Sophia and Alia stared at each other before gazing at Milka’s retreating form. The voice they heard sounded familiar, but it couldn’t have been possible. Adrian was long gone.
Their emotional state was a ss, but they were careful not to cause a scene. If the boy was Adrian, as they suspected, he had to have his reasons for not revealing himself to them, and even if he wasn’t, they didn’t want to cause any problems.
That’s why the girls approached him under the guise of thanking him. anwhile, Adrian turned his nack towards them, hunched over the slain boar, a knife in hand, focused on its butchering.
The girls had seen Adrian do it countless tis and knew how he used to scavenge. Milka’s actions strangely resembled Adrian’s, giving them another clue.
Alia nudged Sophia, whispering, "That’s him, right?"
"I... don’t know," Sophia shrugged, her eyes fixed on Adrian as he worked his magic. "But sothing tells it’s him."
"Well, there’s one way to find out," Alia cald herself before approaching the ’stranger’.
There was a strong possibility that they were imagining things. Even if Adrian was alive, how could he have escaped Nexaria without triggering any alarms?
The odds were stacked against them, but Sophia and Alia were not about to give up without getting to the truth.
"...do you have a mont?" Alia called out.
Adrian glanced up briefly, shook his head and then returned to his work, hoping they’d go away. But the girls persisted, inching closer.
He knew he had made a mistake by intervening between them and Taheton. Ultimately, he had gotten too heated in his conversation with Taheton and forgot that the others could hear him.
’So much for praying...’
Adrian had hoped Alia wouldn’t notice his voice, but she did and was now on his case.
Sophia stepped forward, her voice more assertive. "Hey, we need to talk to you."
The girls were determined. With Sula and Vincent away and Taheton not likely to step in, it was the perfect mont to confront ’Milka’ and get to the bottom of things without anyone getting suspicious.
Adrian sighed inwardly, realising they wouldn’t give up. He dropped the knife and grasped their hands firmly.
"Not here," he muttered before dragging them deeper into the forest.
Once they were secluded, Adrian released their hands and turned to face them.
"You two never give up, huh?" Adrian asked, shaking his head.
The girls exchanged glances, their doubts about his identity fading at the sound of his familiar voice. Still, they had to be sure.
"It’s... you, isn’t it?" Sophia asked, inching closer to him.
"You’re alive?" Alia comnted but kept her distance.
Instead of replying to them, Adrian looked around and undid [Mimic] once he was confident that no one was around.
"It’s really you!" Sophia’s eyes widened.
Alia blinked in disbelief. "I can’t believe it..."
Just then, Sophia felt a sharp pain in the head as the hex Adrian had placed on her was lifted, and she rembered the ti they spent together in the instance dungeon.
Sophia’s eyes shone with tears as she flung herself into his arms, mories flooding back. However, she wasn’t prepared for what would happen next.
Adrian’s smile faltered as he gently pushed her back, discomfort evident in his eyes. When the girl touched him, he wanted to hug her back, but the weird pain in his head returned worse than ever before, forcing him to push Sophia away.
"Hey, uh, Sophia, right?" he said, his tone hesitant. "You shouldn’t get too close to strangers."
Sophia blinked, taken aback by his reaction. She glanced at Alia, unsure of how to respond. For a mont, she thought Adrian was ssing with her, but his expression said otherwise.
"Adrian, it’s , Sophia!" Sophia chuckled nervously. "Your girlfriend."
"Right, sure you are," Adrian scoffed before turning towards Alia. "I know I should have inford you guys about being alive. But you shouldn’t prank like this."
Silence fell between them, tension hanging in the air. Adrian shifted uncomfortably, his gaze flicking between the two girls, unsure of what was happening.
"I told you he won’t fall for it," Alia smiled, rolling her eyes. "He’s too smart for that!"
Sophia looked at Alia and decided to follow her act. "Well, it was worth a try. Sorry, it was my idea to prank you... I hope you’ll forgive ."
"It’s... alright," Adrian replied, feeling sothing was amiss. "We’ve been gone for too long. I’ll explain everything to you guys later, but I’d appreciate it if you keep this a secret for now."
Alia and Sophia nodded as Adrian used [Mimic] and turned into Milka before leaving them. Once he was gone, Sophia’s legs gave away, and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"What is happening..." she murmured. "Did he... forget ?"
"I’m... not sure," Alia replied, pulling Sophia back to her feet. "But sothing must have happened between his disappearance and now."
She continued, "He clearly rembered , but why did he forget about you? It doesn’t make any sense."
"I think I might know sothing," Sophia murmured, then she spilt out all she could recall about Adrian and the instance dungeon to Alia.
"Wait... so that guy was Adrian?" Alia asked, rembering about the incident during Adrian’s funeral. "Why didn’t you tell us about it before?"
"Because I didn’t rember! Seeing Adrian again brought back those mories. Which ans-"
"Maybe soone or sothing made Adrian forget about you," Alia finished Sophia’s thought. It could explain why he rembered but not you.
"Yeah, that’s right! Perhaps it’s connected to the tribals sohow? Rember that girl from earlier?" Sophia jumped to conclusions. "She ntioned that Adrian, or the guy he was pretending to be, had lost his mories, didn’t she?"
Alia nodded. While Sula did tell her that, she believed it wasn’t the case with Adrian. Sothing big must have happened to make him forget about Sophia.
But did she want Sophia to get another chance with Adrian? It could be the universe telling Alia it was her turn to be with Adrian...
’No... I can’t do this to Sophia, not unless we’ve tried everything else to help Adrian recall his mories.’
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