Aina seemed infatuated with the taste of Leonel's lips, forgetting about everything around her. It had only been weeks since the two last saw each other, but it felt like a lifetime. She had already sworn once that she would never leave Leonel's side, but circumstances had forcefully ripped them apart this time and there was nothing they could do about it.
It wasn't until she thought about slipping her tongue into his mouth did she realize that she was going overboard and suddenly remembered that they were likely being watched by thousands of people.
She pulled back someone shyly, but there was a strong arm around her waist she couldn't help but be shocked by. Her base physical strength when she didn't rely on Blood Force had always been beyond Leonel's. But just now, not only had he blocked her palm easily, but she even felt like she wouldn't be able to push her way out of his embrace unless he let her or she used much more effort than she was willing to.
It seemed that Leonel had undergone astonishing changes, maybe more than even herself.
"What, are you suddenly shy now? I've already been sexually assaulted, someone needs to take responsibility."
Aina rolled her eyes, suddenly forgetting about her embarrassment entirely. When she was speaking with Leonel, the eyes and opinions of everyone else didn't seem to matter in the slightest.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"What is that? Were you suffering a loss?"
"Of course not, I just think I feel like I'm getting addicted. How about another taste?"
Leonel's attempt, though, was stopped with a small palm across his lips and chin.
"Another taste? Okay, Leonel Oliidark," the emphasis of the last name made Leonel shudder, suddenly feeling a bad premonition coming along, "why don't you tell me how it is that you've suddenly changed your last name? It can't be that you married into another family while I was absent, right? Why don't you tell me about your lovely wife?"
Leonel coughed. Why was this woman so sharp? He definitely hadn't married into the Oliidark family, but it was pretty close to that.
"Listen, listen… An old hag forced my hand! My chastity is still well protected, safe and sound for my lovely future wife."
"Who wants your chastity and who's your future wife exactly? You haven't even ticked off half the things on my list!"
The two seemed to have forgotten entirely about the world around them. Even while it looked like they were having a couple's spat, the fact Aina still had two palms on Leonel's chest, and Leonel himself hadn't let go of her waist, didn't make it seem very convincing at all.
Anyone with half a brain could see that they were clearly flirting. Aina's "anger" and Leonel's "fear" didn't even manage to reach their eyes which were filled with nothing more than love and affection.
Those that didn't know Leonel and Aina could only stand in stunned jealousy of the former. Aina had only been here for maybe a day, but her feats had rocked their understanding of what it meant to be a genius while somehow also managing to be the one of the most gorgeous women they had ever laid their eyes on.
Until now, she might as well have been a block of ice. But she had gone from that, to head over heels in love in the blink of an eye. It was as though she wasn't the same person at all, her golden eyes drowning in affection.
Those that did know Aina, though, like Uvile and Silyn, had no words.
Aina was someone who had gotten personal tutelage from their Pavilion Head. She was someone who might have been sent to the Human Class Sector if it wasn't both because of her low level and the Pavilion Head hoping to guarantee a victory across three Sectors at once.
In the time they had known her, she was polite and friendly, and they had thought her to be quite a nice and gentle person. But when they came across men, for some reason or another, she seemed to go the extra mile to draw a cold line. They had speculated that she had some trauma related to this matter in the past, but they hadn't known her well enough to ask.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAnd yet, she had suddenly flipped a switch, not for just any man, but the very same man who had just defeated them. They didn't even know how to feel or react to such a situation.
But the moment they got over this, they felt greatly worried for Aina.
Aina was the first woman to fall in love from the Endless Twilight Pavilion, and she definitely wouldn't be the last. But every single one of them had or would have the same outcome.
The oath sworn to enter the Pavilion couldn't be broken easily, and it was especially difficult when you have the eye of the Pavilion Head. Women who betrayed the Heads trust in that fashion had the absolute worst outcomes, regardless of how great their talent had been.
Their Pavilion Head was an elegant and refined woman, almost to an extreme. But behind her calm demeanor was a ruthless attitude, one that even many of the Great Families had no choice but to take seriously.
…
In the clouds above, the expression of Pavilion Head Ophelia was just the same. She didn't seem to have shifted from her baseline at all, and yet somehow the air seemed several levels more frigid, so much so that several seats in the near vicinity of her shattered, sending elders well into the Seventh and even Eighth Stars sprawling to the ground as though they were toddlers rather than experts.
At that moment, though, Avras appeared by Ophelia's side and took a polite seat.
"Hello, Senior. This junior has had great respect for you for a very long time now. I hope to get some advice from you about…"
Avras could only choose this method to force Ophelia to stay put. If this woman went on a rampage now, not only would the event be ruined, but they would lose a youth who was both a Spear Sovereign and gained a Twelve-Pointed Star Tablet.