CHAPTER 386: THE PROMISE

Vivian kept shouting, and Silvanus could only dodge while saying, "Make snowballs for me!"

Vivian immediately lifted one front paw to her forehead in a gesture of understanding, then plunged down onto the ice, using both front paws to roll up snow.

Silvanus hadn’t expected that the gentle-looking Dorian would become such a fierce opponent once the fight began. Seeing Silvanus slip and fall, Dorian even burst out laughing happily.

Tch, he needed to show this pampered prince what real skill looked like.

"Vivian, are you done yet?!"

Silvanus raised his voice, and when he turned around he saw a snowball five times the size of his own head. Vivian’s eyes sparkled. "Bury Dorian with it!" She blinked as if waiting for Silvanus to praise her.

Silvanus simply scooped up some snow under his feet and flicked it at Vivian’s forehead. "Make a smaller one, you little idiot."

Vivian rolled around in the snow, only to be struck by a stray snowball that smashed her entire head into the ground. Silvanus and Dorian were still playing happily, not caring about her at all.

Vivian jerked her head up, and it was as if two small flames were burning in her eyes.

Silvanus picked up a newly formed snowball and immediately felt something off. By instinct he bounced it in his hand to test the weight, and it felt a bit heavier than usual.

He looked over and saw Vivian on the opposite side, somehow holding a stone in her mouth and stuffing it into Dorian’s snowball.

Silvanus: "..."

He pried open the snowball in his own hand and, sure enough, found a stone inside.

Was Vivian trying to make him and Dorian fight to the death? This crafty little fox.

Seeing Silvanus focus on something, Dorian instinctively followed his gaze, and immediately spotted Vivian sitting obediently on the snow, wagging her big tail.

Feeling both their eyes on her, Vivian tilted her head and asked curiously, "What’s wrong?"

Silvanus pretended to roll up his sleeves and step forward. Vivian instantly burrowed into the snow. At that moment she looked even more like a mouse.

"Catch her!" Silvanus shouted. Dorian almost immediately grabbed Vivian, then scooped up her whole body and lifted her into the air.

He tilted his head, looking at Silvanus curiously. "What’s going on?"

Because of all the running and jumping, his breathing was still a bit uneven, and sweat glistened at his temples.

Silvanus took Vivian from Dorian’s hands and, without much concern, said, "She put stones in the snowballs—probably wants to smash our heads."

Vivian glanced away, a little guilty. Dorian, hearing this, lectured seriously before coming to a conclusion: "I’ve never seen an animal this cunning."

Vivian: "..." She immediately shouted, "I’m not an animal!"

Then she blinked at Silvanus. "I was just joking..."

Silvanus looked at her expression and couldn’t help laughing. He glanced at Dorian and said with a smile, "Let’s make a snowman."

It wasn’t until only her head was exposed that Vivian realized what Silvanus meant by building a snowman.

Dorian couldn’t help asking, "She won’t get cold, right?"

Even so, he didn’t slow down a bit in piling the snow.

Silvanus laughed. "Her magic is stronger than many ordinary people out there."

As he spoke, he grabbed two dry branches and stuck them into the second snowball, making them the arms.

Dorian raised his hand, and a flower immediately fell onto Vivian’s ear.

Silvanus couldn’t help chuckling. "So cute, Vivian."

Vivian, who had been sulking, lifted her chin and twitched her ears. "Hmph, of course I am."

Dorian couldn’t help laughing as well.

Still worried about her getting cold, Dorian waited until Silvanus had laughed enough before pulling Vivian out, shaking the snow off her.

Vivian, a little shy, opened her eyes wide and softly said to Dorian, "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put stones in the snow."

Dorian glanced at her, smiled, and shook his head. "It’s fine. One stone can’t hurt me."

Vivian rubbed her head against Dorian’s palm. The energy around him felt so peaceful, perhaps because he was truly a favored child of nature.

Finally, they sat under the moonlight again in the Spring Forest.

Dorian swept his hand across the ground, and the tree stumps immediately sprouted vigorously, forming a sturdy chair in an instant.

Dorian lifted his gaze toward the moon, while Silvanus lay back a little bored on one side. In the distance, Vivian frolicked through the flower garden, chasing fireflies nonstop. The little fox had disrupted the garden a bit, and the petals—pink and blue—fluttered and danced in the wind.

Dorian suddenly lowered his head and softly said, "Tomorrow you’ll be leaving."

Silvanus narrowed his eyes, holding a small lock of Dorian’s hair in his hand, counting the strands as he nodded. "Yes, to the Merfolk territory first, then back to Lumina."

Dorian pressed his lips together, suddenly silent.

At that moment, Silvanus spoke again: "Dorian, don’t be sad."

Dorian looked at him for a moment but said nothing.

Silvanus had already stood up. He held Dorian’s long, beautiful hair, playing with it as he spoke: "I can come visit you. Once I reach the second year, I’ll qualify as a Hunter and be able to go on missions. Or you could visit me, and I could show you around everywhere—just like how you showed me Eldoria tonight."

Dorian’s eyes lit up, and he turned to Silvanus. "Really?"

Silvanus nodded. "Of course."

Dorian became a little excited. "Next year I can go out too. I’ll come find you, Silvanus. You have to keep that promise."

Silvanus thought Dorian was a little childish and would probably be easy to fool.

They had only met for a single day, yet Dorian seemed ready to swear an eternal vow to him—slightly naive, but undeniably endearing.

Silvanus raised his hand. "Pinky swear. Once we promise, we never break it."

Dorian looked at Silvanus’ hand, hesitated, then followed awkwardly. "What... is this?"

Silvanus opened his mouth and said, "This is the oldest ritual!"

As he spoke, he took Dorian’s hand. "Link our pinkies like this. That’s right."

Silvanus shook their linked hands gently. "I promise to be friends with Dorian for life. If I don’t take Dorian out to play, I will..."

Dorian blinked at him. Silvanus continued, "...turn into a skeleton."

Dorian instinctively jerked his hand away. Even though he knew there was no magical effect, and this wasn’t really an ancient ritual as Silvanus claimed, his heart still beat faster, a strange unease spreading through him.

He looked at Silvanus seriously. "I don’t need you to swear an oath like that."

Seeing Dorian’s panicked expression, Silvanus couldn’t help laughing. He patted Dorian on the back. "You’re silly, but our promise has already been made. Now you don’t need to worry—I won’t break it."

Dorian nodded quietly at Silvanus.

Silvanus chuckled. "I said it was a joke. Nothing will happen. This is just child’s play. You’re even more gullible than a child."

He spoke while taking Dorian’s hair again, continuing his masterpiece.

Silvanus braided Dorian’s long hair carefully.

At that moment, Vivian suddenly popped out from the leaves, a flower in her mouth.

She leapt onto Silvanus from behind and finally settled on his head, holding the flower forward so it fell onto Dorian’s hair.

Silvanus gently patted Vivian’s head. "You really like Dorian, don’t you?"

Looking at her now, no one would guess that normally, any stranger approaching her would make her scrunch her face, bar her teeth, and look like she wanted to bite their head off.

Vivian didn’t answer. She bit Silvanus’ head twice, then went off to find more flowers.