Chapter 148: Breathtakingly Absurd Maneuvers

"Mr. Ruby, do you have a moment? I'd like to invite you for a drink."

After bidding farewell to the emperor, Ruby, who was just about to leave, was stopped by Caesar, who extended a friendly invitation to him.

"Alright."

Sensing that the man before him had something to say, Ruby agreed. Led by Caesar, he entered the prince's quarters. Unlike Tynasha's room, this elder brother's room was lined with bookshelves filled with scrolls of magic paper, a subtle testament to how diligently he applied himself to mastering the knowledge of imperial governance.

"Please, have a seat."

Caesar walked over to a small round table, sat down, and motioned for Ruby to take the seat opposite him. He then produced a bottle of wine and two cups from his spatial storage.

"Aren't you going to sit?"

Ruby had taken his seat, but there were more than just the two of them. Caius had followed them at some point, though he remained standing instead of sitting, simply picking up the wine bottle to fill both cups.

"I'll pour the drinks for you. Don't mind me, I do this all the time."

Caius smiled, telling Ruby to treat him as a mere servant. The second prince was naturally unpretentious and saw nothing improper in pouring wine for Ruby; in his eyes, Ruby was a figure as remarkable as his eldest brother.

"First, I must thank you. Thanks to the cards you gave me, the prestige of the royal family has risen to unprecedented heights."

Caesar raised his cup and drained the wine in a single gulp. The cards from Yu-Gi-Oh brought not only wealth but also endless fame, and upon reflection, he still owed Ruby a word of gratitude.

"Though every day in the plaza outside the palace gates, people bring card packs, praying to pull rare cards. If they succeed, well and good, but if they fail, it's either straight to the rooftop or causing a scene before being dragged off by the guards."

The second prince unceremoniously dismantled his brother's solemn mood with a complaint, taking the opportunity to refill his elder brother's cup. Almost every day, some delirious card gambler had to be dragged away, forcing him to conceal his hair color whenever he went out in public, lest he be beaten to death by the impoverished masses one day.

"Mr. Ruby, you mentioned earlier that you needed someone with strong vitality. As far as I know, such people do exist on the continent. One kind is humans born with the [Source of Life] trait; the blood of such individuals can entirely rival high-level healing magic."

"The other kind is elves. To put it in your terms, the physical structure of elves is basically identical to that of humans, and they all consume a bit of the Tree of Life's sap, making the vitality within their bodies incomparably vigorous."

"However, both types of people are practically impossible to find by mere chance."

"It's just the difference between someone who is deliberate and someone who is indifferent. I only want to ask you this: if I resort to any means necessary to acquire one of these two types of people, will you help me?"

Caesar's tone was no longer gentle; it turned somewhat chilling, causing Caius beside him to instinctively shrink his neck. Don't let this prince's usual lack of temper fool you; when he decided to be ruthless, he was second to none. Caius still remembered the time when he was ten years old and snuck out of the imperial capital to play with Caesar, only to encounter a black bear in the jungle. He had been terrified out of his wits, but Caesar had fought it without a trace of fear, and after winning, he had harvested the bear's gallbladder with his own hands.

"I... don't know. But I know Tynasha wouldn't agree. That idiot—once she has experienced that pitch-black world, she wouldn't want to inflict it on anyone else. If she knew you traded someone else's darkness for her light, she would probably hate you."

Ruby opened his mouth, unsure how to make a choice. To perform the same work as a black-market doctor crossed a line in his heart that he struggled to clear, yet he didn't want to watch Tynasha continue down that path.

"As long as she lives healthily, what does it matter if she's hated? But seeing you hesitate like this, I can only say you truly are the person my sister holds dear."

Caesar sighed. Looking at Ruby, he felt a mixture of relief. Though Tynasha was a bit foolish, the friends she made were all exceptional. If Ruby had readily agreed, it would mean he wasn't as kind as he projected; yet if he firmly refused, it would seem overly hypocritical. Thus, sometimes taking things one step at a time was not a bad choice after all.

"Tynasha has always been the apple of our family's eye. Though she's a bit foolish, a bit too strong, and lacks consideration in her actions, we truly love her. Please, I beg of you."

Caesar downed several more cups of wine, and Ruby could clearly see the glint of tears in his eyes. At this moment, there was nothing he could do to comfort him, save for sharing the same wine and bearing the pain together.

By the middle of the night, Caesar was heavily intoxicated and had been put to bed with Caius's assistance. Ruby, meanwhile, climbed onto the roof of the building where Tynasha resided, staring blankly at the smooth, round moon. Seeing how deeply Tynasha was cherished and loved by her family still stirred profound emotions within him.

"Yo, can't sleep?"

In a flash, another person appeared beside Ruby. The petite young woman, having changed back into her tight leather armor, sat down next to him and asked.

"Lady Qianye, if the people of your country knew that a princess was casually scaling the roofs of the imperial palace in the middle of the night, it would be a laughingstock."

"I only just figured out what that idiot actually did. From my perspective, it's quite an extraordinary feat. Even though this matter cannot be made public, aren't the true heroes of this magical beast wave the two of you?"

Qianye ignored Ruby's teasing, simply expressing her understanding of the situation. If Ruby hadn't discovered that giant worm in time, and if that foolish grand princess hadn't risked her life to block a Tier 7 magical beast, this magical beast wave would have been a catastrophic disaster for the Holy Empire.

"A hero... I've never thought of myself that way. I failed to protect..."

Ruby's heart weighed heavily. He was just about to pour out his grievances to Qianye when he noticed the God of Magic girl appear behind Qianye like a ghost. She patted Qianye's shoulder, and the two of them vanished together. A second later, Mayna reappeared, taking Qianye's place beside Ruby. The transition was utterly seamless, as if she had been sitting there by his side the entire time.

"Mm, go on? Shall I help you start—'I failed to protect...'"

Mayna shot Ruby a sidelong glance and said playfully. She had just been downstairs taking care of Tynasha, but her vixen radar had suddenly gone off. When dealing with vixens, she was usually merciless and had no idea which corner she had tossed the other girl into.

"Go on, go on, I'm not in the mood."

Ruby's gloomy mood was swept away instantly. He had no idea what kind of neural pathways Mayna's brain possessed to execute such a harmonious action out of such an unharmonious situation.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Mayna leaned closely into Ruby's arms, wrapping both arms tightly around his lower back, her eyes blinking as she looked at his right hand, which was still wrapped in bandages.

"No."

"I'm not talking about your arm, I'm talking about your heart. I know what you're thinking; you watched Tynasha fall right in front of you, and you feel guilty, don't you? The heartbeat I'm hearing right now is saying exactly that."

Mayna's ear pressed against Ruby's chest. In this posture, they could feel each other's warmth and perceive each other's emotions.

"You figured it out again?"

"I'm sorry. It was my oversight this time. I failed to protect you, and let Tynasha steal the lead."

Mayna rubbed against Ruby's chest. Letting the responsibility that should have been hers get snatched away was one thing, but to have it stolen by that idiot—just the thought that Tynasha might lose her sight in the future made the God of Magic girl's heart ache as well.

"Mayna."

Ruby used his still-functioning left hand to push Mayna away, looking at her with an intensely serious gaze.

"What?"

The God of Magic girl's heart began to thump at an accelerated pace. She figured Ruby was about to do something; considering he was in a bad mood, forcing herself to endure it just this once would be fine, yep.

"I'm a grown man. Can you stop always talking about protecting me? Even I will feel embarrassed you know."

"Tch, I'm going to keep protecting you properly until you become a God of Magic. You're never shaking that off for the rest of your life!"

"Eat my forehead flick."

"Ow! You bastard, you said no forehead flicks!"