As soon as she logged out of Elysium, Isabella lay down in the hot tub to wash off the residual residue from the nutrient solution and realized she had made a mistake.
Alice was still in Elysium at that moment, helping the people in her group level up, so even if she sent her a message, Alice probably wouldn’t even see it right now.
’What do I do then?’ she asked herself, feeling a little embarrassed.
It would be too embarrassing to return to Elysium like this after leaving in such a hurry, so she didn’t even consider that possibility.
But then, suddenly, she received a message on her phone.
[Hayes: Hey Lisa, are you okay? You left in such a hurry that I got worried. 😟]
Reading that, Lisa was confused.
[Lisa: Weren’t you going to sell the tendons from the rabbits we hunted? 🤔]
[Hayes: 😂😂😂, without your telepathy to let me talk to Intervar, the process would be really awkward, so I decided to wait and give them to him tomorrow, it’s not like those tendons are going to spoil in the Astral Chest anyway.]
Reading that, Isabella felt her cheeks turn red and sank her head slightly into the bathtub, embarrassed.
Fortunately, while she was thinking of what to say as an excuse, Halon had already thought of it for her.
[Hayers: But don’t worry, you seemed so rushed to log off that I figured it might be something serious. Next time, just let me know if there’s an emergency, you don’t have to say what it is if it’s personal.]
Reading that, Isabella felt her heart grow even warmer.
"Damn, kid, it’s because of you that I left like that..." She murmured softly as she sank a little deeper into the water, the hot water covering her mouth.
After the conversation she had with her mother, Isabella understood better the possible feelings she was experiencing and was trying to figure out if they were real, as she imagined, or if they were just a passing phase because she’d met someone interesting.
Part of her still hoped this was just a passing phase so she could get out of these uncharted waters and return to the normality of her routine, but another part wanted it to last as long as possible, so she could savor this feeling that was so new to her.
Isabella tilted her head back, letting her long red hair spread out across the crystal-clear water like strands of scarlet silk, while the steam from the bathtub rose in slow spirals, enveloping her beautiful, delicate face.
The smooth, white skin of her shoulders, now clean of the viscous nutrient liquid, glowed under the soft bathroom light, revealing impeccable symmetry in her natural curves, a stark contrast to the appearance Lohan was preparing to possibly face.
She watched the golden screen of the hologram floating before her, feeling the warmth of the water compete with the heat rising up her neck due to Lohan’s messages.
She typed with a restrained smile, trying to regain her "Ice Queen" facade.
[Lisa: Do you really think I’d believe that? I bet you just wanted an excuse so you wouldn’t have to roam Thalendor alone. 🙄]
Lohan’s reply came almost instantly, accompanied by the familiar notification from Isabella’s holographic device attached to her left eye.
[Hayes:
Isabella let out a crystal-clear laugh that echoed through the luxurious bathroom.
It was strange how, even while naked and vulnerable in her private life, a place where she had never opened up to any man, his words made her feel a camaraderie she had never found in others.
She looked at her own submerged legs, moving them slightly and creating ripples in the water, remembering how Lohan had tried to replicate her anatomy with his blue jelly and laughed as she typed.
[Lisa: Your reputation? You mean the reputation of a chubby, round "Jelly Corgi"? If Intervar saw you trying to run with those little short legs, he’d pay you to leave his store just so he wouldn’t die laughing. 😂]
[Hayes: Ouch! That was a low blow!! Don’t you dare bring that up again or I’ll get mad at you, and you don’t want to see me mad... 👿]
Isabella felt the tightness in her chest return, but this time it was a light sensation, almost like a tingling. Even though she heard him say he’d get mad at her, knowing him as she did, she knew it was just a joke, something she shouldn’t worry about and should just enjoy the game they were playing.
She wondered what Lohan was doing in his apartment in the Lower Zone, wondering if he was also laughing at this conversation like she was, or if he was perhaps thinking of her as a lottery ticket that could help him escape poverty or increase his own wealth, as so many others did?
But as she thought about it, she instantly remembered his stubborn refusal to accept more money than he should have for selling the coins to her, and her smile grew even wider.
[Lisa: Okay, okay, fine, I guess I don’t want to risk making you mad at me first thing tomorrow, when Alice and her group arrive, but you’ll have to promise me you won’t use me as your ’Legendary Mount’ in front of them! In front of the other guild members, you’re forbidden from climbing on me without my permission! I’m going to transfer the credits for the tendons to you now, at a 1:1 rate, as we agreed... you stubborn thing. 😠]
Reading that, Lohan, who was now at home lying in bed with a smile as big as Lisa’s, started laughing as he imagined the cute, embarrassed face Lisa must be making right now.
[Hayes: Ohhh... so does that mean I can ride you whenever I want as long as we’re not in front of the guild members? 😈]
Isabella felt her face turn red immediately upon reading that, and instinctively she screamed. "HALOOON!!"
Her scream was just as natural as it always was when he annoyed her in Elysium, and surprisingly, that scream helped a little with the embarrassment, but she felt a bit indignant toward that cheeky boy.
Dipping her face in the water for a second, feeling the bubbles rise, she calmed down and replied to the message.
[Lisa: Of course not, you idiot. If you were in front of me, I’d burn you right now, kid. Stop talking such nonsense! 😡]
Still embarrassed, she turned off the hologram and sighed, not really feeling as angry as she seemed to him. In fact, at that moment she had a big smile on her face that she was trying her hardest to hide.