Ansel chuckled and shook his head: "Seraphina, do you know where you help the most?"
This question imdiately made Seraphina nervous; she always beca extrely anxious when it ca to her role and the assistance she could provide to Ansel.
"I... I don't know," Seraphina whispered.
"It's by always standing by my side."
Ravenna, who had been silently trailing behind Ansel and Seraphina like an ornant, paused in her steps, then quickly caught up.
Ansel was... doing this on purpose.
He had deliberately chosen this topic, this manner of speaking, and Ravenna should have remained unaffected, yet she… could not.
Because even if Ansel's words were intentional, his feelings for Seraphina were genuine.
So genuine that... she had no room for doubt.
The petite scholar took a deep breath and continued to follow the young couple in silence, playing the unfortunate outsider.
"You... you shouldn't say such strange things!"
Seraphina's ears turned red with Ansel's words: "Be serious, Ansel!"
"I am serious," Ansel said, looking at Seraphina curiously, "Or do you dislike being by my side?"
"I don't! It's just, that—"
As soon as Ansel suggested she disliked being by his side, Seraphina imdiately beca flustered, her voice rising sharply, then she instinctively glanced back at Ravenna.
"Such, such words..." The girl lowered her head, speaking shyly into Ansel's ear, "Don't say them in front of others, it's embarrassing!"
Ansel laughed heartily: "Then it ans I've said it too seldom. It seems I should often speak thus in front of others."
"Ansel!"
Ravenna watched as the tall girl bit Ansel's neck in a playful fit of embarrassnt. Their frolic and intimacy were so pure and natural, a perfect match.
This was… Ansel's intention, and there was no need for her to be emotionally affected by it.
Rationality was the weapon Ravenna must not abandon, yet she found herself having to retrieve it. Whether this was one of Ansel's intentions, Ravenna did not know. All she knew was that she had to stabilize her emotions as much as possible.
Ironically, her usually infallible rationality… could not overco the bullet that had pierced her defenses and still lingered in her chest.
— Was it her who had betrayed Ansel first?
Before resolving this question, any rational thought Ravenna had would eventually reach this turning point and then beco chaotic, devoid of any rationality.
Moreover, it was breeding emotions and thoughts that should not have appeared, making everything uncontrollable.
An absurd thought even flashed through her mind — if she had not left Ansel three years ago, would she be in Seraphina's position now?
This thought made Ravenna's breathing rapid, not out of excitent, but because the absurdity scared her. She could not understand why she would have such a delusion that should not exist.
It was as if she was trampling on her previous persistence and self, turning everything she had paid into a joke.
"Venna," Ansel suddenly said, "Can you not understand why I had to bring you along?"
"... Yes, Ansel," Ravenna was forced to co back to her senses and replied softly, "I, I don't understand, Ansel."
Upon reaching the manor gate, Ansel and his party boarded the carriage. Seraphina sat down next to Ansel, glanced at Ravenna who was sitting opposite them with her eyes downcast, and pouted slightly, "What does this have to do with her... If you have sothing to do, I can understand, but... but at this ti today... can't you accommodate a bit?"
"Because, Seraphina, you need a helper," Ansel said leisurely, "for the upcoming activities."
"...A helper?"
Seraphina was stunned, "What are we going to do later?"
"Guess what I have prepared for you?"
The lively girl thought for a mont, "Ansel must have prepared, um... an activity that I absolutely can't think of!"
"What's the use of being unexpected," Ansel laughed, "If I'm preparing, of course I have to prepare your favorite thing."
"My favorite..."
Seraphina pondered — in fact, she didn't even know what she liked the most, so she couldn't figure out what Ansel had prepared.
"Is it... a fight?" The girl asked tentatively.
"Almost."
Ansel scratched Seraphina's chin and said with a smile, "I have prepared a hunt for you."
*
The carriage halted before the gates of an imnse estate.
Yet to call it rely an estate would be an understatent; a more fitting description would be a "complex of palaces".
Seraphina's face was a portrait of astonishnt as she exclaid, "Where-where is this place, Ansel? Is this where the empress lives?"
"The mistress of this house would certainly appreciate your comnt," Ansel replied with a light chuckle. "This is Evora's abode. She has a penchant for such opulent and luxurious tastes that befit her status. You'll get used to it."
Seraphina was not particularly concerned with this; her mind was urgently preoccupied with understanding what Ansel ant by "hunting."
eting the girl's eager and expectant gaze, Ansel looked towards the depths of the palace complex and said warmly, "Evora possesses the largest hunting grounds in the entire imperial capital, where she breeds nine fifth-stage magical beasts and countless third and fourth-stage monsters and ferocious beasts."
At the re ntion of this, Seraphina's eyes sparkled with excitent, and upon hearing Ansel's words, she leapt up in exhilaration, "And what of the ecosystem? Has it been fully recreated as well?"
"Of course, that's just the kind of person she is," Ansel said with profound aning.
"She desires to hold even the world itself within her grasp, to exert complete dominion over it."
"Seeking favors on one hand while being sarcastically cryptic on the other, Ansel... are you serious?"
A bright blaze of blood-fla ignited from nowhere, and from within it, a pair of slender, delicate legs stepped forth, the owner's commanding presence evident even from just her legs and the fifteen-centiter heels that struck the ground.
Elder Princess Evora erged from the blood-fla, her exaggeratedly long red dress trailing on the ground. She lifted her chin slightly, looking down at Ansel, "I don't recall ever agreeing to lend my beloved hunting grounds to your little hound for her amusent."
...After that ga, the relationship between Ansel and Evora had beco exceedingly tense.
Ravenna watched the two future deities in opposition, murmuring to herself in confusion, Why is Ansel seeking out Evora?
Only by focusing her thoughts on these matters could she ignore the chaotic turmoil within her mind.
"Yes, you never agreed, but I never intended to seek your consent," Ansel replied with a warm smile.
"Have you lost your mind?" Evora scoffed disdainfully, "What, after your dog has had her mont in the spotlight, do you think she alone, as a pact head, can now stand against in terms of power?"
In an instant, Seraphina's gaze turned sharp and dangerous, the ferocious aura emanating from her palpable even to Ravenna, and the usually rational scholar couldn't help but be montarily dazed.
Does… does she not realize what she's doing? Even as Ansel's pact head, she's facing Evora, an existence equal to Ansel. Even so, Seraphina, will you still... bare your fangs?
"Tsk, control your dog, Ansel," Evora said irritably, raising her hand, "Or do you intend for to discipline her myself?"
With the pleasant sound of steel clashing and chanical friction, the long-absent Gleipnir transford into a hand cannon, its massive black muzzle like the gaping maw of a ferocious beast, ready to crush and devour everything.
Ansel, without hesitation, raised his weapon, his smile still in place, "Feel free to try, Evora."
The woman's eyes ignited with sparks, her growing rage so palpable that it made all who were disloyal tremble.
And at that mont, a lavishly decorated carriage rolled up, coming to a stop in front of Evora's palace complex.
The carriage door opened, and a girl as pure and dignified as an iris, her elegance and tranquility apparent, gracefully descended from the carriage, lifting the hem of her pristine dress.
"This is indeed... quite the coincidence," said the girl nad Suellen, her expression one of surprise, "Lord Ansel, Elder Sister, what is this...?"
Upon seeing the young princess, Ravenna's heart skipped a beat.
Deals, agreents, dangerous consequences... these thoughts surged in her mind.
In that mont, Ravenna was certain—
This was absolutely, unequivocally no coincidence.
What trap had she stepped into now?
*
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