AWAKE

As Leonel was lost in thought, a soft feeling suddenly slid onto his thighs before a delicate fragrance tickled his nose. A smile spread across his face. "Not mad at me anymore?" © content.

He wrapped an arm around Aina's waist, pulling her deeper into his lap. "First rule of pleasing your girlfriend is not bringing up times when she was mad before," Aina pulled away, not letting Leonel feel her up too much in feigned defiance.

"Is that really the first rule? Could have sworn it was 'she's always right'."

"That too," Aina nodded confidently. "There are multiple first rules?"

"Refer back to rule number one, please."

Leonel laughed, pulling Aina back in closer and giving her a kiss. He didn't even know what he was worried about anymore, whatever it was, he had thrown it far away.

Unfortunately for him, when a peck became a make-out session, and a make-out session was about to progress into something more, Leonel found himself stonewalled again. Aina slapped his hand away from slithering up her shirt. "Nope. Not until you make good with my dad."

Leonel coughed, looking down at his crotch. He was already at full mast, what did he do to deserve this hardship? How was he supposed to make good with that stubborn old goat, was he supposed to be celibate for the rest of his life now?

Aina giggled. How could she want to see her father and her future husband at loggerheads? But she had already promised Leonel not to interfere too much, so she could only stand on the sidelines right now.

"Hey, what do you think about your father remarrying?" Leonel suddenly asked.

Aina was caught off guard by the question, but she eventually answered seriously. "No one should spend their lives alone."

Leonel somewhat expected this answer. He had mostly asked it because he thought of Cidra again and found it amusing, but he didn't want to make a joke of it unless he knew Aina's stance on it first. Now he knew he was clear to make his jokes, but what he didn't know was how he felt about the answer. He forgot to consider how much that question was also relevant to him. Wasn't his mother in the same situation right now?

But he felt a visceral disgust when he thought about his mother marrying another man. He could lie to himself and say that it was because he had confidence in one day resurrecting his father, and even now that remained his greatest goal, but he knew that wasn't the whole truth. At best, it was half of it.

That said, there was a difference between himself and Aina, though. His father had only just died, and Aina's mother had died decades ago. Maybe if he was more removed from the situation, he would feel similar to Aina.

He shook his head. It didn't matter. He would definitely bring his father back one day.

"Are you asking because of your mom?" Aina asked in a soft voice.

Leonel forced a smile. "No, I actually asked because it seems that there's a lady who likes your dad a lot."

"Really?" Aina blinked in surprise.

Leonel laughed. "If he saw your reaction right now-"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Aina denied immediately.

Leonel only laughed harder, earning him another pinch. "It's just that I asked him about that, and he said there was no one. He must have lied to me."

"Well, maybe he's not interested," Leonel shrugged.

Aina shook her head. "He's never interested in anything but food and fighting."

"Sounds like someone else-" Leonel's voice trailed off, having received a glare for his efforts.

"He's probably not dense enough to completely miss it, so it's more likely that he's ignoring it. I definitely need to vet this lady, who is it?"

Leonel chuckled remembering Cidra's glare. "Cidra."

Aina blinked, and then her eyes seemed to glaze over in thought. She remembered this person quite well, but after a moment, she frowned. "What is it?" Leonel asked.

"That woman spends a lot of time in..."

Aina's voice trailed off. She didn't want to make too many judgments about a person she didn't actually know, but it was hard to believe that a woman would spend so much time in those areas and not be involved somehow.

"Forget it," Aina shook her head. "I probably shouldn't interfere in their matters too much. If she really does end up with my dad, we might end up like you and my dad now."

Leonel grinned. "Right, right. Forget the love affair of others; we should focus on our own."

He tried to lean forward for a kiss, but Aina slipped away. "Nice try."

Leonel could only watch as Aina vanished into the distance. He sighed and leaned back.

It had already been three days since he set up that trap in the underground city, but nothing had come of it.

Three days actually wasn't much, and it made sense that the Godlens would be cautious about trying something like that again. If they were too eager, they might end up suffering again.

However, Leonel felt that it was something else. So, he took the risk and asked Anastasia to look into it, and it had only made him worry more.

The Godlens had gone into a complete lockdown. They activated their formation and hunkered down, and they seemed to be working on something big.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for Anastasia to breach the formation and take a look at what was going on inside, at least not without alerting them.

Now, Leonel was in limbo. His enemies didn't look like they were going to fall into the trap, so he was just floating without aim.

'It seems like I should go to that collapsed Ninth Dimensional Mine then. The Godlens have already pulled back into their city, and the main dangers over there are demons who are just patrolling the area now. I still don't know where I'll get Ninth Dimensional Evolution Ore, but at the very least, we can cover this base...'

"Leonel, Emery, Noah, and Jessica are awake."