“No reaction? Hey, old man, what’s that supposed to mean? If someone saw us, they’d think I’m bullying you.”
Genasar’s sarcasm didn’t get a response from him.
“Uh…”
He scratched his head, then tried to rephrase it:
“Alright, then, why don’t you go inside and check on your daughter? She just finished her medicinal bath.”
At last, there was some reaction. He stiffly turned his head, his hollow eyes just staring at Genasar.
“No need. I trust Geli. Just let me be for a while.”
Then he just stared in silence, which made Genasar feel awkward.
“Oh, come on, you’ve still got some temper, right? She doesn’t like you, and you’re still clinging to her—anyone would get annoyed! That’s why you need a wingman.”
Suddenly the topic changed, catching his interest.
“Wing…man? What does that mean?”
Batek finally spoke, and there was a faint light in his eyes as he looked at Genasar, who grinned mischievously.
“Ahem, it means someone who helps distract others and helps you hit your target more accurately—a partner in crime, so to speak.”
“Hm.”
Batek sank into thought, then spoke directly:
“But right now, aren’t you the only ‘others’ around?”
There was a moment of silence. Genasar’s expression instantly vanished, and he lifted a claw to cover Batek’s mouth.
“You talk too much. Anyway, if you give me something good, I might consider helping you.”
Genasar took the initiative to offer an olive branch. This guy was a prince, after all—he must have plenty of treasures. Genasar figured he could swindle something nice out of him. Heh heh heh~
As for whether things would work out between him and Geli, that was none of his concern. At most, he’d just pass along a message or two—not really meddling, and definitely not taking a loss.
But Batek slowly lifted his head, the air around him thick with melancholy.
“Forget it. Actually, I’ve always known she doesn’t like me. It’s just… having you and her say it out loud today stung a bit too much. I’ll get over it soon enough.”
“Huh? You always knew, so why do you still…”
“You little brat, do you even know what love is? Don’t go yapping in front of me.”
Genasar’s mouth twitched. He wanted to scold Batek, but held back after thinking it over.
“Your love is pretty forgiving, huh? You’ve got both your official wife and my master?”
“Official wife? She was just a tool my family arranged for me to pass on my bloodline. There’s no love between us. And talk about bad luck—I sacrificed my body, only to have a child cursed. Maybe my father felt guilty, so he tacitly allowed me to keep pursuing Geli.”
Listening to this, Genasar felt a little sympathy—but not too much.
For people of high status, marriage was never something they could decide for themselves. Maybe there was room for compromise, but the result was rarely satisfying.
Batek had married a wife he didn’t care for and fathered a child burdened by a curse. In the end, not a single person got to be happy.
“Sigh… But Geli, she’s like a pure flower growing on this snowy mountain—noble and proud. Even a burning heart can’t melt her coldness. Sigh…”
“Huh?”
-; )
(一[
Are my ears playing tricks on me? A pure flower on a snowy mountain? Noble and proud? Are those words really describing that crazy woman?
“Uh… What’s she like on the outside?”
“She? She’s like ice forged by a hundred thousand years of wind and snow—cold and biting, yet with a pure, crystalline beauty that makes her irresistible.”
After he finished, Batek looked lost in thought, a blissful smile on his face.
Genasar was thoroughly stunned. Thinking back to the look Geli gave Batek earlier—she really was icy cold.
“Is she… like that to everyone? Or just you?”
“Of course she’s like that to everyone. I’ve never done anything outrageous, so there’s no reason for her to single me out.”
Wow! That crazy woman really has two faces!
“Uh… Then… Well, did you see that pile of junk next to her cauldron? Isn’t that strange?”
Her place was such a mess, and she didn’t even care about appearances. How did he manage to keep that image of her being all noble and aloof?
“What’s strange about it? That’s totally normal. Almost every scholar puts things where they find most convenient. It gets messy—that’s just habit.”
“Ugh… Fine, forget it. You can keep wallowing now.”
“Hm?”
Genasar ignored Batek’s confusion, turned around, and headed back into the Crystal Palace.
But once again, Batek’s voice sounded behind him.
“Kid, you’re not like any other Red Dragon I’ve met before. I’ll grudgingly acknowledge you. Don’t let me down in the future.”
Genasar glanced back but didn’t really care, striding through the doorway.
The door closed automatically. Genasar looked over at the pile of junk, where Geli was sprawled out on a sofa bed, completely unconcerned about her appearance as she immersed herself in reading .
When Genasar returned, she put on a fake look of surprise.
“Oh, done playing already? Come give your master a leg massage.”
(Ⅱ_Ⅱ)
“Sigh, really… Kindness gets you bullied, a gentle dragon gets ridden.”
“What are you mumbling about? Hurry up!”
Resigned, Genasar used his tiny, delicate chibi dragon claws and became a laborer.
After a while, with both legs now satisfied, Geli tossed something to Genasar.
“This is his gift to you. It’s nothing special, but not bad either—just an ordinary golden apple.”
“Huh? Uh… Never mind, I won’t complain. Does it do anything?”
“Nothing too impressive, but it’ll help improve your physique. Just treat it as a snack.”
From Geli’s tone, this thing was only so-so to them.
Genasar didn’t care much either and took a casual bite.
“Hm, tastes pretty good, but not as good as the Fruit of Life. Uh… If there’s nothing else, I’ll go to sleep.”
Genasar tried to slip away, and Geli didn’t even look up—just waved her hand.
Just as he turned to leave, Genasar suddenly shuddered. A forceful surge of information blasted through his mind.
Sensing something wrong, Geli peeked out from behind her book, her brows furrowing when she saw Genasar standing there in a daze.
“Hm? There’s something odd about that fruit? Why’s there a weird fluctuation?”
She quickly got up and rushed over, put on her glasses, and cradled Genasar’s dragon head for a close inspection.
She even pried open his mouth to look inside.
“Hm? That’s strange, the fluctuation disappeared? What was that just now? I’ve never seen anything like it. It definitely wasn’t the golden apple—so what was it…”
At that moment, Genasar finally snapped out of it, just in time to see Geli’s face nearly poking into his mouth.
“Sifoni, what are you doing?”
“Don’t mind what I’m doing. What happened to you just now? Do you feel any discomfort?”
Faced with Geli’s questioning, Genasar closed his eyes and lifted his head, carefully sensing his body.
“Nothing’s wrong. Just a bit sleepy. I’m going to bed.”
He didn’t bother with Geli’s worried look and walked straight toward his hatching chamber.
Geli remained standing there, full of doubt, but seeing Genasar showing no strange symptoms, she decided to let it go for now.
“So strange… There’s actually something in this world I’ve never encountered before. What was that fluctuation, anyway?”
Geli couldn’t figure it out. As a Sage, she wasn’t omniscient, but she certainly didn’t expect to see something completely unprecedented.
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