Chapter 1012 Competition
Rychard was a man who was very good at controlling his emotions. In fact, his patience had been displayed for a long while now. He had practically taken over what remained of the race to Heirship without lifting a single finger. In fact, now that he had Gradeyr's brother in his possession, it could be said that it was all over now. Gradeyr had been his only real competition and he no longer dared to fight against him.
However, those that saw him as a weak man now simply didn't understand just how infuriating the last two weeks had been. He had never experienced such a continuous and relentless assault on his ego. It was mind numbing.
At first, he had tried to be cautious and beat around the bush with Aina, but then she had caught him completely off guard.
"Are you trying to court me?"
Aina stood in her courtyard, a faint sheen of sweat on her face. She had learned 'modesty' during the past few days and now dressed in a new flexible armor. According to her, modesty was important for a woman, but not to the point where she should hide her beauty completely. Surprisingly, this was a conclusion she had come to without either Savahn or Yuri saying so explicitly.
However, Yuri still felt that she took some responsibility in catalyzing this due to how she had covered Aina's body previously. This experience made her realize that even the smallest push could lead Aina in a particular direction, it made her hesitant as to whether she should take action or not.
Now, she could only watch as Rychard visited daily as though trying to imprint himself onto her mind. Without a choice, Yuri could only drag Aina out of the estate to experience the world. If all she knew was this small corner, her awakened personality would be far too negatively affected, or it might never reawaken at all.
Still, even Yuri almost choked on her drink when she heard Aina's words, let alone Rychard. However, Rychard, who felt he had an 'understanding' of Aina, regained his composure quickly.
Previously, he had put Aina into one of two categories. She was either a block of ice that could be easily convinced to marry him or she was a block of ice that would never marry anyone. Such cold beauties were the kind that were either logical to a fault or stubborn to a fault.
In the time he had known Aina, it had seemed like she was the latter and couldn't be budged from her position. But, now that this change had occurred, and even the fact she was being so straightforward, made it seem like she had now somehow transitioned to becoming the former.
"Indeed." Rychard said confidently. "I am the Heir Apparent of the Viola family and all of this will soon be mine. I would, of course, need a wife of your caliber by my side."
"The Viola family? Isn't that just a Sixth Dimensional family?"
If Rychard was a lesser man, his facial expression would have already warped at these words alone. What the hell did 'just' Sixth Dimensional mean? Did she understand what such a family represented?
What Rychard didn't know was that Aina did and she felt like Rychard had a cap on his potential. Rychard would be shackled by his Sixth Dimensional Lineage Factors, but Leonel had been born with a Seventh Dimensional Lineage Factor. The difference was large.
Luckily, Aina had learned in her lesson on 'modesty' that thinking out loud wasn't a good thing either, so she hadn't said this. But… She also wasn't quite good at filtering what she should and shouldn't say either… Something that would become very apparent to Rychard very soon.
"Yes. My Viola family sits at the very top of Sixth Dimensional families and can be considered to be a hair's breadth away from the Seventh. What we're lacking is a generation of talent that can lead us to leap over this final hurdle. This is a task we can take on together."
"I see, that is a decent argument." Aina nodded. "After all, building something on your own will be more reliable than relying on others especially with how important lineage is. I can be considered single right now, I think… So I can allow you to court me."
Rychard's internal frowned disappeared when he heard this and a light smile spread across his face.
"But, though I'm single right now and he might be very angry with me, according to my calculations, because I held onto this, there is still a chance between us," Aina spoke, looking down at a broken bracelet she couldn't stand to take off of her wrist for some reason. "So, it could be said that you are in competition with my ex boyfriend."
Rychard almost choked on air.
This cold woman had an ex boyfriend? What the hell kind of nonsense was this?
That was when he remembered a conclusion he had made himself long ago… The only way to break into the heart of such a cold woman was by knowing her from a young age. Thinking of this, he relaxed. A childhood friend might have an advantage, but women usually became more realistic as they grew older. With Aina acting like this, it was clear that he wasn't so difficult to erase.
Rychard looked at the bracelet Aina had pointed out. 'A broken Fourth Dimensional treasure? How pathetic. If this is my competition, this will be easy.'
Famous last words like these had never been spoken before.
"If it's a competition, I believe it's proper to let you know what the parameters are, correct? I can only tell you that you are far behind. Even setting aside talent for a moment… There is value in being attracted to your husband as this would represent strong genes for rearing children.
"But… You are shorter than my ex boyfriend by half a foot and are even an inch or two shorter than myself. Your shoulders aren't as broad, your skin isn't as healthy, and your eyes aren't as pretty. Your hands are smaller, your smile isn't as appealing, and judging by the silhouette of your robes pressing against your lower body…"
Aina looked down toward Rychard's crotch and shook her head.
"I believe commenting on that would be inappropriate so I will refrain."
Aina's 'oh so kind' words had nearly turned Rychard blue.