She was as if one with the flowers around her. Rio could feel a vibe of nature filled in her melodious voice.
All the way to here the blonde-haired boy was planning how would he fight the Monarch beast. He was prepared to summon his Silver-Bloom king sword and a beast soul armor just to take down his long-awaited target.
But who knew it was all going to be for nothing? His quest for monarch beast was a beautiful lady who was finding joy in teasing him. She even greeted him when he arrived at the invited location.
The boy didn't imagine such an orange-red-haired beauty to welcome him like a good host to her garden-like home.
Rio was taken aback but he adapted soon to the new situation as [Heart Sutra] helped him to maintain a serene mind.
"Hi?" He responded in a calm voice to the elf girl.
She frowned at hearing his reply and looked as if someone had done wrong to her.
"Just a Hi? How boring..." The orange-red-haired beauty said in a complaining tone.
"I was expecting a fight right after encountering you. Who would've thought you would welcome me as if I were your guest?
It's also surprising that you already know about me and here, I have no clue about you or what I should call you." Rio responded in a nonchalant voice as he decided to play along.
'She doesn't seem to be vigilant of me. I should find out more by talking to her.'
He was on watch out for her actions and observed her closely. The boy knew to not put his guard down even if she was a dazzling beauty.
"I thought you would've known about me. Since you don't then I'll introduce myself.
I'm Eve, the Empress of the Elven race who had been transported to this world. So, unfortunately, I'm no longer an empress as I am living on this planet, that you know as the land of Asura." Orange-red-haired beauty spoke in a proud tone but there was a loneliness in her voice.
Rio didn't say anything as he could guess she wasn't done with her talking.
As expected, Eve continued, "I was hoping Goddess would've informed you everything about this quest before you came here but it appears she hasn't told you anything yet. So let's just proceed to the next stage."
"And what's the next stage?" He asked her as she was smiling mysteriously while gazing at him.
'This guy doesn't seem to be affected by my charm. He is even very relaxed and has zero nervousness.'
The orange-red-haired beauty was monitoring him closely because she found his calm demeanor irritating and fascinating to her taste.
With an evil smile, she announced, "You need to defeat me."
"Do I have to fight you?" He scrunched his eyes as his elegant opponent's words did not resonate with her intentions.
"Are you scared?" She said in a hushed tone and giggled in an adorable manner.
The orange-red-haired beauty wasn't trying to seduce him but her actions could tempt any man to fall for her alluring charm.
"Not really," Rio said in an unemotional tone and tried inspecting her with his [Heaven's Eyes].
<<<<
[Name: Eve Sagegreen]
[Race: Elf]
[Innate Rank: ???]
[Root: ????]
[MANA: ???]
[Physical Power: ???]
>>>>
"Don't worry. this Monarch Lady is a true apostle of peace. Violence is not allowed in my territory, you should be aware of it since you have traveled to my place.
If I ever fought, it would be on the bed where I wouldn't mind getting conquered by a kind and gentle man I cherish." She said in a coquettish tone.
Eve narrowed her eyes and stared at him who was calmly reading her status
Orange-red-haired beauty said with a cold tone, "You're a Bad Boy...it's a bad manner to look at someone's information without their permission."
"How did she find out?..." Rio was speechless as it was hard to tell that he used [Heaven's Eyes] on her.
He tried changing the topic as that was the better option to go with.
"So how do I have to defeat you," Rio asked while staring into her green eyes that lost their coldness hearing his question.
"By showing that you understand the people around you. Rio, I have been watching you since you were little and observing all the people you have met until today. I know things that you don't know. I know everyone's true character and their heart.
Your test will be based on your analysis and understanding of other people's hearts.
If you failed this trial, you will be staying with me here for the time being and your root, as well as cores, will be sealed until you learn your lessons as I'll train you personally." She explained to him while watching his facial expression for any horror or nervousness.
The orange-red-haired beauty wanted to see a hint of fear on his face but she failed in her attempt to discover any.
With a disappointed heart, she snapped her fingers.
A green equal-arm balance scale device appeared in front of them. It had two pans made of yellow materials suspended on opposing sides of a lever.
Eve snapped her fingers one more time and six white petals hovered in front of them which was at an equal distance from their spot.
Each one had a name engraved on it, which were 'Patents', 'Adopted Grandpa', 'Second Mother', 'Layla', 'Lia', and 'Nyla.'
'What does she want to do with these?'
He frowned slightly looking at this setup of her which consisted of the name of people and an equal arm balance scale device.
"This is a Heavenly treasure I borrowed from the Goddess for your trial. These are the white petals that consist of the name of people who loved you in your life. A petal will weigh more if the person representing it loved you more in your life. Unconditional love and pure love would win.
So this trial is where we both will pick one white petal. If your white petals weigh more then you win and if the one I choose weighs more then you're staying with me here." She described in a nonchalant voice but at the end her tone became vampish.
Rio carefully listened to her explanation and grasped it as he needed to prepare for the upcoming trial.
"I'll go first." She spoke with a smile.
Eve moved her hands and hovered her hands in front of the white petals one by one. Her hands swayed between 'Lia', 'Patents', and 'Layla' but after teasing him by going on all of them one by one she stopped in front of her parents and tapped the space in front of it as she was sitting at some distance from it.
The white petal with the 'Parents' tag flew to the left side of the yellow pan and landed on it.
The left pan instantly declined toward the ground and became unbalanced.
"Your turn. Chose a white petal with a person's name whose love weighs as much as your Patents or more if possible. If you succeeded you will get one point." She said in an amusing tone.
"Whose love weighs as much as my parents? I have never met my parents so how would I know how much they loved me?" Rio asked as he scrunched his brows.
"Oh boy...if you're having trouble then just pick one that loves you unconditionally like how a parent does. There is only one among these five who loves you for who you're. That love is as pure as a mother's love.
Also, don't forget that you cannot fail even once. A friendly tip, Just for you. Keep the bitterness of heart away from your mind or else you will lose." Eve said in a mysterious tone.
The names on the white petals were written as 'adopted grandfather', 'second mother', 'Layla', 'Lia', and 'Nyla'.
'Did my parents really love me unconditionally?'
Rio was taken aback hearing the requirements but he kept his calm and focused on the task at hand.
'Loves me unconditionally?'
He started running his Brain and thought about each person one by one to filter out his options.
"Can it be the grandpa? He adopted me when I was little but it's a mystery what happened in the past. Grandpa might have some connection with my birth parents. Let's put this option aside for now."
Rio mumbled inwardly and moved his eyes to the next white petal which had the name 'Second Mother' engraved on it.
"Or is it Second mother? She appears to be a real mother to me but she is still a mystery. I don't even know what happened between my parents and her. Second Mother said she adopted me because she knew my birth parents so her motherly love for me is because of the old bonding she had with them. If I wasn't related to them she wouldn't care about this nobody. She does love me unconditionally now but it is because of my parents. Why is this so hard to choose?" He disregarded the petal with the 'second mother' name for now and sighed inwardly.
Rio's eyes moved to the next option. The name engraved on the white petal made his heart pleasant.
====////====
[SnowNote]
Who can guess the answer? Who actually loves him unconditionally among the five?
Is it Lia?
Second mother?
Adopted Grandpa?
Layla?
Nyla?
Let me know if you can guess it correctly.
Edited By: TheWhiteSnow
I'll add the important character images on:
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