Second Female Leads' Playbook

After two days of coaxing, Dolphin finally stops ignoring me. At last we reach the center of the realm. Why do I know? Because the plant is in front of me. I just have to get the fruits dangling from the branches. As if. There are two huge snake like creatures surrounding the plants. They look like sea eels. They keep sliding around the plant vigilantly, like the faithful guardians they are. 

Dolphin is once again hiding behind me. To say the truth, I want to hide behind someone too. 

Lord Valentine gave me hints on how to get past the guardians. Once every 12 hours, one of the eels falls into a deep coma for 2 hours. So there is only one left. 

The question here is how to get past this remaining sea eel. Can I distract it? It is the guardian of this plant. If there is a ruckus, it will surely go and take a look. I hope so. I can give this a try. 

I think of a plan, wait for one of the eels to fall asleep. And turn to face Dolphin.

"Dolphin, I am giving you a very important mission. My whole life depends on it. I trust you!"

Dolphin starts to shake its tiny head and squirts water at me. It must have sensed what I am planning to do. 

"Dolphin you can do that! I trust you!" I persuade Dolphin.

"It is very easy. You just have to carry this spell. And swims over there! Away from the plant but not far enough. Then drop this paper down. Your job is done! You can discretely swim back and find me! It's just a swim. I'm sure you can do that!" 

Dolphin shows its refusal with a quick slap on my hand with its tail. 

"Oh come on, it's just swimming there and then swim back! Nothing dangerous. I promise." Without waiting for its reply, I slap a paper onto its back. "Go! You want to go home too, right?"

With reluctance, Dolphin begins to swim in the direction I point. As it swims, I mutter some simple spells beneath my breath, so that the seaweeds around Dolphin are waving more vigorously then they originally were. In general I create a huge ruckus. 

The remaining eel raises its head and looks at the ruckus following Dolphin. After much deliberation, the eel starts to slither out and follow Dolphin. Now Dolphin just has to place down the lightning spell when it feels the spell is about to activate. 

When the eel is out of my sight, I start to creep close to the plant I spend so much time searching for. I soften my footsteps when I am close to the eel who is sleeping soundly. After a quick glance behind my back, I start to pick the fruits and stuff them into my bag. 

Everything is going smoothly but I have to slip my hand! The final fruit drops from my hand and rolls to the sleeping eel. I hope it does not feel it. I squeeze my hands together.

The eel's closed eyelids seem to flicker for a second, then it returns to its sleeping state. I let go a breath I have no idea I have been holding and quickly return to our hiding spot. I start placing protective spells around me and begin to chant for the activation of the lightning spell. After a few seconds, a huge sound explodes in the distant. 

Dolphin appears next to me shortly afterward. I give it a huge hug as it tries to struggle out of my strong embrace. I motion Dolphin to remain quiet and peek out of the seaweed. 

I stay inside my protective shield. This shield is of a different nature than the one I used to face monsters. This shield cannot stop mechanical attacks, but can hide you pretty well. At least I hope the eels who are chasing me do not have any advanced magic. 

The eels must be searching high and low for the thief. If I escape just now after stealing, I might be caught by them. Eels can be quite quick if they want to be. This hiding spot is close to the plant and together with the protective shield, there is a high chance the eels do no notice me. As people said sometimes the most dangerous place was the safest spot.  .

I plan to leave when both eels have stopped searching. 

I hold in my breath as the eel slithers close to me. But this eel isn't even looking in my direction, seems like the spell is a success. As I have guessed, the eels seem not to suspect the thief hiding so close to them without escaping after the theft. 

If the guardians are people, I might not use this method as they might suspect. But the eels are animals, their thoughts are simpler. I heave a sigh of relief when the eel slithers past. 

After another hour, the two eels seem to have given up chasing and slither themselves around the plant vigilantly.

I decided to wait. After a few hours, their vigilance begins to drop. One of the eels even fall back to sleep. 

It's time for me to go. With a quick nudge at Dolphin, we set out. As quietly as a thief should be.

----------

I nearly burst out crying. Nearly. 

When I step out of the realm, I see Lord Valentine waiting for me. 

"Welcome back, Ianthe! I know you can do it!" He gives me his usual gentle and warm smile. 

He walks towards me and gives me a warm hug. I stand there like a statue, shocked. Lord Valentine has never hugged me. I have no idea his hug is so warm and comforting. And kind of familiar. Familiar?

He releases me. "You have done a great job!" He gives my head a quick pat.

"My lord, you still have no idea whether I can successfully bring you back the fruits or not. I just successfully walk out of the realm."

"That itself is already part of the exam. And I am sure Ianthe succeeded in outwitting the eels as well."

"Outwitting? My lord, maybe I chose to fight the eels!"

"I doubt that," he replies confidently.

"Alright, I really did not fight the eels. You're correct, my lord." I smile. But then thinking of my bag which is currently without the original pearl, my smile disappeared. "I am sorry, my lord. I gave away the pearl on the bag. It's your gift, but I did not protect it. I am sorry."

Lord Valentine chuckles. "Ianthe, it's alright. It's just a pearl, I will help you fix it when we return home. Did you encounter the famous scammer of the Realm of Deep Sea?"

"Yes! She is very famous?" 

"Kind of. You touched her golden stone?"

"I did not, my lord! I just could not get rid of that stone!"

"Seems like you have quite an adventure, Ianthe. You must be tired, let's go home first." He offers me his hand. After placing my hand in his, a quick rush of wind blows at my face. When I open my eyes, we're back at the tower. 

I miss the tower! And my bed! I have had enough sleeping on hard ground. 

When I look at the floor, surprisingly it's not as I thought. I thought the tower will be back to a mess with me gone for weeks. I thought surely books and papers will be everywhere. I thought his robes will be all over the places. But no, the tower is as clean and tidy as always. 

Why do I feel disappointed all of a sudden? So... in the end I am not as useful and irreplaceable as I thought.

"Ianthe, you look tired. Go and take a nap. We'll talk after you're more refresh, shall we?" Lord Valentine is as gentle as always. 

I nod with a tiny smile. "See you during dinner, my lord."

"I am sorry, Ianthe. I have royal dinner to attend to today." He smiles apologetically. 

My smile freezes on my face, I should not ȧssume. Why do I think Lord Valentine is going to dine with me on my first day back?

"See you later, my lord. Have a nice dinner!" 

I enter my bedroom after that.

I am weird. I am feeling weird. I should not think like that. I should stop thinking like that.

I hug Dolphin and fall asleep.

-------------------

I am in a dream. I am certain. The blurriness and dream-like quality all indicate this is a dream. But why do I feel so awake? Where am I? 

"So it's you," the elegant lady says nonchalantly. "He has already given your life back. He does not owe you anything.  So I advise you to let him go."

Give me back my life? Let him go? Who is him? What is she talking about?

I know dreams are supposed to be nonsensical, but not like this. I am too awake to be in a dream.

"I advise you to let him go. It's for the benefits of both of us. He is meant for greater things." She places down the teacup she is holding and without a further look, she walks out of the room. Her high heels clicking on the floor. Then everything turns black.

I wake up with a start. What is that? A dream? But it does not feel like it. I can still remember every single minute detail. 

Let him go? Who is the 'him' she is talking about?

It feels like I am missing something very vital. Like I am watching a drama without a start. She said she was advising, but her tone indicates a command rather than an advise. It's a threat, not an advise. 

She said he had given me back my life. What life? She meant my transmigrated life? It just does not make sense. 

Maybe I should stop over analyzing a dream.