'This isn't good enough.' Ryu said unsatisfied. 'Of course, I can easily react now because I don't have the ability to split my mind. Scheming against one's self is impossible if you know what is going to happen… I need to train more.'
Ryu's frown spoke volumes more than his word. He had the corpse puppets come back to him and enter his spatial ring.
This seemed depressing, but Ryu clearly knew his limits.
For one, his corpse puppets were still only able to fight on the ground. He didn't fight Matheus in the sky, so he had no information to review in such a situation. In addition, he himself wasn't a Spiritual Severing Realm expert yet, so he couldn't fly in earnest, thus he had no experience in the matter.
These were very tangible reasons to be unsatisfied, so Ryu didn't believe himself to be asking for too much even if others did.
Looking up, Ryu realized there were many individuals here.
"When is The Selection happening?"
"… In another half month." City Lord Loom said after clearing his throat.
"Alright. You all can go back now." Ryu said casually.
"Hold on, not you." Ryu stopped Tae from leaving, causing her to blush furiously.
"R-Ryu… T-t-this isn't appropriate… My h-heart isn't r-r-ready…" She answered in a flustered manner.
Ryu ignored her words. "Why haven't you all left yet? I have some things to say to my woman."
Tae only wanted to find a place to bury her head, but the only viable option seemed to be Ryu's broad chest. Even if she was a hundred times bolder, she would never use it.
City Lord Loom glared at Ryu, but seeing his unperturbed eyes, there wasn't anything he could do.
'This kid is definitely doing this on purpose to get back at me. He dares use my granddaughter as a toy for revenge!'
In the end, he stormed away. Even if he hated Ryu, he didn't believe he would make his granddaughter a woman this night. He somehow felt that he had a good understanding of this young man. Soon, only Ryu and Tae were left in the courtyard.
"What is your name?" Ryu finally spoke after Ailsa put up a barrier.
Timidly looking up at Ryu, Tae suddenly felt a small bit of anger spark. Stamping her feet into the green grass below her, she resolutely glared at him, regaining her composure.
She was the intelligent and calm beauty even geniuses of the Core Region lusted after, damnit. She wouldn't lose to this unfeeling ice prince.
"My name is Taedra Loom."
Ryu nodded. "My name is Ryu Tatsuya."
An unceasing pressure crashed into Tae's chest. She had been ready to shrug it off. She already knew his name was Ryu, and that he was nameless. Unlike him, she actually remembered the names of others.
But, when those words landed on her ears, she could only uncontrollably shiver. The feeling only became more intense after Ryu took off his mask to reveal the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. She simply couldn't comprehend how a single man could seem to have such delicate features, yet appear to manly and fierce at the same time.
"You don't know what this name means now, but it is very likely that there will come a day in the future when the whole of the Shrine Realm remembers my Clan's name."
Tae's trembling only became worse. Shrine Realm? Was he referring to another Realm she didn't know about? But why does it feel like he's talking about this one?
"I am telling you this not because I trust you, but because there isn't much you can do with this information anyway. You don't have the proper connections to make use of it, and even if you did by say… relying on Throne Matheus, I would be long gone anyway."
In truth, thanks to the Mercenary Guild, Ryu was no longer in a state where he had to stay in the Shrine Realm. He could travel, go elsewhere, grow, and one day come back for his revenge. He had even solicited the interest of the Armament Guild, so his options were open.
In his mind, though, he didn't want to leave just yet. He yearned to let those bastards know, to tell them that he, Ryu Tatsuya was back. He wanted them to feel their hearts seize with trepidation and anxiety, for them to feel regret and remorse…
It was an impulse he found hard to control, especially when he thought that this news might reach Elena's ears. But for now, he held it in.
"Even if you are my woman only in name, I must take responsibility for you. If you one day fall in love with the man you are truly meant to be with, you can act as you please. I want you to know that I have a woman that I love, the only woman in my heart, my one and only wife. I will not abandon her."
Tae was stunned by these words, but she didn't feel anything special. Aside from a bit of pity, there was nothing more. Who wouldn't feel a small bit of something when rejected so definitely, even if you had no feelings for the other person? But it was nothing so deep as to be emotionally scarring. The two of them had barely interacted. Even if she didn't truly know what love was, she knew enough to know that she wasn't in love with Ryu.
In truth, she didn't think Ryu knew what it was either. Unfortunately for her, the Ryu she thought was only eighteen years old had already lived for more than a thousand.
"However, that very woman would hate me if I simply left you like this, so I will help you…"
Ryu couldn't help but smile at the thought of this woman, it was the kind of smile that made Tae's heart sieze and caused a wave of uncontrollable jealousy to overwhelm her. However, she couldn't tell by this smile that there was nothing she could do to change Ryu's mind and entering his heart was even more impossible.
Still... that night, a whole new world would be opened to Tae.