[Music Recommendation: "A Sweet Smile" by Yu-Peng Chen (Genshin Impact OST) - available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

We headed out to the dining area since Kaiden complained of his hunger. The maids served the food and we all happily ate. Okay, maybe not all. Crystal barely touched her food. She only took spoonfuls when Callan pestered her to eat. Kaiden, Verrill, and Hora didn't notice anything amiss.

How nice it would be to be oblivious. Basically, no one was at fault here. But even if that was the case, the fact that Crystal was hurting remained. Ugh. I wanted to hug her so bad. Poor girl… it must have been so hard to see your crush getting along with—or rather, falling for, since it looked like that—another person. And to a friend at that!

Hora and Crystal hadn't been friends for long, just like me with Crystal since I just met her during the event at the Red Dragon Hotel. But in that short span of time we all had been together, I already felt the three of us were like sisters from another mothers. Hora said that thing about Crystal and in fact, they got along more than I did with Crystal.

I couldn't help but sigh and be sad for Crystal. I started to lose my appetite, too, as I continued to see the situation. What could I do in this situation? I didn't know. What was right? What was wrong? They were all important to me and I didn't want anyone to be hurt.

Trying to think of a solution, I laid out the facts before me. First: Crystal liked Verrill. As to what extent—if it's just a crush, infatuation, or love, I had no idea. But nevertheless, she liked him. Second: Verrill seemed to be interested in Hora, though he probably didn't notice that yet. And third: Hora… no matter how much she denied it, she was interested in Verrill, too. In fact, she liked him. She's just really good at hiding her emotions in front of others. But she couldn't fool me.

Hmmm… I just realized. What if Hora noticed it, too? That Crystal liked Verrill even before I did? Maybe that was the reason she had been denying her feelings even to me. Yeah. She never did that before! If she had a crush on someone—though most were Kpop idols, she still told me! She never kept secrets from me. But this time, she's desperately hiding it.

Was it because of that? Or it was just too early to tell? Well, we just met Callan and Verrill last week during the first day of school. Of course it was too fast to say and be sure of feelings. But then again, love at first sight was also true.

"Haaahh…" I sighed deeply before I took a sip of the water I was holding.

"Did something happen?" Hora leaned over to me and whispered. "You've been sighing since earlier."

'Oh my goodness! Senara you better keep your acts together!'

"I-It's nothing. Sorry. I just suddenly came up with an idea for my story but I'm having troubles how to plot it. So I was thinking hard about it." OMG. I hope my acting was convincing.

"Ahh, I see. For your new book—'The King's Beloved', right?"

"Yes, that one."

"Okie. But it's a birthday party right now. Think of that later when we get home."

"You're right. I will."

After eating, we chatted a bit until the party started. Guests came one after another, all dressed glamorously, and with shiny accessories. You could tell from one glance that they were highly influential people or celebrities.

I had no idea what Verrill's family business was, but according to Kaiden during one of my chats with him, their fathers were business partners. Same thing for Callan as well. That was how they all became childhood friends—since their parents were friends too. Ma, Zhong, Wang—they were known as the "Golden Trio" or the "Sleeping Giants" of the business world. The Ma family was on top, followed by the Zhong and Wang family.

Looking at the guests, I felt a bit out of place. These were all important people, and I was just a normal one. Hmm… but then again, Mr. and Mrs. Ma had been so kind to us. Maybe rich people weren't really like those in dramas—all snobbish and bullies of the weak and poor. There were some, yes, but not all. It was unfair of me to judge them just by their looks when I myself hated that.

And so, the party started. Verrill greeted all the guests that came. His parents, whom we introduced ourselves to earlier and kindly greeted us back, helped Verrill in welcoming the guests. Verrill had two younger brothers. The five of them, greeting guests, looked so nice together. They were the picture of a happy family. Must be where Verrill got all of his good manners. Good parenting was a really, really important factor to a child's growth and development.

After that, the ceremony started. Well-known performers entertained us by singing and dancing, and playing the instruments on stage. Everyone was free to dance or chat amongst themselves, and socialize. Something Hora and I weren't that good at. Thankfully, we were peacefully left alone since the young heirs were dragged to greet other guests, so we just headed outside to get some fresh air.

"Sena, look! We can feed the fish!" Hora excitedly said when she saw a small table near the huge pond with canisters filled with fish food. "I wanna feed them!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Okay. Let's do that."

We sat on the couch beside the small table and started feeding the koi fish.

"We're such introverts aren't we, Hora?"

"Yes. We don't belong in parties," Hora nodded. "I'd rather read inside a library or watch movies."

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha! Me, too! But we can't. This is Verrill's birthday after all. And he's a friend. But honestly, this looks more like a business gathering or event, rather than a birthday celebration."

"I know, right? When we celebrate, we throw parties, too. But not as formal as this one. We can goof off and do anything we want!"

"By anything you want, you mean taking refuge to my bedroom and reading my books or watching kdrama or listening to music, right?"

Hora chuckled. "Yes. That one. I'd prefer that anytime over talking to people."

"No way. You talk to people better than I do."

"Uuuhh… I think this won't end until someone concedes."

"Ha-ha-ha! You're right. Okay. Then we're just both introverts."

We laughed and chatted nonsense while feeding the fishes. Hora took great pictures of the surrounding as well. That was another one of her many talents. As we were enjoying ourselves. Mrs. Ma suddenly came to us. As to why she came, we had no idea.