Page 114 of A Silent Prodigy for the Lycan Princess

“I did. I actually bought the Eiffel Tower,” she says. “And a Disney castle. Val took me to a place where they had a sale.”

“That’s a pretty cool hobby,” I say.

“What do you like to do in your free time?”

“You will find it silly,” I say.

“Not at all. Tell me!”

“I collect stones and turn them into crystals,” I say. “Buying polished stones is easy. I like to do that myself… polish them.”

“I didn’t know,” she says, surprised. “That sounds pretty cool, too.”

For the next hour, we chat about things we like to do. Tori has always been in my circle of friends, but she was always closer to Aurelia and Terry than to me. I never was truly interested in her because I thought she was shallow and too… simple. Now I feel like the biggest idiot ever. I was the one who was shallow.

There are so many things I don’t know about her yet.

She is cute when she excitedly talks about something that interests her. Her eyes light up, and a beautiful smile spreads over her face.

Maybe the Goddess didn’t make a mistake, after all.

Chapter thirty-five

Gemstones II

*ARDEN*

The night ended with many surprises, and today started with some more. The first one is that when we meet for a very late breakfast with everyone, Léna is still here. It seems like she stayed the night. Vander looks incredibly happy and never lets go of her hand.

Marilou arrives with Terry, both of them already marked. And Tori and Lion arrive together, not holding hands or anything, but they are talking with each other, which is already a huge improvement.

I am about to bite into my baguette when Vander suddenly stares at me. “You are marked!” he blurts out.

Right, not everyone noticed yesterday.

“When did that happen!?” Tori exclaims, before jumping up to squeeze Aurelia. “So happy for you.”

“No, seriously, whendidthat happen?” Lion asks, flabbergasted. He and Tori were probably too preoccupied with their own issues last night to notice how Nox, Valerie, and Jazz called us out.

Aurelia grins. “Secret,” she says.

The others pester her with questions, but she grins and stays quiet.You are enjoying that, aren’t you?I ask curiously.

Yes.

How come?I ask.Sorry for being curious. Just want to understand.

She chuckles softly.I am not really mysterious,she says.Or secretive, usually. So, this is fun for me. It’s the first time I’ve got them guessing.

I’m still unsure if I understand completely, but she is happy and is having fun, and Cato is happy that our mate is happy, so I am also.

“So.” Aurelia directs the attention to Terry and Marilou. “You two will be the talk of school,” she says with a chuckle.

“True.” Terry grins, beaming with pride. “The guys in my class will be so envious.”

“And once you graduate?” Aurelia asks. “Did you already think about what you will do?”

“We haven’t talked about it yet. I feel it’s probably too soon to make decisions,” Marilou admits. “I wouldn’t mind moving to Silverlake, but I also really like it in Red Claw. Luna Annalise is so supportive of me. She is like the mom I never had, and my former boss, Renata, she only has me.”