"..."

"So? What do you have to say now?"

Sylvia asked Soren, her tone cold as if from the abyss.

Meanwhile, Aria clutched her dress, still warm from the robe Soren had just given her, her eyes suddenly tinged with guilt.

In front, Soren was busy looking at the mana recorder, which displayed the scene of his kissing incident with Elara.

’So...this is why she was angry?’

Soren showed a wry smile, feeling that Aria wasn’t wrong at all.

Just... he was unsure who the heck recorded this. He had made sure there was no one around before that incident.

Seeing how clear the recording was, it was obvious that someone had been spying on him.

"Where did you get this?"

Soren asked Aria, genuinely interested.

As for being exposed, surprisingly, he wasn’t as anxious as he thought he would be.

If anything, he now regretted not telling them already.

"Soren...are you trying to dodge my question? Or are you seriously going to blame it on others and deny everything?"

Seeing how Soren was asking Aria, ignoring her, Sylvia got angry. Shouldn’t he at least try to clear things up for them?

To be honest, she was somewhat disappointed.

"Aria, no need to reply to him. This guy is still acting calm despite being exposed. Did he think we would forgive him just like that?"

While Aria had calmed down slowly, it was now Sylvia’s turn.

All the good points Soren had just accumulated from her disappeared in an instant as she abruptly turned around, grabbed Aria’s hand, and dragged her with her.

"W-Wait...Sylvia..."

She didn’t even listen to Aria before dragging her out, intending to leave in anger.

Only, this time, Soren had teleported them out of the camp, into the forest where he was with Elise before.

So, suddenly Sylvia paused her footsteps as she was unfamiliar with her surroundings after all.

Poor girl didn’t even know where the camp was.

So, she could only turn around and pout at Soren, asking him the direction with her eyes.

"..."

"Sigh... alright, I wasn’t denying anything. I was just curious who was trying to mess with my relationship behind my back, that’s all."

Soren almost laughed, but held it in and gave a casual shrug.

"Besides, it’s not like I went out of my way to seduce her. If it weren’t for that life-and-death situation with Elise, I probably wouldn’t even know her that well."

Strictly speaking, he didn’t owe Sylvia or Aria an explanation. If anything, the one who deserved it was Elise.

After all, she was already part of his harem, bound to him through the Crimson Bond.

"Life-and-death situation? What do you mean?"

That didn’t mean he wanted to lose the others, though.

As expected, the moment Sylvia and Aria heard those words, their eyes widened, concern flashing across their faces.

Seeing that, Soren couldn’t help but let out a faint, sneaky smile, which he immediately hid, masking his face in a frown instead.

Although he hated to use their sentiments to help him get over this situation, Soren found that he had no choice.

"Sigh...okay, to be honest, I didn’t want to tell you guys because you two might get worried, but now that you saw that footage, I have no choice."

Soren let out a quiet breath, as if giving up, and leaned back against the tree behind him.

Then, in a calm, measured tone, he began recounting what had happened inside the C-rank dungeon to Sylvia and Aria.

As his story unfolded and the scale of the calamity he had faced became clear, their expressions gradually tightened, worry creeping across their faces as they listened in silence.

Soren didn’t go into detail about the danger he had faced. Instead, he focused on Elise’s condition, explaining how he had to kiss her to keep her from slipping into a coma.

Fortunately, after what they had experienced with the robe earlier, it wasn’t too hard for Sylvia and Aria to accept the idea of "mental resonance."

Even so, he didn’t miss the way both of them frowned at the same time when he said it.

The sight made him chuckle... which immediately earned him a smack from Sylvia.

Still, as he continued and explained how Elise had grown attached to him after that incident, their expressions slowly eased, and they finally seemed to accept his explanation.

Of course, Soren kept certain details to himself. Like having sex with Elise.

He wasn’t stupid enough to say everything.

Some things were better revealed little by little, in their own time.

"So... what you’re saying is that Elise almost died in that C-rank dungeon, and you saved her. That’s why you two got close?"

Sylvia asked, and Soren nodded only to get smacked on the head the next second.

*Pah!*

"Hey, stop hitting my head all the time. Do you want me to turn stupid?"

He rubbed the spot she struck, frowning. This was already the second time.

"You’re already stupid enough. What difference would it make?"

Sylvia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms as she pouted.

"And don’t think I’m not angry anymore. Even after something like that happened, you didn’t tell us. What were you even thinking?"

Aria nodded quietly beside her, clearly sharing the same sentiment.

Seeing this, Soren let out a breath and shrugged.

"Because I knew you’d worry and start crying like before. And besides, I didn’t want to drag you two into this mess."

That was the truth.

He didn’t know who Isabella really was, but judging by how persistent she had been in testing him, there was no telling what she might try next.

It was better if he handled things alone.

"Still... sigh..."

Sylvia’s expression softened slightly as she grasped the weight of the danger, letting out a quiet sigh.

"Fine. I won’t argue about you hiding it this time. Just don’t do it again."

There was no point pushing further when his reasoning made sense.

But something else still bothered her.

Snatching the Mana Recorder from his hand, she held it up and narrowed her eyes.

"But even if everything you said is true... how do you explain this?"

Her voice turned colder as she continued,

"We saw the recording clearly. It was you kissing Elise, and she looked uncomfortable... she even tried to push you away. Doesn’t that mean you forced it?"