Even Fisher didn’t expect her to temporarily veer away from the topic of Moli, turning to another direction instead.

Looking at her emerald eyes that flashed with an unusual color, Fisher didn’t shy away and simply said,

"Yes, what he said is true."

"..."

Rafael pressed her lips together, showing no expression, but the tail behind her twisted at a dangerous angle, like a hunting snake bowing its head, she continued to ask,

"Then... you rejected Elizabeth at the time because of Moli, right?"

"Yes, but not entirely."

When she heard the first sentence, Rafael’s tail paused slightly, but afterward, it became slightly more animated as if wound up,

"Back then, Elizabeth wanted to kill her, for her power grab plan, she had killed and schemed against many people, including me. I had to save Moli’s life, and I didn’t want to lose my freedom, rejecting Elizabeth was the right thing to do.

"After that, Moli and I parted ways over the Southern Ocean, but before our separation, we promised to meet again. Later, I didn’t know she came ashore again, nor did I know she came to the Dragon Court."

Moli seemed to be overshadowed even more when Elizabeth was mentioned.

And Rafael shook her scales slightly. Perhaps she had already gleaned many answers and understood the sequence of events from Fisher’s words earlier.

As for Elizabeth, according to Fisher’s past statements and that book, Elizabeth was Fisher’s first love, whom he separated from early on, seemingly with no follow-up since she even issued a warrant for Fisher earlier. But analyzing carefully, if that woman had been so decisive and ruthless, Rafael doubted Fisher could’ve escaped from Saint Nali.

Elizabeth must still have lingering feelings for Fisher, perhaps even now, after all, Rafael hadn’t heard of that Empress having any Princes, and she was already thirty-four.

As for Moli, Rafael could also sense that ambiguous vibe.

That kiss, their promise, all pointed to that fact.

Thinking of this, considering Fisher might have connections with other women, Rafael was almost burning with rage, wishing to tear the roof off.

But she didn’t do that.

She just took several deep breaths, finally looking seemingly calm at Fisher, eventually asking him,

"So in other words, Fisher, you and Moli are just in a teacher-student relationship. It just so happened that this time you came to the Dragon Court to find me, and coincidentally ran into Moli here, right?"

Rafael seemed to completely ignore those words in Fisher’s description, categorizing Fisher and Moli’s relationship as "teacher-student," decisively concluding everything.

Indeed, she hadn’t changed at all, yet she had changed a lot.

She no longer wore everything on her face; all her emotions and purposes were now hidden beneath eyes as deep as a quiet pond.

Fisher was her tail-matching partner, he came to find her, and it had nothing to do with Moli.

This was not only an acknowledgment from Fisher: as long as he said "that’s indeed so," she would treat other women as non-existent, placing them outside by default; it was also a warning to the gentle Moli: you are merely his student, while she had been an actual partner, and you are just his student, know your place.

You are neither rightful by name nor in position, retreat early, sister.

The shadow behind her was like a giant dragon covering the sky, suppressing Moli, who was already retreating in terms of momentum, so that she couldn’t lift her head. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Amidst her indisputable questioning, Fisher once again fell into rapid thought.

What was certain was that he couldn’t just admit it like this.

Even if today Moli admitted to dodging a catastrophe, what about afterward, even if he was truly shameless enough with everyone saying "friends, students, supervisors, and strangers," what about Renie?

If he said Renie was "just a friend," and she heard, he’d be finished in no time.

One must remember what he once promised her, but...

Just as Fisher faced Rafael, who stared straight at him, racing against time to think, unexpectedly, beside him, Moli, who had been silent all along, suddenly trembled her lips and said to Rafael,

"No... it’s not a teacher-student relationship; it’s the love between a man and a woman... even if I don’t know Mr. Fisher’s specific thoughts, that’s indeed how I feel."

Rafael looked at Moli, only to see her hesitating for a moment but also defiantly looking back.

It seemed not only Rafael had changed, but Moli as well.

Great, Fisher’s painstakingly transferred conflict returned to between them.

Rafael’s face showed no particular expression, just asked Moli,

"Love... Moli, when you and Fisher met, did you know about my existence?"

Still a matter of who came first; Moli had no way to retort,

"No... I didn’t know."

"He never told you?"

"No, but... Rafael, you never mentioned Fisher to me or the Dragon Court either."

Rafael paused slightly, a dark color flashed in her eyes, and even her voice weakened,

"Because the Dragon Court couldn’t accept him, that wasn’t something I could decide, I..."

Moli pursed her lips, then hesitantly said,

"But can Nali accept you, can Elizabeth accept you?

"Even maintaining a teacher-student relationship with Mr. Fisher had Elizabeth hunting me down, the whole Saint Nali knew about Elizabeth and Mr. Fisher’s relationship, yet no one dared to speak out, for fear of angering Elizabeth, how could he mention you? Was it just because Rafael wanted to organize the Dragon Court, he then gave up on his hometown?

"As early as when Fisher met you, he had already known Elizabeth. If Rafael you knew about Elizabeth back then, would you have given up? If Rafael could do it, then I can too."

Indeed, was the issue of different species only faced by her?

Didn’t Fisher have to consider it too?

Now, Fisher indeed didn’t need to consider it, but what about when he was still in Saint Nali?

If others learned of a gentleman with close ties to the elder princess, having an affair with a lowly Dragon-man from South Continent, what kind of pressure would he face?

Furthermore, even if Rafael didn’t know about Elizabeth, she knew another name on her journey: "Renie."

She remembered Fisher’s clothes in the carriage’s closet, as intimate and like the attitude of a hostess, she didn’t like it, so she just burned that woman’s clothes...

Even if she asked herself, if she knew of Renie or Elizabeth’s existence, would she have given up?

With myriad thoughts crossing her mind, Rafael’s unfathomable gaze involuntarily landed on Fisher. After hesitating for a moment, she turned her head and said to Moli word by word,

"But Moli, I’ve decided to take Fisher to meet my mother today. And should there be a day when I win in war or die in failure, I will announce his identity to my people and enemies, telling everyone that Fisher is my tail-matching partner."

"If Fisher needs a human wedding, then I will put on a human wedding dress; if he needs the Dragon-man Species’s endorsement, then I will do whatever it takes to get my mother’s consent, my people’s recognition."