The couple didn't have much time to be with each other for the last few weeks, and they would separate again. Michael felt bad about that, but it was not like he could bring Alice to the Nest. He'd already asked Eren if he could get someone, but the Curse User said only family members were accepted into the Nest.
Sometimes, even family members were rejected. It happened often enough. After all, Curses drastically affected the Fate of ordinary beings. It was best for their safety to avoid too many Curses, and Curse Users. The farther, the better.
Peter Fang, for example, had merely been lucky enough to be his father-in-law's disciple. He knew a lot about Curses and had been under enough influence of multiple Curses' – Evalynn Fang's and her father's – that it made no difference either way.
Michael's influence on his friends and lover was still insignificant compared to the horrors that awaited them if they were to come to the Nest, where Curses were everpresent.
"You don't have to look like this," Alice smiled gently. She caressed his cheek lovingly, her eyes locked with his, "As long as you don't plan to break up with me, we can do long-distance. That's going to be annoying, but I'm sure we will manage."
Alice retrieved a small object that looked similar to a messenger crystal. However, it was larger, covered in an emerald sheen, and obsidian-colored runic engravings spread all over its surface.
"This is an Expanse Prism. It allows us to call each other in the Origin Expanse. As long as we channel enough energy into the Expanse Prism, we'll also be able to do video calls. Since we're both busy in the Origin Expanse most of the time, we can talk and see each other using the Expanse Prism. It's not the same as being with eac–...."
Alice couldn't finish her sentence when Michael leaned in to kiss her. The corner of her lips curled into a smile when she returned the kiss. Her arms coiled around his neck as she pulled him closer. Michael's right arm wrapped around her waist, adamant about keeping Alice close to him for the next few minutes.
"I'll miss you," Alice murmured once they separated.
Anyone else would be shocked to the core if they'd heard Alice look and act like this, but Michael just smiled.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Yeah..." He had to suppress a heavy sigh. Leaving Alice – even if it wasn't permanent – wasn't easy, "I will miss you too."
Michael released Alice and retrieved something from his War Rune storage. He hadn't been sure what to give her because it would be a shame if he were to give Alice something she didn't need. With that in mind, Michael chose to prepare a Soultrait Symbol for her. It was something only Michael could do. Nonetheless, he had to make sure that the Soultrait would be special and not like the other Soultrait Symbols he'd sold, auctioned, and gifted to others.
The result was more than satisfying, even if it cost 20 Soultrait Symbols and 36,640 SoulStar Fragments to create it.
[Queen], 6-Star Soultrait.
Queen was a territory-related Soultrait. To be precise, it required the Awakened to be a Lord to unleash Queen's full potential. However, that wasn't the only requirement. Queen's second condition to work properly was that the Awakened had another Soultrait, a Soultrait containing one of many words.
Territory, Land, Plot, Barony,...,Dukedom, Kingdom, Empire...World...
At first, Michael had been unsure why Queen had such unique requirements to unleash its full potential, but the answer was simple. The potency of Queen was dependant on something within the Lord's territory.
The only thing Michael wanted to achieve when he created Queen was to prepare something for Alice to stay safe and to be able to defeat her enemies no matter who it was. Queen enhanced all of the User's attributes. This included the speed at which they absorbed energy, how fast their War Rune digested energy, how strong their physique, brain, and soul was, and various other factors. The degree of enhancement, in the meantime, depended on the number of subjects with True Links of Loyalty.
That was something Michael found out only after he finished creating Queen. He considered tearing Queen apart but couldn't get himself to do it. Michael was certain that Queen was perfect for Alice.
He handed her the Soultrait Symbol with a smile.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"I wish you'll like it."
Alice stared blankly at the Soultrait Symbol resting in Michael's hand. She didn't move an inch, yet Michael could tell that the cogs in her head were rattling, trying to comprehend what Michael was trying to achieve.
Even though Alice had greatly improved, she couldn't help herself in certain situations. Her mind was still stuck with the constant plotting of her family and the High Society. There were no free gifts among High Society members. Every gift that seemed free would come back, biting you with favors.
Michael didn't think like that, though. Was it even a gift if you'd expected something of equal value in return? Why gift something if you would make demands?
Michael didn't need anything from Alice besides her being healthy and strong. She should be strong enough to overcome all kinds of adversaries. That was all he hoped to achieve by gifting her Queen.
Fortunately, Alice's War Rune wasn't as reluctant about accepting gifts as Alice. Her War Rune sensed a highly compatible Soultrait Symbol in its immediate environment and responded naturally. Several energy tendrils shot out of the return of her right hand. They lunged in all directions at first before getting pulled to the Queen's Soultrait Symbol. The tendrils coiled around the Soultrait Symbol and ripped it out of Michael's hand.
They drew return and returned to where they belonged, alongside the Queen's Soultrait Symbol.
"Oh no!" Alice exclaimed, her eyes widened in terror, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to ta–..."
"Calm down. It's yours. You can do whatever you want with Queen. It's the Soultrait I've ready for you. Fortunately, your War Rune seems to think that it suits you very well. That's nice," Michael smiled.
The corner of Alice's lips twitched in pain as the influx of Queen's information impacted heavily, and her eyes widened again, in surprise and joy this time.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"This…" She locked eyes with Michael, disbelief shimmering in her otherworldly majestic eyes, "You ready a 6-Star Soultrait for me? Why—...."
Michael raised an eyebrow and met Alice's gaze.
There was no need to speak any further. The couple communicated with their gazes, exchanging thousands of words with a single glance.
Alice and Michael stared at each other for a while. Their lips parted as if they wanted to say something, but no words escaped from their lips.
It wasn't until Eren tugged on Michael's mind that they had to bid farewell – for the time being, at least.
They embraced each other tightly once more, feeling like they should never let go of each other. Then they separated, a wave of sadness overcoming them.
"I will be return soon. Make sure you stay healthy. Don't let anyone bully you," Michael said, forcing a smile on his lips.
"Bully? Me? I think you're forgetting who I am," Alice responded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Take care," She mumbled, waving to Michael as he used Cosmic Stride to return to the Nest Sphere.
Alice pressed her lips together when Michael disappeared. A somber expression plastered her entire face.
"...My little Idiot…"
