The next day.
The members of Okhema boarded a plane and made a blitz trip to Paris.
Although the signing ceremony would take place in Thessaloniki, they didn't want to attract attention. So after Xia Wen handled everything, they decided to play in Paris for two days first.
That also allowed Furina to fulfill her promise.
Aside from Aglaea and Anaxagoras, almost everyone else was leaving Greece for the first time.
It was impossible not to be curious. Hyacine and Tribios were already discussing which famous place they should visit after getting off the plane.
Meanwhile, Mydeimos and Phainon wanted to visit the famous museums to witness those historically important exhibits firsthand.
Of course, Aglaea repeatedly reminded Phainon that after getting off the plane, he must not wear the clothes he prepared for himself, he had to wear the ones Aglaea prepared.
Phainon felt very wronged, but still nodded and agreed.
Even now, he still couldn't understand why his preferred color combinations "didn't work at all."
Just as everyone had finally shaken off the gloom and was gradually brightening up, in a corner of the plane, Castorice curled up in her seat, her little face deathly pale.
This was her first time flying.
Because she suspected she had a "bad luck" constitution, she never dared to ride an airplane before.
She was afraid her misfortune would cause a greater disaster.
"Huu… It'll be fine."
"Just like the boss said, it's only psychological…"
Castorice recalled the conversation she had with Xia Wen and kept silently cheering herself on.
But the buzzing of the plane, and the normal takeoff turbulence muffled by the cabin walls…
All of it made her face even paler.
She swallowed, lowered her head, and fished out her phone from her bag, plugged in her earphones, and inserted them into her ears.
On her phone, Castorice scrolled to the chat records she had saved between her and Xia Wen.
She read them over and over. But because of her mood, she simply couldn't take anything in.
Even so, just knowing these words were left by Xia Wen gave her a small sense of security.
Castorice herself didn't even realize where that sense of security came from.
As the plane gently rocked, Castorice closed her eyes, sinking into a familiar, dreamlike pressure.
Since she was little, she had never seen her parents.
Some relatives from her early memories had passed away one after another before she was old enough to remember them.
Now, all that remained in her memory were blurred fragments.
So her memories began in the orphanage.
Back then, in the orphanage always filled with the sound of crying, her world was small and gray.
Because she was a quiet, almost transparent child, not particularly liked.
She often sat alone in a corner, hugging her knees, watching the others play, unable to understand their lively energy.
Sometimes, little Castorice felt a sour ache in her chest, maybe she just wasn't good enough.
Maybe that was why her parents left her, and why no other adults wanted her.
Perhaps because of this experience, Castorice became especially sensitive to the words losing and not existing from a very young age.
And this sensitivity peaked when she accidentally overheard the adults at the orphanage discussing a single word,
"Death." Even though she hadn't fully understood it at the time, she still sensed from their fragmented conversations that this word represented the final kind of loss.
Fortunately, whenever Castorice became terrified by that word, there would always be a pair of warm hands reaching out to her.
"Little Cas, come with me! Our garden is blooming!"
That was her "sister," a girl whose personality was completely different from hers.
She would always drag Castorice without explanation to the neglected, overgrown corner behind the orphanage.
Weeds grew wildly there, it was the least welcome place.
But it was their secret kingdom.
The little grasses, the wildflowers, in her sister's words, they seemed completely different.
"Look at this little blue flower! Yesterday it was just a tiny bud, but after a bit of sunshine, look! It bloomed so bravely today! Isn't it pretty?"
"And these little grasses, they get stepped on but still grow back! So amazing!"
Sometimes, her sister would pull Castorice to squat in the corner and watch ants move their home for an entire day.
Those tiny black figures lined up in long rows, tirelessly carrying food scraps much larger than themselves.
"They… work so hard."
Whenever she said this, the warmth in Castorice's chest would rekindle just a little.
"Right!" Her sister nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling.
"Every little life is working so hard and shining brightly, whether it's flowers, grass, or tiny ants… and that includes us~"
Whenever she heard that, Castorice always felt encouraged.
She loved watching those scenes, those scenes full of life that seemed to wash away the gray word "death" with their colors.
But those days passed quickly.
When autumn arrived, Castorice discovered that the beautiful little flowers had wilted.
Their slightly yellow, curled petals now seemed to echo that gray word.
Seeing Castorice's sadness, her sister quietly told her: "Little Cas, look. When the flower was blooming, didn't it try its hardest to show us its most beautiful side?"
Castorice remembered the flower in full summer bloom, then nodded.
"That's right."
Her sister held her hand and said with pure innocence: "Life is precious because it ends. That's why it's so beautiful."
"Think about it, if flowers never wilted, if stars never went out, then we wouldn't treasure their beauty or brilliance as much."
At that time, her sister probably said it without thinking too deeply.
But those words truly warmed the young Castorice's heart and stayed with her to this day.
This memory was the only one in her life that carried warmth.
After that, her sister contracted a difficult illness.
Her body withered quickly, like that dying flower.
For treatment, the adults decided to send her to a big city, where they had already contacted a welfare foundation.
On her sister's last night at the orphanage, Castorice lay by her bedside, crying until her eyes were swollen.
Even so, her sister forced a faint smile on her pale face.
"Little Cas… don't cry… Be like the little flowers we saw… Be brave…"
After that.
Every day, Castorice waited for new news about her sister.
Sometimes she would run over to ask the adults.
The adults always said, "Wait a little longer, just wait a little longer."
From autumn all the way into winter.
There was no good news, but also no bad news.
The flower in the corner had completely withered. After a heavy snowfall, it never showed any sign of life again.
At that moment, the panic in Castorice's heart reached its peak.
In her heart, that flower had, without her noticing, become tied to her older sister. They were both the same, equally passionate, and equally withered in autumn.
And now, Castorice feared her sister would end up like that flower, making her once again taste the flavor of loss, or perhaps… the taste of death.
However, the hope that Castorice had held onto never came true.
That night, Castorice crouched in the corner, using her frostbitten red hands to stubbornly search through the snow and soil for evidence that the flower had once existed.
Then, she witnessed a sudden fire with no warning.
Crying, smoke, burning, amid the chaos, only Castorice survived as if by a miracle.
Only because, that night, she had been crouching in the most remote corner, obsessively searching.
...
A sudden jolt from the airplane pulled Castorice out of her memories. Her face was pale, and her hands kept trembling.
She subconsciously rubbed her hands together and breathed warm air onto them, wanting to chase away the bone-piercing coldness from her memories.
Yet inside the plane, the temperature was perfectly comfortable.
"Attention please, we are about to enter a slightly turbulent zone."
A voice came from the broadcast, Castorice swallowed.
The fear in her memories still gripped her heart tightly, almost suffocating her.
But misfortune did not happen. The plane landed safely.
Similarly, when she thought that Okhema's situation was caused by her own misfortune, and that the tragedy of the orphanage would repeat again,
Xia Wen stepped in.
For the first time in her life, when facing the same "misfortune" and "despair" as in childhood, the situation turned for the better.
And her first time flying on a plane did not bring the calamity she deeply feared.
She thought again of what Xia Wen once said, misfortune only targets the weak.
There is no need to fear it. Castorice took a deep breath.
Perhaps, finding a chance to have a deep talk with Xia Wen and reveal these secrets she had never told anyone, maybe that would be the opportunity for change…
"Little Cas, why are you sitting alone in the back? We're about to get off the plane!"
"Sorry, I, I fell asleep for a bit."
"Sleeping on Furina's private jet? Castorice, you really know how to enjoy life!"
"Come on! Let's go!"
Hearing her friends' calls, a gentle smile appeared on Castorice's face. She nodded lightly, and even her steps felt lighter.
After everyone got off the plane, the convoy arranged by Furina was already waiting.
Once they boarded, the group quickly arrived at the hotel.
It was an old, traditional hotel with classic Fontaine, ahem, classic French, style.
It wasn't the most popular on all the major apps, but to older people, only those who stayed here knew its charm.
However, once they reached the hotel, Furina did not follow everyone back to their rooms.
"Ahem, you all go up first."
"I, I still have to meet someone."
Dressed neatly and wearing her small blue hat, Furina spoke nervously.
No one thought too much about it. Only after everyone had returned to their rooms did Furina follow a hotel attendant into the private meeting area.
"Whew, careless of me! I actually agreed to meet Neuvillette and the others here."
Once outside, Furina finally let out a long breath.
She scratched her head.
Feeling a little regretful about the decision. Mainly because, she had let her desire to show off completely overwhelm her.
She wanted to brag about her current success in front of her close friends.
But later she realized, those guys were all straightforward. Back when they hung out, they would tease her all the time.
If they accidentally exposed her embarrassing childhood stories in front of Aglaea and the others, then her current image as a "rich woman" and "big savior" would collapse instantly!
"I'm telling you, when Furina was little…"
In her mind, Furina imagined how her friends might start talking once both sides met. Instantly, goosebumps crawled all over her skin.
"Ahem, but it's fine now."
"It's been so long since I've seen everyone. I'm actually really curious how they are now."
"Hehe, when they see what I look like now, they'll be shocked."
"Neuvillette, Clorinde, Lyney, tsk, hmph, bet you didn't expect this!"
"The most amazing one now is the 'little blueberry cake' you used to tease! Hmph!"
Furina proudly lifted her chin. She couldn't wait to see the looks on her childhood friends' faces.
...
Meanwhile, at a street corner,
Two sharply dressed, handsome men and a beautiful women had gathered.
One with white hair, one with black hair, and one cold-faced beauty.
As soon as they met, the cold-faced beauty clicked her tongue.
"Rare sight. All three of us actually showed up together."
As she finished speaking, Lyney couldn't help laughing loudly: "Isn't that right? Ever since Furina left France, we all went our separate ways."
Neuvillette said calmly, "I thought you'd come up and ask how we're doing now."
Clorinde replied with a straight face, "Do I even need to ask? You two have been on TV a lot lately. Climbing the ladder pretty fast, aren't you?"
Lyney shook his head: "Same to you. Miss Clorinde isn't doing badly either."
"Tch." Clorinde exhaled lightly, then said, "Let's skip the formalities. Or has being in office so long turned you into a real bureaucrat, Lyney?"
At those words, the three exchanged knowing smiles.
"I was just trying to sound a bit humorous. Guess it didn't land?"
Lyney stroked his chin, then said with some anticipation: "So tell me, Neuvillette, since Furina left France, did you ever tell her anything about the three of us?"
"No." Neuvillette shook his head with a faint smile. "She probably still thinks the three of us are just ordinary countryside friends who played in the mud with her."
"Oh, I like where this is going."
Clorinde smirked. "I'm very curious about her reaction when we see her later."