Despite their griping and whining, Hector and the Knights were able to triumph over the horde of nightmare spawns before their stamina and magic power ran out. Reivan had naturally expected such a result, even though he was a bit rough on the delivery.

As for their resident prodigy, Helen took out the three human-faced nightmare spawns as well. She didn't use [Overwhelm] to give herself a bit more of a challenge, yet, the monsters could do her no harm no matter what they did. Unstoppable was the only way to describe her growth at this point, and her evolution only seemed to accelerate after she started joining Reivan on his little trips to the Outlands.

It was just when he thought he was finally closing the gap between them too.

'Well, it's whatever.'

Understandably so, he wasn't bothered by it. Helen was his friend and—even though he still found it a bit hard to accept—his future queen, so her growth was nothing but a cause for celebration.

"Make sure to get plenty of rest, guy!" Reivan commended them the men and women lined up before him. They had all just come back to the safety of Aizen through the portal and were all visibly tired. "We're diving back in tomorrow!"

The knights—even the young Hector—mustered up what strength they had left to offer him a crisp salute and a solid "Yes, Your Highness!" even as they resisted the urge to fall over.

Once that was done, they all dispersed, going back to their barracks or maybe even their homes within the capital if they had them. As for Hector, he gave Reivan and Helen a friendly wave while slumping away.

'Where's that guy going...?'

Reivan watched his best guy friend leave, probably to go rest at home, with a puzzled expression. He was very sure that Hector and Mimi had an appointment today.

Was it a date? He didn't know.

What Reivan did know, was that if Hector forgot, he would likely be in a world of trouble. Mimi had shown tremendous growth in her own right after all, and was much stronger than Hector now—much taller too, on account of being a warbeast.

'I should remind him.'

The thought of letting his friend forget was amusing but the man's life may have been on the line this time, so he sent the guy a message through their communication crystals and left it at that.

Reivan had his own girl problems.

"Hey." Helen nudged his arm with her sword's hilt. Maybe she would cut him down if his answer didn't please her. "Are we going?"

"Of course, haha..."

'Oof. Good thing this place was kinda cheap... Well, cheaper than the places in Starwater, at least.'

As the two of them strode through Lightharbor City's streets to walk off their meal, Reivan thought about how much lighter his wallet had become.

Many things had changed for Reivan, Helen, and the relationship between them. However, one thing that was everlasting was Helen's gluttony. The girl's stomach was a black hole. If she wasn't such a treasure to mankind while alive, maybe it would have been great to cut her stomach open so humans could discover the secrets of the abyss.

"That was great, huh?" Helen gave her belly a few pats as her left hand firmly gripped his. "We should come back sometime."

"True." Reivan shrugged as he strode through the streets, disguised as usual. "But next time, how about we split the bill...?"

Helen raised a brow and looked at him for a few moments before giggling. Still, she didn't agree.

'So it's pretty much decided that I pay every time, huh? Well, not that I mind.'

Reivan was crazy rich, after all.

And that was without the allowance he got from his father. It was all thanks to the Serpent's Haven and all of its other affiliate companies that were starting to take a bit out of Aizen's market with his help.

This, naturally, was because Elsamina was such a hard worker—in all sorts of ways.

When he remembered the things they did in a fancy restaurant's comfort room the other day, Reivan's nose couldn't help but flare.

"Hey." Helen glared at him while pinching his arm. With her strength, it was enough to make him yelp despite his literally thick skin. "You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"

"Uhm..." Reivan sheepishly smiled. "Of course, not."

You have used [Essence of Falsehood]

"Oh." Helen's brows furrowed for a moment before she caressed the part she'd pinched. "Sorry."

"Ahaha... You don't have to be so down about it. Can I ask what made you think so, though?"

"Just a feeling."

'That's nuts. Isn't your intuition a bit too sharp!?'

Reivan himself had the [Intuition] extra skill and it had proven quite useful in tough situations. Numerous other squires and those who managed to get knighted had it too, so it was quite common for Aizen's combatants to have it.

But he didn't expect Helen's [Paranormal Intuition] to be so sharp it even told her things like that.

'Only she and Mother have grown their intuition to that level... Oh, and probably the Sword Star too, though I can't check his status.'

Helen only had it as [Keen Insight] one day, then after dinner, it was already [Paranormal Intuition] for some reason. It truly reminded him that Helen was such a fraudulent existence that she grew stronger for every second she existed.

It was almost enough to make him envious at this point.

Not that he particularly hated working hard. It felt rewarding after all.

"Hey..." Helen shook his hand as they arrived at a pier, the sea breeze almost blowing her hat away. "Is she really that great? That... That woman with the red hair..."

"Hm? I think she's great, at least."

"Better than me?"

Reivan looked down at the young woman staring at him. Her face wasn't as vacant as when they were both kids. She was obviously making an effort to be more expressive. And all that effort was enough to let him know that this question wasn't a joke.

It was a question she'd been thinking about for a long time.

'Should I answer...?'

Even if he wanted to, he didn't know how to answer her question. There probably wasn't a totally correct answer either. What about his feelings, then? Well, if he was being honest, he didn't find the two comparable.

Because he didn't really look at the two of them the same way.

'Other people are staring...'

It was nothing compared to the capital, but Lightharbor City was still among Aizen's most populated areas. The pier was also a popular spot for couples or families to kill time. So when a man and a young woman stopped in the middle all of a sudden, they would naturally attract some attention—and both of them were quite attractive to boot.

'I wonder what people think when they see us walking hand in hand like this...?'

Reivan was now quite tall while Helen was actually short for girls her age. Her thin and demure figure hid tremendous power due to qi and all sorts of supernatural reasons, but visually, she looked like a child.

He was sure others viewed it as a spoiled little sister and her big brother going to the pier for some afternoon fun.

And that was exactly how Reivan viewed Helen in his heart too.

'She reminds me a bit too much of Kyouka like this...'

Was it Helen's dark hair? Or maybe how she liked to style her locks in a ponytail? Maybe it was just how their current physiques reminded him so dearly of how he would hold his little sister's hand when he snuck her out. Their personalities were completely different, but Helen was too young for him to even consider her romantically. Heck, he'd watched her grow up from a cute little child to the budding young beauty she currently was.

Reivan didn't know what made her think of him in such a way nor did he know when it happened, but he found it hard to live up to her expectations.

And she probably felt that too.

Still, maybe it was because he was a bit of a coward. He couldn't just hurt his best friend, could he? Reivan couldn't just tell her that it was just impossible between them and he would probably never love her romantically.

If he had that much courage, he would have killed himself in that hospital room at some point.

But he didn't.

So instead of answering her question, Reivan tried something he'd learned from some drunk knights.

"Why do you wanna know?"

It was to ask a question instead of answering. They had said that women liked asking trick questions, and the best way to respond was to give trick answers or to find a way not to answer at all.

Of course, the words of drunk men may not have been the best source of information.

Helen's grip tightened ever so slightly—really, he might have missed it if he wasn't so focused on her—as she took a deep breath. "I just wanted to know."

"I see..." Reivan, again, didn't know what to say. So he just tried to keep the conversation going by asking more questions. "And why do you think you wanted to know?"

"Because I like you. A lot."

A sudden confession.

Reivan didn't know how to deal with sudden confessions either.

'There's no way out.'

With a sigh, Reivan looked at the part of her status that he'd tried to avoid looking at since he saw it a year ago.

~^+— Unit's Statistics —+^~ Name: Helen Mercer

Species: Human

Realm: Mortal

Age: 15

Sex: Female

Special Abilities [Peerless Perfection]

[Overwhelm] Might: 724 Extra Skills Elemental Affinities: [Lightning] [Wind] [Limit Break] [Qi: Unleashed] [Paranormal Intuition] Favor: (Trust / Affection) 74 / 100 Threat Level: N/A (This unit's favor is too high)

Affection.

It said that the dominating emotion Helen felt for him was affection. Surprisingly, when the dominant emotion someone felt for him changed, the numerical value of their favor also shifted to reflect it. Or maybe an average was taken? Reivan didn't know anymore.

What he did know was that it wasn't right to ignore it. Regardless of how he loathed hurting someone important to him, he had to at least set the record straight.

"Helen..." Reivan bit his lip in hesitation before deciding to take the plunge. "I don't like you in that way."

Helen's eyes trembled and her lips tightened, but she continued staring right into his eyes.

His heart felt like it was getting grasped by a clawed hand, but Reivan continued. "Of course, I like you as a friend. Same with Hector. You two are precious to me. Really, if you got lost deep in the Outlands, I would dive in there to go look for you no matter what anyone says. But..."

"But you don't like me..."

"Yes. In that way. In the same way that I like... her."

A few moments passed as silence hung in the air between them. Their gazes were locked with each other and Reivan tried not to look away. As for their engagement, if Helen ultimately wanted to break it off, naturally, he would defend her desire.

'But if she still wants to marry me for some reason, I...'

"Is it because of my breasts?"

"...Huh?" The shocking question stunned him so much that he was a bit late in responding. "What are you talking about...?"

"Breasts..." Helen looked genuinely forlorn as she hung her head. "I heard you like them big."

The statement was so... out there that he unwittingly stared down.

She had them.

Breasts.

'I mean, all girls have them at some point...'

Reivan had never really looked all that carefully, but Helen had a normal bust for her height.

'Wait, why am I evaluating that area...?'

He couldn't deny that he certainly preferred women with sizeable mounds, but it wasn't like it was a rule or something. Elsamina certainly had them, and he had to admit that he couldn't take his eyes or hands off them when the opportunity presented itself, but he liked Elsamina for more than her tits.

So, to defend his honor, Reivna grabbed the young prodigy's shoulders and said as seriously as possible. "That's not the reason. You're wrong."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really. It's not about that at all!"

Helen seemed to accept his words with a nod—and a subtle sigh of relief. "Then why?"

"Why..."

"Why can't it be me instead?" she asked with a hopeful expression. "If you tell me what's wrong, I can fix it. I'm... really good at learning. If I try hard enough, I can fix whatever's wrong."

Reivan shook her lightly. "Hey, hey. Nothing's wrong with you."

"You're not making any sense..."

"Uhm... I'm the problem, alright?" Reivan let go of her surprisingly hard shoulders and took a deep breath. "I just don't look at you that way, okay? You're like... a little sister or something?"

"A little sister?" Helen tilted her head. "Like Jiji?"

"Yes."

"I see... Okay. I get it."

"Oh yeah? I'm glad you understand, then!" Reivan smiled despite himself. He didn't dare to see how much his favor had dropped at this point, but at least, he wouldn't be leading her on anymore.

Suddenly though, Helen grabbed the front of his shirt. "So I just have to make you stop looking at me like a little sister, right?"

Reivan frowned as his intuition fired warning signs at him, giving him a vague feeling of what was going to happen next.

Despite this, he hesitated.

Should he really dodge? Wouldn't it hurt her more if he resisted? Or maybe letting it happen would actually be the better option here.

The fraction of a second he wasted in hesitation was more than enough time for the choice to be made for him.

"Woah!"

Reivan felt a great tug as his upper body bent forward and Helen's face grew closer and closer. Her eyes were closed and he couldn't help but notice how long her eyelashes were, how smooth and pearly white her skin was, or how pink and soft her lips looked.

But just before they could get closer, their foreheads got in the way.

"ACK!"

"OW!"

Reivan was forced to take a couple of steps back while holding his poor forehead while Helen crouched on the ground and rubbed hers. With a bit of exasperation and something else, Reivan frowned as he berated her.

"What the heck are you doing!?"

Helen spoke through the pain. "Big sis said this was what she did with her husband when they were young..."

'Damnit! It was her again!'

"You're an idiot..." Reivan took out a pill and tossed it to her. She had gotten pulled fairly hard so the impact actually hurt quite a bit. His body was slightly more durable than Helen's though, so she must have felt even worse.

"Uuuuu..." Helen groaned but caught the pill without trouble and swallowed it before standing. She rubbed her cute little nose while seemingly ruminating on something. "I see. I'm supposed to tilt my head, huh?"

"Duh. You have to be careful about the noses too, so—"

"Okay. Now I know."

There was a flash and Helen was right in front of him, and soon her lips pecked his own. Really, it was just a light peck that lasted a fraction of a second. But he felt it—and she felt it too.

Reivan held his mouth in shock. "You little!"

"Van."

"What!"

Helen poked him in the stomach, a rare mischievous smile on her face.

"I'm going to make you like me. You'll like me so much, you won't ever look at anyone else but me."