YM778.TV Chapter 75: Confronting Xenovia.
He had analyzed her movement patterns many times. He knew that at this moment, "Not today," he said, jumping before she could use the swords to propel herself forward. "Enough with the pursuit," he said, summoning more than twenty ice swords and throwing them toward Xenovia.
She sighed heavily once, "Shadow Cut," she whispered, and Strax barely noticed it. Within milliseconds, his entire body was hit by a gust of wind resulting from the small movement of Xenovia\'s sword. All the ice swords were cut and destroyed before he even saw where the impact came from. When he thought he could defend himself, Xenovia vanished from his sight.
His poorly trained Dragon Eyes faltered. They hadn\'t detected the trace of Xenovia\'s change; her mana trail didn\'t exist!
He looked around frantically, as if she had disappeared. "Xenovia, I asked you to stop, so you will stop and listen to me. Enough of dodging the issue!" he said, his demeanor changing. This was really starting to anger him. Xenovia always used her strength to evade the topic or didn\'t respond directly when confronted.
"You\'re a fool. They tried to kill you, and you want me to stop going after the people who, again, tried to kill you?" she said, appearing in front of him like a ghost, with her sword passing over his shoulder and pointing at his neck. "You let your guard down," she said, and Strax retorted, "And are you an enemy for me to need to stay alert? We\'re training.
Stop being an emotionless shell," he said, his eyes glowing red, something Xenovia had never seen from this man. She took a small step back in surprise, but her body was caught. "You let your guard down," he said while advancing, holding her waist and wrist down. They stood face to face, very close.
She could feel his breath, but he didn\'t retreat. "What is this?" she murmured, quickly losing herself in his touch. She became embarrassed, and for a second, her arms pushed him back, but Strax had already grabbed her back and pulled her close to his body.
"Are you training me because you want me to save you from the Prince?" She trembled at hearing this, and Strax just smiled. "You may want many things, but you never go after them. I know you well enough for that. Now you, a cold woman, are training someone you despised many times and don\'t even explain why," he murmured. Xenovia took a step back but was stopped.
"I\'m tired of you," he said, hugging her tightly. "What\'s worrying you so much? I already know a lot," he murmured.
"L-let me go!" she roared, her face slightly flushing at feeling the man\'s body against hers. This was really too much for her... "Let me go!" she roared again, but Strax just laughed. "If you really wanted me to let you go, you would have freed yourself already. You are many times stronger than I am," he said in a mischievous tone while continuing to squeeze her.
He could feel her completely, her breasts flattened against his chest, and he could sense how soft they might be.
"I don\'t want to hurt you," she murmured very softly. "The almighty Black Empress can\'t control her strength to break free from a weak man like me?" he laughed confidently. The mocking tone made Xenovia blush even more in embarrassment. She was being cornered. "I\'ll say it again," Strax said seriously, staring into Xenovia\'s purple eyes. "Stop going after the Shadow Guild.
That\'s an order," he said, and Xenovia looked deeply into his eyes. "Why?" she insisted.
"Because I made the Guild Master my subordinate," Strax said, and Xenovia froze for a moment... "What do you mean?" she questioned. She no longer cared about his embrace; she just focused on what was making her curious. "You scared her so much that she came directly to me," Strax said with a smile.
"Well, I had already threatened her subordinate before, and I was already scheduled to meet with her, but your pursuit helped a lot. She was trembling with fear." Strax smiled in a rather bold way. "It seems that the name Xenovia Vorah is quite powerful. As long as I keep you away from her, I have her all to myself," Strax smiled, quite boldly.
"Thanks to you, my dear scary sister, I now have one of the best informants in the entire kingdom, as well as a Master Assassin right by my side," Strax said.
"And you think she\'ll follow everything you say? The world doesn\'t work like that, little brother," Xenovia said. "Well, naturally the world wouldn\'t work that way, but I have a big advantage," Strax said, moving closer to her ear. "You."
Xenovia\'s body trembled completely; after all, she had certain feelings for this man, and he was provoking her. Any woman would feel this way in front of someone she liked, but Xenovia had an image to uphold and tried to show nothing more than the essentials. She hardened her expression and resumed talking to him with an angry look.
"You\'re using me to scare her," she murmured, as if she herself weren\'t doing the same thing.
"And you\'re using me to gain freedom from a political marriage. You want to use me for something, so it\'s only fair, isn\'t it?" Strax said. He had already come with the intention of confronting her after what Cristine had informed him. He knew it might not be the case, but still, it was the only solution he had. He was already tired of training without clear motives.
He wanted to be strong, yes, that was true, but he also liked knowing what was happening to him. Why this training? Why was she so worried?
"You only care about your status and the family\'s. You\'re protecting me to get what you want. Have you even given me an explanation? I had to figure this out all on my own," Strax said. He had some ideas in his head but decided to follow this path, showing more of himself than he should to try to make this irrational woman tell the truth. "I\'m just a means for you to get what you want, Xenovia.
You don\'t really care. You only didn\'t choose one of the other brothers because they wouldn\'t do what you wanted, unlike me, who always ran after you," he said.
Xenovia\'s face darkened as she looked down. It seemed that something...
"Is that what you think of me?" she said, coldly, much colder than usual, but... when she looked at him. "Idiot!" she said, pushing him back. He saw... her eyes welling up, ready to cry.
An expression that... he had never seen in his whole life.
He ended up losing his balance and falling to the ground from the force with which she had pushed him back, but was it over? Of course not.
"Do you really think that? Or are you testing me?" she asked, but she never let him answer, cutting him off completely. "Do you really think I\'m just trying to run away from a marriage?" Xenovia shouted, her body burning with black flames. "You idiot!
I brought you here because if I were to marry someone, it would be you!" she shouted so loudly that it echoed through the whole room, making Strax freeze...
"W-What!" he shouted, startled. He had some idea about a few things, but...
"Yes! I brought you because I want to marry you! Not to run away from a marriage! But if you aren\'t strong enough, do you think anyone would accept the \'future of the Vorah family,\' as they call me, in the hands of someone they call the \'Family\'s Failure\'? Of course not!" she shouted, devastating Strax for a second. What?
She wanted to marry him!
"You~" Strax tried to speak, but was interrupted again. "Yes! I like you so much that I want to marry you! But I can\'t show that! It\'s embarrassing! Very embarrassing!" she shouted.
She looked like a... little girl.
"Is she... confessing like this?" Strax wondered. He was already seeing more than twenty notifications on his screen ahead, while still on the ground, with Xenovia looking at him, almost crying.
"Do you understand now?! I\'m not using you to escape. I want more than anything for this family to be erased from the continent. Since they sent you away, I feel alone! I only had you; only you talked to me, tried to stay by my side. Even though you were weak, you endured Xyn\'s strength when she awakened in front of me!
You cared about me, unlike all these people! Of course I\'d fall in love with you, you idiot!" she shouted again. Her cries of embarrassment turned into anger. She was really furious, and Strax was... at a loss for what to do.