“Why… for some reason, the delicacies I usually eat every day now make me nervous as a rookie when facing this spoonful of congee.”
He obediently opened his mouth and swallowed the warm congee.
“How is it?” Ailiya asked in a formulaic tone.
“Not hot, just right……” Leo’s eyes wandered, not daring to meet her gaze.
“Young Master is truly resilient.”
Ailiya scooped up a second spoonful with a blank expression, her unique tone beginning its output. “To have such a serious injury, yet the functions of chewing and swallowing remain so intact.”
“A medical miracle, I suppose.”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Leo almost choked on the congee. “It’s just… my digestive system is good!”
Leo’s face instantly flushed to the roots of his ears.
His clumsy acting was completely transparent before this woman, as if he were stripped naked. But even so, Ailiya didn’t expose him, still feeding him spoonful by spoonful.
Though her movements carried a deliberate stiffness.
Though her words were infuriating, the angle at which she brought the spoon always managed to avoid the scrape at the corner of his mouth; the temperature of the congee, after briefly cooling in the air, was just right.
Leo ate quietly.
He looked at Ailiya, so close.
He looked at her long lashes, her focused profile, listened to her cold but not harsh scolding.
A very strange feeling suddenly surged in Leo’s heart.
A bit annoyed, a bit embarrassed, but more than anything, an indescribable sense of pleasure.
For the next ten minutes or so, the room fell into an extremely strange and quiet atmosphere until the feeding ended.
“Hey, Ailiya.” Leo swallowed the last mouthful of congee and suddenly spoke.
“Does Young Master have any other orders?” Ailiya held the empty bowl, ready to stand up.
Leo stared at the ceiling, his voice very soft, even a little awkward. “Did you… see everything from the second floor?”
Ailiya’s hand, tidying the dishes, paused slightly.
“Yes, Young Master.” Ailiya skillfully wrapped gauze around Leo’s shoulder as she replied flatly, “From your opening water bullet spell to your final explosion, I observed the entire process.”
“Then…” Leo hesitated, turning his head slightly to sneak a glance at Ailiya from the corner of his eye. “What do you think… of my performance just now?”
Even though he knew this maid would definitely mock him, he couldn’t suppress a glimmer of expectation in his heart.
He hoped to hear even a trivial word of recognition from her.
Ailiya’s movements paused for a moment.
Inside this formerly arrogant and domineering shell, something seemed to be clumsily breaking out of its cocoon.
“If we look at the result…”
Ailiya tied a knot in the bandage, her tone as objective and rational as ever. “Without a doubt, you lost very thoroughly, and quite miserably.”
Leo’s eyes dimmed, a bitter smile forming on his lips.
As expected, in the eyes of a true genius, his struggle just now was nothing but a joke.
“However.”
Ailiya suddenly changed the subject.
In those ice-blue eyes, the usual layer of ice that kept others at a distance seemed to melt just a tiny, tiny bit.
“If we look at the process.”
“Your control of magic power, your use of the Mist Barrier, and that final brawl-like fighting style.” Ailiya listed Leo’s shining points one by one in a professional, almost post-match analysis tone.
Moved!
Ailiya paused for a moment, as if searching for the right word.
Finally, looking at Leo’s brightened eyes, she spoke in an extremely flat yet serious tone.
“It barely passes.”
This was the highest praise Ailiya could give.
Leo was stunned.
He stared blankly at Ailiya, as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
This woman, who usually found all sorts of ways to scold him and hit him with a brush, had actually praised him today?!
Even if it was just “barely passes,” to him, it was even more exciting than when Ian announced his graduation!
“Hehe…”
Leo couldn’t help but chuckle foolishly.
“Already satisfied?”
But Ailiya’s next words instantly plunged him into an ice cave.
Ailiya put down the soup bowl, staring at him sharply. “Using smoke to blind him was indeed an excellent opportunity to get close, but I really don’t understand your actions.”
“That completely unorganized, street-thug-like turtle fighting style of yours truly opened my eyes.”
She extended a finger and pointed at the short wand on Leo’s bedside table.
“Since you know that a mage’s defense is weak in close combat, why, after getting close, did you choose to smash a person’s head with an unsharpened wooden wand? Did you think you were knocking on a wooden fish?”
“I… I had exhausted my magic power!” Leo argued unconvinced. “If I don’t hit him with the wand, should I bite him?”
Ailiya continued her criticism.
“Your biggest mistake is that, since you decided to use dirty tricks… oh no, tactical deployment. At the moment you blinded your opponent up close, why didn’t you directly attack his vital points?”
“Throat, eyes, groin.”
Ailiya smoothly listed three chilling locations.
“Hitting his shoulder and forehead with the wand does no substantial damage except to enrage him. Even the frailest mage’s body won’t be beaten to death with a few strikes.”
‘That’s a spar, lady!’
Leo felt a chill down his spine, especially when he heard “groin,” and subconsciously clamped his legs together.
“I… how could I hit those places! That’s too…” Leo stammered in rebuttal.
“So, you deserved to lose.”
Ailiya stood up, ready to end this brief conversation.
“Since you’ve decided to flip the table, don’t let yourself be bound by those hypocritical noble rules and so-called dignity.”
“The purpose of a fight isn’t to look good, but to make sure the other person falls before you do.”
“As a rookie challenging a stronger opponent across ranks, you used blind spots and your enemy’s contempt to force him to use consumables. That proves you’re no longer just a punching bag.”
Leo lifted his head abruptly, his eyes shining brightly at her.
“So… does that mean you’re praising me?”
“Please don’t read too much into it, Young Master.”
Ailiya picked up the tray, turned, and walked toward the door, leaving him a cold back.
“I’m just stating a fact. Your current level has successfully upgraded from a completely useless piece of trash to a slightly spirited Rookie Young Master.”
“Get some rest, Rookie Young Master. I hope your posture is a bit more elegant the next time you get beaten.”
“Hey, Ailiya.”
Leo suddenly called out to her.
Ailiya stopped but didn’t turn around.
“Um…” Leo scratched his head, seeming a little embarrassed. “…Thanks.”
The corner of Ailiya’s mouth twitched upward, almost imperceptibly.
She pushed open the door and gave him no reply.
With a soft click, the door closed.
Leo lay on the bed, staring at the closed door, and couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“This woman… is completely unlovable.”
But he didn’t realize that his mouth was smiling the whole time he said that.
In the end, he even couldn’t help burying his face in the blanket and letting out a few silly, quiet laughs.
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