Time ticked by, every second more agonizing. In the mysterious poplar forest, everyone was suffering, their vision growing blurry, and hallucinations starting to appear before their eyes.
"Help me, help me..." Aiden, writhing in discomfort, grabbed at her skirt, hoping she could save him.
His pitiful state made that pack of tireless women instantly start bleeding from the nose, their inner cravings only getting harder to bear.
"Ah, save me! Nina, save me!" Suddenly, Clara Night stumbled and fell to the ground. Aiden instantly crawled over and pinned her down, immediately trying to rip her clothes off.
Seeing this, Nina rushed over, trying to pull the delirious Aiden away. But just as she managed to drag him off and bent down to help Clara up, Clara quickly struck a pressure point on Nina, dropping her to the ground, unable to move.
"You tricked me?" Nina glared furiously at the woman before her, totally shocked that she'd actually been duped.
Clara straightened her clothes, stood up, and looked down at Nina with a cocky smirk. "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too stupid."
"Bitch!" Nina spat through gritted teeth, furious. This woman was the literal worst.
"No need to curse me. I'm only doing this for their sake, you know?" Clara raised her brows, glancing at the group of outrageously handsome men in the distance and smiling smugly, as if declaring herself their savior.
"If Ivy finds out what you're doing, you'll regret it." Nina knew Ivy Shen's temper well—once she got mad, the consequences were terrifying.
Nina shrugged, totally chill. "Seriously, can't you see the king's totally into her? You think she's actually gonna make it here?" She let out a little laugh—wow, Clara was hopeless.
Nina scrunched up her brows, super serious. "Ivy will come for sure. She’d never leave them hanging—no way."
"Enough!" Clara snapped, face twisted up as soon as Ivy’s name dropped. Every damn day since they met, it was like she existed just to make Ivy look good. She felt like a total clown. Why is Ivy always the goddess? Why does nobody ever see how awesome I am?
Before Ivy crashed her life, before Adrian even met her, Clara was Ice Palace’s little princess—the precious gem, the one everyone adored. Even as a sister, she was his one and only. But after that woman came, it was like she fell from heaven straight to hell. Dad died, Adrian left, and everyone at Ice Palace started treating her like she was contagious. She was miserable. Totally, completely miserable!
Nina, totally clueless about Clara’s meltdown, watched her face morph from pissed to straight-up scary. Uh-oh, Clara’s about to go full psycho, isn’t she?
"Clara, chill! You really want Adrian to hate you forever?" If nagging didn’t work, Nina figured maybe talking nice would.
"He’s not my brother!" Clara screamed at Nina. "He’s not my brother, got it? Not! At! All!"
Boss Ada chimed in, "So what if he’s your brother? Love’s got no rules! You want him, go get him. Here in Love Valley, nothing’s forbidden. If you want something, it can happen. Pretty girl, if you like him, go have fun! Around here, they’re barely ever sober—the place is loaded with Bewitching Powder. In his eyes, you’ll always be his number one. He’ll love you forever, nonstop!"
"Exactly! Even if he snaps out of it, it won't last. Most of the time, he’ll be glued to you. Bet the version of you he sees is all lovey-dovey and sweet." The other women jumped in, teasing like crazy.
Nina shot back, "Shut up, you thirsty bitches!" Then her brain sparked. "Wait—if we chop down the trees, no more Bewitching Powder, right?"
Boss Ada blinked, surprised Nina even thought of that, then smirked. "You think you can actually chop down those trees?" Her eyes went full murder mode—if Clara let Nina loose, Ada would go straight for the kill.
"Hey, girl, your brother’s probably dying over there! If you don’t go now, he’ll burst!" Ada was practically drooling, watching all those hot guys squirm in the distance.
Clara gave a nod. "Fine, but you better not touch Adrian. If you do, I’ll wipe you all out!"
"Relax, we’re way weaker than you. No way we’d mess around. And with all these hunks, why would we even fight you for him? Oh my god, so many hotties—who should I pounce on first? Ugh, I want them all! Every last one!" The women were practically vibrating with excitement.
"No, Clara! You can’t!" Nina shouted, totally panicked.
"Stop worrying about others. Worry about yourself!" Ada eyed two chubby ladies, their hungry gaze locked on Nina.
Ada just grinned, knowing her girls were all about that action. Whatever—let them have their fun, then off Nina whenever.
"Ivy Shen, I’ll make you regret this—forever!" Clara’s grin turned creepy as she strutted toward the guys.
*********
"Any luck yet?" It’d been over half an hour and Ivy was still scanning every corner, face set in stone. Her stubbornness hit Xiska Mon like a truck—again.
Where is it? Where’s the stupid mechanism?
Ivy kept glancing at all the junk, her mind racing with worry for her crew. She only got one shot at this—she couldn’t lose them!
Fire God’s lips curled into a sly grin. Looked like Ivy was finally gonna marry the king. Honestly, what a perfect pair.
[Break]
Suddenly, Ivy froze, hugged her arms, and plopped right down on the floor, eyes squeezed shut as she started to think hard.
"What’s she doing now?" Xiska Mon frowned, gripping the rail as he watched Ivy just sit there, totally silent.
"King, is she giving up?" Fire God asked, totally baffled. Was she done searching or what?
Xiska Mon kept his brows furrowed, then declared, "No way. She’d never give up that easy." He didn’t know why, but he was dead sure—Ivy wasn’t the quitting type.
Meanwhile, Ivy just sat there, eyes shut, her brows furrowing and relaxing. No way the mechanism was inside the ceramics. When her crew dropped, it happened so fast—the trigger had to be instant. Those fancy pieces couldn’t be hiding anything. If the trigger was in there, someone would have to move them.
But when she turned around, apart from her crew who’d fallen, all the Flame Valley people were behind her.
They didn’t have time to move any ceramics or hit a hidden switch, so…
So the trigger’s not there!
But if that’s true, then where the heck is it?
"Just give up. If you quit now, maybe they’ll have a sliver of hope. But if you keep thinking, who knows…" Xiska Mon watched, guessing she was totally bummed.
At his words, Ivy sighed and opened her eyes, hands limp on the stone floor, eyes glued to the ground. She really did look defeated.
"King, she’s toast." Fire God murmured, used to that look. She couldn’t find it, which made him happy, but he felt a little let down—her goddess vibe lost some sparkle. Oh well, nobody’s perfect. That spot was impossible to find anyway, not the first time.
"Oh? Giving up already?" Xiska Mon laughed. Figures—no one could ever crack his puzzle!
But right then, Ivy shot to her feet, eyes blazing at Xiska Mon. That look made him jolt—a wave of dread hit him out of nowhere.
"Admit defeat? In my world, ‘giving up’ isn’t even a thing!" Ivy gathered all her energy at her fingertip and, with a single toss, blasted the ceiling lamp. Instantly, the stone floor rumbled—a hole appeared right where the trapdoor was hidden.
******
[Author’s Note: Extra 1000 words next chapter! Support the original, support Yiyi! Thank you!]