"..." Alice''s silence and the look on her face said more than the words.


    "I will tell you everything, but first… please stop looking at me like that…"


    Alice was looking at Rudy as though she was looking at a stranger.


    "No, I won''t unless you tell me what you did with Rudy," she said with a lifeless re in her eyes.


    "My name is Rudy, and just like everything here, it was the same in my world. I also had a childhood friend named Alice, a mother named Reba, a best friend named Eric. Everything was the same," Rudy uttered in a calm voice.


    "But one thing wasn''t the same, and that was me," he added.


    After that, Rudy slowly exined everything to Alice.


    At first, Alice didn''t believe him and thought he was simply joking or trying to tease her, as she always teased him too. But after looking at the sad look and distant smile on his face, Alice started to believe everything.


    Rudy''s voice was calm, but it was full of pain and sadness.


    After around an hour, Rudypleted exining everything to Alice. He also told her about the harem and his intimate rtionship with Reina and Angelica.


    "It''s not that I don''t believe you, but it is actually hard to believe you," Alice said with a knowing look on her face.


    "I know. That''s why, I can prove it to you if you want me to," he said.


    "Hmm…" Alice squinted her eyes and stared at Rudy for a few seconds. Then, she looked at the open window of her room and pointed her gaze towards it as she asked, "Can you close the window without touching it?"


    Rudy closed the window and locked it too. He even closed the curtain due to which the room turned dark. So he turned on the light switches.


    "...!" Alice was baffled after seeing that. After all, it was her first time seeing such a thing.


    Rudy grinned at Alice and said, "Are you happy now?"


    "That was just like how it happens in ghost movies!" Alice eximed.


    "Ummm… we are switching topics here."


    "Okay." Alice closed her distance with Rudy and hugged him after saying, "I believe you."


    "So… what about other things…?" Rudy asked awkwardly.


    "You mean about you having affairs with other girls…"


    "Well…"


    "I don''t know how I should feel about it. I am conflicted right now, and you have told me so many things which I need time to process. And the harem part is the most shocking…" Alice stated.


    "You can take all the time you want. But I want to make a few things clear. And that is, I love you. And I am not saying that to make you feel loved or anything. And I would rather want to make your decision without thinking about my love for you. It will be your decision, and you should keep it as personal as possible," Rudy asserted in a disdainful tone.


    Alice looked into Rudy''s eyes and said, "Can I ask you something?"


    "You can ask me anything."


    "Do you…" Alice couldn''tplete her sentence because she was afraid to know the answer. However, she wanted to ask Rudy that question; hence, she thought about it in her mind while directing it towards Rudy.


    Thus, Rudy heard it using telepathy.


    ''Do you love me because you feel guilty about the other me whomitted suicide?'' Alice wanted to ask.


    "No." Rudy shook his head and smiled wryly at Alice before answering, "I don''t love you because I feel guilty. Nor do I love you because I think you would repeat the same thing again."


    "So…?"


    After a brief silence, Rudy took a deep breath and uttered, "When… you died, I… was obviously baffled by it. And I remembered all the happy and sad moments of our childhood. I did feel guilty about not noticing the hints you were dropping about loving me. I was so dense and stupid."


    "No, you are not. It must have been my fault for not saying that to you directly," Alice retorted.


    "When… I was at your grave, I couldn''t do anything. I couldn''t sleep, I couldn''t eat or drink. It was as though something inside me had died. As if I had lost an important part of me. Your smiling face kept shing in front of my eyes, and it was… so… painful."


    "..."


    "It was at that time when I realized that… I… I was also in love with you since we were kids…" Rudy scoffed wryly with a painful expression on his face and said, "You were my first love."


    Alice ced her hands on Rudy''s hand and slowly moved her face closer to him. Then, she kissed him on the lips and said, "That makes me happy."


    "I am sorry I couldn''t do anything for the other Alice."


    "Don''t worry. There is nothing to apologize for. This is another world, so focus on this world. Try to prevent the incidents from happening. You have superpowers that allow you to do anything you want to."


    Alice bumped and ced her head on Rudy''s chest and continued, "And most importantly, don''t forget about your pain and suffering. You deserve to be happy."


    "..."


    "..."


    They both stayed like that for a few seconds until Alice decided to break the silence as she realized something shocking.


    "Wait… so that pool manager…" Alice looked into Rudy''s eyes and said, "When she was saying her lover has no time for her because he is busy, she was referring to you?


    "Yes…"


    "And when she said her lover must be fooling around with other girls, I reassured her and defended her boyfriend… which is… I…" Alice got confused by her own words, and the situation was even more confusing for her.


    "Yes," Rudy nodded and said, "You defended me. And you even asked to take some time off and have dinner together with me."


    "I didn''t know she was talking about you! And no wonder, she was angry when she saw us kissing. She was simply jealous!" Alice remarked.


    "Yeah…" Rudy looked into Alice''s eyes and asked, "So? Do you agree with the harem?"


    ===


    Author''s Note- Thanks, @Ok_Two, for the gift!