“You want to develop in the Royal Capital? Of course you can.”
Eileen had clearly misunderstood.
The Royal Capital was the financial heart of the Navora Principality, overflowing with opportunities. Countless people had seized them and achieved financial freedom—Eileen included.
This game was extremely free. Besides completing commissions, one could also earn money as a merchant or by taking a regular job to build wealth.
Her own method, however, had been rather special.
The first time she visited the Royal Capital, she had discovered a money-farming bug. One all-night session later, she had achieved financial freedom on the spot…
She wondered if that same bug still worked in the real world.
“No, Miss Eileen, that’s not what I meant…”
Atia shook her head repeatedly. “I… I just don’t want to stay here anymore. This place… isn’t my home.”
Eileen nodded along with the air of someone who understood everything and patted Atia’s shoulder. “I get it, I get it. Young people wanting to go out and make something of themselves is only natural. Crisel is just a small city after all—hardly the kind of place that can hold an eagle that dreams of soaring.”
“No, Miss Eileen, I just want to…”
Atia couldn’t finish the sentence.
She and Eileen had only known each other for a little over a week. The number of times they had actually met could be counted on one hand.
To Eileen, she was probably nothing more than a brief passerby in her long life.
Atia had already decided that Eileen was her home. But what about Eileen? How did she see her?
Eileen had said she liked her yesterday, but thinking back on it now, it was probably just an excuse to dodge the debt.
She hadn’t accepted such a direct confession. She only wanted to start as friends…
Were they friends now?
Or…
Atia’s thoughts were a complete mess.
But one thing remained crystal clear in her heart.
She didn’t want to leave Eileen.
At least not anytime soon.
“Want to go with me?”
Eileen looked puzzled.
“I want to go with you.”
After a moment of hesitation, Atia finally voiced her true feelings.
As for what kind of feelings she actually held toward Eileen, and how Eileen felt about her in return…
The road from Crisel to the Royal Capital was long. There would be plenty of time to figure it out.
“Yo, Eileen, you two are still eating?”
The moment Atia finished speaking, the door to the private room was pushed open, instantly shattering her mood.
Kate strode in without a care in the world and plopped down right beside Eileen.
“I was thinking of heading into the city to find a decent blacksmith to sharpen my spear. Looks like I don’t need to anymore.”
“Why?”
Eileen asked.
Kate’s knight spear wasn’t some high-tier weapon. It was just the blue-quality weapon Eileen had given her as a gift after raising her affection to a certain level during her route.
In the game, weapon quality went from white to green to blue to purple to orange. Blue-quality weapons sat in that awkward middle ground and were usually used as transitional gear.
Eileen was a mage and had no use for a close-combat weapon like a spear, so she had simply given it to Kate.
Kate had cherished it ever since. Even after five years and reaching S-rank, she still hadn’t replaced it. That alone showed how much she valued it.
“The mage from the Duke’s Private Knight Order has arrived.”
Kate explained, “She can use mid-tier teleportation magic, but she’s never been to Crisel before, so she had to come all the way from the Royal Capital. I thought it would take her another two days, but you can pack up and head back with me now.”
Atia: “???”
They weren’t even going to give her a moment to think?
“Kate, someone in the hall is asking for you…”
Just then, the boss walked in as well.
Speak of the devil.
“Let them wait outside for now. We still have things to discuss.”
Kate wasn’t in any particular hurry.
A colleague couldn’t possibly be more important than a lover she hadn’t seen in five years. If this nosy colleague didn’t mind their own business, she’d send them flying.
The boss looked troubled.
“Kate, the person is a man, and he’s holding flowers. It seems like he’s here to confess to you…”
At those words, Kate’s face immediately fell.
“Tell him to scram. The farther the better!”
She quickly turned to Eileen and explained, “Eileen, don’t misunderstand. I really don’t know him well. That guy’s a total psycho—he’s been chasing me relentlessly…”
“Alright, alright, I know.”
Eileen sighed. “It’s Wesley again, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that psycho.”
Kate nodded vigorously.
“Wesley… Miss Kate, are you talking about Lord Wesley Carlyle?”
Atia asked, a hint of surprise on her face.
“You know him?”
Kate looked surprised.
“That’s the son of Duke Aaron Carlyle, the so-called ‘Blood Duke.’ Even little kids on the street know who he is.”
Atia replied, “Back then, Duke Carlyle used brutal methods to suppress the nobles of the Navora Principality. His story is still talked about with great relish by many people. His second son, Lord Wesley, inherited the Duke’s decisiveness and cunning, carrying himself with the air of a formidable figure…”
“Honestly?”
Kate gave Atia a speechless look. “He’s been chasing me for five whole years. Do you think I wouldn’t know what he’s really like? The tricks he uses don’t even scratch the surface of what his father can do. How could his reputation possibly be high enough that even an E-rank adventurer like you would know about him?”
Atia was momentarily speechless.
Wesley’s high profile among the common folk was partly because he had inherited a fraction of his father’s methods, but mostly because…
“Um… Miss Kate, I’ll be honest, but please don’t get mad, okay?”
“Do I look like someone that petty?”
“Actually… a lot of people think that Lord Wesley matches you perfectly in both status and position—a natural pair. And since he’s been pursuing you so persistently for over five years, many have been moved by his dedication. There are even quite a few novels written about it…”
In short, a whole wave of absurd pulp literature had sprung up around the two of them, shipping them together in every conceivable way.
There was no limit to how over-the-top it could get.
As a result, Wesley’s popularity among the common people had been inflated to ridiculous heights—far surpassing even his father, the “Blood Duke” himself.
“These shameless authors…”
Kate was so angry her whole body trembled.
If she weren’t so busy with work, she would have rounded up every last one of these shameless writers and locked them in a dark room.
They liked writing so much? Fine—make them write thirty thousand words a day. If they couldn’t finish, no food, no sleep.
“Kate, what about now…”
The boss was also at a loss.
He had originally planned to kick the man out, but fortunately he had been smart enough to come notify Kate first.
If he had just thrown the “Blood Duke’s” son out the door like that, his corpse might very well turn up in the moat tomorrow…
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