Reverse Villainess

Jealously.

Aurora kept asking for more details about her family's forest, and Sera happily told her anything she wanted to know. But why was Aurora so interested in it? Sera wasn't sure.

Sera had a guess though. It must have something to do with James. After all, he was so adamant about wanting to enter that forest for some reason. And because he was so eager, Aurora seemed to get interested too.

Anyway, talking with Aurora was nice for Sera, even though the topic was the creepy forest full of monsters. Sera felt good. That was until her eyes went to Aurora's hand.

There was a beautiful bracelet with blue gems all over it. A gift from Ruby. It pained Sera's heart a bit.

Now she remembered. Sera had been planning to give Aurora a gift. That's right. After receiving that rare book, Sera had thought about giving Aurora a gift in return, but because she had been busy and a lot of things had been happening, she had forgotten about it.

No, probably the best way to put it was that she had been running away. After all, she couldn't think of anything to give to Aurora.

Aside from books, Sera is not sure what Aurora likes. She was almost giving up and considering just giving her a book, but she felt like she wasn't being creative. It felt like she was just copying what Aurora does.

Jewelry might not be bad. But again, she feels uncreative because isn't that just copying Ruby? Not to mention, unlike Ruby who knows a lot about stuff like that, Sera wasn't really interested. It would be embarrassing if she picked something bad and forced Aurora to wear it.

"Are you okay?" Aurora asked. "You look stressed. Are you tired of talking about the forest?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Sera said, trying to smile.

"Okay," Aurora said, still observing her for a moment. "So, there's nothing more? Even if it's something small or something that sounds unimportant?"

Sera shook her head. "Sorry, but I think that's all. I can ask my parents or family if you want to be sure..."

"Will you do that for me?" Aurora said. "Thank you."

I will do anything for you, Sera thought, but of course she didn't say that. That would be embarrassing.

"You're welcome," Sera said instead, trying to smile.

Aurora nodded. And then they were silent.

A sudden awkward atmosphere filled the room. Sera got nervous, thinking of something more to talk about, but she couldn't find anything that sounded interesting.

Meanwhile, after Aurora accomplished her goal there, she suddenly looked depressed.

"What's wrong?" Sera asked. "Is something bothering you?"

Aurora tried to smile. "Nothing, it's just..."