As Ilaya hears about Ivana's question she suddenly exclaimed
"Ahh! That's right! Do yo-"
"Wait"
Ivana immediately cut off Ilaya by raising her hand and said to her
"Go find someone and tell them to bring drinks and snacks. My throat's all dry now from speaking"
Ilaya's expression was indescribable as her lips twitch, she really wanted to smack her head but she held it in
'Why did you make me so excited when you're just going to cut me from speaking!?'
Ilaya smiled and said to her
"Yes master. I'll talk to someone"
Ivana didn't mind Ilaya's sarcasm as she just crossed her arms and legs again and closed her eyes. Ilaya saw this as she sighed. She walked begrudgingly towards the door and opened it. She peeked at the hallway and she didn't see anyone outside. She then decided to head outside of her room as she walked towards the hallway
As she walked, she finally felt the feeling of exploring an unknown place and this made her somewhat better. She saw a turn and peeked at the hallway leading to the lobby. She then saw many people there. As she's hesitating whether to go to them and ask. A kid voice sounded beside her, startling Ilaya
"What are you doing?"
Ilaya flinched and turned to look at the familiar young woman and she saw Nicole. The one who drives Ivana's car at the entrance. Ilaya saw her munching at the food that's supposed to be hers, and felt regret that she had forgotten about it
She then said to Nicole
"Ahh, Kyora told me to find someone to bring drinks and snacks to her in my room. So I'm out to find someone. Can you tell someone about her request?"
Nicole nodded and said to her happily
"Sure! I don't have any work anyway so I'm free!"
Ilaya then tilted her head in confusion as she asked her
"Aren't you supposed to guard the place?"
'What are you even doing here? Is this normal to you?'
Nicole then walked towards the other hallway leading to the kitchen as she said loudly to her
"I'm free to do whatever I want! And I'm taking care of my children!"
As she heard that loud answer, she had a horrifying thought
'Children!? Is she-!... No. Ivana said that she's taking care of the plants here. Maybe that's her children. Also, having the appearance of a little kid having…'
"Ugh"
Ilaya shivered and she didn't dare to continue her thought and decided to head back to her room. But, she suddenly felt uncomfortable as she looked at the hallway leading to the lobby. Then, she saw all people there stopped in their tracks as they all stared at her
Ilaya suddenly felt extremely embarrassed as she greeted them by nodding before she walked towards her room. As she walked, she couldn't help but criticize Nicole in her mind
'She's so loud that she attracts all the attention, and leaves me to deal with it!'
Ilaya walked faster as she arrived in her room. Then, she saw that Ivana was still in her position as she left her. She walked inside the room and closed the door. Then walked back to her chair. She wanted to ask Ivana about the whispers, but her eyes are still closed, and her expression is screaming of 'don't disturb me' me sign
Then, as she was about to take out her phone to distract herself, Ivana suddenly speaks to her with her eyes still closed
"Ilaya… if you can exchange your power to remove your curse. Will you do it?"
Ilaya was startled by her question. Ilaya's view of Ivana is confident and uncompromising. She always felt like she could solve all the problems she's facing without flinching. Now however, Ivana felt like a… child who's sad and lonely
'Everyone has their suffering I guess. I'm not the only one'
Ilaya then sadly said
"I guess I do? I don't want my power at first, but ever since that I've been kidnapped, I want to use it to protect myself. But since you said about the curse, I don't want to have any curse so I'd be willing to trade for it with my power"
Ivana opened her eyes as she stared at her. She just stared at her without saying anything that it made her uncomfortable. But, Ilaya recognized that emotion in her eyes. Pity, it was pity. Then, having a bad premonition, Ilaya hurriedly asked
"W-why are you talking about a curse? We have powers now, so anything impossible before became possible now. What is it about the curse!?"
Ivana then looked away and said sadly to her
"Every power had a curse attached to it, Ilaya. In my experience, I didn't gain my power without something happening to me"
Then Ivana said to her in certain tone
"Ilaya. You had a curse too. Of that, I'm certain"
Ilaya felt like her world was spinning now. She woke up with no memories, she had been kidnapped by a serial killer and suffered, she got blamed for the deaths of 1000 people. Then, Ivana said that she had a curse! Ilaya couldn't take it anymore as she shouted
"Why!? Why is this always happening to me!?"
This time, she didn't cry anymore. She just felt her chest was so heavy. It's the feeling of her chest bursting if she didn't release it. Like destroying something. A faint blood red aura emerged from her as she asked furiously to Ivana
"What do you mean that I'm cursed!? What do you mean!?"
Ivana straight at her eyes and sternly said
"Calm down"
Ilaya's anger was suppressed as she felt a suffocating pressure from Ivana. A blood red aura emerged from her and the two became covered in red. Then, Ilaya breathed heavily from trying to control her anger and slowly calmed down. Then she asked her in a sad voice
"What do you mean that I'm cursed?"
The red aura of the two vanished as Ilaya calmed down, and Ivana by retracting it. As they sat, the mood in the room became gloomy
Ilaya suddenly feels that she's always going to be sad and gloomy wherever things are happening. She's slowly descending to depression now. As Ilaya turned silent, Ivana said to her in an uncertain tone
"I'm… really confused by our powers too. I awakened mine… or at least I know the catalyst of the appearance of my power. And…"
Ivana shook her head and said to her
"Anyway. What I'm going to say to you is based on my observation about our powers that I observed from myself. Then, you will tell me all of you know about the abnormal things that happened to you. That way, we can crisscross our similarities and difference"
Ilaya who's fully calmed now nodded at her
"Okay. I'm really confused about all that's happening to me too. So it's better if we can shed light on that matter"
Then, before Ivana said anything. A knock sounded at the door of Ilaya's room. They both looked towards the door, before Ilaya stood up and walked towards it. She opened it and saw a worker carrying a tray of food and beverages. The woman then said to Ilaya
"Hello miss. This is the food that the boss ordered us to bring. Can I come in?"
Ilaya shook her head and said to her
"I can take it from here. I can't possibly trouble you with everything I need. Thank you for your offer though"
The woman tried to say something, but she felt the gloomy mood in the room and she immediately said
"Okay then. I'm going now. Just tell me if you want something okay?"
The woman smiled at her as she passed the tray Ilaya. Ilaya smiled back as she took it. She then said to the woman
"Okay. Thank you"
Then, the woman waved at her as she turned around and walked away. Ilaya looked at her for a bit before walking inside as she used her foot to close the door
Ilaya walked towards the table as she put the tray in it. She sat again to her chair as she asked Ivana with a sigh
"Alright. No one's going to bother us now. You can start"