"Ah, right. I almost forgot." She gently set her cup down on the table and looked at Eman.
Just as she was about to say sothing, her words caught in her throat. Sothing about him seed different today.
Her gaze lingered on his face.
When did his eyes and hair change color again?
Could it be... he had another breakthrough?
Such changes weren’t actually unusual. Many people experienced physical alterations after gaining new powers or reaching a higher realm.
So even had their whole skin turned to a different color. There were also stranger cases such as gaining scales or developing fangs.
Of course, not every transformation was related to breakthroughs or powerups. So people simply visited a salon.
Looking at Eman, however, Mina was fairly certain he belonged to the first category.
When did he acquire such power?
Suddenly, another mory surfaced in her mind.
A very recent mory.
Eman’s naked body.
Her face instantly heated up.
She had not expected him to possess such a well-defined physique. Compared to before, he looked more mature.
And more handso.
What if—
Mina’s eyes widened.
No!
She shook her head vehently.
What am I even thinking?! I’m not so kind of pervert!
Unfortunately, her actions only made her look even more suspicious. Her cheeks had already turned bright red.
Across from her, Eman watched in complete confusion.
Why was she suddenly shaking her head? Did her neck hurt? Was she feeling dizzy?
And why was her face so red?
A fever?
He patiently waited for her to recover. After all, it would be rude to rush a sick person.
When Mina noticed his gaze still fixed on her, her heart nearly skipped a beat.
She imdiately looked away. The more she looked at him, the worse her imagination beca.
"Ahem..." She cleared her throat. "I heard you went to et the leader of the Red Tyrant Clan. I-Is that true?"
Eman blinked before nodding.
"Yes."
He answered without hesitation.
There was no point hiding it. Half the academy already knew about it.
Still...
Why was she looking everywhere except at him?
Eman found that oddly suspicious.
"Since you ca back alive and unhard, I assu the matter was resolved peacefully?"
Eman nodded again.
In truth, Mina had almost rushed over there herself.
The leader of the Red Tyrant Clan was infamous for being difficult to deal with. She had even prepared several rare resources she could use as bargaining chips if it ant securing Eman’s safety.
Unfortunately, before she could leave, the family butler arrived.
Normally, she would have ignored any summons from her family.
This ti was different.
The butler presented a scroll tied with a red ribbon.
That ant the order ca directly from the highest authorities within the family. Ignoring it wasn’t an option.
When she finally returned to the academy, she discovered many surprising things. The most important one being that Eman had returned safely.
Seeing him sitting here in one piece allowed her to finally relax.
anwhile, Eman wondered why she was so interested in the incident.
"Can you tell what you talked about? There must have been a reason they targeted you in the first place."
"It’s about our service."
"The allegations... Was it true?" Mina quickly added, "Wait. I’m not saying I believed them."
Eman chuckled.
"Yeah, I know."
Only then did she relax.
"How did you resolve it, though? The leader of the Red Tyrant Clan isn’t known for being cooperative. I can’t imagine that kind of issue being settled through ordinary negotiation."
Eman nodded.
"No. Actually, he’s a reasonable person."
Mina stared at him.
"A reasonable person?"
She nearly slid off her chair.
That was probably the first ti in history anyone had used those two words to describe the Red Tyrant leader.
At least among the rumors she had heard.
Eman shrugged.
"People shouldn’t judge soone solely based on gossip. I simply told them the truth and presented evidence."
"I see."
Mina nodded thoughtfully.
"So that’s why you managed to leave safely."
"That’s right."
She reached for her coffee.
Unfortunately, she was so distracted that she completely missed the cup.
"Ah—eh?!"
She ended up taking a mouthful of absolutely nothing.
"Pffft."
"Mmph!"
Mina imdiately pouted.
Eman tried and failed to suppress his laughter.
That only made her pout harder.
He picked up her empty cup.
"Sorry. Let serve you another one as an apology."
The pout instantly disappeared.
Mina smiled sweetly and nodded.
"Okay."
Eman suddenly felt like he’d been scamd.
As he walked away, Mina rested her chin on her intertwined fingers and quietly watched his retreating figure.
A minute later, he returned carrying two steaming cups.
He placed the caral-flavored coffee in front of Mina and set the darker brew before himself.
The aroma alone seed to improve Mina’s mood.
She happily took a small sip before glancing at Eman’s drink.
"Do you like dark coffee?"
"A little."
"Wow."
She looked genuinely impressed.
"That’s so mature."
Eman almost choked.
The complint felt strangely unfair.
After all, he was an actual adult.
That said, dark coffee wasn’t even his favorite drink.
He simply didn’t dislike it.
Mina giggled while he silently questioned whether drinking coffee had sohow beco a cultivation achievent.
After a few monts, her smile gradually faded.
The atmosphere beca noticeably quieter.
"By the way," she said softly, "aside from the accusations... Did you discuss anything else?"
Eman’s eyes narrowed slightly.
There it was.
The question she truly wanted to ask.
Judging from her expression, whatever ca next was the real reason for her visit.
"Well..." Eman made a thinking gesture. "Right. While we were resolving the issue we also ca to discover sothing—"
"Really?! Can you tell what it is?"
Eman looked surprised at Mina’s sudden excitent.
What did she really want to learn?
Eman then counted everything regarding the connection of Blue Serpent Clan to the incident.
After listening intently, Mina nodded her head.
"I see... no wonder. So it’s the Blue Serpent and the Gentlewind Family who were pulling strings behind the scene," she murmured.
"What do you an by no wonder?"
"I’m talking about the current issue about those two giant clans. Aside from that, sothing bigger is about to co."
Eman narrowed his eyes. He believed Mina knew sothing he didn’t.
Now this is getting interesting.
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