"Hello…" The woman couldn't take it any longer and approached cautiously.
Ashen and Alice turned in her direction simultaneously, making her feel even more anxious, but she soldiered on. "I'm Delia… nice to meet you…"
Ashen, even while still holding Alice close, with her wrapping her legs around him, answered naturally, as if nothing was wrong. "The pleasure is mine. You can call me Ashen. Ashen Hart, Miss Delia."
He smiled smoothly, and she mirrored it with a nervous smile of her own. "Could you… let go of the lady, please…?"
Ashen's smile stayed, making Delia think he'd agree, but alas, "No can do, Miss Delia. I'm in great need of your lady right now, so I'll be borrowing her for a while."
His fingers sank into her pantyhose, as if to affirm that he wasn't letting go.
Delia found the corner of her mouth twitching on its own. 'How can you reject someone while still smiling so refreshingly?! I really thought this was going to be easy for a second here!'
Outwardly, she only showed a pitiful look. "But…"
"Delia, you can leave first. I'll catch up soon. Don't worry about me." Alice's serene voice finally echoed, dispelling the tension and giving Delia a reason to back off.
"As you say, my Lady. Have a nice time~" It was as if she'd been waiting for those very words. The pitiful look did a one-eighty, and she even threw a wink their way before turning around and leaving, just like that.
Ashen blinked once as he watched Delia's retreating back as she dragged the unconscious man with her, before turning back to Alice and finally putting her down. "You have some… interesting security personnel."
Alice shrugged. "They're only for when I'm in Ashbastion, where it's relatively safer than the wilderness. I've got a more… professional group for that."
"Right. Do you know a place where we can be uninterrupted and not eavesdropped on? I'd like to catch up and… ask a lot of things…" His voice lowered by the end.
Alice nodded. "Follow me."
Soon, they were walking side by side, with silence hanging between them. Not because they suddenly had nothing to say, but because they had so much to say that they didn't know where to start.
Eventually, their walk led them to a secluded forest area, with shaded trees scattered throughout.
They stopped under an ancient trunk and faced each other, neither knowing how to begin.
But it didn't take long for Ashen to find the most pressing question he wanted to ask.
""Why are you here?""
But it seemed that Alice wanted to ask the same question just as badly, making their voices overlap perfectly.
Alice's gaze turned piercing as she kept eye contact.
In front of strangers, she'd always let him do as he liked, unconditionally following his lead. But when in private? Not so much.
Not after he became that sloth who couldn't care less.
'That seems to be history now, though…' Alice silently thought as she broke eye contact to gaze at the now-tight muscles that no laziness could ever build.
Then she focused on the countless scars that told a story of struggle no sloth would overcome.
Not to mention the way he'd manhandled the guard earlier, all while she hung onto him.
After making sure her gaze drank him whole, leaving nothing unseen, she nodded, satisfied, and shifted back into his golden orbs. "Well?"
Ashen had no problem going first, so he just shrugged. "Well, there isn't any epic tale to narrate. The day after our last argument, I met someone… and she tricked me into signing a contract that bound me to this place for the next two decades… but knowing how they operate… I doubt it's anything less than for life…"
Alice's expression turned frosty. "Who was it?"
But Ashen shook his head. "It was my fault for being duped, and what's done is done now."
Alice countered, her voice still icy. "You weren't in the right state of mind then, I'm sure of it. That person took advantage of that to deceive you."
Ashen's voice turned bitter. "It's still my fault for not making myself be in the right state of mind when the situation clearly demanded it."
He added in a non-arguable tone, not wanting to talk about that particular event anymore. "Anyway, I've got that person handled now, but what about you? How did you get here?"
Ashen was as curious as he was angry about her presence here.
But he let the anger simmer and kept the calm facade. As he'd said, what's done is done.
Still, he doubted she'd gotten tricked the same way he did. She was too smart for that, and she was the farthest thing from the lowlifes Seravelle usually targeted for recruitment.
"…I came here looking for something." Alice hesitated, finally settling on a vague answer.
"…Looking for something? And what could be so important that you'd walk into a place that'll kill you before you even notice?" Ashen asked, his frustration barely leashed.
"…It's something magical… something I could never find in Esperra."
Ashen believed her. With the money she'd made from her businesses, there wasn't much she couldn't buy… at least, nothing with a price tag.
But belief didn't mean agreement.
"…Enough about me," she said quickly. "Tell me—how did you survive the tutorial phase? Did you go back to Esperra to see your parents? I went back several times and couldn't find you. I-I thought something happened…"
Her voice trembled near the end, eyes glistening with worry.
Ashen exhaled softly. For now, his questions could wait; she needed reassurance more than answers.
"…I went back once and met the family. They're still pretty mad at me… but sooner or later, I believe we'll go back to the old days…" Ashen smiled. "Their love for you is still going strong, though…"
Alice nodded once, then exhaled in relief. "…And the tutorial?"
Ashen winced, remembering all the close calls, then winced some more as he remembered how he and Seraphine murdered that guy, Chris, and set him and the whole brothel on fire.
"…There were some ups and downs…" He managed to say after spending the first five seconds choosing his words.
"…And?"
"…I wouldn't say that it was purely bad. At least, that experience allowed me to find the will to finally man up and do what needs to be done." Ashen smiled genuinely.
"I can see that. And I'm happy for you." Alice mirrored his smile, making the stoic expression melt into something radiant.
As they basked in the glow of the shared moment, Ashen suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, your best friend, Seraphine, was also with me!"
"What?!"
Alice took two steps and grabbed his shoulders, violently shaking him. "Say that again!"
"Ah, like I said, she was with me there. Some minx tricked her—you know how clumsy she can be sometimes." Ashen spoke between shakes. "Relax, she's fine! I took care of her! I know how much you love that woman, after all!"
"…It's not about that…" Alice's expression sank further as she heard how he "took care" of her best friend.
She then shifted her hands from his broad shoulders to his cheekbones. "What Sin did she pick?"
"Uh…" Ashen's eyes roamed around, having an inkling of where this was going, but he still answered. "Lust."
"I knew it…" Alice muttered, before giving him a flat stare. "And let me guess, you were the one to help her embody her Lust…?"
Ashen knew that the moment of truth had finally come, but chickening out wasn't on the menu, so he held his breath and nodded. "Yes."
Alice froze at his admission, then she let go and took two steps back.
Her expression soon turned resentful. "I always felt that your meeting with her would end up wrong, somehow. Guess I was right."
Then she lifted her head and glared. "Well, since we've already broken up, you can do as you like, Ashen. Who am I to stop you, right?"
With that, she turned and took a step. Her crystal heels gleamed white, and the moment her foot touched the ground, she didn't move forward. She simply vanished.
"…"
Now standing alone under the trees, Ashen could only look helplessly at the now-empty spot. "What a mess…"