System's POV

"Do you feel better?" Thirteen asked when Sherry finally calmed down. "We can stay like this for a little while longer if you like."

"Yes," Sherry replied, feeling a little embarrassed of her earlier outburst. However, she didn't made any move to leave Zion's embrace.

Thirteen suddenly remembered one of the pieces of advice written in the notebook Vincent had given him not long ago.

Thinking that this might be the right moment to do it, Thirteen cupped Sherry's face and gave her lips a quick peck, making the young lady's eyes widen in shock.

"Z-Zion?" Sherry, who had just been kissed, looked at the teenage boy in disbelief. "Y-You're sober, right?"

"I'm sober," Thirteen replied and gave Sherry another quick peck on the lips.

It finally dawned on Sherry that Zion had truly, soberly taken the initiative to kiss her, making her forget the pain in her chest. She even closed her eyes, as if expecting to be kissed once more.

'Vincent said that if one doesn't work, then do it twice,' Thirteen thought before moving closer to kiss Sherry for the third time. 'If twice doesn't work, then do it as many times as possible until the girl you cared for will forget about her worries.'

After being kissed for the third time, Sherry finally felt at peace and hugged Zion, closing her eyes as she enjoyed this moment.

Thirteen also noticed that Sherry was no longer depressed, so he decided to find a place to camp for the night.

That night, Sherry dreamed of a happy dream, where she and Zion walked hand in hand in a field of flowers.

For some reason, Erica and Shana were also there, having a cup of tea under the shade of a tree, watching the two of them from a distance.

Zion then made a wreath of flowers and placed it over her head.

However, it didn't end there.

He also slid a flower ring on her finger and kissed her cheek.

The teenage boy then moved closer and whispered in her ear.

"Don't tell Erica," Zion whispered. "She will demand that I also make her one if she finds out."

Sherry happily nodded and promised that she wouldn't say anything to the faraway Erica, who was chatting with Shana and talking about the spread of some kind of virus.

While Sherry was sleeping peacefully in Zion's embrace, Erica, who was just about to sleep, suddenly sneezed.

"What's wrong?" Shana asked. "Are you having an allergy?"

"No," Erica replied. "I'm just running out of Zion energy."

"… You make it sound like you're some kind of rechargeable battery or something." Shana pursed her lips.

"You're right. I'm a 'battery or something' that needs recharging," Erica said before laying down on the mattress inside the wagon. "I'm running out of Zion juice."

"…"

"…"

"… Huh?"

Diana, Mildred, and Shana couldn't help but gaze at Erica with weird looks on their faces.

"As expected of someone who already reached third base," Mildred muttered. "They're built differently."

Diana pretended that she didn't hear anything and laid down on the mattress to sleep.

"What's this juice you are talking about?" Shana, who for some reason didn't want to drop the topic, asked.

The corner of Erica's lips curled up into a smirk before lightly patting the empty space on the mattress beside her.

It was as if she was telling Shana to lie down beside her tonight so that they could talk more about his amazing and standoffish fiance, who was currently on his way to reunite with their group.

The Saintess hesitated for a bit before laying down beside the Sorceress, who held the answers to the questions inside of her head.

However, only a few seconds after she laid down beside Erica, Shana immediately regretted her decision.

"Shana, do you like Zion?" Erica asked.

"Huh?!" Shana almost propped herself up due to the surprise that jolted her body due to Erica's question. "W-What are you talking about?!"

"I'm just asking if you like Zion," Erica replied with a smile.

"Like as in a friend?" Shana asked. "That kind of like?"

"Mmm," Erica hummed.

The Sorceress didn't affirm or deny Shana's question. She simply wanted to know if her hunch was correct.

Diana and Mildred, who were also shocked by Erica's question, decided to stay silent and perk their ears to listen to her answer.

"I like him as a friend," Shana replied as she did her best to calm down her heart, which had started to beat faster than normal.

"Then what do you like about him?" Erica pressed for answers. "I'm sure it's not his slightly above-average looks, right? Roland and Vincent are much more handsome than him.

"In fact, some of our friends and acquaintances are more handsome than Zion. So, what part of him do you like?"

Shana frowned after hearing Erica's question.

While Zion was really not as handsome as Roland and Vincent, he had a unique charm that belonged only to him.

The young lady then recalled Zion's cold and indifferent persona when she met him for the first time.

Her sister, Rianna, only had high praises for Zion, so when Shana saw him during their first meeting, she wondered whether her sister was just exaggerating her praises, or if the boy had used some kind of charm ability on her sister.

However, as she interacted with Zion, she realized that he wasn't like those teenage boys who would purposely try to catch her attention to have a chat with her and perhaps ask for her phone number.

He also wasn't quick to flatter her and tell her that she was beautiful, strong, and very charismatic.

In fact, during her one-on-one training with Zion, the teenage boy didn't hold back and told her that she was overrated, she sucked, she was slow, she had her head on top of the clouds, and her bust wasn't that big.

Despite all that, Shana realized that Zion could be a very straightforward person or be very mysterious whenever he felt like it.

This switch in persona had made her second guess herself many times. He was simply that unpredictable.

Whenever she thought that she had finally grasped his personality, he would proceed to do something that would make her previous assessment of him wrong, making her feel frustrated.

As these feelings manifested inside her heart and mind, Shana suddenly scoffed as she let out her inner thoughts.

"Zion is a hard-headed brick that won't break even if you throw him at a Majin Prince!" Shana stated. "He always had this 'I know what you're thinking look' that pisses me off very much!

"He always seems to have everything under his control, and no matter what you do, you will feel that you're just a puppet dancing on the palm of his hands. While he is not a clean freak, he likes to take a bath twice a day.

"He also likes to spray alcohol on his hands after he shakes hands with me like I'm some kind of dirty thing! Also, when you ask him for help, he would just look at you for a few seconds before nodding his head, not even asking what kind of help you need from him.

"Know-it-all freak! Stuck up brick! That little prick! He always seems to have a bone to settle with the members of our party and takes great pleasure when he tortures us during his training! It's like we committed a grave sin against him during our past lives that he can't let go!"

As Shana spoke, her voice became louder, firmer, and no longer stuttering like the start of her conversation with Erica.

Even Diana and Mildred couldn't help but agree with some of the things she said about Zion, nodding their heads from time to time.

However, Shana wasn't finished.

"And yet… I find him incredibly attractive and sexy at times that it's infuriating!" Shana stated. "I wish I could spank him repeatedly and make him stop spreading his Zion Virus all over the place! Even my powers can't purify it, so he shouldn't be allowed to walk freely or all hell will break loose!"

Erica blinked once then twice at her friend, who seemed to have opened the floodgates of her heart and mind, no longer caring what others thought.

"I do believe about him being incredibly attractive and sexy at times that I find it infuriating as well," Erica replied.

"Right?!" Shana clenched her fist in anger. "How dare he act like that?! Doesn't he know that although he acts cold, indifferent, and standoffish, some girls actually like that cold and detached bad-boy persona?! Damn him!"

"I agree." Erica nodded. "Even now I'm starting to feel troubled because he doesn't know how appealing he is to the girls who spend some time with him. His confidence is oozing from his body, making me feel my heart throb inside my chest.

"If I don't pay close attention to him, he might bring home another fiancee without even having the need to try."

Shana clicked her tongue in annoyance. "I can see that happening. That boy needs a leash to keep him in place."

Erica and Shana continued to bad mouth and praise Zion at the same time, making Diana and Mildred, who were both listening to their conversation, start to sweat buckets.

They were sure that if a certain teenage boy were to hear their girl talk, he would certainly look at the Sorceress and Saintess with that same fed-up look that he always had. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire

He would then make the two of them lie on his lap so that he could spank their bums and discipline them for bad-mouthing him behind his back.