Conquering The Novel

After their sparring session, Ares and Ziona took a break, hydrating themselves and wiping off their sweat. They were alone in a training room allocated for their academy, as the rest of the team had already left after their regular training.

Surprisingly, Livia did not show up for training either. Although Ares had texted and called her, she did not respond as her phone was turned off.

"I think she needs time to contemplate what she should do in this situation. She could either accept that there will inevitably be other women around me and get used to it for my sake, or, worse, she will try to go after them in her own unknown ways," Ares muttered to himself shaking his head, before taking a sip of water from his bottle.

Meanwhile, Ziona sat next to Ares, watching him with a quizzical expression as he effortlessly demonstrated his strength. She had always known Ares to be powerful, but in just a few days, he had grown even stronger. It was both impressive and unsettling, and she wondered what other secrets he might be hiding.

"...How is that even possible?" Ziona gasped, still catching her breath from the intense training session.

Ares turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "How is what possible?"

Ziona looked up at him with admiration and a hint of envy in her eyes. "How can you become so strong in just a few days?" she asked.

As she thought about it, she wondered if Ares could now fight on equal terms with Bianca, with whom he had always struggled before.

Ares chuckled. "Don't compare yourself to me, Ziona. You are already strong enough, and your progress is impressive. You'll be surprised at how far you'll go with consistent training."

Ares genuinely meant what he said, as Ziona was now a lot stronger than she had been in a novel at this point in time.

Ziona remained quiet, hanging her head low. She couldn't help but feel inadequate after her defeat by Hercules in her previous match. It was the first time she had felt completely helpless since she had picked up a sword.

Tring—

Ares' phone notification interrupted her daze. As she turned toward Ares, she saw him smiling as he was texting someone.

"...Who got you smiling like that?" Ziona asked, speaking her mind without realizing it because it was her first time seeing him smile differently from his usual smile. This one looked more genuine to her.

"It's Diana," Ares replied, putting his phone back in his inventory after sending a text to Diana.

"...Are you guys dating now?" Ziona asked in a hushed tone.

"Well, yeah, you can say we are in some sort of complicated relationship as I am currently dating both Livia and Diana," Ares said nonchalantly.

After Ares mentioned his complicated relationships with Livia and Diana, Ziona looked at him with surprise and disbelief. She didn't say anything, wondering how he could handle being in a relationship with two women at the same time.

Ziona and Ares were now close enough for him to share his relationship, and Ziona was also one of the people who knew Ares' real personality. But she wasn't much bothered by it since she was born into a family that had it worse.

However, she couldn't help but stare at Ares with a blank expression and question, "Are you being serious?"

Ares chuckled as he got up from the bench and replied, "Yes, I'm serious." He then began to exit the training room, leaving Ziona still staring at him in disbelief.

Ziona was left to ponder about the situation. 'How will this work out? Aren't they both princesses?' she thought to herself.

As Ares was about to leave, Ziona suddenly called out to him, making him halt in his steps. "Ares!"

He turned to look at her and asked, confused, "What?"

"What...really is love?" Ziona abruptly questioned with a straight face.

!?

Surprised by her question, Ares suddenly appeared and sat beside her in an instant once again. "Don't tell me you're in love with someone?" he asked.

Ziona didn't know how to answer, and Ares noticed her hesitation. He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder and waited for her response.

After a moment, he spoke. "Is it Lucas?" Ares asked with a smile, recalling that Ziona had a crush on him in the novel while Kevin was chasing after her. This was what made Kevin confront Lucas, and of course, in the end, it was Lucas who came out on top after many fights.

However, Ziona's face twisted in disgust at the mention of his name.

"...I wouldn't date him even if he was the last man left in the world," she replied with a sour expression.

"...."

Hearing her sharp response, Ares wondered if he had inadvertently influenced Ziona's opinion of Lucas.

"...I don't think it's Kevin, then is it me who you're in love with?" Ares inquired, pointing to himself.

Ziona was taken aback by the question. She didn't know if it was love, but she enjoyed spending time with Ares and felt jealous when she heard about his dates with other women.

"Hmm, it's hard for me to say if it's love or not," Ziona replied, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "But I do know that I enjoy spending time with you, and it bothers me when I see other women vying for your attention or going on dates with you."

Ares raised an eyebrow, looking at her skeptically. "Are you sure you're not just feeling possessive because I'm your best friend?" he asked.

Ziona shook her head, her expression serious. "No, it's not just that," she said. "I mean, I do value our friendship, but there's something more there too. I just can't quite put my finger on it."

Ares sighed, "I'm sorry, Ziona, but I already have my hands full with many other women," Ares said, giving Ziona an uncertain gaze as he removed his hand from her shoulder.

"...."

Ziona's expression turned sour. "You're such a bastard," she muttered. "You go around picking up women like they're clothes, and you don't even consider when it comes to me?" Ziona said, with a twisted smile. "Or is it because I'm no longer a princess? Would you have tried to court me if I were still a princess?" she added, giving Ares an ominous stare.

Ares chuckled at Ziona's accusation. "Yeah, you're right. You're neither a princess nor are you stronger than me. And I already have my master, who is a skilled swordswoman. So, I don't need you," he said with a smile.

!!

Ziona was taken aback by Ares' blunt response, but she knew he was being honest with her.

"...You're not even trying to hide it from me anymore, huh? You could have just lied to me, saying something that would make my heart flutter, you bastard," she said, pushing him away from her and getting up from the bench.

"Well, I don't want to lie to you. You know that you're the only one I can talk to so openly without hiding my true self, right?" Ares shrugged, looking up at her.

Ziona sighed, feeling a mix of frustration and appreciation for Ares' straightforwardness. 'I guess that's why I like spending time with you, even though it can be infuriating sometimes,' she thought to herself, looking down at him with a small smile.

Ziona reminded Ares of his only friend from his previous world, and they both shared similar personalities. They accepted him for who he was, not bothered by his personality and nature. In fact, Ares had even dated her, but things didn't work out for them.

Ares didn't want to make the same mistake again and lose his valuable and real friendship with Ziona, with whom he could share anything he wanted without keeping to himself.

"Tch, so you're probably friend-zoning me, huh?" Ziona asked, turning her face away from Ares while her fluffy tail moved rapidly from side to side.

"...If you're being serious about this, then I don't mind you being one of my women. However, it will happen only when you manage to defeat me," Ares replied with a grin.

Hearing him, Ziona turned to face him with a huge grin forming on her face.

"You just gave me another reason to become as strong as possible quickly," Ziona said.

Ares smiled and appeared in front of her, leaving a blue trail behind.

He held her chin up to meet his gaze. "You know how I really am, right? Do you still want to be with me, knowing all that?" Ares asked as he began to caress her tail.

Ziona's eyes locked with Ares' as she spoke, her fluffy tail moving left and right as Ares caressed it. "Everyone in this world has two faces," she said. "They hide their true selves, the parts that may be considered dark or evil, and present a facade of goodness to gain the approval of others. And I know that you're no different from the rest of us, Ares. But I don't find that to be a bad thing. In fact, I'm happy that I know both of your faces," she finished with a warm smile.

Ares felt a sense of comfort and relief wash over him at Ziona's words. He had always felt like he had to hide a part of himself from others, even his closest allies. But with Ziona, he felt like he could be himself without judgment.

'...She even thinks the same as her,' Ares thought as he let go of Ziona's tail.

"We will talk about that when you can defeat me," Ares left the training hall, giving her a wave.

Ziona just stared at Ares as he left, lost in her thoughts.