"She… she's waking up!"

"Vicky!? Vicky!? Are you okay, Vicky!?"

​​

"Stop pestering her, let her get up on her own."

"Edward, your sister is waking up!"

"What… what are all of you doing here?"

Victoria's voice was still obviously weak from just having woken up, but she didn't have a choice but to sit up as she found herself surrounded by friends and acquaintances. She then tried to fix her hair, wiping off any saliva that might've slipped from her mouth before looking around for a particular person. But her head was already turned to its limits, and yet the person she was looking for was still nowhere to be found.

And so, she looked towards her mother, whose eyes were red and the trail of tears on her face still damp. "...What's going on, moth--"

Before Victoria could even finish her words, Paris hugged her. Her embrace was so tight that Victoria could not even let out a sound. She was going to use her Skills on her to calm her down, but after a few seconds of thinking about it, she chose not to do so and just let her be.

They remained like this for a whole minute, with Harvey wanting to speak but was always stopped by Beatrice and the others.

Finally, Paris let out a long and deep sigh as she let go of Victoria, "You should get ready as soon as you're able to," Paris then muttered as she wiped the last tear that came out of her eyes.

"Get… ready?" Victoria muttered. She was still confused as to why she was being surrounded. The last thing she remembered was…

…

…

The only thing she could remember was talking to Beatrice and the others… after that, there was nothing. And what did her mother mean by 'get ready'?

"Vicky…"

Finally, with Paris letting go of Victoria, Harvey was finally allowed to intrude, "Van…

...is gone."

"Gone?" Victoria muttered, "He… is gone?"

Her mother crying, her friends surrounding her. Did something bad happen? Did…

"Van… is dead?" Victoria stuttered, her lips quivering as she looked Harvey straight in the eyes.

"W--"

Before Harvey could even talk, Beatrice gave her a good slap on the head, "You're obviously saying it like that on purpose!" Beatrice let out a huge breath, "Van isn't dead, Victoria. He went away because of what happened to you."

"What happened… to me?"

"You don't remember?"

"...No."

With Victoria shaking her head adamantly, Beatrice started telling the story of what happened 2 weeks ago. Hearing how she was frozen for 2 weeks, Victoria finally started to feel the aching pain surrounding her body from having not moved her muscles at all.

"So Van and grandmother went away… so Evangeline can wake me up?"

"Hm."

Then she was basically a hostage, Victoria thought. Victoria already had a bad impression of Van's mother, but this just cemented the fact that she was way worse than she and the others initially imagined.

"Where are Van and grandmother now?"

As soon as she said that, the others all looked at each other.

"Master Charlotte didn't say anything," Harvey let out a small but deep sigh as he shook his head, "We wanted to come with them, but Van's mother didn't allow us to. Van also said we should stay with you and make sure we were there when you wake up."

"I… see," Victoria slightly turned her head down. Out of the four of them, she was the one that had the least fighting capability. Even when her grandmother was training them before they could rescue Van, all she did was stand on the backlines and support the group.

And now, she even caused Van to move away somewhere far.

"You don't have to worry about it."

"Hm?"

As she was wallowing in her thoughts, Andrea stepped forward and sat on the bed with her, "I am sure that boy also wanted to go away. It's absolutely not your fault… even if none of this happened, he would have found a way to leave one way or another."

"Miss Andrea…"

"He is sort of a free spirit, that boy," Andrea then let out a slight chuckle, "You don't need to worry about him… even if Evans is stupid, if there's one thing he is good at, it is surviving against all odds…

...and being entangled with women older than him, apparently," Andrea let out a sigh as she looked at Latanya, who still haven't woken up from her deep sleep.

"..." Victoria could let out a light gasp as she heard Andrea's words.

"Just kidding, just kidding," Andrea winked at Victoria, "I am sure he is busy doing whatever it is he's supposed to be doing."

***

"I… I… I asked for a duel! Not marriage!"

"...Oh shit."

Van remained kneeling on the floor as he heard the distress in Adia's words. King Badru and the other men did the same when they met Charlotte earlier, so Van just assumed that it was some sort of custom here in the African regions.

But alas, he was once again proven ignorant of the other's culture. If there was anyone to blame, though, it would be Charlotte; he thought as his head slowly turned towards where Charlotte is, only to see her slightly smirking at him.

"Sorry," finally after a few seconds of keeping quiet, Van let out a huge breath as he stood up, "I thought it was a form of greeting. I didn't mean to propose to you or any…"

Before Van could finish his words, the crowd was starting to let out gasps of disbelief, the people that were holding a camera also rained down more bright lights around them, their fingers almost reaching Van's speed.

"...So you're saying you're not proposing to me?" The worry on Adia's face became evident to Van as her eyes strayed towards the people and the cameras.

"..." Van could only let out a silent sigh as he closed his eyes momentarily. If this was before, then he would have probably said yes. But being surrounded by a lot of people lately, he became more aware that there were boundaries that one should respect… this was probably one of them.

"Of course I am," Van then said, not wanting to embarrass one of this continent's monarchs, "But let us just focus on our duel at first."

"Oooh!"

Once again, the people gathered around them starting pressing their cameras, their gossips almost as drowning as the bright lights that filled the entire auditorium. Van only hoped that this doesn't reach America, because if it does, then Harvey would have another thing to tease him with.

Van then looked at the huge screen that showed him and Adia as he let out another big sigh. He was just here to visit the Pit and meet more Olympians-- but not only is the situation with the Pit of this country complicated, the whole country of Pretonea itself was; at least for him.

After a few more hours of Van trying to avoid the cameras that were being pointed at him, the festivities finally came to a close and he and Charlotte were brought to a huge building where they will be staying the night.

He and Charlotte were in separate rooms, of course. He was led to a huge room, even bigger than the one he had in the castle of America's Pit City. The overall aesthetics of this so-called hotel reminded him of Charlotte's mansion; perhaps this is where she got the design from in the first place? Van thought.

"You can watch the news or anything you want on the television, sir Va-an. And if there is anything you need, you may call us on the phone beside your bed."

"...Hm," Van could only nod as he absolutely had no idea what the man was talking about. He could only concentrate on how every man he had seen so far was bald.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, sir Va-an?"

"Can you tell me where miss Charlotte is staying?"

"Ah, the White Imvubu is in the room beside you. Your room is connected so you can just knock on this door if you wish to meet her, sir Va-an," the man swiftly walked towards a door near the television.

"...I see. Thank you, mister…"

"My name is Jamal, sir. You can ask for me on the phone and I will come for you as soon as I am able," Jamal then said. He asked Van once again if there was anything he needed before he left the room, his smile not leaving his face even for a second.

"...I have my own… television in my room," Van placed his hand on his chin as he stared at the small television attached to the wall, "...It's not as big as the one earlier. Maybe I can bring this home with me?"

Van squinted his eyes, looking back and forth between the so-called television and his bag. "How does this thing even come to life?" Van could only shake his head as he quickly let go of the thought. Even if he brought this thing to America, it might not even work anymore.

Van then spent a good hour trying to figure out how the images appear on the television, his frustration almost reaching its peak as the television won't come alive no matter how many times he touches it.

"..."

"..."

"Please turn on, mister television."

"Pft."

"!!!"

Van quickly went into superspeed as soon as he heard someone else's presence in the room. He rushed towards the door, before turning around to try and see who it was that made that snorting noise.

And to his surprise…

"...Miss Elton?"

Angela Elton was in the room with him.