Chapter 993: Choices
“You’re a very picky eater,” Vatyra remarked, staring at the bread Rael had only half-eaten.
Rael raised a brow. “So? Do you want to finish it for me? You’ve been eyeing my bread since the moment I got here.”
Before a fight could erupt, Solenne coughed, getting both of their attention. Truthfully, she didn’t have a lot of hope for them peacefully eating without starting a fight. But alas, she was very wrong. They not only had a peaceful dinner together, but they even shared some of the food.
She had fought against both of them at one point, and as much as she hated to admit it, seeing all of her former enemies in one spot was oddly nostalgic. She wished things could’ve been different back then — the choices she had made, and the people that she had let manipulate her.
If only Lucien had failed to get in her head, none of this tragedy would’ve ever happened. But then again… If Lucien hadn’t messed with her mind, she would’ve most likely settled down with Adam, and not Uriel.
So even though she had faced so much trauma, the sheer fact that those ties led her to Uriel was enough.
Smiling to herself, she watched as Rael and Vatyra continued to bicker. Uriel, on the other hand, dealt with the plates, washing both his and Solenne’s. He wanted to wash Rael’s too, but Rael had sold the plates to the premium shop and bought a couple more pairs.
He really didn’t ask for it, but free plates were always nice. On that note, they also talked a lot about Uriel’s plan of wanting to create an avatar. After Rael’s suggestion, that had changed to him wanting to go to a different reality altogether.
But sadly, no matter how much he pestered Rael about it, Rael never humored him enough to agree. So in the end, Uriel was forced to just accept his initial idea and go about it. Still, even if he accepted it, he planned to learn blacksmithing to the fullest degree.
Even if that meant it would take years, or decades. He liked it, and he was good at it. Or maybe not? Maybe the chieftain was only making him feel good so Solenne kept providing them with good dagets?
Ugh…
What a pain to even think about.
While Solenne and Uriel were overthinking, Rael spent the next couple of minutes making Vatyra as angry as possible, before suddenly vanishing into thin air, entering his Ruler of Reality form.
Today was fun, and while he wasn’t invited to the next dinner, he was sure that by visiting a couple more times, he might be able to score yet another invite. Or maybe he’d be just like Vatyra, visiting once a year.
That kind of sucked.
Shaking his head inwardly, Rael searched for his wives, finding them in a nebula just several lightyears away from Celestara. Gaia was with them too, but not Nyx. Nyx had fallen asleep, and god only knew when she would wake up again.
As for Gaia, she was very difficult to read nowadays. When they had visited that elven city and gone to the hot springs together, he had gotten mixed signals. At first it was lust, then curiosity, and then he settled on the fact that she just wanted him to take advantage of her, which he didn’t.
And so now, no matter how many times he tried to talk with her, she would always end their conversations swiftly. Not to mention, every time he brought up what had happened in the elven city, she would either blush or completely avoid the topic entirely.
So now, as Rael watched her laze around atop the pirate ship, he quickly reappeared behind her, getting her attention instantly.
She turned toward him slightly, then turned back to where she was looking, once again adamant on outright ignoring him.
Rael leaned on the railing right beside her, his brows slightly furrowed.
“You know you’re acting like a child, right?”
“…”
“Ignoring me and thinking the problem would go away isn’t exactly the smartest move you’ve made. For one, I’d like it if you actually talked to me. What’s up with you? Are you frustrated? Are you mad at me?”
Yet once again, no matter how many times he asked, he was only met with the cold shoulder. But right as he was about to give up and check up on Zafira or Lilith, Gaia spoke up, her voice eerily quiet.
“You haven’t invited me on a second date.”
Rael’s brows twitched. “I haven’t? Don’t you think it’s because you haven’t talked to me at all?”
“No. It’s because you’re careless and simply making a fool out of me,” Gaia replied with a pout. “If you’re just trying to win me over for the sake of putting me on your wall of trophies, then forget it. Just leave me alone.”
This girl…
Safe to say, Rael was a bit pissed at how petty she was acting. She knew very well what his intentions were, since she could directly read his mind. And yet, she not only hadn’t pried into his mind for the last couple of days, but she had also come up with some kind of story where he hated her.
For a being that was practically ancient, this was the pettiest thing Rael had seen in his whole life. And while he wanted to continue playing along, he just scoffed at what she was doing and glanced ahead.
“Then how about we go on a date tomorrow? Or even now? What do you even consider a date?” Rael asked outright.
Gaia thought about it, then naively answered:
“Spending time with one another seems like a date to me.”
Rael let out another sigh and pointed at himself, then at her. “So are we on a date right now?”
“…”
“I suppose my thinking was a little flawed,” Gaia admitted.
And in that exact moment, Rael wanted nothing more than to give her a bonk on the head for all the trouble she had caused him.