"Hi, Cynthia, I'm here to play with you!"
Caitlin slammed the door to Cynthia's office. It didn't seem very polite but in reality it wasn't much given their friendship.
Then... she saw a burning parchment scroll suspended in the air...
And... Cynthia, who was clearly three or five years younger...
Damn! Three or five years younger?
Caitlin looked at Cynthia, who was staring at her hands in amazement from her chair, with an incredulous expression, her fingers pointing and clicking, her mouth opening and closing, but ultimately nothing much came out.
Finally, Cynthia noticed Caitlin in the doorway and waved at her with a smile, "Caitlin's here, huh? No work today, and where's Shauntal? Did she come with you?"
"Eh, Cynthia, you're... so young today..."
Caitlin held her tongue for half a day, but only managed to come up with this sentence.
Cynthia cocked her head and looked at Caitlin with some confusion seemingly asking why she said that.
Caitlin walked into the office, looking around as she went, then found a mirror. Using her powers, she lifted the mirror and placed it in front of Cynthia.
Cynthia's stunningly beautiful face came into her own.
She looks like a little girl from a royal family, and like a flying swallow on a drum; she is as colorful as a sunset in the west, and as light as a snowy white plum.
What a beautiful face the goddess of Luo River[1] is! Her smile is enough to captivate everyone.
Cynthia herself was shocked unconsciously reaching out her hand to caress the person in the mirror.
"This... is me?"
This is not just the effect of being several years younger. After Cynthia signed the life-sharing contract, her life level will be upgraded. The upgrade of life level is holistic, from physical fitness to strength and even appearance.
This is also reflected in Rope's body. But because his life level is in a constant state of increasing, Rope's face value has always been in a state of increasing. Therefore, Rope's face value is improving little by little, which is exactly why he is as unnoticeable as a frog boiled in warm water. However, if you take out Rope's previous photos and compare them with the current one, then you will be surprised to find that Rope's face value is not improved by half a star.
It's just not as sudden as Cynthia's enhancement.
It's not a face swap or anything like that though. It's just fixing tiny imperfections that originally came to the face. It's like Cynthia's haggard state that was inevitable under the heavy workload. And this kind of haggard state is not just for a day or two. Luckily, Cynthia was naturally beautiful, so even if she was haggard, she still had a different kind of beauty, or else...
But now there was no need to worry about it. Once and for all, if Cynthia wanted to, she could take all of Lucian's work, and then finish it without sleep or rest, and still look radiant and haggard, without even needing to rest.
Rope was the same way. He wasn't sleepy, he just wanted to be lazy.
"I'm shocked too, is this some kind of makeup you're using? The effect is so good! Can you recommend it to me too!!!"
Caitlin said excitedly. After all, as long as they are human, the pursuit of beauty is endless[2].
Without waiting for Cynthia to speak, another soft female voice came from the doorway.
"I'm not late, am I! I just met a superb material, the story I write this time will be a super bestseller!"
Shauntal's figure appeared in the doorway, and then she who was still talking about her novel flinched for a second the second she saw Cynthia, and then shrieked out in shock.
"Cynthia! What kind of makeup are you using here! Quickly recommend it to me!!!!"
Shauntal excitedly rushed to Cynthia's side then shook Cynthia's arm with a pitiful pleading face.
On the other hand, Caitlin saw the situation, firstly lamented at Shauntal's quick action and immediately and decisively put down the mirror, and then ran over to hug Cynthia's other arm.
"Cynthia!!!" ×2
Cynthia was helpless with amusement, "You two let me go first. I'm not using makeup here."
When the two heard this, their first reaction was of course disbelief. But after thinking about it, Cynthia didn't seem to have any need to lie, so she let go, and then Caitlin sat down on the same chair that Lucian had sat on before. Shauntal, on the other hand, thanked Garchomp, who had brought the chair over, and sat down. The two sat side by side waiting for Cynthia to follow.
Seeing that both were done, Cynthia smiled helplessly, then straightened the table quickly before accepting the tea tray and snacks Lucario handed over.
"Thank you, Lucario!" said Cynthia with a big smile.
Lucario looked at Cynthia's smiling face and flinched for a moment, then snapped back to his senses and said, "Luka." And then walked away. She still didn't know what, exactly, Professor Rope had sent her master, and it felt like hand-rubbing wave missiles wouldn't be a big deal now, once her master learned how to use waveguides.
Cynthia poured a cup of tea for each of the two people in front of her. Then began, "This is the effect of the gift Rope gave me."
Then looking up at the two she said, "But don't even think about it, there is one and only one of these, it was a gift from Rope from Arceus."
Upon hearing this, Caitlin and Shauntal wanted to say something, but couldn't.
The two looked at each other and both sighed softly.
Cynthia smiled as she looked at the two, unable to suppress the sweetness inside, but of course, there was also a share of worry and blame.
The scroll was certainly not from Arceus, that was something Cynthia knew.
And what the scroll did Cynthia knew all too well. As the scroll burned, its contents were spoken in her mind in a language she had not heard before but understood the meaning.
When she heard the words, 'From now on, the two of them are equal in life tiers, and their lifespans are equally divided', she felt tears welling up in her own eyes.
In this world, there really was someone who loved you so much that they were willing to share their life equally with you.
He and she were very much in love, but their acquaintance had only lasted a few months. This contract, however, cannot be modified...
[Cynthia, I know you're listening. What I'm trying to tell you is that with Arceus' help, I've made the leap to the next level of life. However, the long life is definitely lonely. I want you to stay with me until we reach the end of our lives together.]
"I do[3]."
[1] Luoshen (洛神) - a well-known figure in Chinese literature and folklore, she's a symbol of beauty and unattainable love in Chinese culture
[2] Author's note (translated from raw): Whisper, men are the same. Not only women want beauty treatments, men just find it troublesome, at least I find it troublesome...
[3] '我愿意' - I do, I will; yes, the wedding thing