After both women made peace on their own terms, Ace had a breath of relief since everything worked out, or he might have to step in with his not-so-amiable tone.
But it was still hard to believe that Alina agreed to have another relationship with him.
"So, how can I join this Thief House? Do I have to undergo some ritual?" Alina questioned at this moment. She was quite curious about the whole thing about joining a goddess of thieves and then acquiring heaven-defying powers.
Eva was living proof of just much powerful Ace's backer was, and if she wanted to defeat Eva, she needed to first have the same level of bloodline as her. But what she heard came as a surprise.
"Heh, join the line, sister. Even I'm waiting for a slot to open, and then there is also my maid, who will be joining soon after me. Only then, and if I mean, if my dear husband hadn't found other women before you, can you join the Thief House!" Eva snickered playfully as she enjoyed seeing Alina's rigid expression.
"Is it true?" Alina coldly asked, as Ace hadn't told her about this at all. He just told her the names of the three Thief House members. So, she assumed Eva should be the fourth one. But she never expected that even Eva wasn't a part of the Thief House yet, and the slots appeared quite limited as well.
It also made sense, though, since if Ace could have as many as he wanted, then won't he create an unparalleled army with the goddess's help?
Ace replied in embarrassment, "It is indeed true. But I'm currently working on it, and I promise, I have no other woman in mind. So, can you please stop teasing her, Eva? Livia can wait. You two will go first."
Eva merely chuckled playfully as she was clearly teasing Alina.
But Alina took it quite seriously, especially when another woman came into the picture, "Who's this Livia?" She questioned.
"Oh, it's a princess my dear husband kidnapped on a whim, but unlike you, she's a Sky Stealer fanatic and would probably jump on him if given the chance." Eva giggled as she told with relish.
Alina's expression went pitch black as her eyes were completely emotionless.
"Stop messing around!" Ace's perplexed voice rang. He could feel the fury behind Alina's calmness. He knew if he didn't come clear, it would be too late to handle later.
But he needed first to separate these two, or the mischievous devil just continued to push Alina's buttons and take her revenge on him for not telling her beforehand that he was meeting Alina.
"Alright, you can go back to cultivation. I'll explain to Alina what is going on!" Ace quickly made an excuse.
Since he made his decision, he didn't give any one of them a chance to tackle and pull Alina out. He could handle the burnt from this, but not if they took things too far, and he might not be able to hold himself back.
"What? Too afraid that I might expose your dirty little secrets?" Eva snorted, looking at Alina's empty seat with clear dissatisfaction.
"First, I'm not afraid because I don't have any dirty little secrets. Second, if I had such secrets, would you have spared me? Lastly, I can tolerate this behavior since it's between us three. But never do that in front of outsiders. People tend to take advantage of such things, I know, since I will." Ace annoyingly retorted, but towards the end, his voice was irrefutable.
"Hehe, at least you know me. As for the last part, I know my limits. Or are you planning to be a headstrong man and turn me into an obedient house cat?" Eva coolly stated with a meaningful smile.
"Do you think I would do such a thing? I love the way you are, and If I can't even tolerate and give you the freedom to do the things you like, how can I tolerate those who want me dead? I'm a thief, and it's in my nature to endure until the other party drops their guard.
"So, I was just giving you a warning since you become too emotional sometimes. I don't want anyone to take advantage of such a thing." Ace replied solemnly.
"Heh, alright, so you want me to go easy on you, huh?" Eva snickered.
"No, just behave when needed to, that's all." Ace gently stated.
"Hmph, I said I know my limit." Then Eva giggled darkly, "Anyway, so when will you make your move?"
"Sigh… it's not as easy as you both are making it to be. Even if she has feelings for me, I still think of her as my little sis. I need time to adjust." Ace sighed as he replied.
"Is that so? You didn't restrain yourself when you saw me after so many years?" Eva narrowed her eyes seductively.
"Can you not go there? You are different, and it's your fault for not stopping me." Ace laughed slyly.
"Hmph, I dare you to say it in front of her!" Eva annoyingly stated with a tingle of redness.
"Oh, I need to go now. There are still many things to explain to her before I'll send her back. Or who knows how you'll defame me." Ace quickly made his escape.
Eva couldn't help but smile annoyingly, but her eyes were filled with tenderness, "Hmph, you're still mine!"
Alina appeared beside Ace and looked at him with a fuming expression, "Why did you take me out? Are you still hiding something?"
Ace, after dealing with the devil, quickly pulled a righteous expression and replied, "Don't listen to Eva. She likes to mess around and enjoys tormenting me. I've only told you about Eva. How about I told you how I reached this point so you can understand what Eva was talking about?
"Since you already decided to follow me and…" Ace hesitated before he said, "Marrying me, I think you should first hear my side of things, so you can be absolutely sure if you really want to do this."
Alina blushed when Ace said 'marrying me' as it was far more embarrassing facing Ace than facing Eva about such a topic. She felt like she was doing everything against her very being, yet, she regrets nothing. She even felt the relief of sorts.
In the end, she didn't say anything and nodded slightly as she felt calm by Ace's side, unlike agitated when she was with Eva, not to mention furious.
Ace then, just as he did with Eva, told Alina about his adventure and how he met with the Thief House members and in what circumstances.
Alina has a different expression as she hears about his long adventure as Sky Stealer. In truth, she couldn't even begin to imagine just how in the world Ace has experienced so much and grown into this legendary existence called the Sky Stealer.
Furthermore, unlike Eva, she was far more coherent about his situation when he had to trick those women into joining the Thief House and also about Livia's mysterious involvement in some dangerous event in the future.
Nevertheless, she was still somewhat discontent about Ace having so many women in his life now, especially the thorny Eva. In these regrades, they both were the same.
"Now, if you still want to be with me, I won't stop you. In fact, I wanted this for a long time. But now that I think about it, I think it's not fair for you guys. Because once you become part of the Thief House, you can't leave, and all will die with me.
"It's like having your lives in my hand, and then you can't have a life of your own. Eva and the other girls are still fine since they all didn't have families to turn back to. But you are different. You have your parents and a happy, prosperous life ahead of y…mhhh…"
Ace's emotional words came to an abrupt halt, and his eyes went wide when something soft blocked his mouth before the blockade was removed just as fast as it appeared, yet that warm and tender feeling was still there and a foreign taste.
Alina's tender yet shy voice rang, "Is that answer enough for you?"