"Um....It’s tight"

While moving through the corridor leading out of the room inside the ship, Thalia felt uncomfortable in her tight dress, particularly around her chest area.

"Hey, Zeph", She gently nudged the boy beside her with elbow, attempting to convey her discomfort.

As Zeph turned his gaze, he noticed her dress’s small opening revealing her cleavage, stretched to some length, all this scenery stirring emotions within him that only he understood.

"You should have asked for a larger size," Thalia said while trying to adjust her dress.

"Say something atleas—",She turned toward Zeph, catching his eyes that were fixed somewhere other than hers, and slowly followed his line of sight.

"You", As Thalia stood there, wanting to say something but holding it in, her face flushed crimson.

’Calm down your mind, Thalia’, She pondered what this man in front of her might do.

’Guinier, how about making the surface slippery today?’ he commanded.

Slowly, a black, liquid-like form of demonic energy oozed from his feet, coming to a stop in a designated spot.

Though Guinier’s primary abilities were related to the brain, due to its infusion with demonic energy, zeph could manipulate it using Mana Transmutation, changing its form into a liquid.

This demonic energy, mixed with his mana, rendered it undetectable for Cratens, but it was inefficient in actual combat.

However, at that moment, he had found a way to use this in dealing with the villainess.

In a soft tone, Zeph called out, "Thalia," while slowly moving his hand toward her.

thump thump

As Zeph’s voice echoed and his hands approached her, Thalia’s heart raced, anticipating what was coming. She replied in the same tone, "Yes, Zeph."

’!?’

"Ouch," his hands swiftly reached for her cheeks, gripping them and shaking her head.

Zeph, with a twitching mouth, said, "Eat less, Thalia. You’re gaining weight."

GASP

A gasp escaped Thalia’s lips as she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Memories flooded back of Zeph praising her body, the previous night for being soft and smooth, contrasting sharply with his current statement.

"Y-you!", Thalia attacked him.

"Ouch, ouch! Wait, Thalia, stop it!" Feeling a barrage of light punches from Thalia, Zeph pretended to be in pain before to calm down her pulled into an embrace.

"Calm down," Zeph tried to contain Thalia, who was pushing herself away from his embrace.

"No leave me, I hate you", She protested, trying to push him away.

With a chuckle, he added, "Hehe, I was kidding. You’re not chubby at all. It’s just that Estelle’s are too small."

WHOOSH

Suddenly, an intense aura filled the area, and Zeph slowly turned to find a Craten woman, looking at him with evident anger on her face.

"What did you just say, Zeph?" Estelle’s mouth twitched with boiling anger as she addressed them, attempting to keep herself calm despite feeling overwhelmed by understanding the meaning behind Zeph’s words.

"Oh, you were here," feigning surprise, Zeph turned to Thalia. "So, Thalia, I was saying, at least yours isn’t lemo—"

BOOM

Before he could finish, an ice spike was stopped by him, gripping with hands, his eyes turned towards the person who attacked him all of a sudden. "Again, Miss Estelle," he warned, "Don’t try it again, or things will change slightly."

Realizing the danger Thalia could have faced from the ice spike if it had shattered into smaller piece, Estelle’s recklessness became evident.

"It should be my line, you idiot!" Estelle summoned a sword, fixating her gaze on Zeph before suddenly vanishing.

SWISH

Reacting swiftly, Zeph moved Thalia behind him as Estelle’s sword swung at him.

BANG

Zeph, using his mana, effortlessly blocked her sword, pushing it aside while maintaining eye contact with Estelle.

Gritting her teeth, Estelle made her sword vanish and attempted to kick Zeph, who easily avoided it, smiling at her as she lost balance, perplexed by the sudden turn of events.

"Damn it," while fallen on the floor in confusion due to a sudden slip, she tried to lift herself using her hands as support.

"Ouch," she winced in pain, feeling a cramp in her feet out of nowhere. Everything seemed confusing, from her fall to getting a cramp.

Seeing her, Zeph felt that at least his ability worked well in this situation.

He utilized the properties of demonic energy to repel other forms of energy that could be detected by Estelle, and then increased its concentration on her legs, causing damage to her muscles and resulting in a cramp.

Of course, being a Craten, she could still heal it using water.

However, the question remained: would Zeph allow her to have it?

"Hey, what are you looking at? Help me up and give me some water," Estelle glared at Zeph, who was looking at her with a smile.

Having comprehensive knowledge about Cratens, it wasn’t difficult for him to manipulate the situation in a way that would make her feel grateful to him.

"You fucking moron, don’t look at me like that."

’Fuck’, And here goes his mission, failed.

This girl seems a tough nut to crack, and slowly Zeph realized this. Turning towards Thalia, he prepared to leave.

"Stop it, help me!" Turning towards her, looking for a second, he continued moving. "Let’s go, Thalia, we will be late otherwise."

"Zeph, you bastard, help me."

’Ugh, is she really a woman?’ Of course, it was not the first time he had seen a cursing female, but the problem was his ears were ringing, and his hands became itchy hearing her curses.

"Then don’t blame me." Saying this, he swiftly moved, not letting her say anything, directly lifting her in a princess carry. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"W-what!?", feeling being lift all of a sudden she retorted. "Stop, stop, not like this."

But already hearing her curses, it would be the last thing he would do. She needs to learn a lesson. Without further thinking, he moved forward while she kept retorting. But outside water, her strength was far from enough to shake Zeph.

"Don’t do this, bastard." Estelle tried to push herself while being carried by Zeph, moving through the corridor leading to the exit.

"Thalia, stop. Isn’t he your boyfriend? How can he touch another woman?" Not finding any opening, she tried to seek help from the girl walking beside them, busy adjusting her dress and not paying attention before turning her head upon hearing her protest.

"But he is just helping you." With a frown on her face, Thalia spoke her heart out, not understanding the woman in front of her.

Thalia didn’t care about Zeph carrying her, already knowing he had no interest in Estelle. It was least of her concerns now.

Her mind was busy while planning to deal with other girls.

Of course, she understood that her man was slightly different. So, even if she can’t stop him, she will just deal with women. ’Valeriana and Rihane, they have some probability.’

Not knowing about Diana’s identity, who was most probably the next soulmate, Thalia thought to deal with others.

.

.

.

.

Valeriana’s mind was in complete turmoil, not understanding what she was witnessing—seeing how he was carrying another woman, especially one from the third year.

’Was he helping her or something?’ she could only think of this; any other reason was out of her range, and in a way, it felt genuine too.

After all, why would a third-year let a junior lift her, especially in front of so many people?

Looking at Zeph, who, as always, had no thoughts that could reach Valeriana, unaware of Guinier’s presence, she turned towards Thalia, who was slowly walking forward; her posture seemed rather uncomfortable.

’Is she hurt too?’ Narrowing her eyes, she focused on Thalia, but due to the presence of many people coming into her sight, disturbing it, she struggled to focus.

’"Rihane is easy to deal with, but the problem is with Valeriana. Should I change her notes? Once she fails one exam, her focus will be fixed on studies, not on Zeph"’

’Is she insane?!’ Her eyes widened, hearing Thalia’s thoughts, She felt bewildered with the ideas going inside Thalia’s mind.

Slowly turning towards the woman in Zeph’s embrace, already deciding how to deal with Thalia, it was impossible for Valeriana to let someone disturb her studies.

Her plan was simple—ignore Thalia Crimwell. Narrowing her eyes, she looked at Estelle.

"’ Leave me bastard, I will kill him, My Image!!!!!, Just once let me go you dumbass"’

"Ugh!" A sudden barrage of thoughts overwhelmed her mind, making her slightly uncomfortable, but being already accustomed to reading people’s minds from an early age, it was not new for her to witness someone cursing this much. "Then it’s decided."

Her decision was made—avoid Estelle and Thalia at all costs.

Of course, Valeriana didn’t find them dangerous, but from her perspective, involving with people like Estelle or Thalia was the most regretful decision.

Her goal was simple—she needed to focus on her studies and also—

Turning towards the young man moving forward, she wondered, ’Do I really have to do this?’

But knowing that the promise she made to her Aunt this morning should still have two years left, and once she was done with everything, it would be feasible for her to think about those things.

SWISH!

Suddenly feeling the presence of a figure materializing beside her, she turned to look at a beautiful woman with the same features as a Haidren.

Looking at her niece, Deventhia reminded her about today’s promise she made, "You remember the promise you made to me, right Valeriana?"

Hearing her aunt’s words, she added, "But," turning her eyes in the direction of Zeph.

"Will he accept me as his wife?"