Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Other than that, he could also tell that a portion of her hidden powers sleeping inside her body had awakened. What kinds of changes would it bring once it is completely awakened?

Would the Cecilia that he knew still be there? Or would she become one of the Eight Emissaries that Aldebaran told him about?

"Hm? Big brother, why are you making such a gloomy face all of a sudden? Right did you see my [Status]... hehe, it's quite good right? Do you see this [Abjuration] skill? This new skill that I learned allows me to use healing magic on anything that I want. I can fill them up with vitality as long as they are not dead".

Cecilia demonstrated the powers of her [Abjuration Manipulation] on a nearby flower in the garden. Like a cute little sister that wanted the recognition and praise of her big brother, she looked at him with stars in her eyes.

Simon spoiled her as much as she wanted. He could see that the skill [Abjuration] wasn't as simple as healing, but he left it at that.

After playing with Cecilia for a while, Simon's started darting around seemingly to find someone.

Noticing his gaze, Cecilia made a crafty smile as she asked "Is big brother perhaps searching for big sister?".

"Eh?... Yeah" Simon scratched his head and nodded. Since Irene wasn't on the Main Floor, he thought she would be here. But it turns out that she wasn't here either.

"Big Sister was here a few moments ago, but she left"…

"When was that?" Simon questioned.

"When you arrived" Cecilia looked at him and continued "She was quite angry you know. Perhaps the one who was concerned and worried the most, was big sister. After you got hurt, everybody was devastated. Big sister not only had to look after you, but she also managed the dungeon and all the people living here all alone".

Now that Cecilia mentioned it, with him being out of commission, there was only one person who could have managed his dungeon.

The Valkyries were fully concerned about him to pay any attention to anything else. Cecilia was a wreck and the forest spring spirits had no combat abilities.

In a situation like that, he could imagine the kind of responsibilities that Irene had to carry all alone on her delicate shoulders.

"Big brother I'm fine now, you should go and console big sister. If you take too long, perhaps she might sulk and not talk to you for a long time" Cecilia smiled, prompting Simon to hurry up.

Looking at his little sister talking like all grown up, he patted her head before nodding his head. He opened the [Dungeon] function of his [Main menu] and quickly found her whereabouts.

Main floor, near the shore of the serenity pond.

A tranquil beauty was quietly sitting by the side gazing at the pond in front of her blankly.

"I knew this is where I would find you"

Suddenly the silence of this place was broken by the arrival of a young demon who casually walked to the side of the beauty and unceremoniously sat beside her.

As Simon turned to look at the beauty next to him, he saw her staring at the pond and not bothering to look at him. She was giving him the silent treatment.

Simon made a bland smile before picking up a topic to speak but Irene was hell bent on ignoring him.

"I heard that you managed the dungeon all alone while I was unconscious? You even looked after me and all of my subordinates. You see when I gained consciousness a few days, I saw you taking care of my body and feeding me medicine".

When Simon finally mentioned the last part, there were some changes in the mood of Irene.

"Snort… I was just making sure that you didn't die on your bed. More than me, it was those maids of yours that took care of you so if you are grateful, you should…"

Before Irene could complete her sentence, a hand swiftly entwined around her willowy waist and pulled her towards the man next to her. Then the lips of the man instantly ceased hers and before she knew it, she was embraced by him.

At that instant, her mind blanked and her body as if electrocuted stiffened like a rock. It was only when she felt a tongue that wantonly invaded her mouth and lustfully tried to explore around, did she come to her senses.

She hurriedly pulled away and tried to break away from his hold but the words that came from Simon next dissipated all her resistance.

"Thank you…" it was two short words, but Irene could feel the many emotions and sentiments from just those few words.

"Thank you for looking after me, my dungeon and all of my subordinates"…

"Hmph… there is no need to thank me because I know you will go risking your life somewhere else again. After all, you like gambling with your life so much" Irene complained, her voice was meek but also full of fury and sorrow.

"I'm sorry" Simon apologised. He had no pretext or justification for doing what he did back then.

It was as she had said, jumping into the spatial storm was nothing short of gambling with his life. It was not only once or twice that he did something like that, whenever he faced some difficult obstacle, he would always resort to gambling with his life.

Simon recalled that his life up until this moment have been a series of gambling where if even a tiny factor was missing, he would have already died tens if not hundreds of times.

Irene was right to chastise him like that. Simon who knew he was guilty, had no words for his defence. He looked at the breathtaking beauty in his embrace. Her flushed face filled with anger and embarrassment, her moist eyes, her soft pink lips and her small nose.

She looked so endearing that Simon was at a loss for words.

As the two people embraced each other, the place descended into silence once again. With the picturesque serenity pond as the backdrop, the place could be any more better.

How long had it been? Finally, a tiny tear trickled down Irene's face. The cold phoenix beauty who was like a millennium old ice, had finally budged. And the man to accomplish that was none other than Simon.

BADUMP… BADUMP… as her pounded like a drum, to her surprise, Irene found that she could no longer maintain her composure. Her emotions which should have been frozen and sealed, were always in turmoil because of this man.

Whenever he was around, she could never catch a break. Every single time he would do something stupid and unexpected and wreck his body.

She should be getting mad at him, she should have given him the silent treatment so why was it that when he said sorry, her heart melted like that? For the first time in a while, Irene found herself caught up in a situation where she didn't know what to do.

"?"

While a myriad of sentiments was going through her head, she suddenly sensed the hands that were resting on her delicate waist suddenly roam around at this moment. Those big bad hands taking the liberty of the situation, started moving all around her back.

Feeling the delicacy of that smooth soft skin, it started moving downwards towards those mighty and majestic buns. Just as the richness and plumpness of those two mountains was about to be grasped in entirety by Simon, his hands were suddenly smacked away.

"You!!" Irene who quickly fled away from his escape was looking at him while gritting her teeth. She then turned around and refused to look at him.

Simon who got absorbed in the moment, couldn't help but blame his hands for being mischievous at this time. He was here to mend the situation not make it worse, what was he going to do if Irene reverted back to ignoring him again?

Simon didn't know what was going through Irene's mind hence he decided to thicken his face and continue their conversation.

"Cecilia made me do a pinky promise. She said that if I didn't do it, she would never forgive me".

"What promise did you make with her?" Maybe the topic interested her or maybe it was because of something else, Irene questioned with her back facing him.

"She asked me to promise that I would never die and I couldn't bear to reject so I made that promise. That being said, I fully intend to keep it; however, I am not so naïve to believe that I can get through all the obstacles in the future all on my own. That is why, I want you to help me"

Simon bowed his head "I want to get stronger. Strong enough that I wouldn't worry those around me anymore. Strong enough so that they won't have to cry anymore".

Hearing his earnest words, Irene who was looking away slightly turned her flushed red face towards him. She looked at his bowing figure before sighing.

"Alright, I will support you in every way that I can. But just to make it clear, I haven't forgiven you yet. Not only did you gamble with your life but your earlier behaviour too…" the moment she mentioned the last part, her heart started beating rapidly and her face became furious.

"Anyways, make sure you are fully healed, we will start training after you are done with your tasks" leaving behind those words, Irene disappeared from the place as if escaping from a predator.

Now left all alone, Simon looked at her escaping back profile and then at his hands as he smiled. That feeling earlier was the best, these were his honest thoughts.