NOVEL NEXT Chapter 332: Nasty like that
The shattered room was silent.
Aurelia and Asaemon looked at Noah, sitting on his own chair before them, his expression calm, with both strange eyes.
Aurelia looked at him as if he was the personification of her whole fantasy come true. She couldn't stop stealing glances, even went as far as taking out a golden sheet of paper created by the golden tree of her realm and started to sketch Noah.
Her hands were fast and precise, brushing through the paper with natural grace and precision.
It was clearly not her first time.
For Asaemon, he looked at Noah simply like a proud elder brother, happy to see the youngest thrive in this harrowing universe.
If Noah was aware of the gazes his siblings were giving him, he didn't give any indication of it.
He simply sat there, expression quiet as he reminisced about what just happened.
After destroying the mind of Lea completely, Noah had rebuilt her by making sure that not only would Lea fear him, but she would also love him.
It was not that difficult to achieve, in all honesty.
Lea was already shattered, drowning in darkness as thick as oil, lost with no light, no hope, no foreseeable future in sight.
She was completely at her lowest. And she was hungry for a helping hand. A hand that would help her crawl out of that terrifying darkness.
The origin of the hand barely mattered… she only wanted hope.
And so Noah gave it to her.
As he thought about it, his face couldn't help but split into a small smile.
"Truly curious." Noah said, making Aurelia stop the portrait she was sketching and Asaemon focus on him.
"What is that?" Asaemon asked, tilting his head, his red hair swaying like sprayed blood.
Noah shook his head, "just wondering how we can be so strange. I broke her completely… but still she took my hand hungrily when I showed her afterwards a bit of affection and trust."
He raised his head to the broken ceiling where the sky of the realm was visible.
"Aren't we… beautifully, dreadfully complex?"
Aurelia smiled softly, "that's what we are. We are simply a living paradox. You destroyed her, like you said, but after that you gave what she longed for… you gave affection."
Her smile turned strange, "and affection, even if poisoned… it's still affection."
"So she took it even if one part of her must have known how venomous it was. That's what makes us alive, I guess. Sometimes we accept what hurts us because we only feel alive with that feeling."
Noah and Asaemon listened to Aurelia's words, their minds churning in multiple directions.
Finally, Noah sighed as he stood up from his chair. He stretched his arms, then his back before rolling his shoulders.
He didn't need to do any of that. But Noah found comfort in the mundane things sometimes.
"Well… it's thought-provoking, it's even scary how our brain works but…"
He smiled sweetly as he gazed at his siblings,
"It's what makes us us I guess. We all have our dark side." He said the last sentence with a smirk.
Then turned to look at Aurelia, "I wonder what you were doing with your sheet of paper, dear sister?" He asked playfully.
Aurelia shrugged, "I was preparing my book cover." She said flatly.
Both Noah and Asaemon were taken aback.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting again?" Asaemon blurted out, looking at his sister as if at a person mentally ill.
Noah stayed silent, somehow speechless.
Aurelia's lips twitched at their reactions, she glared at them, "What's wrong? I got an inspiration and so I want to write a book. Do you have a problem with that?"
Both of them raised their hands in surrender.
"Not at all, sister. I know you'll kill it." Noah said.
"I mean, it's fine as long as you don't blow up entire worlds because of bad reviews and comments." Asaemon added with a shrug, feeling like he should warn her.
Aurelia could be very unreasonable sometimes.
But…
"…it can be that bad, right?" She asked, her expression now starting to darken with doubt.
Noah smiled wryly as he remembered all those reviews and comments he had seen on novels.
There were some even he — a simple reader — had felt deep inside his heart.
Some people were just nasty like that.
"…well…" Noah started with a strained smile.
"You don't need to worry about that… bad reviews and nasty comments are part of the process. Don't be too stuck on them or it will ruin your joy of writing." Noah said softly, as he patted his sister's shoulder.
"By the way, what type of book are you going to write?" He said, smoothly changing the subject.
Aurelia's eyes lit up in joy and something dark and twisted.
"Dark romance!" She said with a chirp.
She was honestly too cute.
"Oh… not exactly my type of thing to read but I will do it for you. If you want I will even be your beta reader!" Noah added with a beaming smile.
Asaemon came at the side, "Hey! Hey! Me too! I will definitely read it, and don't worry sister. I will give you so many bad reviews and nasty comments that you won't feel anything when others do it." He said with a grin, already planning in his mind the profanity he would say in the guise of aiding her.
A dark grin crept onto his lips at this thought.
Aurelia felt warmth and an even greater anticipation to write now.
She had been a reader for as long as she remembered and now… now she was ready to take that step. That step to go from reader to author + reader.
The combination of both.
A giddy feeling bloomed through her heart like a pink lotus as she smiled brightly and nodded her head to her brothers.
This was the first time, except when Noah was telling her about novels back on Earth, that Aurelia was so expressive.
That showed just that she was the type of girl who only cared about reading, anything else was a bother.
Noah shook his head, his lips curling upward. 'Having a passion is truly something special.' He thought before clapping his hands, making his siblings look back at him.
"We have wasted enough time. I have blocked Neron's death but Luelle will sense it soon." He said, immediately they became serious.
"Is there anything else we need to? If not we can bail out now." Asaemon said with a grin.
"I still have a thing to do." He said, "as you know I have a world I rule so I need to elevate. I would need the Will of this realm then."
They nodded in understanding.
"Oh! Let's get it over." Asaemon said nonchalantly.
"Yes, I need to write my first chapter. But first, what's the name of my male lead? Should I just go with Noah as he is my inspiration?" Aurelia said, her hand on her chin as she wondered.
Noah looked at her, eyes widening, "What—!"
Before his words even ended, space twisted violently before a crimson wolf appeared, jaws open wide, the interior looking like a swirling portal inside.
It swallowed them with a loud snap that tore apart the space.
They were directly transported to the Will zone, Asaemon's loud laugh echoing through the air.
—End of chapter 332—