Chapter 76: Escape

Neolan extended his palm toward Alice, and the moment she saw the object resting on it, her eyes widened as she shifted her gaze from the object to his face. "This is the Stone of Elysium, Alice." He paused before glancing at the locket hanging around her neck and continued, "This will upgrade the locket I gave you on your birthday."

Alice already knew what the stone was and how difficult it was to obtain one.

The Stone of Elysium was a Transcendent stone found only in the deepest parts of a Sealed Rift. It could grant its user an additional ability that could be activated at a critical moment, although that ability could only be used once.

Despite that limitation, the ability would always be of the highest grade, SSS-grade, making the stone an extremely valuable resource. Yet, Neolan was holding one in his hand as though obtaining such a rare object had been a simple matter.

Neolan’s thoughts returned to what had happened some minutes ago, when he had returned to the space station to obtain information about Alice’s current dealings with Ousvault. When he discovered that she was planning to enter a Sealed Rift, he had initially become concerned about her decision, but he soon shook his head and reconsidered. ’It’s Alice’s own choice if she wants to do something. I can’t stop her from that.’

’Hmm, I can help her somehow, though.’ After reaching that conclusion, he had immediately gone to Ousvault to obtain the Stone of Elysium. Following his increase in rank within the Federation, his personal wealth had crossed one billion credits, allowing him to afford the stone despite its price of five hundred million credits.

Although the amount was substantial, he hadn’t hesitated to spend it when Alice was involved.

For now, Neolan dismissed those thoughts and looked at Alice, whose expression had become worried and concerned as she seemed to realize how many credits he must have spent on the stone. He exhaled softly before slowly moving his hand toward the locket hanging around her neck, careful not to pull it away from her.

Instead, he simply touched its surface and gently opened it.

Inside the locket were two pictures, one of Neolan and the other of Alice, with their cheeks pressed together as they smiled happily. Neolan smiled at the sight, but Alice suddenly flinched when his fingers touched her skin, and a deep blush spread across her face.

She swallowed nervously while looking down at him, her attention caught by the smile on his face as he examined the pictures, "Alice, I will need the necklace for just a moment. Can you take it off?" Alice looked at him briefly before nodding and removing the locket from her neck, handing it over to him.

Once it rested in his left hand, Neolan brought the small blue stone in his right hand closer to the necklace, its surface radiating an intense amount of Astrine energy.

When the two objects were close enough, Neolan began channeling his Astrine energy into the necklace before speaking to her. "Alice, now channel your Astrine energy into the necklace as well." Alice immediately followed his instructions, directing her energy into the locket while Neolan continued supplying his own.

The moment the stone touched the necklace’s surface, the entire room was illuminated by a white brilliance that spread in every direction.

Alice closed her eyes with a small groan as the brightness filled her surroundings, while Neolan remained silent with his eyes closed. After a moment, the radiance began contracting toward the point where it had first emerged, gradually returning to the necklace.

When the light finally disappeared, the object looked completely different from before, and both Alice and Neolan opened their eyes to examine the result.

The necklace now featured an elegant, claw-like silver setting that held a long, translucent blue crystal at its center. Intricate metallic ornaments curved around the crystal, forming a decorative frame, while a delicate chain extended from its upper clasp.

The overall design looked refined, with the blue crystal serving as its central feature.

Despite its appearance as an ordinary pendant, Neolan reached toward the crystal housing and opened it using the small hinge attached to its side. Two tiny portrait compartments were revealed on the inner sides, containing the same pictures of Neolan and Alice that had been inside the original locket.

Alice examined the necklace with awe, noticing that an unfamiliar aura seemed to radiate from the transformed object. "Haha, this came out quite good. Now let’s see what its ability is." Just as Neolan finished speaking, he suddenly felt a push against his body, causing him to frown as he fell backward onto the bed.

Alice had moved without warning and was now lying over him, having immediately leaned forward to capture his lips in a kiss. Before Neolan could react, she pressed her lips against his and continued kissing him.

Her hands moved instinctively to either side of Neolan’s head as his eyes widened in surprise. "Mph! Mmm?" He couldn’t even manage to speak properly as she deepened the kiss, leaving him momentarily unable to respond.

’What...? Why is Alice behaving like this?’ he wondered inwardly while hearing her soft moans as she continued kissing him.

After a long moment, Alice finally pulled away, her face flushed red as she looked at him with an expression that seemed almost obsessive. Her eyes had turned abyssal black as she spoke, "My dear Neo, you forgot that it’s been months since we last did ’it’? Now you suddenly appear and give me such a precious gift. Do you think I can control myself?"

Neolan arched his eyebrows as the realization finally struck him, understanding why she had reacted so suddenly, ’...Fuck, I forgot because of all the mess I had been going through.’ He swallowed as memories of his previous life with Alice returned to him.

Except when she was dealing with a serious situation or behaving normally around others, Alice could act like any ordinary person, but when they were alone, her obsessive side would emerge whenever Neolan managed to make her heart flutter.

Even a small gesture from him could bring about that change in her behavior.

’As much as I want to do ’it’ with her right now, I don’t have the luxury or time for that. I need to use the same strategy as my previous life to escape for now...’ Neolan immediately looked back into her black eyes, and Alice responded with a smile as the blush on her face deepened.

He slowly sat up, wrapping his hands around her waist as she remained seated over him, seemingly pleased with his response. Alice immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping her legs crossed over his as their bodies remained close together.

Her blush deepened further as she felt the warmth between them increase, and she leaned forward to capture his lips once again. Just as she was about to kiss him, however, Neolan spoke up, "Alice, I have something to tell you."

Alice immediately stopped and opened her eyes, looking at him with curiosity. "Hmm?" she asked, tilting her head slightly as she waited for him to continue.

Neolan smiled at her childish behavior at that moment before speaking again, "Before I tell you that, I think you should know that I will be gone for an entire day after today once again, alright? Don’t worry when I leave, you can still feel me through that necklace."

"It has that ability now that I have put my Astrine energy into it." Alice glanced down at the necklace in Neolan’s hand. He slowly took it toward her and put it on, she felt its warmth spreading through her skin before looking back at him and nodding, her obsessive eyes still fixed on his face as she waited for him to reveal what he wanted to tell her.

Neolan allowed a brief moment of silence to pass before finally speaking, "I love you, Alice, now and forever."

The moment those words left his mouth, Alice froze completely. Her face immediately turned beet red, and she suddenly jumped off him, covering her eyes with both hands as she struggled to respond.

"W-W-W-W-What?! W-Why are you saying that NOW?!" she shouted, her embarrassment preventing her from noticing anything else around her.

However, when she finally lowered her hands and opened her eyes, she realized that Neolan was no longer there. Her blush disappeared as she frowned and looked around the room, only to notice a small piece of paper resting on the bed. She picked it up and read the last note he had left behind:

"I am sorry, Alice. I will be back as I promised and expect a special date when I am back." Alice stared at the paper for a long moment before taking it in her hand and clenching it tightly, her abyssal black eyes turning even more black as she muttered, "A special date, A special date..."

She continued to speak the same thing as though that was the only thing in her mind before suddenly, she heard a knock. Natasha’s voice came from outside, "Your Highness, His Majesty called for you. The pope wanted to see you."