Jason didn’t understand why those words hurt him so much! The thought of Agiel getting married to someone else felt like Jason was losing something very important, and Jason couldn’t understand where these emotions were coming from! Jason knew he wasn’t in love with Agiel. He cared about her, but he wouldn’t say he loved her the same way he loved his girls! So why was there such an intense reaction in Jason’s heart!? Jason grit his teeth, and he easily got himself back under control, and then he said one word.
"Why?"
Jason’s voice was filled with so much intensity that Agiel felt her heart squeezed miserably! Agiel felt like she was committing a betrayal by giving herself to someone else like this, but she didn’t have a choice anymore! Agiel hardened her heart, and she pushed Jason away from her while wiping her tears.
"That’s none of your business, Jason. None of this is any of your business anymore. You can go and live with your wives and your duty, and you don’t need to worry about me. You’ve made your choice, and I’ve made mine. If this is what I have to do to protect my people, I’ll sacrifice myself a thousand times over. I think you should go now."
"Agiel why—?"
"I SAID LEAVE!"
Agiel turned around with an angry shout, and Jason could hear the sound of footsteps approaching the room quickly. Jason realised that those were probably the guards drawn here by the loud voices, and Jason let out another calm sigh as he realised he had to leave before they found him here. Agiel was standing with her back to Jason, and she was hugging her arms around her chest, and Jason spoke up in a sincere tone.
"For what it’s worth, I really do care about you, Agiel. I always have."
"I don’t care anymore, Jason. Just leave me alone."
Agiel stared out the window, and Jason realised that Agiel did not want to see him anymore. The sight of Agiel’s defeated figure standing against the moonlit window seemed to engrave itself into Jason’s mind at that moment, but the sound of the guards outside had gotten louder, and since Jason knew he couldn’t be found lurking around in another Overlord’s domain, Jason simply stepped back and vanished into the shadows at the same time that the door burst open.
"Princess! Are you okay!?"
....
That was the last time that Jason saw Agiel, and even now the sight of her defeated figure against the moonlit window still came to the front of his mind every now and then. Jason had gone to speak to Farlow about Agiel’s marriage, and Farlow told Jason that Agiel’s marriage was meant to form an alliance between the two warring factions of their world. Agiel would get married to the general who killed her parents, and after this marriage, all the prisoners of war from Agiel’s kingdom would be released. That was why Agiel was going through with it!
"They actually sent Agiel the offer three months ago, back when you were on the journey across the Primordial Expanse to clear your name. Agiel postponed making a choice for as long as possible because she wanted to see you one last time. I thought she would form a plan with you for what to do next, but I was surprised when she decided to go ahead with it."
Farlow said all this while pouring out a cup of tea for Jason. The two men were sitting in Farlow’s garden while having this talk, and Jason didn’t even bother touching his tea, and he spoke up with a frown.
"She didn’t tell me any of this."
Jason knew that Agiel had made her choice after their talk in Egypt. But Jason hadn’t known about any of this! If Jason knew that Agiel was facing something so serious, then he would’ve definitely tried to help her!
"She didn’t want to burden you with it. The Jadites have a very strong traditional mindset. The bonds they make with their partners are their greatest pride, and Agiel did not want to taint that bond by forcing you to be with her. This is why I told you not to go see her. You two will only end up hurting each other if you continue to meet. It’s best you let her go, Jason."
Jason didn’t give any response to Farlow’s words, and he simply took a drink of his tea with a narrowed gaze. The phantom pain in Jason’s chest was still there, and Jason had a feeling that it wouldn’t go away for some time.
’My King, you need to focus more on the second foundation link. You’ve broken the mana pathway between the foundation sequence and the rest of the rune over here.’
Jason blinked as Azrael spoke up, and Jason hummed as he came back to the present. The conversation with Farlow and Agiel had been a few days ago, and Jason was doing his best not to think about it for now since he still had so much to do. Jason narrowed his eyes at the rune in front of him and grabbed a cup of red liquid to drink from it.
[The user’s [Blood Thirst] has subsided]
[Volume of Blood Consumed [1.2/1.2]]
’Finally.’
Jason put the cup away once he got this message from his system, and he refocused on the rune he had been working on. Since all of Jason’s girls were going to be away for a while, Jason had gotten a few blood bags from the Monarch Guild Hospital to help him with his blood thirst. All the girls knew just how addictive Jason’s bite could be, and since none of them wanted Jason to bite any other girl, they asked Jason to use the blood bags until they got back. Jason didn’t have any problem with the blood bags since it was just for a few days, and Jason had actually gotten used to them after using them for so long!
Jason was currently sitting shirtless on the floor, and he was working on a second-grade rune that was meant to be able to absorb both Mana and Qi and combine them together. In his fight against the Bengari inside the third Gate, Jason realised that his Resonance was one of his most powerful trump cards, but most runes these days could only be activated using mana, so Jason was trying to see if there was some way to filter both his Qi and Mana into a rune so that it would be even stronger!
Jason had gotten the idea while training his Resonance two days ago, and since he had some free time right now, he decided to try and create this new type of rune. At his current mastery, Jason could only reach about 15% in his Resonance before he loses control over it, and even though it was very powerful, Jason knew that most Primordials out there would be able to kill him without even trying!
——
Primordial Essence Rank: 1 (50%)
Primordial Essence Purity: 12%
——
These two stats were the things holding Jason back the most right now. The Primordial Essence Rank prevented Jason from being able to move up to the next rank without filling up his Essence, and the Essence purity would determine how much stronger Jason was than the other PRIMORDIALs in the same Rank. Jason had been meditating a lot with Esdath recently, and that was why he was able to raise his Primordial Essence Purity from 10% to 12%, but it was still far too low!
Jason needed some way to get stronger faster, but the only way Jason knew to gain more power right now was to go and fight against Primordials and absorb their Essence after defeating them!