The Unfettered Ice Princess [ EN ]

Chapter 7 [ Ophelia's Bid Reply ]

"Naeva Winter, please party with me!"

"Not just for the 2nd floor exam. But for the next time too!"

"......"
Naeva did not answer her. She just stayed expressionless, it was hard to guess what the girl was really thinking.

Naeva POV

Hmm... I knew it was a party invitation. There was no other reason for someone to suddenly invite an unknown person at the beginning of their meeting after entering the Tower.

Useless... I don't need anyone's help to get to the top of the Tower.

Bringing someone else would only add to my burden, though... perhaps it's still too easy for me that they don't burden me at all.

Still, that doesn't mean that being with others and being alone makes no difference. If I'm with other people, it'll be more inconvenient and my privacy will be invaded. So if there's nothing interesting that makes me want to be in a group, I'd rather stay solo.

"And why would I do that?" I asked.

I responded to Ophelia's offer with a question. Ophelia remained calm, she seemed to have expected me to ask that.

Ophelia took a breath before beginning her explanation.
"Can I call you Naeva?"

"You may."

"Actually Naeva... I intended to give the same answer to everyone I offered. A simple answer that would get them to agree to join me, but when I met you... My hunch is that such a simple answer won't satisfy you," she said.

What a smart little girl. Right, if she said something like 'I'll make you benefit from the Calliope Family.' or something like 'Wouldn't it be better to form a group of talented people from the start and climb the Tower together?'

If that kind of answer came out, I would definitely leave her. Because she's not interesting at all.

"So I'll be honest. I need someone who can be on my side. That's why I chose to find my own partner, independent of the Calliope Family. A partner who won't betray me or a partner who only sees my background."

Pretty clichéd words. What made her different from other people?
"Wh-"

"You're going to ask me why I want that, aren't you?" interrupted this little girl.

Wow, how dare she cut me off. But... Looking at the look in her eyes... That's all right. I just nodded.

"People call me extraordinary, admirable and potential because I was born as a direct descendant of the Calliope family. But that's not the case. My relationship with my family members is quite bad, I'm even considered a failed product by them."

Failed product? She? Who said that? Even I rarely come across Passengers who have Orange-level novas. Of course the Grand Families is not an exception.

"The main reason I'm looking for a partner myself is because of that bad relationship. You know, the direct descendants are not just me. Father has many wives, of course my stepbrothers/sisters are also many. And not a few of them tried to kill me. That's why I can't go solo and need a partner."

"But the partners I take without consideration could be accomplices or related to my other brothers/sisters. So I search for my own associates carefully and make sure they have no connection to the Calliope Family," Ophelia explained.

Ah, it's only fitting that she chose the Irregulars. Because Irregulars are not related to the Tower. But that doesn't answer my question.

Ophelia got up from the bed and stood in front of me with a face full of smiles.
"Naeva Winter, I know you're hiding your true power. And it's not because of items because from the start I couldn't sense what level your Nova was at."