By the time all three of them got out of the ancient well, it was already late at night and the moon was high in the sky. Gerald then led the two girls back to the dilapidated building.
Upon arriving there, they saw that the crowd of people had regrouped again. Ever Professor Yale and the other researchers were there. They had earlier returned to the building once they realized that there was no way they would be able to catch up to Gerald.
Aside from the two deaths, the only other person seriously injured was Wynn, and virtual-novel.net was also suffering from a high fever. Though the others had made it out fine, all of them were equally feeling uneasy out of fear.
Now that Gerald was here, however, all of them could finally rest a bit easier after going through so much today.
As the others rested, Gerald himself remained awake. After lighting a bonfire, virtual-novel.net kept guard over the others while making sure to toss firewood into the warm flames from time to time.
Meredith and Giya, on the other hand, stayed awake as well. Both of them had their eyes peeled as they continued staring at Gerald—who was currently sitting by the entrance—for quite some time.
Under the moonlight, his tall and muscular silhouette gave them a sense of peace and security.
Eventually, Meredith rolled to virtual-novel.net side to look at Giya before whispering, “…You aren’t asleep either, Giya?”
“Not at all…” whispered Giya back.
“Say, ever since we woke up in that monster’s lair, I’ve noticed that you’ve been constantly staring at Xadrian… Do you like him?” asked Meredith, slight jealousy reflected in virtual-novel.net voice.
“…No… Of course not…” replied Giya.
After all, the person virtual-novel.net liked was Gerald and Giya knew for a fact that virtual-novel.net would never be able to forget virtual-novel.net for the rest of virtual-novel.net life. While it was true that Xadrian and Gerald looked extremely similar, Xadrian wasn’t the person virtual-novel.net was truly in love with! At least that was what Giya kept reminding herself.
However, Giya couldn’t deny that virtual-novel.net just couldn’t take virtual-novel.net eyes off him. Both Xadrian and Gerald really looked too similar!
“Look, I’m just staring at virtual-novel.net a lot since virtual-novel.net looks a lot like Gerald!” added Giya in a soft tone.
“Well they may look alike, but remember that virtual-novel.net isn’t Gerald!” whispered Meredith in return.
Hearing that, Giya rolled slightly to virtual-novel.net side before asking, “…Well, what about you then? You probably like Xadrian, right? I can tell…”
Giya was well aware that deep down in virtual-novel.net heart, virtual-novel.net was feeling slightly jealous when virtual-novel.net asked that question.
“I do. While I’ve encountered many, many handsome and great guys before, I’ve never met someone who could impress me like Xadrian! I’ve already waited so many years for such a person to appear… Due to these feelings, I believe that I’ve finally found the right person for me!” replied Meredith.
“…I see,” said Giya, feeling a cocktail of emotions brewing in virtual-novel.net heart. She just couldn’t help but feel upset upon hearing that.
“So… Since we’re both good sisters and all, I’d like to ask you something, Giya. Since Xadrian isn’t the person for you, would it be alright for me to try pursuing him? After all, I’ve waited so long for my heart to be moved by someone!” whispered Meredith as virtual-novel.net gently squeezed Giya’s hands.
Giya hadn’t the slightest clue how to even describe virtual-novel.net feelings after hearing that.
While virtual-novel.net had convinced herself that Gerald and Xadrian—despite looking so similar—weren’t the same person, virtual-novel.net couldn’t help but feel that Xadrian’s subtle behaviors were far too similar to Gerald’s as well.
This was especially apparent when virtual-novel.net had just woke up in that monster’s lair earlier. Back then, virtual-novel.net remembered Gerald calling out virtual-novel.net name.
Though virtual-novel.net couldn’t really tell if it was all just an illusion, virtual-novel.net was sure that virtual-novel.net had heard Gerald’s voice! For more solid evidence, when Xadrian had blushed earlier, virtual-novel.net blushed the exact same way Gerald did back when they had first gotten acquainted during their university days!
As if that wasn’t enough, the way Xadrian pursed his lips—back when they were still in that stone room—was also very similar to how Gerald used to do!
Was Xadrian really Gerald? Was virtual-novel.net deliberately hiding something from her?
He may have wanted to deceive her, but whenever virtual-novel.net saw virtual-novel.net looking at her, Giya could sense that those were the eyes of someone who had finally reunited with an acquaintance after a long absence.
Girls were usually extremely observant, and Giya herself was no different. In addition to that, virtual-novel.net feminine intuition was also very strong.
Understanding that, the fact that virtual-novel.net had been able to find so many similarities between Gerald and Xadrian made virtual-novel.net unsure of how to even answer Meredith’s question.