Rapunzel looked at the spot Ge Duo had prominently marked on the map, a complicated swirl of emotions rising in her heart.
There was anticipation, unease, and a trace of worry.
She had grown used to hiding, to silence, to going unnoticed.
Now she was suddenly supposed to stand beneath the spotlight and become the center of everyone's attention. Instinctively, that made her uneasy.
"I..." Rapunzel bit her lip.
"I don't know if I can do it well."
Ge Duo glanced at her.
"You don't need to know. You only need to do it."
She put away the map and turned to Rapunzel.
"Rapunzel, you've hidden in this world for far too long. So long that you've forgotten why we were summoned here in the first place. Now, it's time for you to remember."
Ge Duo's voice was calm without the slightest ripple, yet it pierced deep into Rapunzel's heart like a cold, fine needle.
"You think the system summoned us into this world to give us a second life? To let us live freely?" A faintly mocking curve touched Ge Duo's lips.
"Naive."
She slowly stepped closer. Those pale, slender hands seemed to carry crushing pressure at that moment, making Rapunzel involuntarily retreat half a step.
"You, me, Eva, Ursula, Cinderella, Snow White... every fairy-tale character summoned into this world shares one identity."
Ge Duo enunciated every word, her voice as crisp as shattering ice crystals. "We are Lin Wan's summons."
The words "summons" were like a basin of icy water, extinguishing the faint spark that had just ignited in Rapunzel's heart.
Her face instantly turned pale, and her slender fingers clenched tightly around her skirt.
"No..." Rapunzel instinctively tried to argue. "Lin Wan... he's been very good to us. He's never forced us to do anything..."
"So what?"