Chapter 15: The Whispering Veil

Neo sat quietly beside Nora on the bench, still watching the fish glide through the pond. The morning breeze rustled through the garden, carrying the faint scent of blooming flowers. For a while, neither of them moved, and the silence between them felt oddly comfortable rather than awkward.

But then, Nora’s earlier little payback, poking his cheek without warning, kept replaying in Neo’s mind. His fingers twitched at his side, itching with a familiar temptation.

’She poked my cheek earlier. Payback is only fair, right? Besides, her cheeks are ridiculously soft. It’s basically a crime not to touch them again.’

He knew it was a terrible excuse. He knew perfectly well that squeezing her cheeks without permission had already gotten him a death glare once before. But somehow, the thought of her soft, squishy cheeks was already overpowering every ounce of self-control he had.

Just then, Nora turned her head slightly, her eyes drifting away from the pond and landing directly on him. Her attention had finally shifted back to him after minutes of ignoring his presence entirely.

That was all the invitation Neo needed.

Without giving himself a single second to reconsider, his small hands shot forward and latched onto her cheeks, squeezing them gently between his fingers.

Nora’s eyes widened just slightly, the first real reaction he had gotten out of her all morning. Her blank expression cracked, replaced by something that looked suspiciously close to genuine annoyance.

’Yep. She’s definitely offended right now. I can practically feel the death glare radiating off her.’

Neo could tell. He wasn’t blind to the obvious irritation flashing behind her eyes, the way her small hands twitched like she was seriously debating whether to smack his hands away. But strangely enough, none of that stopped him. If anything, it only made him want to squeeze a little more.

’I know I should stop. I really should. But her cheeks are just too soft. How is that even fair?! Mother wasn’t lying when she said this was addicting!’

He continued squishing her round cheeks between his fingers, watching them puff up adorably under the gentle pressure. Nora sat completely still, her glare deepening with every passing second, clearly displeased with the sudden invasion of her personal space. But she made no move to actually push him away, simply enduring it with a stiff, offended expression.

Neo probably would have kept going for a lot longer if something hadn’t finally snapped him out of it.

Nora’s lips parted.

"...Stop."

The single word came out flat and quiet, barely more than a whisper, but it was enough to make Neo freeze instantly. His hands stayed frozen mid-squeeze for a moment before he yanked them back like he had just touched fire.

’Wait. She talked. She actually talked!’

He stared at her, wide-eyed, completely forgetting about the cheek-squeezing incident entirely. It was the first real word she had spoken directly to him since they met, aside from that single "annoying" comment yesterday.

Nora rubbed her own cheeks with both hands, her expression returning to its usual blank mask, though a faint hint of lingering irritation still lingered in her eyes. She didn’t say anything else, simply turning her attention back toward the pond as if the whole exchange hadn’t happened at all.

Neo, meanwhile, sat there in stunned silence, his brain slowly processing what had just occurred.

’She actually spoke. She doesn’t talk much, but she can. I guess she really just doesn’t feel like using her voice most of the time since she can’t hear herself say it properly.’

He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a small pang of guilt creeping in.

"Sorry," he mumbled, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him. "I really couldn’t help myself. Your cheeks are just too soft, okay? I’ll try to control myself better next time. Maybe."

Nora, of course, gave no response, already back to watching the fish with her usual detached expression.

After a while, Neo decided it was probably best to give her some space before he ended up testing her patience even further. He said a quiet goodbye, even though she couldn’t hear it, and made his way back toward his room, his thoughts drifting toward something else that had been sitting in the back of his mind since last night.

The bracelet. ℯℯ𝘭.

The one Nora had given him during the gift ceremony, the silver bracelet with the azure crystal resting in its center. He remembered feeling a strange pull of mana radiating from it the moment he saw it, unlike any of the other gifts he had received that day.

Once he reached his room, Neo closed the door behind him and pulled open the drawer of his small nightstand, where he had carefully stored the bracelet the night before. He picked it up gently, turning it over in his small hands, studying the intricate silver detailing wrapped around the glowing crystal.

’Alright, let’s see what you actually do.’

He sat down cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes, focusing his awareness the same way he did during his nightly training sessions. He gently reached out with his senses, brushing against the surface of the crystal, trying to detect the nature of the mana sealed within it.

At first, nothing happened. The crystal remained completely still and silent under his touch. But as he pushed his focus a little deeper, he finally felt a faint response, a subtle pulse of energy stirring from within the crystal.

Words slowly began forming in his mind, not spoken aloud, but appearing directly in his thoughts, similar to reading an invisible inscription only he could sense.

[Artifact Name: Whispering Veil Bracelet]

[Grade: Rare]

[Effect: Grants the wearer the ability to sense the emotional state of anyone within close proximity, regardless of their spoken words or expressions. Passive effect. Cannot be removed once activated by the wearer’s mana signature.]

Neo’s eyes snapped open in surprise.

’Wait, seriously? This thing lets me sense people’s emotions? That’s actually incredible. Why would something this valuable just be handed over as a birthday gift to a random five-year-old?!’

He turned the bracelet over again, examining it with newfound appreciation. Sensing someone’s emotional state without needing to see their expression or hear their words sounded like an absurdly useful ability, especially in a world filled with scheming nobles who always wore fake, polite smiles.

’This must be why Nora gave this to me specifically. Maybe her parents picked it out, thinking it could help me understand people better. Or maybe...’

A sudden thought crossed his mind, and his gaze drifted toward the window, in the direction of the garden where he had left Nora sitting alone.

’Maybe it’s supposed to help me understand her, since she can’t speak or hear normally. That actually makes a lot of sense.’

He carefully slid the bracelet onto his wrist, feeling a faint, warm tingle spread across his skin as the crystal recognized his mana signature, binding itself to him permanently just as the inscription had warned.

Almost immediately, a strange new awareness settled over him, subtle at first, but slowly growing clearer the more he focused on it.

’This is amazing. I actually feel like I gained a real cheat ability, finally!’

Neo couldn’t help the wide grin spreading across his face. Out of everything he had received during his birthday, this bracelet was easily turning out to be the most valuable gift by far, at least in his own opinion.

He glanced down at his wrist, watching the small azure crystal glimmer faintly under the afternoon light.

’Alright, Nora. Thanks to this little accessory, I think I finally have a real chance at understanding what’s actually going on inside that unreadable head of yours.’

With a renewed sense of determination, and admittedly a lingering excitement about testing out his newfound ability, Neo hopped off his bed, already scheming about how he was going to spend the rest of his afternoon.

***

[A/N: Hello guys! I hope you’ll leave a review for the novel at least once. It would really mean a lot to me!]