Chapter 54: His Woman

“Charles, what exactly is going on with Lin Yue?”

Airella clenched her fists at her chest, as if wary that Charles might do something strange, ready to go full immortal mode at a moment’s notice.

Seeing Airella so on guard, Charles sneered dismissively and continued, “As expected of his woman, your style is just as sharp as his.”

Oh, why does everyone always see me as Lin Yue’s woman?!

Not that I mind at all…

“Do you want to know the real reason why the marriage alliance between Lin Yue and the Valiana family fell through?”

After the duel ended, he wanted to go straight to Lin Yue and challenge him to a duel like Yuan did, but Isabella beat him to it.

Thanks to that twist, he got to learn one of the few hidden secrets about that guy.

….

When she heard the name Valiana, Airella froze for a moment, then showed a curious expression.

She had never once heard from Lin Yue himself what exactly his motivation was for offending the two sisters.

Knowing his personality, it was almost impossible for such a thing to happen, and it was certainly worth investigating.

If she asked him directly… it would seem too purposeful; she couldn’t let him know her true intentions just yet.

Also… she needed to figure out Lin Yue’s feelings toward those sisters.

If those two turned out to be her rivals, she had to make her move early!

“Of course… But, what do I have to pay in return?”

She knew Charles surely wanted something from her, or he wouldn’t have come to someone who had nothing to do with him and even somewhat rejected him.

…

Charles was unwilling to waste words and got straight to the point: “Tell me how Lin Yue managed to improve so rapidly in such a short time.”

When the semester started, he didn’t even have a trace of magic fluctuation.

In just two weeks, he was able to knock down both myself and Isabella—both publicly acknowledged as geniuses.

It was unfathomable.

Even with Gus and Lillian assisting him, almost all the output was from him alone.

“Huh?”

What kind of question is that?

She had thought Charles would make some outrageous demand, but it was just this?

“Or did he take some kind of life-draining potion? Or cheat?”

Charles rubbed his chin, completely baffled.

“Lin Yue didn’t cheat…”

She remembered that every time she went to his camp, he was either running, working out, doing push-ups with Lia sitting on his back, blasting holes in tree stumps, or pouring water on rocks.

He worked extremely hard.

“He’s very hardworking. Always has been.”

Charles raised an eyebrow, a hint of impatience in his tone.

“Hard work? What good is that? With his kind of talent, it’s a miracle he even got into Avilinna. Are you telling me he could raise his combat power to this level in just two weeks?”

He thought Airella was keeping Lin Yue’s secret and unwilling to tell him, and he started to get annoyed.

“Hurry up and tell me. Don’t waste both our time.”

Airella saw the way he doubted her, and her own voice grew louder.

No one likes to hear their beloved being slandered.

“Maybe his talent is ordinary, but he absolutely became strong step by step, relying on his own efforts!”

She had witnessed Lin Yue’s growth firsthand—from the days when he couldn’t even cast Fireball, to being able to rescue her from the church’s relentless pursuit.

How could that be fake?

“I don’t believe it!”

Charles slammed his fist against the wall.

With no magic barrier protecting it, cracks formed where his fist landed.

He absolutely refused to believe this useless guy could improve faster than a genius like himself!

People with trash talent should stay trash!

Seeing Charles so unwilling to accept reality, Airella’s gaze became more and more annoyed.

“If you can’t believe it, why don’t you go see for yourself?”

Charles lifted his head, looking doubtfully at Airella.

…

At the camp, Lin Yue was stirring the leftovers in the pot and stretched lazily.

“Hey, what’s the meaning of you bringing me here…?”

The sun was about to set.

This girl dragged him out to the wilds.

Could she have conspired with Lin Yue to set him up?

“Shh!”

Hearing Charles’s complaints, Airella could only hush him.

If Lin Yue found out, it would be a disaster…

Dinner would definitely fly away.

At the same time, she was glad Lia hadn’t come today; otherwise, Charles would probably end up with a shaved head again.

“Is that Lin Yue?”

…

Charles stared in disbelief at the man expressionlessly lifting dumbbells while cleaning the pots and pans.

He couldn’t imagine someone like that doing such rough chores.

“Amazing, right! Don’t rush.”

Seeing Charles utterly stunned, Airella couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride in her heart.

He’s ten thousand times stronger than you!

After Lin Yue cleaned up the dishes, he closed his eyes and cast magic on a certain object, trembling as he levitated a small pebble.

Micromanipulation of magic.

A small detail most magicians never cared about.

For most magicians, the higher the magic, the larger the area of effect, the less need for precision, and consequently, their magic control would be weaker.

Fundamentals were boring and tedious.

If you weren’t doing research, “good enough” would suffice.

But Lin Yue was like some obsessive perfectionist, refusing to stop until he achieved one hundred percent on any task.

He lifted countless small stones, big rocks, cups, dumbbells—any object at all, he practiced with endlessly.

He’d done it at least three or four hundred times, then opened a magic book with a sloppy cover and began reading it seriously.

His left hand traced circles, as if working hard to understand the notes written inside.

“See… I wasn’t lying. He’s like this every day. I come here to bum meals every day, and I’ve never…”

Airella wanted to prove she wasn’t talking nonsense, but saw Charles’s eyes bulging like bronze bells, with veins even showing in his eyes.

I can’t accept this… Absolutely not!

….

Then, things turned out exactly as they just had.

Airella tried to stop him, but it was useless.

He’d been relatively quiet at first, but when the rumors about Lin Yue spread from the back mountain, he rushed over in a hurry.

She’d gotten herself into this mess and followed along out of responsibility.

She hadn’t expected to actually run into Lin Yue…

“Ah…”

After Airella finished explaining, Lin Yue rubbed his temples, feeling exhausted.

“That’s all?”

Airella had brought a bunch of weird people to his camp without asking.

It was really…

Thankfully, he hadn’t practiced spatial magic that day, just messed around a bit.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to explain it at all.

A supreme blabbermouth, a dog-headed advisor, and a kid who could blow up the world when upset—he honestly didn’t know where to begin complaining.

God, can I just start over?

Sometimes, Lin Yue really wanted to sleep until Alan cleared the game, ignoring all these people.

Looks like he’ll need to start taking privacy more seriously.

He couldn’t just keep camping out forever…

“I get it. You two can go now…”

After calming himself, Lin Yue spoke to the two oddballs, preparing to head back and think about how to become the ‘Batman of Dueling.’

“Ah. Okay…”

“You really don’t have anything else you want to ask me?”

…

Airella was worried that Lin Yue would think she was a fickle woman because of all this.

Even though nothing happened, she knew all too well that feeling when someone you liked got close to other people of the opposite sex.

Yes, she’s talking about you, Lin Yue.

Lin Yue scratched his head; he actually wanted to ask when she went to start the first act dungeon.

But he could never say such a thing out loud, and as for Charles, there really wasn’t much to ask.

“Who you’re with is your business. I won’t think any differently of you because of this.”

“But… I’d still rather you didn’t get too close to them.”

That was his honest feeling.

The story was already starting to deviate from what he remembered.

It was bound to happen sooner or later; the information he held would become less and less useful.

Aside from boss mechanics and solutions, the small details would grow harder to control.

As long as the main characters didn’t do anything extra, he could at least minimize the drift of events.

Mapel let go of Lin Yue, backing away with a look of disdain.

Ever since Lin Yue rescued her, Mapel hadn’t seen this beast-taming girl for a long time.

So this is the power of a hero saving a beauty; even her gaze had changed.

If that day at the cafe was a hesitant, expectant look, now it was pure, excessive concern.

As for herself, she wasn’t falling for that, and would definitely never be captured by this guy.

Airella, however, heard something else in his words.

Was Lin Yue… jealous?

Oh no… that’s a bit cute!

Does he… does he like me, too?

Or if he didn’t like me, why would he work so hard to find me… hee hee!

He actually noticed I was in danger after being away for just a little while—so that’s how it is…

….

But, was he secretly on a date with Mapel?

That did make her a little upset… Mapel’s unleashed beauty was giving her a serious sense of crisis.

“By the way, why are you with Mapel? She dressed up so nicely, you two wouldn’t… and this whole crowd of people lying behind you, do you not notice them at all?”

Lin Yue was just about to complain when Mapel, standing to the side, gave an awkward smile: “No, I just asked him to help me with the election for president. We were discussing strategies…”

“Really…”

The way she was holding his hand just now really didn’t look like it…

Before Airella could ask more, a spatial rift suddenly opened in front of Lin Yue.

…

“Lin Yue, I have something to tell you.”

Lia stepped out of the rift.

She hadn’t been seen for a while, and now she looked a little tired.

The three stared at her in confusion.

Lia glanced around and noticed people lying all over the place, looking puzzled: “Why are you all here?”

Seeing so many people around Lin Yue, Lia’s previously cute expression immediately turned dissatisfied.

“Never mind, next time. I’ll see… about four days from now, in the evening. I have something to say to you, don’t run off.”

With that, Lia opened another spatial rift and hurried off somewhere in a rush.

…

“Let’s go clean up the mess…”