Chapter 23: The voice of the unknown
"When will we get the results?"
"Why are we not going in the same car as Prince Elwin and Tianna?"
"Did the Principal say anything about my cast. When will we have to join? Will I join on the same day as Tianna?"
"Why are you not saying anything?"
Katherine asked one after the other as they went back to the royal Kingdom, and Maximus, who was too bothered to reply to her, looked at her from the corner of his eyes, not answering her.
Katherine looked at the man with a scowl before she crossed her hands around her chest, feeling wronged.
'Daisy, did I win any points today?' Katherine asked, and seeing that even Daisy wasn't coming out in front of this guy even when he wouldn't be able to see the invisible system, she sighed.
She looked at the man from the corner of her eyes, her eyes squinting before she looked out of the window.
'Why wasn't he answering her anymore? Could it be that he was still suspicious of her regarding the rogue thing? Could it be that he was taking her somewhere to kill her off secretly, and that was the reason he didn't send her with Prince Elwin and -' Katherine's pupils dilated as her thoughts went haywire.
Maximus, who immediately felt the change in her aura, smirked inwardly before he stopped the car at the beginning of the forest.
Katherine's body jerked softly when the car stopped, and she looked around, her senses going on high alert.
"Come out," Maximus said before stepping out of the car.
There is no way he thinks she would be following him into the forest so easily, right?
Katherine looked at the man walking towards the forest before he stopped and turned towards her, motioning her to follow him.
'Daisy, where the hell are you, stupid system! What should I do in this case? He left the keys in the car. Should I just drive away? At least give me a small hint,' Katherine bit her lower lip, her spy's mind going haywire.
After a couple of seconds, she heard a ping near her, and she looked at the dashboard of the car where a sentence was written, probably Daisy's doing.
'You are on your own,' The sentence said.
Katherine gritted her teeth. This traitor!
Knock! Knock!
Katherine's body jerked when Maximus knocked on her window.
"Do you need an invitation? I don't have the whole day for this. It will be quick," Maximus said.
She smiled forcefully.
'It's okay. You can take your time,' Katherine wanted to shout at the man but she could only smile bitterly and open the door before walking out.
"Come," Maximus said and Katherine looked around.
What were the chances that someone would come to save her if she screamed? Zero. Absolutely zero chances. Probably in the negative. Katherine puckered her lower lips as she followed Maximus like Lily into an unknown world.
Maximus, who had a vague idea of what must be going on in her head because of what she mentioned before coming to the University, suppressed the urge to bully her even more and kept walking.
Katherine looked at enormous trees that only looked like they were growing in size the more they walked inside the forest.
It was both surprising and scary. All the trees looked of the same size from the outside, so why was this place magically beautiful?
As Katherine continued to move, she suddenly felt her body tingling and her gaze instinctively went to her palms, thinking that it was some kind of bug crawling her skin, her nails catching her attention.
Wait. Her brows knitted in confusion.
Was it just her or was the tip of her nails really glowing?
The weird sensations traveled from the tip of her fingers to her palms as if she was sucking some kind of energy from around nature.
What kind of magical thing was she feeling? Katherine, lost in her world, didn't see when Maximus stopped walking and bumped straight into him, her nose tingling with the slight pain.
She raised her gaze with a scowl, ready to say some colorful words, but she noticed his attention wasn't even on her.
She followed his gaze when he held her palm and pulled her to what looked like a small hut.
"Can I trust you to stay here and not cause a ruckus, Miss Rosewood?" Maximus asked her as if asking some naughty kid, and Katherine looked into his enchanting blue eyes, finding herself nodding subconsciously.
Maximus looked at the girl for a good few seconds.
Something about the way she gazes at him has changed so terribly that it is hard to pinpoint what her true emotions are anymore. And something about her aura that makes him feel like-
Maximus cleared his throat and clenched his fists before going inside the hut.
Katherine looked at the weird-looking hut. It wouldn't come off surprising to her if it was a place for a witch. She has heard quite a lot about them, even if she has yet to encounter one in person.
Rather than wanting to get bored, Katherine turned around in her place and a smile appeared on her lips when she looked at a small rabbit jumping around.
It was merely a baby.
"Come here," Katherine scooted on her ankles and extended her left hand for it to come close to her.
As if the baby heard her, it moved towards her hand curiously, almost afraid of the new presence in its habitat.
Its eyes were so red, so cute and -
'You seem to enjoy it,' Katherine heard a whisper, making her jerk in her place as she fell backward, startled, scaring the baby rabbit away in the process.
Who was it?
Katherine turned around, trying to find the source of the voice, her heartbeat increasing its pace.
When she didn't hear anything, she quickly stood from her place, ready for any kind of miseries, her stance alert.
No voice came.
'Daisy? Was that you? Are you messing with me? Why are you so quiet?' Katherine tried to talk to her system which was supposed to guide her through this new life but was nowhere to be seen.
She gulped.
'Me? You don't know me? I am you. You are me. How can you not know about me when I am the one who bestowed you this opportunity?' The voice came again, and Katherine felt a swoosh of wind on her left side, moving her hair from her neck.
She didn't know what this voice was talking about, but she knew one thing for sure. It was creepy.
Her body shuddered at the weird sensations that her left hand started feeling again, and from the tingling in her right hand that was inside the cast, she could feel that this same thing was happening to her right hand too.
"Who is it?! If you have guts then come in front of me. Why are you hiding yourself, you coward?!" Katherine gritted her teeth before she looked down at a stick and quickly grabbed it, ready to strike anyone with it if they made a move on her.
'You needn't be afraid of me, Katherine. I will never harm you. You just need to accept me. Just accept me as I am,' The voice said, and Katherine, who had no idea about what was going on, clenched her fists.
"I... How can I accept you when I don't even know who you are?" Katherine asked.
She didn't know what she was doing, or why she was asking these questions, but it just felt right. She would rather talk to this voice than this voice trying something on her.
In her entire spy life and this new life, the one thing she learned from experience was that anything was possible.
'You will find out about me when the time comes. For now, just know that you have potential. You have potential here,' The voice said, and as soon as the voice completed its sentence, Katherine felt as if someone engulfed her left hand, like a soft gentle breeze.
She wanted to jerk her hand away, feeling creepy, but... But there was something about this touch, something so comforting, so soothing that she wanted to feel this comforting touch in real life.
It was almost as if someone was caressing her heart and telling her everything was going to be alright. That she wouldn't mess up this chance bestowed upon her.
Tears brimmed into Katherine's eyes. This hold on her hand felt heavenly to her.
'In the storms, I am your clear,
I have got my eyes on you, say yes to me,
I am your inner voice that you bury,
If you fight, I fight for you, I've got my mind on you, so say yes to me,' The voice sang slowly and a tear rolled down Katherine's eyes.
This song felt motherly, the care of one person that she couldn't get when she was Katherine, or now that she was Delilah.
'Just tell me who you are, please,' Katherine fell on her knees, the emotions in her heart, the heart that belonged to Delilah and had so much despair and pain, hurting her too.
As Katherine thought about Delilah, a thought crossed her mind.
Could it be that this voice knew Delilah?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone