The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0550

Elva glanced up at Veronica and her laughter stifled. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Veronica startled a little, then tried to smile again. It wasn't as big as before. It barely twitched her lip, and certainly did not meet her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," Veronica said. "I'm glad you liked the trick."

*How long does it last?" I asked, though as soon as the words left my mouth Elva's purple glow began to fade.

"Aww," Elva said, looking at her hands. "Do it again!"

"Elva, honey," I scolded lightly. "We don't demand things from people."

"I'm tired now," Veronica said. "Maybe another time."

Elva tucked her chin down, disappointed. But she said, "Okay."

*Thank Veronica for the magic trick," I reminded Elva.

Elva kicked her feet on the ground. "Thank you..." she mumbled.

"You're welcome," Veronica said.

Elva lifted her folded bird again. She glanced at me, as if for permission.

"Go on," I said. "Have fun."

Nearby I saw the nanny coming up onto the deck. Elva saw her too, and ran toward her, holding up the folded bird. With Elva thoroughly distracted, I turned to Veronica, looking for an explanation. "What just happened?"

about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many sections on curses and how to properly

She said 'remove them'! That should be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then maybe we didn't need to wait for the oracle to appear again

Veronica looked anything

I asked, because looking

of the incantation is to show the nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove it. It's

I said. Jane was the one to make the curse, on her own daughter no less. I'd come to accept that Jane would never come around, not to help herself or anyone else. If left to Jane, the

said. Cóntent belong to

Is that good?" I was beginning to

Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple was the best color,

most intricate of the curses," Veronica said. "It will require the highest amount of magical power to

only one I knew who could do

her

"What I do is mere

the ground. Any false hope I had built up for myself crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault. I should have known from Veronica's expressions that

no," I said quickly.

"If I were stronger-*

I inched closer to her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face and know that I'm earnest. "We wouldn't even know any of this if it weren't for

herself. I couldn't talk. I knew exactly how it felt to not

Veronica said. "She's the only one with enough power

doubt from my heart. I wanted to arrive, to help Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The oracle was a stranger. This magic was foreign, even to

reading." Veronica said. "I've only just started. Maybe there's more I can

you," I told her, and meant it from the bottom of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her. I

and I walked off a little ways, wanting to give her some space.

stepped out onto the deck from the house. She explained in her roundabout child way

Nicholas said to

in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be able to

distracted, Nicholas made his way over to me. Together we stood side by side. We both turned to

to cool down," Nicholas said.