Chapter 197: One Thousand Rejections

Not knowing how to pursue the topic for perhaps the first time since changing, Rachel let it sink below the surface of her thoughts as she sat on the sofa.

Her mother retained a happy mask, or, at least, Rachel assumed it was, while addressing the confused redhead. "I need you to close your eyes and enter your internal worlds; it is so much easier to perform these kinds of rituals with people who can enter their inner spirit. You will see a door... Go through it, and you will find a rather unique gathering of personalities at the crossroads between the veil. I will be maintaining it, so pay no mind to me."

Doing as she was told, Rachel sank into herself, opening her eyes to the bed Nike rested in. Yet, a chime drew her to the exit. Stepping onto the white spotlight, she left their shared space, scanning the void. She blinked, and across the platform was a shimmering white door.

The silence of her inner world was deafening when she wasn’t engaged in some mental exercise, which raised the hair on her tail. Standing before the door, Rachel twitched an ear as the bell rang again, and her mother whispered into her ear.

"Try to unify the bunnies... Together, they will accomplish what they cannot alone."

Saliva becoming sticky, Rachel gulped and twisted the knob. Her hesitation melted away as she stepped into open space, a war of cosmic forces and broken planets twisting around dozens of colossal black holes.

Anthony exited through a door beside hers, taking in the majestic sight of colors and raw forces colliding in deafening waves of raw power. She couldn’t be sure if this was reality or some fake world, like the objects they created inside their own spirits. Yet, two figures, not three, awaited their arrival.

The powerful, electrifying presence of a king came from a being of solidified lightning, the manly figure sitting on a throne of energy, bare-chested, pelts from creatures Rachel couldn’t name covering his muscular frame. In his hand was a giant, pulsing glaive, and beside him knelt elegance personified.

Resting on a raised dais and emanating the luster of the full moon, Mei waited for them to approach. Her countenance was even brighter and more pristine than before.

Silver hair wrapped in a bun and held in place by dazzling accessories, Mei wore her modest hanfu, its golden rabbits and floral design shining like the noonday sun. A positive radiance emanated from her that evoked a sense of awe as she opened her ruby eyes. "Welcome, Rachel. I have been waiting for you to—"

"Mei! Mei! I found the perfect skirt and thigh-high socks for you! Look!"

Moongmor dropped out of a lunar portal that materialized in front of the woman, shattering the awe-striking entrance and making Rachel suppress a chuckle. Bouncing up and down, the bunny had a cute pair of black socks with three white stripes that matched the lower half of the miniskirt he’d brought. A frumpy, quite comfortable-looking sweater hovered above it. "Oh! I forgot the— Hi, Rachel! Lady Mei, My Love?"

The elegant woman smoothly rose to her feet and produced a fan from her sleeve, her voice filled with exhaustion and disgust as she looked down upon the lowly bunny. "There is not an ounce of grace inside your depravity..."

Moongmor’s eyes widened. "Uh-oh. Did I make you mad? I’m sorry; I didn’t bring heels!"

A gentle wave of her fan was all it took for the bunny to be swept off the invisible platform to ping-pong in all directions, striking lunar disks. Mei lifted a foot, geta hanging slightly as Moongmor landed where she’d stood, and the wooden shoe fell on top of the poor, dizzy bun.

"You continue to try my patience with your incessant, impulsive, and repulsive desires to dress me in your scandalous articles. I am not a doll for you to gawk at and play with, you hedonistic lout."

Moongmor moaned as she applied pressure to his back, pressing him into the dais as she glared down at him in utter revulsion. "Is... that another rejection? Wait, I smell—a new perfume?!"

"Humph..." Lifting the pressure, the Chief Secretary of Chang’e’s Lower Lunar Court lightly tapped the side of the bunny’s body, sending a ridiculous amount of force that turned him into a meteorite through another portal. "You are an animal!"

Rachel gulped as Mei’s heated vision literally engulfed Moongmor’s outfit in lunar flames, the intense white light being her first experience with offensive Positive Lunar Force. One thought was running through her brain at the rejection.

Yeah, Mom, I don’t see them coming together...

As Anthony rubbed the back of his neck and waved, laughter came from the electrifying man. "You have to admire his dedication, Lady Mei. If a woman were half as persistent as that little bunny coming after me, I’d be honored. Why not indulge his fantasy just once?"

"Because I have my dignity, Lord Tintreach," Mei whispered, clearly trying to suppress a shiver of rage. "One thousand rejections, and yet he acts as if one more will change my opinion... My apologies for my unsightly behavior, Lady Rachel, Lord Anthony. I do have my limits. Now, shall we have a proper discussion... without distractions?"

She snapped her fan together, creating a shimmering lunar shell around them, and Rachel wanted to laugh as Moongmor appeared just outside of it—the only one left outside—his big eyes watering at being excluded. Still, she doubted advocating on his behalf just after the incident would do much good; maybe a little waiting in the doghouse would soften Mei’s mood.

Walking forward, she sat in the chair the silver-haired bunny had made for them; she’d wanted to talk to Anthony about the good news regarding his girl, but that could wait until after. Besides, it seemed like something he’d need to really take in and digest.

"Well, you wanted to get better acquainted, Anthony. Let’s talk business."