*Click—*
With the soft sound of a door closing, Riezel stepped out of the office and gently shut the door behind him.
"...Riezel."
As soon as Riezel left, he heard a faint, almost hesitant voice calling his na.
Turning his gaze toward the source of the sound, he saw her—at the far end of the corridor stood a golden-haired, golden-eyed young woman, as if she had been waiting there for him all along.
A breeze happened to sweep through the corridor, stirring her waist-length golden hair—the movent lent a trace of mystery and grace to her otherwise cool deanor, making her seem like a fairy descending from paradise—reminiscent of Morgan or Artoria.
Seeing such a sight, Riezel was montarily left dazed, but he quickly regained his composure and walked toward her with a calm smile on his face.
"What are you doing here?"
Standing before Ais, Riezel asked softly, instinctively lowering his voice as if afraid that speaking too loudly might shatter the delicate beauty of the mont.
"I..."
Ais opened her mouth, but she couldn’t form a complete sentence.
It was as though she didn’t know how to express the tangle of emotions inside her—her expression caught between hesitation and embarrassnt.
Seeing this, Riezel gave a faint smile.
"Let’s talk while we walk. Otherwise, when Loki cos out, we’ll never have a proper conversation again with all her noise."
Just like that, he took the first step, and Ais quietly followed.
*Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap—*
As they walked, their footsteps sohow fell into perfect rhythm, echoing through the quiet corridor and filling the air around them.
Neither spoke right away.
They simply walked side by side, the silence between them carrying a subtle yet comforting tension.
Despite the quiet, however, neither felt uneasy.
Instead, it was as though they both savored this mont of peace, their expressions unconsciously softening.
Finally, Riezel broke the silence.
"I heard you reached Level 6?" Riezel glanced at Ais and smiled. "Congrats. You finally made it."
"Mm, thank you..." Ais replied, sounding a little shy. "It’s all thanks to you. Without your help, I couldn’t have defeated Udaeus."
"Nah, that’s not true." Riezel shook his head. "I never interfered in your fight. Defeating Udaeus was the result of your own strength."
"No, it’s not like that..." Ais murmured softly, her eyes lowering. "If you hadn’t healed and strengthened with your magic, I never could’ve done it."
"You’re underestimating yourself, Ais."
Riezel chuckled lightly, then t Ais’s gaze.
"At that ti, you were already at the peak of Level 5, so with Ariel, you could’ve fought a Level 6 on equal ground. You wouldn’t have fallen far behind Udaeus at all."
"If you had faced him in perfect condition, you wouldn’t have ended up as beaten as you did."
"The only reason you were in that state was that you pushed yourself to reach the 37th Floor. You hurried the entire way there alone and even used Ariel repeatedly. Your stamina and mind were both drained, and your body was overloaded from the constant use of that magic. Forget fighting at full strength—using even half your power was uncertain."
"When I healed and strengthened you, I only brought you back to where you should’ve been."
"In other words, even without my help, you still could defeat Udaeus."
Right after saying this, Riezel changed the subject slightly.
"So, after you ca back, did Riveria say anything to you?"
Hearing this question, Ais averted her eyes, her expression subtly awkward.
"She did, huh..." Riezel chuckled again. "Figures. I an, to level up, you dove into the Dungeon without telling anyone, rushed yourself to exhaustion, and challenged Udaeus in that condition. You really were asking for it. Good thing Riveria wasn’t there. If she’d seen how beat up you were, she would’ve lectured you half to death afterward."
"...A whole day."
Ais’s quiet reply drifted to Riezel.
"What?"
"When I ca back... Riveria lectured for a whole day..."
"..."
It seed Mama Riveria really did worry about her daughter, as even without witnessing it herself, she still scolded Ais for a full day. Had she actually been there, Ais might’ve died — not from the Floor Boss, but from Riveria’s wrath.
Instead of sympathy, however, Riezel only looked impressed.
"Honestly, you deserved that..." Riezel said plainly. "Who told you to be so reckless?"
"Muu..." Ais pouted slightly and glanced at him. "Didn’t you do the sa thing when you went to fight Goliath on the 17th Floor?"
Riezel instantly froze.
Now that Ais ntioned it, when he had reached the limit of Level 3 and wanted to ascend to Level 4, he had indeed done sothing reckless. He had gone to the 17th Floor alone, challenged Goliath without telling anyone, and returned barely standing, giving Finn and the others quite a scare.
’Wait... could it be that she was inspired by and did the sa thing?’
Riezel thought speechlessly, then protested weakly.
"...I’m not like you. I only went to the 17th Floor, which wasn’t hard to reach. Besides, when I fought Goliath, I was in perfect condition. Even if sothing went wrong, there were other adventurers around who could help ."
"You’re different. You went all the way to the 37th Floor, drained yourself dry, and there’s almost no one up there. If sothing had happened, no one could’ve saved you."
Riezel’s reasoning sounded solid, but Ais still looked unconvinced as she stared at him in silence, her wordless gaze radiating pressure.
"Fine..." Riezel sighed, scratching his cheek in defeat. "I guess I’m in no position to lecture you."
In truth, he was just as reckless—perhaps even more so, which was why, despite only being in the Loki Familia for a few months, he was already regarded as a problem child on par with Ais.
"Guess we really are alike in a lot of ways, huh..."
Riezel smiled faintly as he repeated the sa line others had remarked many tis before.
Ais, too, smiled—a small, subtle smile, barely visible yet unmistakably there.
"Anyway, congrats again on reaching Level 6."
"Thank you..."
"You’re welco."
As they continued walking, their conversation remained simple, but every exchange carried warmth.
Even with so few words, they seed to understand each other perfectly.
Over ti, their expressions relaxed further, and soon both were smiling—smiles that didn’t fade.
As they strolled and chatted, Riezel and Ais passed several mbers of the familia, leaving behind puzzled looks.
It wasn’t long before news of the two walking and talking cheerfully around the manor spread throughout the Loki Familia.
Before long, mbers began gathering nearby, watching from the corners, whispering among themselves about the pair’s close atmosphere.
"...Do you guys think sothing’s goin’ on between them?"
"Mr. Riezel and Miss Ais?"
"They actually look kinda good together..."
"They’re both calm, crazy talented, total geniuses—and they’re both First-Class Adventurers, so... yeah."
"But still... why them? Like, the familia’s first couple ends up bein’ a rookie who just joined and the Sword Princess who never looked like she cared about love at all? No way! I’m not buyin’ that!"
"Sa here!"
"Man, that’s Miss Ais we’re talking about! How’d a rookie outta nowhere steal her away?!"
"Hey, what’s that even supposed to an?"
"You saying Mr. Riezel’s not good enough for her?"
"Mr. Riezel’s amazing, too, okay?"
Soon, the entire Loki Familia was buzzing.
So were gossiping, so curious, so envious, others defensive—everyone taking their own stance.
Soon enough, when Tiona and Tione happened to pass by and heard the gossip—
"No way, they’re actually together?"
"Riezel and Ais? I can’t even tell if I’m surprised or not."
Tiona and Tione eagerly joined the discussion, trading opinions with other female mbers, but none of them noticed that a certain elf girl trailing behind them had gone completely still.
"Mr. Riezel... Miss Ais..."
Lefiya, who admired both Riezel and Ais, stood frozen, eyes lifeless, her soul seemingly drifting away as she stared blankly into space for what felt like an eternity.
By the ti the gossip reached the familia’s top executives and goddess, three of them were left staring at one another in silence—while one exploded.
"Damn Riezel! How dare he cuckold like that?! I’m gonna kill him!"
Loki’s furious shouts filled the office.
*Clang!*
Just as Loki was about to storm out, the sound of clashing blades suddenly rang through the Twilight Manor, echoing throughout the entire place.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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