Page 105 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“Because I don’t show up in prophecies … It’s just never happened?” I said delicately.
He leaned toward me, and the way he was looking at me made my toes curl. Intense and curious. “Never?”
I shook my head, resisting the urge to seek the comfort of distance, but the nervousness I had wasn’t fear but excitement. I held my ground. “Never.”
His gaze fell to my lips at my answer, and I instinctively licked them.
Why did he have to be so pretty? It was a personal triumph that I’d gotten to dance with the half elf, but anything else would just be wild imagination. Granted, I had a pretty unhinged imagination.
I didn’t know what to make of that, and reminded myself that I shouldn’t be outright flirting with the duke of the North …
“I brought you here because you said you can’t use your abilities in the ballroom, but can you use them here? Or would you like to join the search for Lady Amy yourself?” he asked.
“If John raises the alarm, then I’m gone,” I told him. “But I don’t want to burst in on her debutante adventure. Besides”—I lowered my voice conspiratorially—“she’s found someone she likes. What if they’re off having some romantic picnic in the garden and I jump on top of them? I’ll wait.”
“Why does it feel like you’re not telling me something?”
“Well, there is one thing … I think Lady Amy might be having an affair with your assassin.” I casually dropped my suspicion.
Julian stared at me.
“What?” I asked innocently. “I mean, I could tell you that the Herald of Void is currently leaving the Dark Enchanted Forest after narrowly escaping a stoneskin wombat? Or that Julia is going to run off with Chloe tonight and travel to the Empire of Sands on a secret honeymoon trip where no one can find and disturb them. Or maybe you’re referring to the meteor—”
He stood. “Julia iswhat?”
I pulled him back down. He didn’t resist. “Oh, let your sister have some fun. She deserves it.”
He put a hand over mine, trapping it.
“That’s everything, so you can stop with the smolder!” I told him, pulling my hand free. “You want to know more, then close your eyes.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t want youstaringat me while I work,” I told him, and he raised both hands in surrender before closing his eyes.
He had an annoyingly satisfied smile plastered on his face. I wanted to squeeze his cheeks. Where did my grumpy duke of the North go?
Instead, I opened my map.
[You have activated the Perk:Map. A mini map revealing the areas you have explored is available …]
[Sooth Area] showed me where scenarios were going to happen, and it highlighted the ballroom only. I wished that Lady Amy was a chosen, as it would be so much easier to track her.
Sadly, she was the saintess of a dungeon, not a god.
[Oracle] was useless, since the only scenario I’d not watched was the pirate battle—and Pirate Abra was currently looting the south coast of Sumbria, so it wouldn’t help to check on it now. Still, I decided to try rewatching what happenedat the ball, in case I missed something last time. I stored my fan, clenched my fist in my lap, and leaned back to get comfortable.
“This will take five minutes.” I told Julian, “Don’t look at me until it’s done.”
Bracing myself, I activated Julia’s scenario a second time.
It was four and a half minutes of Julia and Chloe greeting guests, dodging a [Fireball] and broken glass, and then Chloe’s reminder that they would be gone by midnight for their honeymoon.
I came out of it with a bit less struggle than this morning. Watching the same oracle was like waking from a recurring nightmare. You still had the nightmare, but the familiarity of it made it easier to distance oneself from the grip.
“Gerda?” Julian still had his eyes closed, but his voice was laced with concern.
I took deep, ragged breaths until the shaking stopped. “We’ll have to check back at midnight and see if any new scenarios are ready. Though I did see you—”
