Chapter 176: Fourth Member of the Party?

When Aurelia woke up earlier, she was shocked since she could not see her white gloves.

She initially worried that it would turn everything into gold again, but was surprised to see that nothing happened no matter what she touched.

Though she was still scared to touch people with her bare hands, so she refrained from touching anyone until now.

Seeing the white gloves in Regis’s hands, she could not help but be surprised.

"Is that my gloves?"

Regis nodded affirmatively, "They are."

When she took the white gloves from him, her hand accidentally brushed his finger.

Wuuung—-!!

A golden light enshrouded Regis’s finger as it slowly turned to gold.

"No!" Aurelia gasped in shock as she hurriedly pulled her hands back.

Everyone’s eyes widened at the scene.

Fortunately, the golden light slowly receded in the next instant as Regis’s finger turned back to normal.

"I-It’s okay. Didn’t I tell you about my special gift?"

Aurelia’s grave reaction shocked him as she hurriedly curled away.

"I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

Her mutters filled the surroundings as she trembled from head to toe.

Seeing this, Regis crouched down in front of her, "Aurelia? Aurelia? What happened!?"

As she sensed his hand nearing her, Aurelia kicked the ground in an attempt to get away once again.

"Please, stay away from me... You’ll only get hurt, so please..."

Killian then spoke, "Boss, I think it’ll be better if we give her some time alone. Having too many people around her might cause her trauma response to worsen..."

"Trauma?" Pandora asked, her eyes glancing at Aurelia with worry.

As the one who had received the most teaching since childhood, Killian’s general knowledge could be considered the best among everyone present.

Thus, he took it upon himself to explain, "Trauma, in simple terms, is a memory of a past event that made a mental scar in a person’s mind. Triggering this would result to various reactions like the one we’re witnessing."

"What can we do to comfort them?" Vanessa was the one who spoke this time.

Killian replied after a pause, "It’s more common to give them some time alone to let them calm down and process the things around them. Or... although this way could have some adverse reactions and may worsen the situation, a sudden event that shocks the..."

At this moment, under everyone’s gaze, Regis suddenly grabbed Aurelia’s hand.

This made the latter flinch as horror could be seen deep within her eyes. Her teeth clattered as she was overwhelmed by panic while tears streamed down from her eyes.

"No! No! Get away from m—!"

Aurelia began to panic and thrash around in order to escape the hand that was holding hers.

However, Regis did the opposite as he stubbornly pulled her into his embrace.

"...person in question into coming to their senses and..." Killian could not finish what he was saying anymore as his face froze due to the sudden event before his eyes.

Not only he, Vanessa and the other children also had shocked expressions on their faces.

"He never took initiative when it was me..." Pandora whispered with a pout.

Killian heard her as he thought to himself, ’That’s really your problem right now? What will we do if we all turn to gold because of the boss’s rash actions? Though I do have to say, calming a woman through a hug is manly...’

Greg also hurriedly attempted to cover Lea’s eyes, only to be stopped by her.

"I didn’t expect him to be such a womanizer. I’m over him already. Let’s just give them some time alone."

Lea spoke as she pulled Greg away and told Vanessa that they should give Regis and his group some time alone.

Thus, the group of children soon left with unwilling expressions under Vanessa, Lea, and Greg’s guidance.

Of course, since they were on an island, they just chose to distance themselves from the group and went somewhere else while exploring their new environment.

At this moment, Aurelia’s perception, which had blacked out earlier, now began to return.

Her sobs gradually subsided as she felt her whole body losing strength.

The heartbeat that drowned her ears was slowly replaced by someone’s whispers.

"It’s okay... It’s okay... nothing bad will happen."

As Aurelia slowly calmed down, she soon came to her senses.

’Huh? Where am I? Oh right, we’re inside Regis’s consciousness...’

However, she could feel something amiss, ’Hmm? Something smells good... Wait—’

Aurelia slowly looked up, but what she saw made her eyes widen.

The heartbeat that had become silent became loud once again, though in a different manner than earlier.

Unlike the panic that overwhelmed her, this emotion felt prickly.

A rosy blush appeared on her cheeks.

"See? I didn’t turn to gold, right? You can hold me for as long as you can, and nothing bad will happen."

What greeted her eyes was Regis’s kind smile.

"Ha..."

The blood-red eyes that emitted a peculiar charm.

Hair the color of snow that looked like that of the princes in the love stories she read when she was little.

The sight before her overwhelmed her in a different way than her trauma.

As if in a trance, Aurelia’s breath stopped, "So handso—"

Pandora lightly coughed, "Ehem."

"Keuk!" A gasp left her lips as she looked to the side, where Pandora and Killian were standing.

A slight frown could be seen on Pandora’s face while Killian appreciated the view of the ocean and the horizon with a serious gaze.

Unbeknownst to any of them, only a single thought was on his mind right now, ’I’m tryna be like you, Boss... How could I be like you... I want that too...’

A confused expression appeared on Regis’s face, "What were you saying earlier? Hand..."

Aurelia hurriedly took a step back as her mind worked at full speed.

"Uh, I mean... Hand... Hand over my gloves."

"Oh, right. Here you go." Regis had a look of realization as he gave the white gloves to her.

Their hand brushed past each other again, but it was not an accident this time around.

Pandora’s eyes twitched as she saw this, however.

After she got her gloves back, Aurelia immediately put them on, "T-Thank goodness you were able to get my gloves back. They c-cost millions of gold, you know? Because they’re made from a special material called Edipsium, an ore which blocks energy like mana and aura. My father had this specially made by a dwarf just so I can live a normal life, which I’m very thankful for..."

Hearing her rant, Killian just stared flatly at her.

Meanwhile, Regis and Pandora had shocked expressions as they muttered, "M-Millions of gold!?’

"Ugh..." Killian could feel his head aching.

This went on for a while...

***

About half an hour later...

"As I was saying earlier..."

Regis spoke to Aurelia once she had calmed down.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering why you need to use your gloves..."

Hearing his words, as well as seeing the curiosity in Pandora and Killian’s eyes, she took a deep breath.

"Huuuu—"

’Of course, you don’t need to tell us anything if you’re uncomfortable." Regis reminded her in a gentle voice.

Aurelia shook her head, "No, it’s fine. Besides, you told me your story too..."

Then, under her companions’ curious eyes, she began telling them about her gift.

It only took her a short time since it was only her gift that she told them about, not her whole past.

In summary, the moment she awakened her gift, it became uncontrollable which led to her hurting her loved ones.

As he heard her words, Regis began to contemplate, "So, your gift was too powerful that you weren’t able to control it. The only way for you to control it is if you become stronger— which you can’t do because it siphons all the mana you absorb?"

"Yes. Once, my father even attempted to make me absorb various elixirs, but to no avail." Aurelia had a crestfallen expression on her face.

Pandora and Killian remained silent as they listened to their conversation.

Regis looked Aurelia in the eyes.

"Are you happy with your life now?"

"Honestly, no. But I feel guilty since my father did his best just to ensure that I’ll live normally."

"What do you want, really?"

This question made Aurelia giggle.

"I don’t know, maybe become a powerful mage? I heard Grandella is the most prestigious academy in the whole world, I envy those who had a chance to attend it."

"Then, do you want to be a member of our party? That’s our goal too."

"Eh?"

Aurelia flinched at his words.

"I don’t think you understand. I just said that my gift is something I can’t control and I even ended up hurting my loved—"

"But what if you can?"

Hearing the absurdity of his words, Aurelia looked at him.

All she could see was Regis’s serious gaze.

"I said it earlier, right? That I can help with your situation..."

Seeing that he did not look like he was joking, Aurelia did not know what to say.