Hearing Irelia's words, Faen nodded and said, "No problem, but you still need to get plenty of rest."
"Yay!"
Seeing that Faen had no objections, Irelia laughed happily. After quickly finishing her breakfast, she began her morning lessons.
Normally, the best time for morning practice is before breakfast. However, because her rest last night had been so incredibly comfortable, Irelia moved her lessons to after the meal. Faen placed his hand on the girl's belly to help accelerate her digestion. Once everyone was ready, the group set out on the road once again.
However, compared to yesterday, Riven's spirits were noticeably low.
She followed behind Faen with a face full of gloom, her slightly dark expression giving off the impression that the entire world owed her an impossible sum of money.
This drew the attention of the others. While the members of the Kinkou Order remained somewhat restrained, Irelia was much more naive. Though her good upbringing prevented her from asking directly, she still caringly asked if she could help with anything.
To this, Riven was somewhat speechless.
While what happened last night was largely her own fault, Riven could more or less guess that even without those events, her falling into this state was only a matter of time.
Still, because it was Irelia's presence that caused her to be "eaten clean" by Faen so much earlier than expected, Riven felt more than a little resentment.
However, feeling Irelia's genuine concern and harmlessness, Riven—who was already quite lost regarding her future and harborbing strong doubts about everything in this world—gradually relaxed a bit.
She shook her head and sighed, "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired."
The current Riven was very open about most things—even though it seemed Faen had the biggest influence on her, the reality was that the thing that truly impacted her most was Noxus.
Specifically, after realizing that all her honor and the Noxus she believed in were nothing more than a joke from the start, Riven's worldview, values, and life philosophy had completely collapsed.
This was why her later acceptance of Faen's behaviors was so high... though the Joy Factor played a massive role, strictly speaking, it only acted as a catalyst and accelerator.
Riven was a true warrior. And the thing that can break a true warrior is usually the very thing that warrior takes pride in.
Because that pride had crumbled, Riven had begun to doubt everything in the world—whether it was real, or whether it was worth it.
And looking at Irelia...
Feeling the girl's concern, Riven shook her head helplessly.
She didn't understand why such kind and understanding girls always ended up by Faen's side.
Zeri, Seraphine... even the seemingly clever and sharp Caitlyn possessed noble ideals.
Yet all these girls, whether kind or passionate, gathered around Faen, willing to be toyed with until they became mindless sex slaves like sows in heat.
They even shared the ways Faen used them and discussed how to further please him...
Are all these good girls blind? Why do they have to fixate on this man, while a blood-stained executioner like me doesn't even know how to find my place? Staying with these bright and cheerful girls, Riven felt her past glories were a total farce and had no desire to stand beside them, let alone compete with them.
While Riven was wallowing in self-destructive wandering, she suddenly jolted—Dammit, if I'm despairing, I'm despairing, but what kind of bullshit is this 'feeling unworthy' of being toyed with by Faen alongside them?
She could sense her thoughts were going haywire, but Riven still didn't know what to do. She could only sigh and continue to follow morosely behind Faen.
Taking a glance at Faen, she saw him—still carrying Irelia in his arms—looking back at her with a smiling, knowing gaze.
This made Riven wrap her coat tighter in annoyance, but she soon realized something—though this guy was irresponsible, morally bankrupt, and had a chaotic, depraved private life where he turned beautiful girls into his personal breeding bags and milk containers, from another perspective, Faen was indeed a master at "counseling."
Vi, Jinx—weren't they both a bit mentally unstable?
And that Caitlyn was a committed lesbian before, but after a thorough "rod education," she became much more enlightened, working single-mindedly for the future of the Twin Cities...
So, the thing I'm currently having a headache about...
Riven pursed her lips and sighed again—she would ask him about it later.
Thinking and walking, it took a few days for the group to arrive at the western regions of the Navori province from the Placidium.
After arriving in the west, it was visible to the naked eye: the area had undergone massive changes with the arrival of the war.
As the largest island in the Ionian archipelago, Navori was located in the southwest—it was Ionia's largest and most core province, and its geographical location was vital.
Facing the Guardian's Sea, Navori had once been the frontier for contact with foreign scholars. While still influenced by Ionian tradition, it was generally open-minded and wouldn't kill someone in the name of faith just because of a disagreement.
As the heart of Ionia, its leylines extended inland, bordering several other provinces, making it the most important transportation hub connecting the east and west. With the uniqueness of the Placidium, Navori was the political, spiritual, and cultural center of the entire region.
In the beginning, Faen's group was relatively relaxed because the areas near the Placidium were still tranquil and harmonious. The people there were unaware of the war. Even when they encountered refugees, they would kindly help those displaced and laugh at news of the war, saying things like "Karma will protect us" or "The Temple will protect Ionia."
In the past, people would bless and respond with the same words. But clearly, the impact of war was far more violent and frantic than any other disruption.
In the long silences between them, those refugees could only muster a forced smile and say hoarsely, "May the Spirit of Ionia be with you."
As they drew closer to their home and saw the situation worsening, even the usually gentle and cheerful Irelia began to worry for her father, mother, and grandmother back at the estate.