Rivers of the Night

Chapter 754: Sometimes

Theron didn’t reply for a long while. He stared into those beautiful eyes, and slowly, his smile faded.

He let her waist go. "Maybe you’re right. But it wouldn’t be a matter of not daring. I just gain nothing from it."

Ayame watched as Theron vanished.

The two had taken on a hotel room together, waiting for the grand wedding to begin. But it was quite large. For some reason, Theron had a ridiculous amount of funds on him—funds that he seemed more intent on spending on that large wolf by his side than a beautiful woman.

However, Ayame found that after that answer, although she was correct in the end, she was having an even harder time understanding Theron.

Other women might fall into thoughts of self-doubt. ’What did he mean, nothing to gain? Was her beauty not enough?’

But Ayame didn’t waste even a single thought on that matter. She just wondered what kind of teenage boy didn’t lose their minds when they saw a beautiful woman.

A peculiar young man, indeed. It seemed that he had been forced to grow up far too quickly—a lot like she had.

But oddly enough, he was more mature than even grown men.

’I think that’s it...’

Ayame realized that maybe it wasn’t entirely a facade. This persona Theron put on... he enjoyed being that person too, even if it wasn’t entirely who he was.

Cosplaying as a young man with no worries and everything in the palm of his hands—a prodigal son who did and said as he pleased.

Maybe on his most silent nights, that was exactly the sort of life Theron wanted to live.

It would be easier, wouldn’t it?

In some ways, maybe she wished she really was a woman with a sex wall too.

**

"This happened under your watch?"

A young man stood over a corpse with its head separated from its body. His head of hair flowed in locks of silver, his eyes a piercing, radiant blue.

He almost looked as though he was shimmering. But if one paid close attention, he wasn’t here at all. He was projecting himself from somewhere else.

But what was odd about this projection ability was that he was still very much present, as though he just needed to walk right out of his bubble to be present—yet he had chosen not to.

"These matters were out of my hands," a familiar young miss said casually. "You all chose to use me like a whipping dog, trying to round up your little sheep. What did you want me to do? Show my real strength and kill him right there?"

"From what you’ve told me, you’ve already bared your teeth enough. What difference would it have made? The Shonagh Clan heir already had you at arm’s reach. What do you think he’ll be like now?"

"Irrelevant at this point. The Shonagh Clan has already lost the item. I told you already that trying to throw my face like this for little power plays wasn’t going to be worth it. All you’ve done is thrown the face of the Chen Clan, and now everyone heard an outsider mention exactly that."

The young man looked toward the young miss of his family with a sharp glint in his eyes. Her voice was immediately restricted, the weight on her heels weakening just the slightest bit as she was raised from the ground.

Despite the situation, she didn’t say a single word, the sneer still clear and evident on her face. So long as she knew this young man wouldn’t kill her, what was the use in all of this? A worthless power play?

While she was the one throwing her face away for his stupid, idiotic plans, the family wasn’t even benefitting. If anything, they were only losing ground.

"You want to catch up to Ameridia so bad. But just face it—you’ll never be worth half of her. What? Does it get your panties twisted up thinking that a woman is your better? How about you steal a few more girls for your harem, maybe that’ll feed your ego a little better."

BANG!

The young miss was thrown across the room, slamming against a wall so hard she hacked up a mouthful of blood.

The young man took a step forward, the bubble of sparkling silver light around him bursting as he stepped into the room in earnest.

"Good, good. In your time away from me, you’ve gained quite the mouth."

"Go fuck yourself."

"You’re right," the young man said calmly. "I can’t kill you. If I did, if not Father, then the ancestors would surely have my head. The Chron Bloodline is too rare already, and every one of our kind is far too valuable. I won’t make your life more difficult either—that would be a waste of my time and a waste of my resources.

"All things considered, you’ve brought me an interesting case. This Theron Galethunder... I’ve heard his name before."

The young miss perked up when she heard this, despite her injuries. She had never heard of this Theron, so how had her brother?

"From my lovely bride’s mouth. Or, rather, what my spies have told me about her life. It seems that she has quite some feelings for this young man. You are right in believing that he is not here for normal reasons—he probably wants to play the role of prince saving the damsel in distress."

The young miss frowned. Something about this explanation seemed off to her, but she had no evidence for it. Her brother was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid. If this was what he had found out, it was likely the truth.

"I think I’ll have to use him for a little demonstration. Entertainment, he said? Indeed. Every wedding does need entertainment.

"Curiously enough, he’ll also bring quite the gift on my behalf. I had planned on going to get the Nightingale Ancestral Spear myself, but to think he would bring it with hat in hand."