Back at Silvia's party, everyone was enjoying the night's songs, dance, and food. Her birthday party was so high-end and huge-scale that it was no exaggeration to say that it would go down in history.

Not only were famous bands and singers performing, but there were also fun activities to keep the guests occupied until the next morning. It was like there was a festival on the island. There were even rides!

On the contrary to everyone enjoying their night, Ren was trying his best to hold his patience in place while being stuck with Saya.

No matter how good the party was, if he didn't like the crowd he was in, then there was nothing for him to enjoy.

All he wanted right now was to go home and log into COVENANT, so he could get away from Saya, even for just another hour.

They walked through the crowd until they reached the part of the beach where there weren't many people. Saya sat down and watched the waves crashing against the shore as Ren stood behind her.

"Are you so bored that you keep sighing?" Saya asked, amused.

"You know the reason why."

"At least pretend that you're happy with your girlfriend."

". . . Only I'm not."

Saya chuckled. "I don't get you, Ren. I thought that you'd be over the moon once we're finally together. I mean, not to brag, but you like me ever since high school, right?"

"The correct term is 'liked,'" Ren corrected. And that was so many years ago. However, he couldn't just say that to her. For Saya, it had only been months since college started.

Saya stood to her feet and dusted the sand that clung to her dress. "I know that there are still feelings for me inside there." She pointed to Ren's chest. "And I'm determined to make you admit it."

Ren took a deep breath. He couldn't even get angry with her anymore — he even felt pity for her. "The only problem is, there's no longer anything left. You're just wasting both our time."

Saya merely twirled and giggled. The many cocktails she drank seemed to have gotten into her head. "I don't have anything left, Ren. I have bet everything in this relationship. I made many mistakes in the past, and I plan to correct them."

"There's nothing to correct. If I hadn't gotten famous and rich, you'd still be together with Mike," said Ren with a flat voice.

"Ah . . . Mike." A smile that didn't reach her ears was across Saya's face. "It looks like he doesn't love me that much. To be honest, I thought he was going to beg me to get back together again, just like in the past. But . . ."

Saya took a deep breath as she looked at the ocean. Her eyes were moist, and her voice was broken. "But the moment we broke up, he hooked up with another girl. It did not even take a week."

Ren listened quietly and said nothing. He could understand the pain of someone you love taking you for granted and choosing someone else. It even happened every day, and Ren had experienced it. The irony was that it had been Saya who had done it to him before.

Maybe it was karma.

"So is this what this is? To make Mike jealous?"

Unfortunately for her, Ren wasn't in the mood to sympathize with her after everything she had done.

Saya paused, and her expression fell. "Why do you have to be so . . ."

Before Saya could finish her words, however, she lost consciousness and almost fell to the ground. If not for Ren's timely catch, she would have planted her face in the sand.

Even though Ren was angry with her, he wasn't that ruthless in letting her sleep on the beach.

Saya was too drunk to even function. She still had that condition when she just shut down after taking numerous alcohol into her system.

Ren knew that, but he had never tried stopping her before. In fact, he even purposefully gave her numerous drinks throughout the night while she was distracted by the many events of the party. He was counting on her to get drunk, so he could finally have some time for himself.

After taking Saya to her hotel room provided by Golden Phoenix, Ren went back to the party and searched for Evie.

He found her cleaning up the mess on the table. The longer he watched, the more he wanted to tell her the truth.

But in the end, he went to her, still thinking of what to say. He had enough of acting like they were strangers.

Unfortunately, nothing came up in his head that wasn't related to COVENANT. The game was the only thing that connected them at this point.

"Evie," Ren called.

Evie froze for a moment and remained on her spot, neither looking behind her nor facing Ren as she answered, "Do you need something?"

Ren didn't know which was worse. Her refusal to face him or her use of a business-like tone with him.

"It's about Meriyaah's item in Lone Valley. Have you received Sebastian's message? Something is happening with the item, and he needs us there ASAP."

Ren almost patted himself on the back, proud of how his face remained neutral and his voice flat.

"I don't care about it anymore," Evie said and hurried her movements, carrying the tray in her hands full of dirty plates.

Ren was quick on his toes and took over the tray from her, forcing Evie to face him with a frown. But rather than taking a step back, Ren remained rooted on his spot, amused at her expression.

Evie extended her hand, asking to get the tray back. "It's my job."

"Meriyaah's item is one of a kind. And it might be connected with getting that rare class, Djinn Master. Are you sure that you want to pass it up?"

Evie briefly shot Ren a look. Her face was still expressionless. "Yes."

She then went ahead, leaving Ren with the tray.

"Is this because of what happened a few days ago? Are you so affected that I got a girlfriend?"

Evie skidded to a stop, and her heart rate increased.

Frankly, she was also confused as to why she was avoiding Ren and treating him coldly.

"No . . ." Evie replied.

"Then prove it, and let's go get that item."

Evie frowned and crossed her arms over her chest as she faced Ren. "And what made you think that my decision of not wanting to finish Meriyaah's quest has anything to do with your relationship with Saya?"

Ren shrugged. "Your change of attitude towards me and your decision to forget about that item happened after that. What else could it be?"

Evie's frown grew deeper. "If only someone didn't say anything unnecessary, then I wouldn't have had to be in this awkward situation," she muttered.

( . . . continuation in NOTES)