"Sshing your feet in the river feels exactly like sshing your feet in the bathtub. Walking barefoot in the forest is like walking barefoot in the garden. It''s nothing special. And I''m sure you''ll only collide with birds and have insects enter your eyes and nose if you fly high up in the sky."


    Joyce was quick enough to shut Ariel down because she felt a pinch in her heart upon hearing Ariel''s earnest desire.


    Joyce couldn''t bear to hear that Ariel was deprived of such a simple thing like dipping the legs in the river that she would desire them as if they were luxury. Joyce couldn''t help but think that she would definitely hate being in Ariel''s shoes.


    And she felt that if she kept on hearing Ariel''s sob story then she would end up doing something that she would regretter. So she wanted to get away from Ariel as soon as possible.


    But if only Ariel let her leave.


    Ariel looked up at Joyce with her amber eyes glistening with tears.


    "How can you be so cruel, Joy? All I ask is a little taste of freedom..." Ariel asked in such a hurt voice that Joyce felt like her body was going to shrivel down in a puddle.


    However, she pushed her feelings aside and tried to act tough, "Your tears aren''t going to work on me, Ary. I''m not a soft-hearted person and you know it."


    Suddenly, Ariel''s whole bodynguage changed in a blink. She wiped her eyes and flicked a drop of tear from her finger.


    She sighed and smiled at Joyce, making Joyce scoff in disbelief.


    "So that was all an act?" Joyce raised her brows and asked while fisting on her hips.


    Ariel shrugged off her shoulders and said nonchntly, "Well, I have to try every way to make you agree to me."


    Joyce sneered and shouted, "Not happening."


    Joyce then raised her palms and was ready to forcefully push Ariel out of her way and head to the dining hall.


    However, Ariel slyly threw a question at Damien while ring at Joyce. "Dame, can you tell me about that fantastic nt that we find in Hell again?"


    Joyce''s palms stopped midways and her ears perked up. She waited for Damien, who was standing behind her, to speak. Chapter Read:


    Damien was confused why Ariel suddenly wanted to talk about nts. He was also confused thinking as to which nt Ariel was talking about.


    So he questioned Ariel, "Which nt? Are you talking about those worthless dead trees?"


    Ariel frowned at Damien and his stupidity. "No dumbass! The one that sucks the damned souls after hurting them with its throne."


    "Oh, you mean Zobekker? What about it?" Damien asked again. He didn''t know what Ariel was scheming because she had never brought up that nt''s purpose in their escape n when they were in Ariel''s room earlier.


    Ariel, on the other hand, was now looking at Joyce and was directing her words at the witch who was already daydreaming. "Tell her what it looks like and how dangerous it is."


    Damien did as Ariel asked. "It basically looks like a ck harmless nt whose stems are covered in thrones. But when the damned souls are thrown down in their vicinity, it beats those souls until they break."


    He snickered and added, "Yeah, they can literally break the souls."


    Damien heaved a sigh and continued spilling all the facts about those disgusting nts. "And that''s not the end. Zobekker also blooms flowers which… trust me… looks very disgusting. So disgusting that you''d rather poke your eyes out than to look at it."


    He shuddered after recalling those hideous flowers and continued, "It looks like an eyeless rotten worm with sharp teeth. And when the souls start to disperse after getting torn and tortured, that flower devours those souls... the souls will perish into their belly."


    Ariel was satisfied. Not by Damien''s answer but by the effect that his answer had on Joyce.


    One of the sources of Joyce''s power was nts. And she was trembling with excitement upon hearing about that dangerous and disgusting nt. She was barely holding herself from begging Damien to bring her that nt so that she could study it and perform some experiments.


    Ariel knew exactly what was going on inside Joyce''s mind, even without reading it.


    So, Ariel used the window of opportunity where Joyce was not in the right state of her mind because of her extreme excitement.


    She was still looking at Joyce when she asked Damien, "Is it possible to bring the seedling of that nt here? Will it survive?"


    "Er…" Damien didn''t know if the nt from Hell would survive when brought to the Earth realm. But he was sure that Ariel wanted to hear a ''yes''. So he replied, "I can try finding the seedling and bringing it here if you want."


    Before Ariel could say a word, Joyce turned around to face Damien and shouted, "Yes. Bring it here for me."


    She was sping her hands together and was leaning very close to Damien''s face. And her eyes were twinkling like a mad experimenter when she said yes.


    "Not so fast, Joy." Ariel came and stood beside Damien. She put her arms around Damien''s shoulder and gave a grin to Joyce.


    And she asked her cousin, "Will you make me invisible for a night? If you will then Damien will bring it for you."


    Joyce''s brows and lips twitched visibly. She was having an internal conflict. Her mind was saying that she should not fall for Ariel''s cheap trick. But her heart was saying otherwise. Her heart wanted her to obtain that soul-sucking nt and study it.


    Ariel waited for Joyce''s positive answer.


    Damien, on the other hand, was not sure if bringing the seedling of Zobekker in exchange for a chance to see those vampires was a good idea.


    Joyce looked at the sly face of Ariel and asked, "What is your n? Where do you n to go after dinner?"


    "We are going to the Ethereal River," Ariel answered in haste.


    Damien turned to look at Ariel. He was about to open his mouth to say something but Ariel pinched his shoulder as if to gesture him not to speak a word. And Damien closed his mouth back.


    Joyce racked her brain for some more minutes and finally answered after great difficulty. "Alright. If you want to go to the River then I''ming along. At least that way, I will know that both of you are safe. And that you two won''t get lost."


    "What? No! You can''te with us!" Damien was the one to shout first.


    Joyce furrowed her brows and asked while narrowing her eyes at Damien, "Why can''t Ie along?"


    Ariel then answered fast so that Damien wouldn''t reveal their n to visit thend of the Vampires. "Because we are nning to go there by flying. And you… don''t have wings."


    Joyce was still looking at them with suspicious eyes.


    So Ariel grinned and tried to convince her not to follow them, "If we take you with us then you will only slow us down. There''s more chance of us getting caught. You don''t have to worry too much, Joy. We both can defend ourselves. And we won''t get lost when we fly. I''m sure we can see the lights of the Pce from above."


    Joyce took a deep breath in. She was finally satisfied with Ariel''s answer. "Okay. But promise me that you two won''t get into trouble and also drag me along."


    "We promise," Ariel immediately shouted and saluted Joyce. "Thank you, ma''am."


    Joyce turned and walked towards the door. And she asked the two, "Come now. Let''s go to the dining hall fast. We don''t want the others suspecting that we are nning to do something bad."