[Her skin possessed a faint translucence, smooth and flawless beyond mortal standards. It was as if impurities had been erased down to the most fundamental level.]
[However, more than Jade’s appearance was the change in presence.]
[She did not deliberately exude seduction, yet her existence alone drew your gaze.]
[A quiet and noble charm wrapped around her, gentle yet irresistible. It was an elegance born not from noble descent or effort, but from perfection itself.]
[Aside from the change of Jade’s appearance, you also noticed she changed her clothing to match it.]
[She wore a flowing white dress trimmed with pale gold threads. The fabric was light as mist and clung gently to her curves.]
[Jade-green patterns traced the hem of her dress. It echoed the color of her eyes and hair, making her appear like a spirit born from a sacred spring.]
[Gazing at her, you knew from the looks of her eyes that she wanted to hear what you think of how she looked, so you spoke, "I’m flabbergasted. Is this what you felt when you saw me?"]
["I don’t want to plagiarize famous poems to describe your beauty. But from the bottom of my heart, I want to say, words alone cannot describe it."]
["I can see that you took your time to change your clothing. I’m not oblivious of your liking, as it’s quite obvious since I’m not dense, but can I ask why?"]
["What do you see in someone like me? I am not a saint, nor the greatest man in history. I am quite willful, and do what I please just because I can and want to."]
[You didn’t expect this to head into confession territory, but you knew that ignoring her feelings, especially when she prepared this much, was heartless.]
[You weren’t the type to be indecisive. Since she placed this much effort and importance, you ought to respond to her feelings by either accepting or rejecting it.]
[But it truly puzzled you why Jade had high favorability towards you to the point she paired up with you as your Train Conductor Duo.]
[Unlike the real world Jade, whom you had saved, you didn’t have such an encounter with this Jade.]
[Moreover, you also noticed that the real-world Jade might have thought she hid it well, but she also seemed to look upon you favorably, as if she had a secret crush on you.]
[You waited for Jade’s response, and what you got from her was a soft chuckle, followed by her rhetoric, "Isn’t it enough that you are kind to me and care for me?"]
[Knowing this wasn’t enough, and wanting you to also know, Jade revealed, "You might have forgotten about it, or didn’t know at that time. But for me, I still haven’t forgotten it."]
[Jade paused for a while and started reminiscing, "Back when I was in middle school, our family dog had run out of the streets."]
["It was about to be hit by a car, but you rushed in and swooped it out of the streets, saving its life."]
["That dog was gifted to me by my grandmother on my seventh birthday. She had passed away a few days ago at that time, and that dog was one of the few things that she left me."]
["I was in grief at that time, and I didn’t know what I’d do if my dog went to heaven just a few days after my grandma."]
["I didn’t have the bravery or guts that you had to save Sparkle. And I don’t know what to do without her company."]
[Hearing Jade’s retelling, you were quite confused and also surprised.]
[You were confused as you had forgotten about that incident if she didn’t mention it, and also surprised that what you saved was her dog.]
[You indeed remembered that in middle school, you had saved a golden retriever.]
[However, the reason why you saved it wasn’t due to heroism or something like that. You weren’t that selfless.]
[At that time, you were in the phase of denial that you hadn’t awakened any golden finger or cheat skill which would normally be possessed by a transmigrator such as yourself.]
[You had risked your life to save that dog, mostly due to having enough confidence that you wouldn’t die from that attempt.]
[But the biggest reason was that you wanted to encounter a near-death situation that would force your golden finger or cheat skill to appear.]
[Yet, such an attempt didn’t awaken any cheat skill within you.]
[It was the main reason why you no longer hoped for a golden finger and decided to live a normal life, at least until the advent of the Monthly Apocalypse World Update Era.]
[Moreover, at that time, you had also saved that dog since you found it cute, but you never knew who its owner was.]
[You didn’t see Jade, or she wasn’t even her classmate in middle school.]
[So, hearing that from her was truly surprising.]
[Noticing the change in your expression, Jade breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that you remembered the incident she spoke of.]
["Of course, that incident alone wasn’t the main reason, but it did plant a seed in my heart that kept on sprouting as I observed you."]
["I had used my parents’ connections to find out which high school and college you planned to attend, and the rest is history."]
[Jade knew what she confessed wasn’t appropriate, but she didn’t want to lie to you, so she spoke truthfully.]
["I was truly glad that you weren’t bad, and as I observed from afar, realized that you were my type."]
["I had planned to confess to you after graduation since I found out you weren’t interested in starting a relationship during college. But this Global Transmigration incident has changed my plans."]
["However, call me selfish, but I’m glad that it did as it allowed me to be with you."]
["Even if our lives are brief in this dangerous world, I don’t regret living a single brilliant, passionate year, because it means more to me than a hundred years of hollow existence."]