Yize returned to the noisy table, his gaze sweeping across the room as he instantly and keenly sensed that Luke was acting strangely.
The kid sat as stiff as if there were nails under his butt, posture rigidly straight, his eyes darting around, not daring to meet Yize’s gaze, his whole body emanating a “I have something to hide” vibe.
“Luke.” Yize spoke in a calm voice.
“Here! Senior!” Luke responded almost as if spring-loaded, his body tensing up even more.
“You just went to the restroom?” Yize asked in an offhand tone, picking up his glass and taking a sip, though his gaze was firmly locked on Luke out of the corner of his eye.
Luke’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he nodded hard, his voice unnaturally loud, “I did!”
“And inside… did you see anything?” Yize set his glass down, his tone still even, but an invisible pressure began to bead sweat on Luke’s forehead.
After hanging out with Yize for so long, Luke might not have mastered much else, but the basic survival rule of “play dumb when you stumble upon a secret” was ingrained in his bones.
His brain went into overdrive as he struggled to maintain composure, answering loudly, “Senior Yize! I didn’t see a thing!”
“Didn’t see anything?” Yize narrowed his eyes slightly, leaning forward as his voice dropped a notch, “Then why did you run? Like you were chased by a Cyndaquil.”
“I… I realized I didn’t bring any paper!” Luke, quick on his feet, found a seemingly reasonable excuse, “Came back to grab some!”
“Oh?” Yize’s tone rose at the end, obviously disbelieving, “So now that you’ve got your paper, why aren’t you going back?”
The pressure felt like a mountain to Luke, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
He shot to his feet, moving as stiff as a marionette, “Going! I’ll go right now!”
Watching as Luke nearly stumbled over himself in his haste toward the restroom again, Yize basically had the picture.
The kid definitely saw that scene with him and Rhea in the restroom. The only question was how much he’d overheard, and what wild ideas he’d cooked up in his head.
‘Forget it,’ Yize rubbed his brow, sighing helplessly inside.
‘When he comes back, I’ll find a chance to cast a little “physical memory loss spell” on him—knock some sense into him, make sure he keeps his mouth shut.’
Just then, from the direction of the restroom, that tall, graceful figure radiating an unmistakable “keep away” aura appeared first.
Rhea had returned.
Her reappearance seemed to bring a silencing effect—the noise in her immediate vicinity unconsciously quieted down a few notches.
She walked straight back to her seat, face expressionless, but those cool, silvery-grey eyes were once again fixed on Yize, sharp and searching, carrying a complex emotion that was hard to describe.
Yize immediately chickened out, turning his head and flopping onto the table as if on instinct, letting out a faint snore and perfectly playing the part of a drunk who’d passed out from too much wine.
But this “playing dead shield” he thought so reliable didn’t last long.
Sarah blinked her emerald eyes, glancing from the icy, sharp-eyed Rhea to the “unconscious” Yize, her heart full of curiosity.
Rhea was famous for being a cold beauty, indifferent to everyone. Why was she looking at Yize so differently today?
Thinking of how Yize’s childhood encounter seemed to involve Rhea’s older sister Angelica, Sarah felt obliged to check in on her junior’s mental and physical wellbeing.
She reached out her slender finger, gently tapping Yize on the shoulder. Her voice was gentle but carried an undeniable force:
“Yize, stop pretending to sleep. Your senior has something to ask you.”
Yize: “……”
Does this woman have it in for him?
Can’t she just let him quietly blend into the background?
Helpless, he had to keep up the act.
He lifted his head groggily, eyes “unfocused,” one hand pressed to his forehead, voice muffled, “Senior… what is it? My head’s spinning… feels like the ceiling’s moving…”
Sarah wasn’t fooled by his lousy acting and got straight to the point, “When you were little, how did you end up crossing paths with Angelica? Rhea’s older sister.”
Right to the heart of the matter!
Yize’s heart skipped a beat, instantly sobering up.
Can he tell the truth? Absolutely not!
Rhea herself was sitting right there, ears perked up!
That dark chapter of his past involved way too much, not just his own embarrassing history but also Rhea’s core secret. If that spilled out now, wouldn’t he be a dead man walking?
He could only double down on the amnesia act, putting on the perfect mix of confusion and a touch of pain, as if struggling to remember, “I don’t know… Senior, my head hurts… It’s all six years ago… I only remember someone from Crescent Moon Academy saving me from monsters… then somehow Lady Angelica locked me inside a really scary magic circle… As for before that, I can’t really remember much…”
“Then do you remember your own family? Or where you came from?” Sarah pressed on, her eyes full of concern.
“I don’t know… I really can’t remember…”
Yize lowered his gaze, his voice somber, completely embodying the fragility and helplessness of an “amnesiac youth.”
In truth, he genuinely had no memory of the original body’s past from before he crossed over.
Sarah looked at him, a flash of pity in her eyes.
She filled in the blanks herself, convinced Yize’s amnesia was due to massive trauma suffered inside Angelica’s spiritual magic circle, making her feel all the more resentful toward that seventh-tier master of spiritual magic.
She leaned closer to Yize, whispering in what she thought was a volume only the two of them could hear (though certain people at the table caught every word), “Yize, listen to your senior’s advice: from now on, it’s best if you keep your distance from Rhea.”
The words landed like a stone in a frozen lake, sending out ripples.
The moment the sentence fell, Yize felt the cold gaze from across the table suddenly sharpen.
The surrounding air temperature seemed to climb several degrees. A searing heat emanated from Rhea as the center, spreading out, her hand under the table clenching until her knuckles turned white.
Even the glasses on the tavern’s wooden table seemed to tremble.
“Sarah,” Rhea’s voice was colder than usual, almost freezing the air, “what nonsense are you spouting?”
Sarah noticed the uncontrollable fire element power leaking from Rhea, and raised an eyebrow, still composed:
“Rhea, rein in your fire element. At this rate, you’ll burn the tavern down. I’m only concerned for my junior and giving him some much-needed advice.”
“Hmph!” Rhea snorted coldly through her nose, sharply turning her head away. The fire elemental magic swirling around her was forcibly suppressed, but the anger lingered.
“Senior?” Seated next to Rhea, Lien had keenly sensed the standoff in the air. He set down his glass, looking at Rhea with gentle confusion, then glanced at Sarah and Yize, as if asking what had just happened.
Right now, Yize’s mind was a fog of questions.
He truly didn’t understand why Sarah was suddenly telling him to keep his distance from Rhea.
Nor could he fathom why Rhea had such a big reaction to those words.
By all logic, shouldn’t Rhea wish for anyone who knew her secret to stay as far away as possible, even dead and buried?
This… this just doesn’t fit her character at all!