Indeed, this was a tough question to answer.
Was he to be honest with her?
The answer came quick.
There wasn’t much back and forth.
Xenos wanted to be honest.
Rather, he was always honest.
He answered nearly all that he was asked.
It was only that his answers were barely understood by most.
Vague enough to be considered an answer, but not really.
A bad habit, apparently.
Though not this time, he wanted to be straight with her.
No dodging, just the full truth...
"I only married you for the land our fathers will give us."
Even if it’d ruin this date.
"I need it to establish my House."
Gaia looked at Xenos for a while before smiling bitterly.
"I knew it... It didn’t make sense that you suddenly changed your mind."
He nodded once, accepting it, as well as the silence that followed.
She added quietly after a moment.
"At least you’re honest about it. Besides, it’s always been my dream."
Xenos blinked, a tiny flicker of guilt stabbing through his chest.
’Dammit woman... stop dropping these guilt bombs...’
But no, she didn’t stop.
"People haven’t always been honest with me, you see..."
Gaia seemed intent on killing him.
Ahhhh, she didn’t damn stop.
She was actually killing him with kindness.
"But, um... ’establish your house?’"
Or not, for she finally stopped.
"Your father doesn’t know yet, but I’m officially forming House Eris."
Gaia tilted her head, thinking for a second, then her eyes lit up.
"Oh! You didn’t tell him because he wouldn’t have agreed."
"My father doesn’t care, but Theodore... heh. He’d throw a fit if he knew your marrying me wasn’t a ladder up but a ladder down."
That made Xenos pause, genuinely surprised.
She didn’t sound bitter, and that was to be expected.
He already knew that she had no love for the man, but no.
It was more; she didn’t seem to care about Theodore at all.
The food arrived before the silence could creep back in.
It was a lovely spread that they absolutely devoured, Gaia momentarily forgetting her inhibitions. The rich soup, roasted meats, golden chicken, and that platter of glistening fruit looked that good.
Truly a lovely meal, ten times pricier than the usual inn dinner, but well worth the ten silver.
By the time they left, the butlers bidding them goodnight, Gaia looked like she’d just seen Elysium and wanted to write a five-page review about it.
"That was really amazing!"
She didn’t stop gushing even minutes later.
"I didn’t even know food could taste like that!"
It was the first time she had eaten anything remotely that good.
That was a sad thing, though obvious, which Xenos couldn’t relate to at all.
At the banquet yesterday, he ate nearly as good food, and earlier than that, before transmigrating, he ate food many times better than this, but, eh, for the equipment, spices, and ingredients they had? That was something special.
"Alright, alright, calm down."
Still, Xenos gave her a side glance, wanting to deflate her a little before she began to float.
"Your name’s important now, so you have to learn to act like it, especially in public."
She giggled and latched onto his arm, ignoring him completely.
"But if it’s with my husband, it’s fine, right?"
He blinked at her once more.
’Since when did she get that cheeky?’
Truly, this girl was a surprise after surprise.
A scream tore through the night.
Both of them turned, only to see a woman collapse.
She was badly injured, blood spilling out beneath her.
Her attacker stood over her, his sword slick with crimson.
Xenos’s grey eyes immediately lit up, and without hesitation, he moved.
In only a few moments, he was in front of the man, his hand clamped on the attacker’s neck.
He threw the body and stomped him dead.
Xenos trembled before quickly turning back around.
Suddenly, his blood went cold.
Another assassin had come.
He was right behind Gaia, his blade pressed to her neck, close enough to draw red.
A fact that made Xenos tremble with rage... real incredible rage.
Even though he didn’t quite feel love, possession?
Oh, that he understood.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER, BOY."
The assassin trembled but didn’t back off.
He knew that this woman was his only ticket to life.
"N-No! You back off, or I kill her!"
Xenos didn’t listen to a word he said.
His eyes simply stayed locked on the man...
’Did they come after me or her?’
While his mind was lost in thought.
’Am I the reason she’s in danger right now?’
’Should I have just left her?’
’If I’d just stayed away, would she be safe right now?’
’She’s already lived a bad life...’
’This is the result of involving her in my affairs.’
’I never should have proposed—’
Eris snapped him out. Orıginal content can be found at novel~fire~net
Finally, She talked to him.
’Focus. You don’t have time to...’
She didn’t finish; She didn’t need to.
Xenos had already moved.
The assassin screamed, jerking the blade toward Gaia’s throat—
—but the strike somehow missed.
Xenos’s hands weren’t naked.
Hands of Lethe had materialized around them.
He’d used one Rune the very moment it had materialized.
It was a risk, as he’d never stolen a physical attack before, but...
[Description: Gloves woven for thieves of Fate. When attacked by a foe, the bearer may, through Luck alone, steal the attack and seal it within the glove, each knuckle holding one stolen blow. At will, the bearer may return the captured strike in full, turning the enemy’s own power against them. Failure to grasp fortune, however, means losing a charge for nothing at all. Such is the wager of Lethe’s touch.]
The description never highlighted spells alone.
This was a risk he had to take; Gaia would NOT die here!
Snapped out of her shock, Gaia’s eyes glowed brown.
An earth spear burst from the ground, skewering the man’s shoulder.
Blood sprayed across her face as he screamed in pain and stumbled back:
Xenos didn’t waste the moment.
The physical attack wasn’t stored in one of his ten Runes, as it seemed only spells would be stored, but he didn’t need that, as he simply threw his sword straight out of his inventory and into the assassin’s head, instantly killing him.
Meanwhile, Gaia screamed in disgust, wiping at her face with trembling hands.
Blood smeared worse instead of coming off, making even her hands bloody.
Gaia, unable to let out a sound, nearly tripped.
She gagged and then threw up...
All that fancy food was gone.
She stumbled to a nearby fountain and kneeled.
Caring not for those watching her, she frantically washed her hands.
"It’s not coming off... it’s not coming off..."
She scrubbed harder and harder, throwing some on her face, cleaning it, and sending red mixing into the water until it looked like she was washing in wine.
Xenos stood behind her, watching.
His eyes had dimmed a little.
"...it never comes off."
That was all he could say.
The night wind carried away his words, and at the fountain, she kept washing, washing, and washing, but the blood didn’t seem to fade.
Or at least that was the case in Gaia’s eyes...
Only she saw the blood now, only she.
Because yes, it’d never come off.
One had to live with it.