22 Decisions (1)

Rose's heart skipped a bit.

A man was lying down on the ground, surrounded by a swarm of butterflies. And only one person she knew of could control butterflies, and it was Enzo. Not to talk about his white hair as well. Although dirty, it was as clear as a glass of water that it was him.

Without a second of hesitation, Rose started walking toward Enzo. While there were so many butterflies that she couldn't even count them anymore, she still advanced forward.

She didn't know if the butterflies would attack her to protect their master, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

After all, now wasn't the time to hesitate.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of butterflies that she had never seen before showed contempt toward her. Everyone approaching their master was a threat, and Rose was no exception. However, it looked like a few other butterflies were protecting her. And it was mostly the carnivorous, protective, and poisonous butterflies.

"Thanks, guys." She said with a smile before finally reaching Enzo's place.

She immediately tried to sense his breathing and fortunately, he was still. Although a little faint, he was still definitely breathing.

"You piece of shit, you don't know how much I searched for you," Rose said, finally able to rest. Those last few weeks were so intense for her that she was almost on the edge of breaking down.

Almost.

"And thankfully you're alive." She smiled and put Enzo's head on her thighs for him to rest comfortably.

Although she could try and wake him up, she didn't want to. It must have been hard for him, and letting him rest was the best thing she could do right now.

As Rose sat by Enzo's side, she couldn't help but let her guard down for a moment, allowing the exhaustion and emotions of the past weeks to wash over her. Her hand gently brushed against Enzo's hair, feeling the warmth of his skin on the same occasion. She was relieved that he was alive, but she also knew that he had been through a lot.

The butterflies continued to swirl around them, a testament to the bond they had with Enzo. Despite their initial hostility towards Rose, they seemed to sense that she meant no harm to their master, and some even nuzzled against her gently, as if acknowledging her presence.

"You have some pretty remarkable friends, Enzo," she murmured, glancing at the protective butterflies with a mixture of awe and gratitude. She had seen the power of his butterflies during their time together, but she had never realized the depth of their loyalty and connection to him.

As the hours passed, Rose remained by Enzo's side, keeping a vigilant watch over him. While she didn't have to as the butterflies were protecting them, she still summoned her avatars and sent them watch over the area.

"Better be safe than sorry, right?"

A few more hours passed, and then some more. Rose didn't know for how long she had been here, but it was already nighttime. She was quite worried for Enzo, but the fact that the butterflies didn't seem to be bothered by the slumber of their master eased her mind a little.

It was only when the sun was painting the sky red and purple again that Enzo's eyelashes fluttered. The latter opened his eyes slowly, his gem-like blue eyes meeting another pair of fierce blue eyes.

"Good morning, Enzo, it's been a while."

Enzo was even met with a smile.

"Am I dreaming?" He unconsciously said, before recalling everything that had happened. The 'Dungeon of Fury', his class, his victory over the guardian, and how he had lost consciousness. "Oh damn, what am I talking about!" He blushed as he stood up and looked at Rose straight in the eyes. "What are you doing here, Rose? It's dangerous to be outside."

"Said the one who slept soundlessly on my thighs." She rolled her eyes before finally smiling. "Welcome back you piece of shit. You don't know how hard it was on me when you weren't there."

"Huh? What do you mean?" He tilted his head to the side. Weren't you guys three in defending the gymnasium? What happened to the others? Did they die?"

"Sigh, I'll have to bring you up to speed, I guess." They made themselves comfortable as it would be a long story.

***

"So let me sum up things a little," Enzo said once Rose finished. "At the start, after I disappeared, everything was good. There wasn't any tension anymore, and everyone was happy."

"Yes."

"Then you started seeing people around you change a little. Ren and Marie became lazy and stopped going out to clear the area of monsters, and the other survivors just spent their time doing nothing."

Rose nodded her head.

"As such, you had to do everything on your own. Thanks to your avatars, it wasn't that hard, but it was still a lot of weight on your shoulders. You had to go out for food, look up for medicines, and kill the monsters, while everyone stayed back, waiting for their food to be served on a silver plate. And all this while searching for my whereabouts, right?"

"Yes, you got everything right."

"Those son of bitches." A vein popped up on Enzo's forehead. While he couldn't say that he and Rose were deep friends, he still respected her a lot for all the things she had done. Be it before the apocalypse, or even now. Moreover, it was probably the only person whom he would trust his back in this new world. "Why did you even bother helping them? Wouldn't it would have been better to just leave them alone and survive on your own?"

Rose looked at him for a long time before sighing. "I won't say that I didn't consider this option. In fact, I considered it so many times that my fingers won't be able to count everything. But tell me, Enzo, would it be right to leave so many people to death? You know that I am from England's Royal Family, and abandoning people isn't what I like." She shook her head. "But to be honest with you, I still have hope for them, but I don't know for how long anymore."