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?"

"That magic trick' was actually an incantation I read about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many

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

looked anything

because

nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove it. It's easier,

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

said. Cóntent belong

I was

Veronica said flatly. I supposed I appreciated her bluntness. She was never one for false hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple was the best color,

curses," Veronica said. "It will require the highest

the only one I knew who

remove her curse?"

She sighed. "What I do

dropped down to 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, no," I said quickly.

"If I were stronger-*

into her line of vision so she could see

talk. I knew exactly how it felt to not believe

said. "She's the

to me when I had removed 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

just started. Maybe there's

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

returned to her book, and I walked off a little ways, wanting to give her some space. I looked out over the

had just stepped out onto the deck from the house. She explained in her roundabout child way that Veronica had made it and given it

Frank," Nicholas said to the

to replicate the bird.

Together we stood side by side. We both turned to look out

cool down,"