“Captain, what’s wrong?”
Letia looked at Liz beside her, her voice full of concern.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No……”
Liz’s expression was a little stiff.
She collected herself, then spoke to Mason, who was not far off.
“This has nothing to do with me. You can talk to them.”
After saying that, she ignored what the others thought, stood up, and left.
“Monica, go check on her.”
Monica hurried after her, leaving Mason and the remaining three sitting together.
After a short silence, Mason spoke up directly.
“To be honest with you all, I actually came here with a request.”
“…I want to find a way to make Red stay.”
Before Mason could finish, Letia interrupted him outright.
“That’s clearly impossible. Red has made up his mind to leave. Besides, due to various factors, it’s not something we can just pull back at will.”
Everyone knew that the so-called “various factors” Letia mentioned were, in truth, only one thing.
That was Liz.
Mason obviously knew this as well, but his intentions were a little different from what the three members of Dawn’s Edge had in mind.
“No, I’m not asking for Red to return to Dawn’s Edge. My request… or rather, the Sunmoon Empire’s request, is only one…”
Here, Mason paused, then spoke in a weighty tone.
“That Red remain forever loyal to the Empire—or… remain forever neutral.”
Mason was well aware that Red’s talents and abilities had yet to be fully realized.
Once he joined the forces of any country, his skills in strategy and planning, as well as the boost his mechanical creations would bring, would quickly reveal themselves.
Especially if Red joined a hostile nation, the threat to the Sunmoon Empire would increase without limit.
Even if Red himself didn’t seem intent on settling scores with Liz, what if something happened?
No one could say for sure, and Mason didn’t want such things to occur.
“With your abilities and resources, getting Red on your side shouldn’t be that difficult, right?”
At this moment, Letia raised her hand.
“And what you just said… ‘forever neutral,’ does that mean you intend to eliminate Red?”
Letia’s blunt words made even Bethany break out in a cold sweat for her.
If the two weren’t sitting so far apart, she’d have rushed over and covered Letia’s mouth herself.
Faced with Letia’s question, Mason fell silent for a long while before finally answering.
“With the Empire’s abilities and resources, elsewhere… sure, it would be possible. But this is Nightbright Town, so we can’t.”
Because Nightbright Town was one of the entrances to the dungeon.
To avoid conflicts between nations, and to prevent the monster tides that might burst out from within the dungeon, these entrance-side towns served as buffer zones.
They were unclaimed territories, at most having a Lord sent in a symbolic capacity, rotated periodically.
“The Winter Kingdom has already noticed Red’s value as well. If we were to make a move, it could spark a bigger conflict.”
“So you want us to help?”
No wonder Liz had left the meeting without a word.
It seemed she knew why Mason was here.
She knew that staying any longer would only make things more awkward for her, so she might as well just leave.
“Yes,” Mason nodded.
“You are all people from the Sunmoon Empire, so I hope you’ll do your civic duty for the Empire.”
“Ah… I’m from the Holy Church.”
“The Holy Church is the state religion of the Sunmoon Empire.”
…Fine.
Letia truly didn’t want to get involved in these troublesome matters.
She’d come here in the first place to escape all these headaches.
“As far as I know, the White Church of the Winter Kingdom had already made a move when Red left your party… And the person they sent, as you all know, was Litt.”
Mason’s words left everyone silent.
Letia also sank into thought.
If what Mason said was true, then in the original script, Litt’s encounter with Red might not have been a coincidence from the start.
And when she’d disguised herself as Litt to get close to Red for survival, did they also see through it at the time?
Not only that—they tacitly allowed her actions, even arranged people to watch her from the shadows.
Tsk…
So she was a stand-in from the very beginning?
Letia secretly clicked her tongue.
Jessica nodded in deep agreement.
“I knew it. Litt approached Red with an agenda from the start. There’s no such thing as kindness for no reason—this isn’t some fairy tale.”
“Let’s get back to the main topic.”
Letia had never been the patient type.
As a fish that had finally made it, all she wanted was to relax and sleep, not waste her time in pointless disputes.
“Mason, so what do you plan to do?”
Pressed by Letia, Mason remained unhurried.
“These past days, I’ve observed Jude for a long time, and I’ve gotten a decent understanding of his interests and social circles.”
“And among us, there is someone who matches Red’s preferences.”
Though Mason was speaking vaguely, everyone’s gaze instinctively turned to Letia.
“Hey… why are you all looking at me?”
Letia spread her hands, exasperated.
“You can’t possibly expect me to chase after Red, right? Given the situation with Liz, that’s just not realistic.”
“Miss Letia…”
As Mason spoke, he moved to her side and, without a word, stuffed a thick wad of bills into her hand.
“If you don’t try, how do you know you can’t?”
“Gulp…”
Letia swallowed hard, and Mason continued.
“Red is someone who values relationships deeply. Remember this—if anything happens between you two, he definitely won’t just leave you behind.”
…Is this considered official permission to sell myself?
“If necessary, you can do that with Red,” Mason said in a low voice.
“As long as you agree, this entire wad of money is yours.”
“If you can win Red over, I can give you even more money. The important thing is not to let Litt from the White Church snatch him away.”
As Mason spoke, he slowly opened his hand and showed a number.
In that instant, Letia’s eyes became crystal clear.
Now, all she saw was the hunger for money.
There was no need to sacrifice pride if it meant missing out on money.
With all eyes on her, Letia hoisted her cross and walked straight out.
“Such a weird laugh…”
As Letia’s strange laugh faded into the distance, silence fell over the Dawn’s Edge base.
Even Mason started to doubt if he’d chosen the right person.
This black-robed priest really was easy to bribe, but… something still felt off.
“Hey~ Cousin?”
Monica stopped lightly before a tightly shut bedroom door in the Dawn’s Edge base and knocked twice with her knuckles.
“I’m coming in.”
Without waiting for Liz’s reply, the scatterbrained Monica cracked the door open and poked her head inside.
The lighting in the room was dim.
Liz, sitting on the bed, clearly hadn’t expected Monica to be so “quick.”
She tried to speak up and stop her, but it was already too late.
“What’s the matter?”
Liz’s voice remained cold and her tone was flat, making it impossible to guess her feelings at that moment.
But Monica seemed immune to Liz’s chill, just tilting her head and speaking bluntly.
“You didn’t look too happy, Cousin, so I came to check on you.”
Liz just shook her head, responding as if nothing was wrong.
“I’m not unhappy.”
But Monica seemed to ignore that denial completely.
She stared straight at Liz, as if she could see through the icy facade, and asked a single name.
“Is it because of Red?”
“…No.”
Liz said so, but her hand unconsciously clenched the bedsheet, her body tense.
“Why would Red’s life or death matter to me?”
Once again, the image of Litt taking Red away played through her mind.
When she’d seen it happen, she’d gone silent.
Now, every time she thought back, she felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Even if she pretended not to care on the surface, her body and expression completely betrayed her true feelings.
“But I remember, you’ve always cared about Red since you were little, right?”
“That was then. This is now.”
“But I think your feelings for him haven’t really changed, have they?”
Monica’s clear eyes seemed to pierce the carefully built defenses inside Liz.
“Why?”
Monica’s voice remained as straightforward and guileless as ever, yet it was like a blunt knife, slow and precise, slicing away Liz’s mask.
“Why can’t you ever speak properly in front of Red, Cousin?”
Monica’s question plunged Liz into complete silence.
That’s right—why couldn’t she ever speak properly in front of Red?
“Sometimes, even when you know you’re wrong, why can’t you admit your mistakes?”
Monica’s tone carried no reproach, as pure as a curious child’s, yet in the dim bedroom, the air seemed as suffocating as an interrogation chamber.
Time slipped by in the silence.
Who knew how long it was before Liz forced out a vague answer from her parched throat.
“Because… I am a noble.”
As a noble, she had always stood on a higher rung than Red, possessed resources and a vision he could never reach.
As a noble, she held the position of leader—standing before him in times of difficulty.
When they were young, she looked after Red; when they’d just entered the dungeon, she’d also protected him.
But at some point, Liz realized…
Red was growing.
The figure she once looked down on had, in so many ways, gradually stood beside her—or even surpassed her.
Leadership.
The thing she’d always held in her hands was being quietly and irresistibly taken away by Red, bit by bit.
Her identity as a noble meant that every time she faced Red, her pride and self-respect hardened into armor and cold walls, making her unable to lower her head, unable to admit her faults, and unable to face the disappointment and unwillingness that came from being surpassed.
Admitting fault…
She couldn’t do it.
She simply couldn’t.
Huh, maybe its best for what part of of their relationship they still have if she breaks up.