Chapter 90: Chapter 90

"You dare ask me that after running away last time?!"

Theodore practically exploded, his hair shaking as his face turned red, veins bulging in a way that made Xenos wonder if he’d pop a blood vessel before the conversation even finished.

"You’ve ruined her image!"

He jabbed a finger at him.

"Even though the realm knows of her talent now, barely anyone came to propose! I doubt she would even look at you again!"

Xenos further tilted his head.

"...huh." For origınal chapters go to N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

He scratched the back of his neck while his eyes wandered around the hall.

"You called me Daemon, so I thought you watched it, but did you not watch the Colosseum Game, or are you simply too old to remember these things?"

That made Theodore freeze mid-rant, and the air went quiet.

Very slowly, he turned his head towards one of the guards.

"He’s... kuhm! Kuhm!"

Coughing out, the armored man looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in existence.

"...he’s telling the truth, my lord."

Theodore waved his hands furiously.

"Just leave this manor! You are not—"

A small voice cut through everything.

Every head in the hall turned.

At the top of the staircase stood Gaia, her dirty blond hair flowing, her soft brown eyes wide in surprise, two maids trailing behind her, trying and failing to stop her.

She clearly ran all the way here.

Theodore’s posture instantly changed, his shoulders snapping straight.

"Nothing you have to worry about, dear."

He forced a smile that barely hid his annoyance.

"Be a good girl and leave this matter to me, alright?"

Acting as if he didn’t exist, Gaia brushed past him.

Theodore’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t care, walking until she stood directly in front of Xenos, perhaps a breath away, looking up at him with confusion swirling in her eyes.

Xenos stared at her for a second.

His grin turned into something warmer.

’Let’s make this quick.’

He reached behind his back and, with a flick of his hand, materialized a small box from his inventory, an act that wasn’t seen by anyone.

Gasps echoed through the hall while guards half raised their weapons as Xenos revealed that box, thinking that it was something dangerous, only to see him slowly drop to one knee.

Theodore looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

Ignoring him completely, Xenos put one hand behind his back, while the other opened the box toward Gaia. Inside, a faint light shimmered off a silver ring, simple but engraved with tiny and beautiful Arcane along its edge.

Much like the earlier Eris, the entire hall paused.

Gaia blinked especially, her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink.

"W–What are you doing...?"

There was no such tradition in their realm.

No ’kneeling’ or ’proposing,’ they only had political arrangements and contracts.

But, of course, Xenos didn’t care one bit; he’d start the trend right here.

Though he was marrying her for land, he wanted her to feel special.

"Will you please marry me?"

A full three seconds of stunned silence followed.

Theodore’s mouth hung open like he’d forgotten how to breathe.

The maids behind Gaia squealed in muffled shock, while one of the guards even dropped his spear.

Gaia herself reacted much the same.

Her lips parted slightly, and her eyes widened.

She was uncertain whether to laugh, cry, or faint.

After that, Gaia quickly glanced around the room as if anyone here had context for what was happening.

Xenos calmly waited, not caring about the tension or the fact that Theodore looked two seconds away from throwing a chair, or rather, his entire weapon collection at him.

To Xenos, this was just another objective.

Another play in his long path.

And if everyone thought he was insane while doing it, that was fine.

So he looked up at her with that unbothered gaze that somehow made every word out of his mouth sound like fact.

Theodore finally lost it and jumped between them, his hands flailing.

His voice cracked with disbelief.

"Fine! You want to marry her—fine! But first, you’ll have to prove yourself!"

Xenos nodded at Gaia, who looked like she’d forgotten how to breathe, and slowly stood up while brushing his knees.

Theodore’s lips curled, as if he’d been waiting to say this.

"You will duel in her honor!"

Minutes later, they were outside, standing in a training arena built of stone and sand.

The courtyard was wide, open to the sky, and surrounded by guards who clearly didn’t want to miss whatever madness was about to happen.

Theodore stood on a raised balcony on the left with a smug face.

"If you lose, you will rescind your request and announce to the realm that you were rejected! Restoring her honor! If you somehow win, you will..."

He hesitated, grinding his teeth.

"Y-You know the rest."

Xenos looked up at him with his hand on his sword.

"Complete that sentence."

Theodore glared down.

His teeth nearly broke.

"If you win, you will m-marry my daughter."

Xenos smirked and waved lazily toward Gaia, who stood next to her father, still visibly lost in what reality she’d fallen into.

Xenos stretched his shoulders and looked around at the gathered guards.

"Who’ll be brave enough to stand before me?"

Before even a second could pass, one of them stepped forward.

It was surprisingly a woman, tall, dark-skinned, and sharp-honey-eyed.

She carried herself differently than the rest, more confident, lighter on her feet, and most notably, unarmed.

"I’m Priest Medea of House Gift, head guard of Lady Gaia."

She bowed slightly, fully acknowledging who was before her.

Unlike the others, her armor was minimal, only padded joints and a simple light cloth.

Having no weapon wasn’t all that unusual; many used only their bodies, but no armor as well?

That was interesting, as was the faint hum of Divinity around her.

Xenos was, as expected, impressed.

"It seems not all of you are useless."

He glanced at Theodore.

"You’ll have a Priest fight a Disciple?"

Theodore didn’t reply, which was all Xenos needed to know.

But that finally awakened Gaia as she burst out with a shaking voice:

"T-That’s unfair! X-Xenos is strong, but fighting against a—"

Xenos smiled at her, soft but confident.

"It’ll be a worthy show of my... want for you."

The crowd murmured, and even Medea blinked, a little caught off guard.

He was already an established Priest, but they didn’t need to know that.

A Disciple defeating a Priest for a woman’s hand sounded more poetic, didn’t it?

Medea chuckled while stretching her body.

"I’ll see if you hold more worth than just your tongue."

Xenos materialized his sword and took a stance.

She thought of her words and got a little embarrassed, but quickly shook it off.

And then, before anyone could blink—

Medea was already gone.