Chapter 91. What Should Our Relationship Be?
"Serela, what do you think?"
Although Luo Nan had no high opinion of Serela as a person, there was one point that was beyond all doubt.
The "Benevolent Imperial Princess's" intelligence was absolutely among the sharpest in all of The Shining Myriad Trails.
Luo Nan even suspected that, when it ca to the matter of his own attempted assassination, the information Serela possessed might well be more complete than his own.
"Oh? Even Detective Rol has monts when he needs to consult ?"
Serela did not answer Luo Nan's question. Instead she struck a pose of 'I've got your number,' her violet eyes shimring with bright light. In the warm glow of the lamplight, a faint, elusive coquettishness seeped through.
It was utterly at odds with the poised, elegant, and refined manner she had always carried herself with.
'Must be my imagination.' Luo Nan gave his head a shake and tossed aside the fleeting strangeness he had just glimpsed in Serela.
"Mr. Rol, when do you plan to go permanent?"
Seeing that Luo Nan was montarily at a loss for a response, Serela pressed her advantage and continued.
"Serela, we're still……"
"Hmm, how about this—why don't you beco my exclusive Royal Detective? I think very highly of you~"
As she said this, Serela straightened up, letting a pair of generously proportioned jade peaks sway gently beneath the fabric.
The rippling contours were subtle waves—hardly worth noting.
"Ahem……"
Out of sheer male instinct, Luo Nan's eyes swept across involuntarily, then imdiately looked away.
'Just gravity and fat doing a little dance together. Nothing worth seeing.'
With that thought, Luo Nan composed himself and said, "Serela, stop joking. I'm discussing serious business with you."
"What serious business?" the Imperial Princess asked with a beaming smile.
"Naturally, your read on Pati Beckett."
Serela smiled faintly. "Luo Nan, that's an interesting question you've got there—an internal matter of the dillion Ducal Manor, asking
about it…… isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"I'm not asking Serela Austrein in my capacity as Luo Nan von dillion. I'm simply asking Serela, as Luo Nan."
"Setting aside titles to talk?" Her Imperial Highness recrossed her legs. "Then what should we be to each other?"
"What should we be?"
Hearing Serela say this, Luo Nan lowered his head and fell into thought.
What should he and Serela be—rely the obligatory social acquaintance between a noble heir and imperial royalty?
Or friends who could set aside their titles and speak freely?
Truthfully, Luo Nan had never once considered this question. His feelings toward Serela at present were still shaped primarily by mories from his previous life, and he had always operated with the intention of keeping her at as much distance as possible.
"We're……friends, I suppose?"
Before Luo Nan fell into disgrace as the "Capital's Debauched Scoundrel," the two of them had genuinely been on good terms—it was only that they had gradually drifted apart over these past years.
He couldn't even rember whether it was he who had pulled away from Serela first, or Serela who had taken the initiative to avoid him.
"Friends? Luo Nan, are you certain—you still consider
a friend?"
"?"
What did she an by that?
Luo Nan's brow furrowed slightly, his mind spinning at full speed.
'Serela doesn't have mind-reading abilities. She couldn't possibly sense my true thoughts—she couldn't know that I know her real ambitions. Unless……'
'Right—my behavior may have been too deliberate. At her hocoming banquet, having Anya act as my liaison for the case instead of handling it myself—that must have been read by her as a signal that I intended to keep distancing myself.'
'Though that is indeed what I had in mind……'
'This is a problem. If Serela becos convinced that I'm deliberately trying to avoid her……'
At that thought, Luo Nan felt a sudden chill run through him.
In a flash, he weighed the costs and benefits, then smiled. "But of course, Serela—we're friends, naturally. Does that even need to be spelled out?"
"Is that so……" Those exquisitely beautiful violet eyes studied Luo Nan from head to toe, as though intent on seeing straight through the man before her.
"Let's go with that, then, Luo Nan." Her Imperial Highness withdrew her gaze and gave an answer that left everything delightfully ambiguous.
'Hah…… that truly is the one genuine 'Benevolent Imperial Princess.' The pressure she exerts is no ordinary thing.' Luo Nan quietly exhaled in relief.
"Right, Miss Anya—" Serela turned her head toward Anya Sivans, who had been standing to the side with no opening to get a word in. "I believe you ca to collect your wages from Luo Nan, yes? How much is it?"
"Huh?"
Anya, caught off guard at having her na suddenly called, scrambled to wipe her mouth. Her gaze flicked back and forth between Luo Nan and Serela.
Although she had been busy eating to reduce her own presence this whole ti, every word of their conversation had landed in her ears without exception.
'Sothing feels off about the dynamic between these two—a little……charged……'
'No, no—why should I care about what's going on between Luo Nan and Serela? Sure, that guy saved my life once, but I've saved his twice.'
The girl still hadn't worked out whether it was she who owed Luo Nan, or Luo Nan who owed her.
But Anya never dwelled on things she couldn't figure out. If she couldn't sort it out, she'd just leave it for now.
Getting her rightful Gold Faras—that was what mattered most!
"Right, right—Luo Nan, the 10 Faras we agreed on before you hired , plus the 4 Faras for the potions I used saving you, cos to 14 Faras total. Cash only."
Anya lifted her chin and held her hand out toward Luo Nan.
The aning was clear: pay up.
"……"
'Almost forgot about this money-brained "hero."'
Luo Nan looked Anya over carefully—the righteous, indignant Anya. Compared to the Benevolent Imperial Princess, whose impression aligned perfectly with what he rembered, this "Chosen Hero" looked more and more like a total pushover to him.
'This person is truly the savior who will turn the tide at the Final Battle?'
A sowhat dubious Luo Nan fished around in his Spatial Storage Magic Device, counted out 9 gold coins, and handed them to Anya.
"Why only 9 Faras? Where are the other five?!" Anya hefted them in her palm and imdiately noticed sothing was off with the weight.
"Did you forget—I told you before, you wasted an entire vial of a 7-Faras recovery potion on
for nothing? Minus the standard 2-Faras consumption, the rest obviously cos out of your wages!"
"How can you even do that……" Anya also rembered now—back in the mine shaft, Luo Nan had ntioned sothing about docking her pay.
'She hadn't expected him to actually do it!'
The girl was completely unable to accept this!
Though it was true that, after subtracting the cost of the potions used up, earning 5 Faras in one go was already excellent pay.
But in Anya's eyes, earning less was the sa as losing!
Right now, Anya Sivans's mind was running at full throttle—countless threads converging in her head, hundreds of millions of neurons firing in a frenzied chain, bioelectric signals racing at top speed—all in service of one goal:
Finding a legitimate reason to reclaim those 5 Faras!
A mont later, she raised her head, a pair of bright golden eyes fixed on Luo Nan. "Luo Nan von dillion, did you know—back when I saved you, aside from those 4 Faras' worth of potions, I also made you drink the first recovery potion you gave ."
"Shouldn't that first potion also co out of my wages?"
"……"
Looking at the silent Luo Nan, Anya felt like she had never been this clever in her life.
"Fine, fine." Luo Nan couldn't actually prove whether or not, amid all the potion-guzzling he'd endured, there had been any high-grade recovery potion he himself had provided mixed in.
He couldn't be bothered to verify it either.
The reason he had been finding excuses to dock her wages in the first place was simply to maintain a posture of "hostility" with Anya.
But now that she'd said this much, there was no need to keep haggling over these 5 Faras.
Luo Nan understood the principle of knowing when enough was enough.
"Fine, here are the remaining 5 Faras."
Luo Nan produced five more gold coins and had barely opened his palm before a blur flashed past, and the five coins in his hand vanished instantly.
"……"
"Hehe, thank you for your patronage~ co find
again next ti you need anything!"
Anya, who had snatched up a coin and bitten down on it to verify its authenticity, squinted her eyes and flashed a grin that was the very picture of 'thanks for your business.'
'Such a good kid—how did she end up so money-obsessed?'
"Now that Miss Anya has received her paynt, we won't keep you here."
Serela's voice sounded at just the right mont.
"Mm……" Anya pocketed her coins, her gaze sweeping back and forth over the man and woman one more ti.
She kept feeling there was so inexplicable quality to the relationship between these two.
She was sowhat curious. And sowhat bothered.
"Hmph—" Hearing Luo Nan say this, Anya pouted, and the cheer on her face folded away. "Understood, understood—I won't intrude, then."
With that, the girl left the sitting room on her own—only her footsteps were not as light as they usually were.
'Really want to know what's going on between those two……'
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