June wore a cold expression when Noah neared her and Faith while wielding his sabers. She had to act as if she was anxious about the impending danger.
However, Faith simply smiled before surprising both Noah and June with her words. "You are together, right?"
Silence fell in the area at her words.
Noah had already planned what he had to ask and how to handle their life in the wilderness. Still, all of that vanished at her question. Instead, he reacted by showing an even colder aura that enveloped her and threatened to shatter her mental sphere.
Faith expected that kind of reaction and continued to smile while revealing a crystal and a notebook held tightly in her grasp.
Both Noah and June recognized those items. The crystal was one of the rank 5 talismans given to their group before the mission in the castle, and the other was the object that listed the discoveries made by their factions.
Her simple gesture hid the threat to reveal what she had just said to almost all the cultivators in the new world.
Noah stopped his tracks when he understood her intentions. His mind worked at full speed to see if there was a way out of that situation, but he couldn't find anything even when he activated the Divine Deduction technique.
The talisman would defend her against his first attack, and the notebook was unique too. It was impossible to stop the information from reaching the other items of the same kind at his current level.
"What exactly are you trying to achieve?" Noah asked without withdrawing his aura.
He could understand that Faith had picked up some clues about his relationship with June, but her actions didn't make any sense. There wasn't much that she could obtain, even if he was to admit the truth.
A stern expression replaced Faith's smile, but she didn't move her gaze away from Noah as she explained, "My peace is worthless without experience."
"Just go and gather experience then," Noah replied, "Don't threaten others over hunches."
Noah didn't reveal anything even in that situation, but he had to admit that Faith had cornered him. No matter what he said, she had the upper hand.
"My doubts first appeared in the new continent, when I discovered that June wasn't exactly a docile woman." Faith began to explain.
"The reports about her character didn't match her actions when you took her hostage," Faith said, "And the same applies to the recent escape."
"She understands the difference in our power," Noah replied, "I can't say the same for you."
Faith's smile reappeared when she heard that threat, but it seemed that she had more to say on the matter.
"I thought that she was like me at the beginning." She said, "Continuously bothered by men that didn't even try to understand her. I thought that she just wanted to cultivate in peace, but I've noticed something strange since we reached the castle."
Noah's expression didn't reveal anything during her speech. Her words didn't even create the slightest tremor in his aura.
"She seemed happier." Faith concluded.
Silence fell once again in the area as the stalemate continued.
"So?" Noah said at some point.
He had to admit that Faith's clues were on point, but he still didn't understand what her goal was.
"I had initially thought that she was just happy to speak with me, but everything became obvious when I saw you two in the corridor," Faith's smile became wider before her final question, "Why did you use a spell to come out of your room?"
It was evident that she had made her mind about a matter that she had started to doubt since the crisis with the Winged beasts.
Yet, Noah didn't care about her hypotheses. He was only interested in what she was hoping to gain by revealing all of that.
Noah dispersed his aura and stored his sabers at that point. Continuing to threaten her would just confirm her ideas.
"Do what you want," Noah said, "Gossips can't hurt my reputation, and the Royals already hate me."
"Ok then." Faith said as she began to insert her mental energy in the inscribed notebook.
Of course, Noah couldn't just let her spread that information.
He shot directly toward Faith with the fingers of his left hand arched to form something similar to a claw. Yet, he had to stop his tracks again when he saw that she had lifted the defensive talisman right in the trajectory of his attack.
The oath that prevented internal battles had vanished since the mission inside the castle was over, but she had long since predicted his attack.
"Understand this," Noah began to speak with a voice that resembled a growl, "It doesn't matter what you hope to gain from this situation or how you plan to handle the consequences to your actions. It won't end well for you."
That was a pure and honest threat, and Noah didn't mind exposing the truth with that gesture since Faith wasn't giving him any other choice. In the worst case, he would just kill her and live in the wilderness with June until his power reached a satisfying level.
However, Faith managed to surprise him once again with her words, "I just want to learn your story. In my mind, I still owe you since the events with the Winged beasts."
Her aura conveyed her honesty, and Noah couldn't help but retract his hand while taking a few steps back when he heard that.
Faith had literally threatened the strongest cultivator of her generation to deepen her individuality, and she had done that without showing the slightest trace of fear.
She was still far away from the determination showed by Noah and June through their lives, but both of them started to feel some respect for a cultivator willing to go so far to improve.
Then, Noah felt June standing up and reaching for him.
Her left hand went for his long hair, and she used the right one to move his head in the trajectory of her lips.
The two of them exchanged a long kiss right in front of Faith, and the latter couldn't help but reveal an excited smile at that sight.
"She is quite nice, "June murmured when their lips separated, "And we can always kill her if she betrays us."
Noah could only give up at that point, "Ok, but you'll tell the story."
June sat next to Faith and started to tell her how their relationship had begun. She even took a few jugs of wine from her space-ring to make that situation more enjoyable.
Noah saw how June seemed happy to share an essential part of her life with Faith. Removing the secrecy from her relationship made her feel good. It was as if it had just become more real.
Meanwhile, Noah limited himself to inspect the area. Those blue leaves were quite strange and seemed to have some kind of tranquilizing effect when he neared them.
By the time June had finished her story, the three of them had received a message from the leaders of their factions.