After finishing the dessert, he returned to the bed to sleep, but was interrupted just as he was about to close his eyes. "Do you remember our first meeting?" Jessica asked, her voice tinged with a hint of nostalgia.
Taylor, lying next to her while she remained seated on the bed, closed his eyes and replied calmly, "Not particularly."
Hearing the indifference in his voice, Jessica let out a soft sigh, lay down beside him, and murmured, "Good night."
No response came. Only silence filled the room until sleep finally overtook her.
A little later, Taylor opened his eyes and whispered, "She's really grown since our first meeting."
His mind drifted back six years, to when he was twelve. He was at a party held for his return after the "incident."
He remembered himself stepping away from the crowd, heading toward the balcony with a drink in hand.
As soon as he reached the balcony, he noticed someone descending on a rope to his left.
He glanced quickly, then turned his gaze to the sky, admiring the moon and taking in the cold evening air with a deep breath.
While sipping his drink, a female voice called out, pleading for help. He didn't turn.
When the voice, now near tears, grew more desperate, he slowly raised his hand. A flame sparked from his index finger and cut the rope cleanly.
Turning, he saw hands grasping the edge of the balcony. Soon after, a blonde girl, looking disheveled and untidy, managed to climb back up.
Continuing to sip his drink, Taylor watched her. The girl, noticing his gaze while trying to adjust her clothes, looked at him and asked, "What's the matter?"
Taylor responded with a question of his own, his eyes fixed on her "Why were you trying to escape by climbing down?"
Before Jessica could say anything, a voice behind her interrupted "Jessica, what do you think you're doing here?"
Turning around, she saw her cousin. Without giving her time to respond, she stepped forward and slapped her hard, knocking her to the ground.
She grabbed her by the hair and slapped the other cheek with the same force. Despite the cousin's attempts to scream for help, she continued, until a few people, drawn by the commotion, arrived at the scene.
As soon as her aunt noticed the daughter's reddened cheeks, she rushed to help. But as she approached, Jessica struck her with a slap.
Her aunt exploded in a furious scream, her face tense and hands trembling. "Jessica, what do you think you're doing?"
Jessica looked at her with cold eyes, her voice sharp as ice "It's your fault that your daughter had the audacity to lock the room from the outside while I was trying to relax."
Hearing Jessica's accusation, her cousin tried to respond, but only a stammer escaped from the pain in her cheeks.
The aunt continued shouting insults, keeping her distance.
From the crowd, a man tried to push through hastily, panic in his voice "Wife, are you alright?"
Hearing the voice, Jessica's aunt let out a relieved sigh.
But the uncle, upon realizing what was happening before him, exploded in rage. He was about to use Essence Crush to crush his impertinent niece.
Taylor, who was about to move from the balcony to the floor below to get a drink and then go to sleep upstairs, froze immediately when he saw the glass in his hand shatter from the energy released by the man.
At that moment, as the others turned toward the source upon hearing the glass shatter, they went pale. Especially the man responsible, who stammered in a trembling voice, "I-I apologize, heir of House Flame, I—"
He didn't get to finish. In the very next instant, an Essence Crush, so suffocating and overwhelming, slammed down on him, leaving nothing behind but blood.
Essence Crush is a technique that compresses the opponent's life energy, if they weaker, It completely suppresses them, while if the gap is huge, It can kill them without leaving a trace.
People from the nine continents could distinguish the different forms of Essence Harmony.
Essence Harmony is the fundamental energy from which all powers are born. The more in harmony you are with your body, mind, and spirit, the stronger you become.
Jessica, prepared for the worst, knew that facing her uncle — an Acolyte, Stage 5 — while she was only at Stage 2, would be extremely risky. Yet, before her, a boy of her same age eliminated him effortlessly, using only Essence Crush.
Taylor walked toward the exit calmly, the crowd parting for him as he passed. Jessica's aunt, upon seeing her husband fall before her eyes, fainted.
Her daughter, still in shock, struggled to get up, lifted her mother, and walked away. The crowd began to disperse, but Jessica didn't move. With determined steps, she started following Taylor.
She somehow managed to catch up to him, but only because he had stopped in front of a table of sweets. She could have reached him earlier, but a strange feeling made her hesitate.
Sighing deeply, she approached and, with a serene smile on her lips, murmured, "Thank you for earlier." No response came.
She repeated the phrase, this time a little louder, but apart from continuing to take sweets, Taylor made no gesture toward her.
She wanted to try once more, but suddenly Taylor turned and fixed his gaze on her. Jessica's legs trembled, as if the weight of his presence could crush her. Yet, taking a deep breath to steady herself, she gathered her courage. With a small smile and the gentlest voice she could muster, she asked, "Can we be pen pals?"
The response was unexpected: Jessica found herself once again in the room she had managed to leave just moments before. With a trembling voice, she murmured, "How did I get here?" Instinctively, she reached out for the door and, to her surprise, managed to open it.
She descended to the ground floor, where she had met Taylor earlier, but there was no one in sight. Sighing, she was about to head toward her carriage when a servant handed her a piece of paper. On it was written 'If we meet again and you remain as determined as you are now, not only pen pals but I might even take you as my lover'.
Jessica blushed with anger and, without a second thought, tore the paper apart.
Thinking back to how Jessica had reacted at that time, Taylor smiled unconsciously. Turning just slightly toward the girl, he murmured softly, "I won't go back on my word." Then he closed his eyes, letting himself slowly drift into sleep.