Noelle was trying to think of any option that would get her out of this mess, but all the ideas that crossed her mind only seemed to blur together, leaving her with no answer in sight.

She had the power to remove him from the gate if she wanted to, but using her spells on an innocent spirit would likely have repercussions that wouldn’t appear immediately. She didn’t want her Aunt scolding her for being so irresponsible as to use a spell on a spirit that posed no real threat.

“So, why me?” Noelle questioned as her light green eyes searched his deep blue ones for an answer, only to find nothing. She was doing her best to keep her composure and prevent her cheeks from flushing from his flirty commentary.

As soon as those words left her mouth, the corner of his lips curved into a charming smile, and his eyes took on a mischievous glint. “Hmm,” he said, deep in thought as he placed his hand over his chin before he looked over at her. “I guess it’s because you’re extremely adorable,” he replied smoothly.

Noelle couldn’t stop her heart from skipping a beat at that moment. How could she, as the Gatekeeper, be so weak to his flirty commentary? She needed to force herself to resist his advances if possible, or she wouldn't be able to think clearly.

With a sigh, she got up from her chair to distance herself from him.

“You still didn’t answer my question. Surely me being adorable isn’t the reason you decided to bother me; I don’t think it's that simple,” Noelle declared, her voice filled with a sense of determination to get the answer out of him.

His smile wavered for just a moment before widening at her response. But his flirty aura seemed to fade away. He placed both of his gloved hands back to rest against her desk while he leaned back slightly.

He tilted his head up to look at the ceiling. “I guess it’s because you’re different. That’s why I like you so much,” he said softly.

Hearing this, Noelle raised her right eyebrow. A puzzled look consumed her features. “What do you mean by different?” she asked, her tone laced with curiosity.

“So, I did capture your interest. Let’s have some fun; it’ll only be for one night,” he said, not trying to hide the sly smile that appeared on his face. His flirty nature reemerged without warning, as if it had never disappeared to begin with.

“You…wha…you seriously just say whatever is on your mind, don’t you, Lucky?” Noelle said, her face red as a tomato at his stupid, sudden comment.

She immediately crossed her arms. “Also, whatever you mean by one night, I’m not interested.” She scowled at him and was rewarded with a soft chuckle in return.

He softly shrugged his shoulders with a smile on his lips. “That’s right. I never told you my real name. It’s Felix…but Lucky isn’t so bad of a name,” he said while she was glaring daggers at him with her arms still crossed.

“By one night, I thought, as the Gatekeeper, you would be interested in seeing the spirit world firsthand,” Felix stated innocently.

“Lucky is honestly a much better name, if you ask me,” Noelle retorted, which drew an amused grin out of Felix.

“I’m forbidden to go to the spirit world, nor would I want to,” she said with a frown as she walked over to sit in the chair in front of her desk. “Now, I’ve given you enough of my time, which I could’ve used to monitor spirits that entered the gate. So, I’m going to sit down and read my spells, and then you’ll magically disappear.”.

“Alright, I’ll go, but won’t you tell me your name first?” he asked softly as he glanced sideways at her.

She let out a small sigh. “It's Noelle. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to focus on my important duties now,” she said.

“Sooooo~ what you’re saying is that your spell book is what is keeping you here right now?” Felix asked, while his blue eyes flickered with curiosity.

“Something like that. Wait a minute, why did you ask…” she said before her eyes quickly darted toward her desk to find her book was suddenly gone.

Once she heard Felix chuckle, she quickly looked at him and saw him grinning while holding her book hostage.

“You give that back right now! Or else,” Noelle threatened in a serious tone as she got up from her seat.

“Oh, someone’s getting feisty now. But, I guess you’ll have to catch me first, won’t you, Miss Gatekeeper?” Felix said playfully before bolting toward the door.

At that moment, she cast a spell that looked like a small green bolt of lightning. It missed Felix since he quickly transformed into a cat, which allowed him to escape outside. To make matters worse, she slightly damaged the wall inside the gate.

“You gotta be kidding me,” she whined before quickly running after him by opening the door that led outside. She found no trace of him except a giant door in the middle of the forest path.

“Could this be the door to the spirit world?” Noelle mumbled as she tilted her head back to look at all the details of the giant, gray, stone door before her. She hesitated for a few minutes, unsure of what to do, but then she shakily reached for the doorknob before turning it and pulling the door open.

Her eyes widened in confusion when the door revealed a portal that looked like water, but didn’t reveal what was on the other side.

There were too many thoughts running through her head at the moment. A handsome spirit named Felix had boldly flirted with her before making off with her book, and he had barely answered any of her questions.

The biggest question she had was the reason he called her different. Now, she stood before a portal that she was forbidden to enter, leading right into the spirit world.

With a loud gulp, she stretched her hand forward as she reached into the portal, only to blink her eyes multiple times in bewilderment when she felt a soft breeze brush past her fingertips.

Her heart was beating a mile a minute, and the uneasiness was eating away at her with each passing second. Regardless of how she felt, she needed to get her spell book back, even if it meant she would break the rule of not entering the spirit world. Closing her eyes, she entered through the portal with a deep breath and a braveness in her steps.

She felt a soft gust pass by her. It was then that she slowly opened her eyes, only for them to widen in wonder when she was greeted by a sky that was a breathtaking shade of pink that seemed to cast a comforting warmth on everything below it.

She softly shook her head and reminded herself that she couldn’t lose focus on the crucial task at hand. She was getting her book no matter the cost.

Noelle slowly began to make her way through a world that was completely different from her own. As she continued walking, she decided to look down. Her eyes came into contact with the vibrantly colored flowers that seemed to embody the rainbow itself, decorating the path she was walking along.

When another slight breeze passed, she smelt the sweet fragrance of the flowers, and it filled her with a sense of peace despite her anxiety.

“Well, well, it looks like you made it, and all it took was for me to steal your spell book,” Felix said with a playful tone from behind her. This caused Noelle to jolt forward, as she wasn’t expecting anyone to speak so suddenly.

“You! Give it back to me,” Noelle said unhappily. She frowned at him and stretched out her hand to hint to him to hand her book over.

“What book?” Felix said innocently, softly smiling as he walked past her with a happy bounce in his steps.

“Don’t play dumb! You know exactly what I mean,” Noelle said with an angry quiver in her voice. She clenched her hands into fists and glared at him.

“But, what’s the rush? You’re here, after all, and nothing bad has happened. Are you sure you don’t wanna look around? Besides, as your guide, I can tell you that you don’t have anything to worry about, I promise,” Felix said with a beaming, happy smile while his eyes radiated a mischievous aura.

“You act like that was supposed to be reassuring,” she grumbled, looking around.

Felix wasn’t wrong; she was curious, and knew he could tell without her saying it out loud. But the bigger question was, did she want to delve deeper into whatever this was, this forbidden connection? She had already broken the rules by entering the spirit world; maybe there wouldn’t be any harm in taking his offer.

“Fine then, but I only want to look around for a little while, and that’s it, you hear me?” Noelle said. Her voice had an annoyed tone but the curiosity in her eyes betrayed her.

“Loud and clear, Miss Gatekeeper. Let’s get moving, shall we?” Felix said with a smile while he held a look of amusement in his eyes.