A moment before Christian used his power. In the same presidential suite, in another room, Aria was pacing back and forth.
She, who had been eavesdropping on everything happening in the other room, could clearly feel that her friend was being taken advantage of. And now, she was torn… torn between the urge to step in or not.
But then, suddenly, she felt it.
A thick wave of power coated the space where Olivia and that man were.
Aria's body tensed, her breath catching as she turned sharply toward the door.
For a moment, she even reached out her hand, prepared to open it, prepared to interfere.
But in the end… she just stood there.
'He's probably going to tell her about me, isn't he?' she thought, biting her lip in frustration.
If only she could rewind time, just a little, she could've told Olivia everything herself.
And in that moment… regret clawed at her heart.
Back inside the shadow barrier, Olivia let out a long breath, unable to come up with a proper argument against Christian's earlier statement.
So finally, she sighed and asked, "Explain the situation regarding Aria from the beginning."
"And why haven't you told me anything about this before?"
Her tone was serious now. And even though they were still surrounded by darkness, Christian could clearly see her face, calm, but heavy with tension.
He deliberated for a moment.
His hand was still on her breast, and though the reason he had done it at first was to provoke a reaction, both from Olivia and potentially from Aria… he had started to enjoy it a little too much.
But this wasn't the time.
So, reluctantly, he pulled his hand back, and finally said, "Actually… there's not that much going on regarding her situation."
"She belongs to a different group of otherworldly people, one that the government has also formed an alliance with."
"She's the daughter of a high-ranking figure from that group. From the information that I gathered, she came to this world just to play around at first. But then, by coincidence, she met you… and became your friend."
"And once that happened, she got competitive. She started training more seriously. Then, even decided to enter the Academy."
"As for why I didn't tell you anything earlier, well, that's simple. I only found out all of this not too long ago myself. And honestly… I didn't think it was that important. I figured it'd be better to tell you face to face, once we met again."
Olivia blinked her eyes at the explanation she heard… and, strangely, she felt that the situation was not that… serious?
Christian, noticing the flicker of change in her expression, smiled and said, "See? That's why I didn't tell you immediately."
Olivia stayed silent.
And Christian, still smiling, continued speaking. He told her about what happened earlier that afternoon, about the moment when he'd tried to probe Aria.
But in the end, Olivia, who was starting to feel uncomfortable with the topic, decided to change it.
"Anyway," she said, "how was the hammer I sent you? You never gave me your opinion on it."
Seemingly forgetting about Aria the moment she brought it up, Christian immediately lit up with praise and compliments.
Because truly, he was grateful.
He had only mentioned his interest in blacksmithing casually, in passing. He hadn't expected much… just told her he was going to start forge something.
And then, suddenly, she told him she would send him a hammer.
If it had been just an ordinary hammer, that would've been one thing.
Christian estimated that it was even better than the ones he'd intended to acquire from the ancient families through Zero.
And that was why he was grateful.
Hearing him speak so sincerely, and then seeing the dagger he took out to show her, Olivia couldn't help but admire his work for a moment.
It was better than she expected.
And then, just like that, she felt proud.
After all, she had gotten that hammer using the prize she received for ranking among the top of the Academy.
Even her own weapon was actually worse than the hammer she had sent him.
So of course… she was happy.
Happy that it had been useful to him.
Happy that she could do something… anything, for Christian, who was working tirelessly to help with her mother's condition.
She hadn't even known where to start… but this, at least, was something.
… Not that the hammer was given purely out of obligation.
It wasn't just to repay him for helping her with her mother's condition.
They were already close enough to exchange gifts without needing a reason.
He was fondling her breasts a moment ago, after all… so who would say they weren't close already?
They continued talking for a while. And then, suddenly, Christian asked with a serious voice, "Until when do you plan to stay at the Academy? How about just coming back with us?"
But how could Olivia, who cherished her independence, possibly agree to that?
She shook her head and said firmly, "At least not before I graduate. I don't plan to stop attending before then."
And what did graduation even mean?
She either had to reach the third mastery stage, or spend a full eight years in the Academy.
Either way, it would take time.
In the end, realizing he couldn't win against her stubbornness, Christian said, "Actually… there's something I didn't tell you before."
"You asked me how I could Continue reading more chapters on NovelHub for the best experience. "Yes?"
"Well," Christian said, confidence rising in his tone, "while I can't offer much right now, I can still upgrade your essence technique for you, if you want."
And Olivia, this time, stayed silent, blinking her eyes.
Upgrading her technique, which was already powerful enough to help her reach the fifth stage, was tremendously difficult, after all.
But that wasn't the real problem, for her silence.