Re: Love & Magic

“What?!!”

Yowen was startled hearing the shocked voice of Vernisia and turned around only to see her standing stunned while staring at her Digi-watch.

“What happened?” Yowen asked.

“I-I just received two million Lopax credits from Umbra Raven, and….there is only one Umbra Raven,” Vernisia said as she slightly stammered, “how did such a big shot get my number?”

“First, we got information regarding some people, and now mon-”

“Wait, there is a note with it,” Vernisia said as she read the note, “it seems that this money is for emergency if any research related to this company requires some funds. Oh yeah, I remember Zevien saying that he has a business deal with the Umbra Raven Alchemy house.”

“And here I thought it was money for my work on finding those people,” Yowen said with a weak smile before turning back to the monitors, “It will take a day or two to find those people. From the links Electra and I found, those people have connections with other countries. I also found a hidden underground route with a large base under the ground but not the crucial people yet.”

“Yeah, finish that task first before getting back to creating animation actions for fairy cards. I also have lots of gems to craft,” Vernisia said as she returned to work on the table to craft gems and embed them on the cards.

However, after a while, she got a message from Touma, asking if she wanted to meet Zevien.

Vernisia quickly replied back that she wanted to meet him and stood up with a happy smile, “I am going to meet Zevien.”

“Oh, by yourself or with the others?” Yowen asked while looking at the monitors.

“Don’t know about that, but Touma-sir gave me the address, so I am going,” Vernisia spoke as she left the building that was half completed already with five floors ready.

From getting saved by Zevien to helping him leave the villa, she hasn’t seen him even once since he was taken away by Touma in the helicopter.

After fifteen minutes, she arrived at the address that Touma sent her and entered the lab. A nurse took her inside the main lab before she finally saw Zevien in a glass tube.

“Yo,” Zevien grinned, “did you miss me?”

Vernisia blushed slightly before covering her mouth with a fist and coughed to compose herself, “thank you for saving me.”

“Hehe, you’re welcome to get into trouble again so I can save you again.”

Vernisia rolled her eyes before saying with a smile, “you can also get into trouble so that I can save you. Humph, I don’t want to be saved by you continuously.”

“I look forward to that moment,” Zevien beamed.

“How long will it take you to recover?” Vernisia asked as she sat down on a stool beside the glass tube.

“Fifteen days more or less, I guess.”

‘Should I talk about it with him?’ Vernisia thought about the vision she saw and what Zevien said about knowing the future and living with them again. However, after thinking for a while, she decided not to ask about it here in case they were being observed. This was a secret and private matter. So it would be better if they talked about this in the office at Zenith Corp.

A brief silence passed. Just as Zevien was wondering what Vernisia was thinking about, she said, “umm, Zevien, do you have anything you want me to do while you are here? I also received two million Lopax credits from miss Umbra Raven.”

“Ah, yes. I told her to transfer that amount to you,” Zevien said, “since I will still be away for around fifteen days.”

Zevien thought of the orphanage and asked, “what about the orphanage? What did you say to mother Helena about my absence?”

“We didn’t tell them the truth,” Vernisia shook her head, “we told mother Helena that you went out of the city for some matter that even we don’t know about.”

“Good. We can’t tell her the truth now,” Zevien nodded, “I will tell her everything later.”

“Okay,” Vernisia nodded before asking with a playful smile, “guess how many cards I completed?”

“Hmm, around four hundred?” Zevien guessed after thinking for a few moments.

“Oh, pretty close,” Vernisia nodded with a grin, “three hundred ninety-one. You can soon launch this game.”

“Yep, can’t wait to see everyone playing it and the money pouring in,” Zevien softly chuckled inside the glass tube.

“That aside, what about our salary,” Vernisia said as she crossed her legs and looked at Zevien with a faint smile, “since we helped you, you have to pay us.”

“Naturally,” Zevien grinned, “Dan and Erica both will have 10% of the company’s shares because they will help more regarding other products later.”

“What?!” Vernisia was startled, “a 10% share in the whole company?” Shaking her head, she said, “I don’t think they will accept that much. After all, the funds, ideas, resources, and every important thing was done by you.”

“Nah, 10% is good. I will make them accept it so they can regularly get money in their bank account,” Zevien said with a smile, “I have some other plans, and if everything goes accordingly well, we will be on a long and tough journey after a year.”

“As for you…,” Zevien said with a loving smile, “I am not going to give you any share of the company because-”

“Wait, let me guess,” Vernisia chuckled, “because everything yours is mine?”

Zevien was startled before he also laughed lightly and nodded, “exactly. I see that you are learning from me.”

“How many girls did you pick up with your cheesy lines?” Vernisia rolled her eyes.

“Zero,” Zevien smiled before speaking sincerely, “the current situation and place is not a good place to say it, but… I’ll tell you now, for the first time but not last one, that I…love…you.”

‘I finally said it to her!’ Zevien thought as his heart beat faster. He really wanted to confess his feelings as soon as possible. He had held them back ever since the time rewind. But not anymore.

Even more so since he didn’t see Vernisia in the past eleven days and his longing for her increased during this time. That’s why he couldn’t help but want to blurt out his feelings for her in raw, simple, but impactful three words.

“Y-you…,” Vernisia was speechless, and her face turned red like a tomato. She was not expecting this!

Zevien internally composed himself and smiled cheekily, “You didn’t expect me to say it here, in such a situation, right?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Zevien continued, “but I’ll say it every day, so you should come to visit me every day, or I will be bored to death in this glass tube.”

Vernisia’s heart started to beat faster. She abruptly stood up and opened her mouth a few times but didn’t say anything.

‘Should I say it? I-I like him too, but I don’t know what love is or how it feels… maybe it is what I am feeling now?’ Vernisia’s face got hotter, and her heart beat even faster as she thought about what to do.

To make Vernisia less awkward, Zevien had just closed his eyes with a gentle smile on his face. In his mind, he was reminiscing about the time he spent with Vernisia before the time rewound.

He expected Vernisia to leave, but he suddenly heard her speaking in a very tiny voice. He didn’t open his eyes but listened closely.

“I-I…l-like you,” Vernisia quickly left after saying this because she felt that her heart would explode if she stayed any longer.

Her face was red, and her heart thumped fast like a horse racing through a field as she left the lab.

She went to her car and rested on the steering wheel as she buried her face in her hands. Her ears had also turned red as if someone had squeezed them.

However, she very much liked the sensation she was feeling inside her. After calming down her breath, a stupid grin appeared on her face, ‘Zevien…he really said he loved me, and I…damn, I can’t believe I said that. Should I have said I love him too instead of just like him? He wouldn’t feel bad, right?’

Vernisia suddenly felt worried and activated her Digi-watch. She wrote [I love you too] but then erased it, ‘should I really send him a message like this?’

After agonizing over this choice for a minute, she took a deep breath and pressed the send button after writing it.

Unfortunately, Zevien couldn’t move his hand or fingers, so even though he could activate Digi-watch with a bit of his mana, he couldn’t open the message Vernisia sent him as that required his touch.