223 Returning to the Capital (1)

Like that, the selection of the six practitioners representing the Great Savannah in the competition for the mines ended.

The rabbitkin Rana, the demon Liu Ying, the deerkin Greta, the batkin Rhone, the human Bloed, and the cougarkin Atai.

Six candidates chosen from the one hundred and twenty strongest members of the young generation in the beastmen countries.

Some people were a bit discontent when a human and a demon were chosen among the six representatives, but the king seemed very supportive of the idea, plus, Bloed and Liu Ying were technically members of Moonlight Glow.

Moreover, both Bloed and Liu Ying showed very outstanding performances during the selection, so not even the most xenophobic beastmen could deny that Bloed and Liu Ying's abilities were going to be very useful during the selection.

But although the selection had ended, it did not mean Bloed and the others could rest until the day of the competition.

Quite the opposite, they had a tight schedule until the day of the competition.

Certainly, Bloed and the others were very outstanding among the young generation, but the six of them had no experience fighting together.

They could not participate in the competition like that.

Thus, during the following days, they would be trained to teach them to fight like a team.

Fortunately, the king understood that the six of them were tired after two days of constant battle, so he gave them one day to rest before starting the training.

An airship arrived to take the candidates back to the capital. It was the same airship that brought them here.

Bloed felt the trip back was very short. Mainly because he fell asleep as soon as he boarded the airship. His body was so tired that as soon as he relaxed, his eyelids closed by themselves.

When Bloed woke up, he felt a weight against his right shoulder.

Opening his eyes, he saw Liu Ying snoring softly with her head on his shoulder.

Bloed was slightly startled, but then, his lips curved up in a smile.

He stared at Liu Ying's face tenderly. Her white skin, her long eyelashes, the horn in her forehead, and her long hair.

She looked so peaceful sleeping on his shoulder. As though she did not have any worry.

'… She is truly beautiful.' Bloed smiled softly and combed her hair.

But at the same time, he felt distressed.

Liu Ying… She carried so much on her shoulders.

Even her true appearance was not something she could show to others easily. She was forced to hide her beautiful red hair and her amber eyes in case someone recognized her identity.

Even her aspect, the Chaos Titan, the pride of her family, could not see the light of the day.

She must hide it under the disguise of a black knight in fear of being recognized by the enemies of her family.

She was once a proud princess of the demons, destined to live a life of comfort and be admired by others.

Instead, she lost her entire family and was thrown to the exiled lands.

'Well, my circumstances are not any better.' Bloed smiled wryly to himself. He was also a prince once, after all.

While Bloed was caressing Liu Ying's hair, the demon frowned and slowly opened her eyes.

Still dazed, Liu Ying's stared at Bloed confused. She then smiled and planted a kiss on his lips.

"… Morning."

"… Morning, I guess." Although it was almost night already.

With a wry smile, Bloed shook his head kissed Liu Ying's back.

A shade of red appeared on Liu Ying's cheeks, but she received the kiss happily.

"Hey, Liu Ying."

"Hm?"

"One day, when the two of us are strong enough to not fear anything, I'll help you to get your revenge. I promise you."

"Huh?" Liu Ying was startled. For a few seconds, she was unable to process Bloed's words.

But when she understood his meaning, her face bloomed in a beautiful smile.

"… Really?"

"Of course."

"… Even if they are very strong?"

"We will be stronger."

"… You are right... Thanks, Bloed."

Bloed smiled and knocked her head softly.

"You don't need to thank me. I'm your boyfriend after all."

Liu Ying smiled shyly and lowered her head. At the same time, she grabbed Bloed's hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

For a few minutes, the pair continued like that, just feeling the warmth of each other.

And with each passing second, Bloed could feel the shadows of his mother fading from his mind.

Unfortunately, good things do not last forever.

And the pair had forgotten the existence of someone.

"Ahem."

The sound of a cough reached Bloed and Liu Ying's ears.

Instantly, the pair froze.

Then, their necks moved in direction of the cough like broken dolls.

And they saw the chilling gaze of a silver-haired girl.

"… I thought of giving you a bit of time alone as a reward for your victories, however, don't you think you are showing off your love too much?"

"R-Regina, hi…"

"How are you, master? Was your sleep good?"

"I-It was."

"Is it so? How about you, demon? Did you enjoy sleeping on master's shoulder?"

"… I did?"

"Good. Now, don't you think the two of you need to tell me something? Like, since when you two became lovers?"

Bloed smile wryly. He knew this conversation was going to happen sooner or later.

Now, he needed to rack his brains to think of a way to please Regina.

…

Fortunately, it seemed like Bloed's luck was pretty good today.

When Liu Ying and he were being pressed by Regina, the airship arrived at the capital. Taking advantage of that, Bloed suggested to let this conversation for when they returned to the place where they were staying.

To Bloed's relief, Regina agreed to his suggestion.

'I guess I have a few hours more to think about a good answer… Sigh, what am I afraid of? It's not like Regina is going to kill me…'

Plus, he had already chosen to accept both of them… Although he was not sure about how Regina was going to react to that.

Fortunately, Regina and Liu Ying's relationship seemed much closer recently, so probably Regina will not kill Liu Ying in a fit of rage… right?

While Bloed was worried about something that would have made any other man jealous, he exited the airship together with the two girls.

But when they were leaving the airship, they accidentally bumped with a group of three.

"Ah." A startled voice sounded.

Bloed was slightly surprised when he saw the people in front of him.

They were a group of three catkins standing there awkwardly.

Aya, Javelin, and their father.

...

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels