"What happened?"

Soren quickly left the tent with Sylvia as soon as he heard the shout outside, only to see Aria covered in white from top to bottom.

A thin layer of crystalline ice clung to her clothes and skin as she stood there, completely immobilized, her body trembling slightly from the cold.

"S-Soren!"

Her gaze was fixed on the tent’s entrance, frustration and disbelief flickering in her eyes.

As if she couldn’t believe such a strong monster was inside the camp, right in front of Soren’s tent.

"Chit!"

But the moment Frost saw Soren, he darted toward him, his tail swishing eagerly.

It was as if he were asking whether he had done well on his first order.

"..."

For a moment, Soren was speechless before he sighed and gave an order.

"Frost, release her. She is someone I know."

Fortunately, Frost was smart enough to simply freeze Aria and not actually attack her.

But this also made Soren realize he needed to be more careful when giving orders to his new pet.

"Krr...!"

Frost seemed a bit dejected at not getting praise, but he immediately released Aria as he was told.

In an instant, with his skill withdrawn, Aria felt the ice around her melt away, restoring her mobility once again.

Only... in the process, her dress ended up completely soaked, leaving her shivering even more as the cold clung stubbornly to her skin.

She hugged herself tightly, her teeth chattering slightly as she finally shot Soren a resentful look.

"Y-you b-bastard...! C-can’t you give me a r-rest?"

Aria was already in tears after seeing the event in that Mana Recorder, and now this had to happen?

She could, of course, see what had happened here.

Although she was confused why Soren suddenly had a monster under his command, seeing him exit the tent with Sylvia and how red her face seemed, she could guess.

Not to mention the red smear on Soren’s lips.

It didn’t take a genius to understand what they had been doing inside or why that monster was guarding the tent.

For a moment, she felt even more betrayed as she gritted her teeth, kicked the ground, and abruptly turned around.

Then, without even a moment of pause, she left.

Left in a rage she had never felt before, leaving both Soren and Sylvia puzzled.

After all, in their eyes, it was just an accident, and Aria wasn’t hurt. As for them being together, it wasn’t the first time she had seen that.

’What happened?’

Soren keenly felt that something was off with Aria as she quickly ran away, as if intending to leave the camp without saying a word.

"Aren’t you going after her?"

Sylvia suddenly asked Soren as she saw him looking at Aria’s figure.

She could, of course, feel that there was something wrong with Aria, just like Soren, and she didn’t even mind him going after her.

After all, no matter how much they seemed to quarrel, they had become good friends these days. She didn’t want Aria to be hurt in any way.

However, that didn’t mean she didn’t have other thoughts.

Thoughts like...

’What will he choose?’

Or rather, who would Soren choose to be with in this scenario?

While having a harem seemed very lucrative, maintaining relationships among them wasn’t that easy.

Soren’s honest and upfront behaviour about his desires did attract Sylvia, and she even indulged him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have feelings.

Feelings of wanting to be more important to him than anyone else.

So, she was curious.

Would Soren leave Aria alone and stay with her to charge her defensive robe, or would he leave her here and run after Aria?

To be honest, it wasn’t fair for Soren, as Sylvia’s situation wasn’t equal to Aria’s after all.

But when did feelings care about equality?

Poor Soren, without even knowing it, was suddenly placed on trial in Sylvia’s mind, ready to be judged.

"Yeah... she seems unsettled. I don’t know what happened. I should go and try to calm her down first."

And the result was negative. Well, at least for Sylvia. But it wasn’t hard to understand.

Seeing Aria’s condition, who would leave her alone?

Especially when the situation had been so dangerous recently.

"Oh? T-Then... j-just go."

But that didn’t mean Sylvia was happy, as she felt a bit down, trying hard not to show it.

’So, in the end, he chose her?’

Yet such thoughts couldn’t help but sprout in her mind as her head lowered involuntarily, her hand clutching her t-shirt tightly.

All the happiness from receiving a gift from Soren seemed to vanish in an instant.

"Hmm? What do you mean by ’go’? Let’s go together. Isn’t she your friend?"

However, just as she was feeling down, a warm hand suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to a firm chest.

*Swoosh!*

"What-!"

Then, before she could understand what happened, Soren abruptly flew into the sky with the beautiful Crimson Wing on his back.

"Frost... just follow my scent to find me."

He gave an order to his pet before rapidly flying toward Aria, who was still running in her wet clothes.

He didn’t know what had happened, but she didn’t even seem to care about her condition, running like that.

Fortunately, her clothes weren’t see-through, though they were completely soaked.

’Tch... just what happened to her? Why is she so hurt? It didn’t seem like just jealousy.’

Soren thought, closing in rapidly, completely oblivious to Sylvia’s smile as she looked up at him, seemingly pleased.

’So... he chose both?’

That was her current thought as she clung to his warm embrace, letting out a soft smile, her gloom disappearing in an instant.

Although he didn’t choose her over Aria, he didn’t leave her alone either.

For Sylvia, it didn’t seem like a bad outcome.

It seemed Soren had officially passed a small test.

---

Ding!

[Sylvia’s impression of you has increased significantly.]

[Main Quest: Conquer has increased by 10%.]

[Quest Progress: 32%]

---

"Hmm?"

Soren was a bit surprised as a system prompt suddenly rang out mid-flight.

’Main Quest?’

For a moment, he was confused and glanced at Sylvia, only to see her giving him a soft smile filled with tenderness.

’What happened to her?’

He had no idea why the quest suddenly made progress. But he didn’t dwell on it much as he was already near Aria Luna.

*Swoosh!*

So, he ignored it for now and made a beeline toward the running figure, landing abruptly in front.

"W-What?"

The sudden appearance of Soren was so abrupt that not only Aria but also a few students around looked surprised, staring at them curiously.

But Soren ignored them all and faintly smiled at Aria.

"Hey Aria, don’t get mad. I’m sorry, okay?"

He spoke, giving her his best smile.

"I don’t know why you’re so hurt, but we can always talk, can’t we?"

To be honest, seeing the trace of tears in her eyes made his heart clench tightly.

How dare he make such a beautiful elf cry?

Even Soren hated himself now. Maybe he really should control himself from now on.

Suddenly, he felt that delaying telling them about Elise had been a good move.

"D-Don’t... I don’t want to talk to you. Leave me alone."

Unfortunately, Aria didn’t listen to him at all. Not when Soren was hugging Sylvia on one of his arms.

As much as she was grateful that he came to console her, did he have to bring another girl too?

Was this how someone comes to apologize?

For a moment, Aria felt Soren was too shameless. No wonder he went after those twins behind their backs.

’That scumbag!’

Not only her, but even the students around felt the same.

Dejected, Aria gave Soren a resentful look before trying to walk away when she found Soren abruptly beside her, his hand holding her thin waist in an instant.

"Wha-!"

"Shh, we can talk later. You’re clearly not in the right mood. Have you seen your dress? How can I let you roam around like this?"

Soren was now certain there was something more behind Aria’s anger toward him.

So, rather than creating a scene in public, he decided to relocate first.

"S-Soren... d-don’t!"

After grabbing her waist, he once again used the Crimson Wing, flying abruptly into the sky, this time with two girls in his arms.

All the while, Aria tried to struggle, but to no avail, as he directly left the camp and abruptly used teleportation the moment he went out of view.

To be honest, it almost looked like kidnapping.

’Should we... inform the professors?’

This was the thought of the crowd who saw the whole ordeal, clearly wondering whether it was just a quarrel between lovers or a true kidnapping.

No matter what, though, everyone couldn’t help but admire the guts of that Playboy.

He dared to snatch a girl while already having another beautiful one in his arms.

’Lucky bastard!’

Soren didn’t know how many people might have envied him today.