Callan pestered her to eat. Kaiden, Verrill, and Hora didn't notice anything amiss.

How nice it would be to be oblivious. Basically, no one was at fault here. But even if that was the case, the fact that Crystal was hurting remained. Ugh. I wanted to hug her so bad. Poor girl… it must have been so hard to see your crush getting along with—or rather, falling for, since it looked like that—another person. And to a friend at that!

Hora and Crystal hadn't been friends for long, just like me with Crystal since I just met her during the event at the Red Dragon Hotel. But in that short span of time we all had been together, I already felt the three of us were like sisters from another mothers. Hora said that thing about Crystal and in fact, they got along more than I did with Crystal.

I couldn't help but sigh and be sad for Crystal. I started to lose my appetite, too, as I continued to see the situation. What could I do in this situation? I didn't know. What was right? What was wrong? They were all important to me and I didn't want anyone to be hurt.

Trying to think of a solution, I laid out the facts before me. First: Crystal liked Verrill. As to what extent—if it's just a crush, infatuation, or love, I had no idea. But nevertheless, she liked him. Second: Verrill seemed to be interested in Hora, though he probably didn't notice that yet. And third: Hora… no matter how much she denied it, she was interested in Verrill, too. In fact, she liked him. She's just really good at hiding her emotions in front of others. But she couldn't fool me.

Hmmm… I just realized. What if Hora noticed it, too? That Crystal liked Verrill even before I did? Maybe that was the reason she had been denying her feelings even to me. Yeah. She never did that before! If she had a crush on someone—though most were Kpop idols, she still told me! She never kept secrets from me. But this time, she's desperately hiding it.

Was it because of that? Or it was just too early to tell? Well, we just met Callan and Verrill last week during the first day of school. Of course it was too fast to say and be sure of feelings. But then again, love at first sight was also true.

”Haaahh…” I sighed deeply before I took a sip of the water I was holding.

”Did something happen?” Hora leaned over to me and whispered. ”You've been sighing since earlier.”

'Oh my goodness! Senara you better keep your acts together!'

”I-It's nothing. Sorry. I just suddenly came up with an idea for my story but I'm having troubles how to plot it. So I was thinking hard about it.” OMG. I hope my acting was convincing.

”Ahh, I see. For your new book—'The King's Beloved', right?”

”Yes, that one.”

”Okie. But it's a birthday party right now. Think of that later when we get home.”

”You're right. I will.”

After eating, we chatted a bit until the party started. Guests came one after another, all dressed glamorously, and with shiny accessories. You could tell from one glance that they were highly influential people or celebrities.