"Is a piece of trash like him actually considered an S-Class mage?"
Alice's face contorted with genuine shock before she spoke slowly.
"Jela might not be at the very top, but he really isn't much weaker than I am. Sure, the only reason I lost to him that one time was because I was poisoned, but make no mistake—he is genuinely powerful."
"Every single S-Class mage is a heavy hitter. You can't possibly be ignorant of that."
"I find it hard to believe... his Dark Magic is incredibly lethal, and it's the trickiest thing about him."
Shin finally replied, his tone flat. "From where I was standing, he didn't even seem as strong as your father's Four Heavenly Kings."
Alice shook her head. "I know you wiped the floor with him, and he probably didn't even get a chance to fight back, but I promise you, he is nowhere near as pathetic as you're making him out to be."
"I know exactly how strong they are. My father's Four Heavenly Kings are all at the absolute peak of A-Class. Even if they fused their magic, they'd only barely scratch the surface of S-Class."
Shin honestly didn't know what to say. Should he tell her that he just swatted the guy once and he died? Or maybe...
"I guess I just moved too fast when I fought him. I didn't even give him a chance to cast his Dark Magic before I literally burned him to ash."
Alice stared at Shin, lost in thought for a moment before speaking slowly. "If that's how it went down, then I think I understand."
"You don't have any magic power. Because of that, your enemies have absolutely zero way to gauge your strength—they can't tell if you're a god or an insect."
"With that kind of advantage, it makes perfect sense that someone like Jela got completely blindsided and one-shotted by you."
"But why did you have to kill my father's Four Heavenly Kings? And Jela? Honestly, forget Jela. Even though he officially allied with my father, my father already knew he had his own hidden agenda."
"That resurrection power of yours... can you still use it? I want you to bring back the Four Heavenly Kings. If you do, I'll personally speak to my father. I'll smooth things over, make sure he forgives you, and then... he can marry his daughter off to you."
Hearing that, Shin's annoyance immediately flared. He spoke with a sharp edge.
"Why the hell does your father need to forgive me? Is he stronger than me? I'm not following your logic here."
"I'm starting to think you're trying to play me."
But as Shin kept talking, something clicked, and he realized how weird her phrasing was.
What does she mean, 'marry his daughter off to you'? What the hell is going on? Looking at the situation, that's completely impossible.
"What exactly are you talking about? 'Marry his daughter off to me'? His daughters are you and Lucy. Don't tell me you're planning to marry me. Yeah, right. Although, if you were serious, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."
"Heh."
In that exact moment, Alice's defenses completely crumbled. She suddenly adopted the demeanor of a flustered young girl and stammered out, "What are you even talking about?? How could I possibly marry you?? You're definitely overthinking things! I would never marry you, and neither would my sister!"
Faced with this sudden 180 in Alice's personality, Shin was utterly bewildered. He had absolutely no idea what had just triggered this shift.
Didn't we just settle this? Why is she acting like this now?
He looked at Alice and sighed. "Let's put that aside for now. Quests. I need quests. Exactly how much money can I rake in from an A-Class quest?"
But Alice completely ignored his question, continuing on her own erratic tangent.
"Forget about the quests for a second! You absolutely have to resurrect the Four Heavenly Kings, and then I..."
Her face burned bright red, as if she were wrestling with a massive life decision. She took a deep breath and looked Shin dead in the eye. "Listen to me."
"Ever since I was a little girl, I made a vow. I swore that I would marry the first man who ever defeated me."
"But now that you've actually beaten me, I really don't want to follow through with that vow! Just look at you! I don't even know what to do right now!"
"You brainwashed my sister, and you slaughtered my guildmates! There is absolutely no way I'm marrying you!"
Shin thought she was building up to something serious, and just sighed. "Well, that's a damn shame. You are a princess, after all. But hey, didn't I already bring them back to life? Because they crossed a line earlier, and you know it."
Alice studied Shin. Seeing that he didn't look particularly heartbroken—in fact, she felt more disappointed than he did—she suddenly wondered what was wrong with her. Why was she acting like this?
This wasn't her at all.
But she couldn't help it. Her heart seemed to have inexplicably latched onto this quiet, overpowering man.
She finally spoke up. "Since that's how it is, even though I'm not thrilled about it, I absolutely cannot break my vow."
Shin nearly jumped out of his skin. "Whoa, don't let it go to your head! Don't do something crazy!"
"I thought we had an understanding! No feelings attached. But since you brought it up, I'll give it to you straight."
"It's not that I think I'm too good for you. Hehe, honestly, I'm the one who's out of your league. That vow? You can totally just pretend it never happened."
"Look, you clearly aren't thrilled about me, and I don't have those kinds of intentions toward you either. If you ruin your entire life over some childhood oath, it's just going to be a mess."
Alice looked like she was about to cry.
Why was this guy so dense? She had practically spelled it out for him, and he was still turning it back on her!
She sobbed, her voice cracking. "I don't have a choice! A vow is a vow, and I have to uphold it! I don't care if you agree or not, you are infuriating!"
She weakly pounded her fists against his chest.
Right at that moment, the old Guild Master happened to walk by. He almost choked on his own breath. This Vice Master was really something else—hooking up with her sister's man in record time.
But Alice was never like this normally. What kind of trauma had triggered this?
Still, seeing the usually iron-willed Vice Master acting like this was a rare sight. The royal family really was a mess—an older sister stealing her younger sister's man.
And the younger sister was just watching it happen, looking absolutely delighted! The old man spotted Lucy hiding in a corner, watching the whole scene unfold. He shook his head and walked away.
"Ah, youth. It really is a wild ride. I wish I could be young again, but sadly, those days are long gone. What a shame."
Of course, neither Alice nor Shin had any idea that their little "moment" was already spreading like wildfire through the 420 Guild, quickly becoming the hottest gossip in town.
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