CHAPTER 42: THE KEALITH?

Erisia looked up at Seliora and said, "Giving this to me—isn’t it a little too much?"

Seliora laughed softly, then shook her head. "Trust me, this is nothing. If I could do more, I would. You only have to say the word, and I’ll help you however I can. Though..." Her eyes glinted with quiet amusement. "I suspect you’re not the type to accept support from others."

"If I accept this, then I’ll be owing you—and I don’t know how I’d ever repay the favor." She said, matter-of-factly.

"It’s not a favor. You don’t have to repay anything. See it as something you earned yourself—something you deserve. And besides," Seliora added with a small, knowing smile, "I don’t think there’s anything you could possibly do for me, so forget about it."

Rita, who had been eating while eavesdropping, muttered under her breath, "Real classy way of saying, ’I have everything and you have nothing, so there’s nothing you can give me.’"

Both Erisia and Seliora turned to her—Erisia exasperated, Seliora amused.

"I didn’t mean it like that, Erisia," Seliora said quickly, meeting her eyes. "I wasn’t insulting you in any way."

Seeing her sincere expression, Erisia thought, No wonder Kealith turned out so cool in the story. He must take after his mother. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Erisia smiled faintly. "It’s alright. I didn’t take it as an insult. And Rita is right in a way—there’s probably no way I can repay you. So I’ll just accept it as something given by a close friend."

Seliora’s face broke into a relieved, pleased smile. "That’s good."

Erisia lowered her gaze to the tablet and powered it on. She still didn’t understand why Seliora was so interested in her—or why she would help her in such a way—but never wanted to reject it and rejecting it would have been downright foolish.

She tapped the screen, navigating straight to the file app. Lots of audio recording filled the screen, she saw one at the top. Without hesitation, she pressed play.

Immediately, the contents of the recording filled the room, the sound crisp and unmistakable.

It was Sierra’s voice.

The call’s context was clear within seconds, connected to a recent viral post about Erisia.

Sierra was speaking to a friend—or rather, bribing her—coaxing the girl to create a fake post framing Erisia.

The fabricated story claimed that Erisia had deliberately pushed Sierra into the pool, attempting to murder her.

Erisia listened without surprise. She had known Sierra was behind it from the start.

Seliora and Eric, equally unsurprised, remained composed, their expressions cool and unreadable.

Rita, however, was another story.

From the first word to the last, her face went through a full range of disgusted disbelief, each second twisting her expression as if she were chewing something rotten.

"What the fuck?!" She exploded, nearly dropping her fork. "This fake bitch really thinks she’s starring in a low-budget soap opera?"

Her voice rose an octave with every word. "Bribing someone to frame you—and trying to spin it as attempted murder? Who does that?!"

Erisia calmly set the tablet back on the table. "Sierra," she said dryly, "apparently. And it’s already done, it was for the Cloutsleakz post."

Rita threw her hands up. "Unbelievable. And people bought this crap? If I see one more hashtag defending her, I swear I’m going to—" She made a strangling motion in the air, words failing her as outrage overtook common vocabulary.

Seliora’s lips curved in a slow smile. "That is already gone, and Erisia handled it perfectly well—which was one of the reasons I took interest in her."

Erisia shrugged. "It was a lie anyway, and lies are easy to break—especially using the truth. I just showed everyone exactly what happened, that’s all. Sierra was the one who shot herself in the foot. I didn’t touch her. She talked herself into a corner and fell all on her own. Now that I think about it... it’s kind of funny."

Rita blinked, brows furrowing. "I remember you tried to save her."

Erisia paused, that wasn’t me. That was the kind-hearted original ’Erisia,’ then she gave a faint, almost wry smile. "I guess I was caught off-guard."

Seliora tilted her head slightly, "Have you decided what you plan to do with it?"

Erisia leaned back in her chair, voice steady. "Yes. For a while now."

"Excellent." Seliora’s smile deepened. "Whether publicly or privately, however you choose to use it—just be sure to use it to its full potential."

Rita folded her arms with a huff. "My vote? Public. Preferably with fireworks. And maybe a neon sign that says liar."

Seliora chuckled. "Patience, Miss Rita." She turned to Erisia with a softer look. "You have a good friend."

"Thank you," Erisia replied simply.

They let the conversation drift back to lighter topics while they ate, with Seliora steering the questions toward Erisia’s childhood. Erisia spoke of the countryside orphanage where she’d grown up—small classrooms, overgrown gardens, rainy afternoons spent fixing broken toys—never revealing more than what belonged to the original ’Erisia.’ Rita listened intently, occasionally adding her own commentary or teasing remarks.

...

The car eased to a stop in front of Rita’s apartment building. Seliora glanced out at the modest structure, then turned back to Erisia.

"I had a lovely time with you, Erisia. I hope we can do this again, soon."

"As long as there’s lavish food and treatment like today, definitely," Rita muttered from the passenger seat.

Erisia, though quietly surprised that Seliora wanted to see them again even after getting her number, kept her expression neutral. "Sure. Just call me. If I’m free, I’ll be there."

"No need," Seliora said smoothly. "I’ll simply have my driver pick you up—and Miss Rita, whenever she’s free."

Rita leaned forward, grinning. "Absolutely, I’d love that! And just call me Rita."

Seliora’s eyes softened, but a glint of playful mischief sparked beneath the amber. "Since you’re so worried about owing me," she said lightly, "why don’t we call it even this way—accompany me to outings, and you can come visit me in the hospital," she continued with a soft laugh. "I always feel alone whenever I’m the only one there. Kealith is either buried in work or tied up with his treatment, and it gets so boring. I’d really appreciate it if you visited me once in a while."

Now, Erisia was stunned. Visiting her in the hospital?

Didn’t that mean she would get to meet Kealith?! Seriously?

Yes, she had met and talked to Seliora, but meeting Kealith was different. Completely different. He was the character she had admired—a lot. Her only favorite character in the story, whom she had even thought about what it would be like to meet face to face or to exchange words with him.

Then the crazy author killed him off, leaving Erisia heartbroken. But now? Fuck that author. She could meet the alive and well Kealith!

Seliora, mistaking her silence for hesitation, added gently, "The outings are just little things like shopping or grabbing a meal. And if you come to the hospital, I can introduce you to Kealith. I actually thought about that when I first saw you. He might seem distant, but once you get to know him, you’ll realize he’s nothing like the rumors say. So, what do you think?"

Erisia heard every word Seliora spoke, but her mind snagged on one phrase like a hook: I can introduce you to Kealith.

She wanted to nod so fast her head would blur—but she forced herself to remain calm, carefully schooling her expression and willing her lips not to break into an eager grin.

"Of course," she said smoothly, as if this were no big deal. "Yes, we can do that. I can go out with you and visit you in the hospital... to repay you."

[ Host is unusually eager regarding meeting Kealith Ashborn. ]

[ Your heart rate has increased by 27%. ]

Erisia’s eyebrow twitched. ’System,’ she hissed inwardly, shut up.

[ Observation recorded. ]

She exhaled through her nose, offering Seliora a polite smile while strangling the urge to throttle the invisible commentator in her head. "It would be nice to meet him," she added, deliberately casual.

Seliora’s amber eyes gleamed with quiet satisfaction. "Wonderful. I think you and Kealith will get along well. He appreciates strong-minded people."

Rita, who had been listening with barely restrained curiosity, suddenly leaned forward. "Wait, Kealith? As in Ashborn heir, media-phantom, and rumored ice prince Kealith?"

Seliora’s lips curved in amusement. "The very same."

Rita slapped a hand over her mouth and gave Erisia a wide-eyed look that screamed Don’t mess this up.

Erisia’s expression remained serene, but inside she was already rehearsing every possible conversation starter.

~•~

A/N:

{Hi everyone, I need to be honest for a moment. I’ve noticed that while the story is getting collections (thank you so much for that! 💖), not even a quarter of readers are voting with their Power Stones. And... it’s making me a little anxious.

It starts to feel like maybe my story isn’t good enough, or that something’s missing. If there is something lacking, please don’t hold back—drop a comment and tell me what you think. Your feedback means the world to me, even if it’s just a few words. Thank you once again and Happy Reading! 😘}

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