"By the way..." Maggie suddenly leaned her head close to Ogre's ear. "Does Geling have someone she likes?"
"Huh?"
The warm breath by his ear almost triggered a reflex in Ogre, and if he hadn't controlled himself in time, he might have instinctively elbowed her.
After consuming the Lightning Eel, Ogre's sensitivity had noticeably increased.
The upside was that his combat instincts had improved significantly. Even with particularly agile and swift weapons, Ogre could sense the pressure of the wind before they struck.
The downside was that his pain and reflex responses had also heightened considerably.
Fortunately, training could help reduce these negative effects.
"Hahaha, you're shy, aren't you? You must have someone special in mind."
Mima saw Ogre's body twitch and thought it was the shyness of a young girl.
Little did she know, Ogre had almost punched her daughter in the head just now—with Ogre's current strength, it might be a bit challenging to kill an Apprentice Knight with one punch, but knocking someone out would be a breeze.
"Don't be shy." Maggie fiddled with Ogre's newly braided hair and chuckled. "Geling is so beautiful; she must have many admirers."
At first, Maggie couldn't understand what kind of girl could make a Knight risk his life to cover her escape.
Until she saw Ogre's true appearance.
"No..." Ogre shook his head.
He didn't know why the conversation had turned to him again.
Seeing that Ogre didn't seem particularly upset, Mima also breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought Geling's sweetheart was the Knight who had escorted her, whose fate was unknown.
"Have you ever dated?" Aunt Mima interjected.
"No..."
Ogre continued to shake his head like a rattle, date... with the Magic Rabbit he raised?
'The topics women discuss are really boring...' Ogre picked up the cup of water Aunt Mima had placed beside him.
He was a bit thirsty.
"Huh? Never been in a relationship?" Maggie recalled Ogre's request to disguise himself.
Goodness, the difference between people is really vast.
'No experience, huh? That's good news.' Mima's eyes, lined with crow's feet, suddenly widened a bit.
A pure maiden is the easiest to... ahem, to get along with.
"What do you think of Macal?" Mima asked with concern.
"Pfft!"
Ogre paused mid-drink, spitting out the water.
What kind of question was that? He had just arrived here, and they were already matchmaking?
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
Maggie seemed a bit unimpressed with her cousin—or perhaps she didn't like this kind of arranged marriage.
Although she hoped the girl in front of her would stay, she felt her cousin wasn't worthy of this angelic girl and didn't want to strain the relationship.
"I'm not joking... Don't be fooled by how clumsy little Carl is; he's actually very reliable, a twenty-nine-year-old official Knight with a bright future..." Mima had locked Macal out three times.
But that was only because their relationship was good enough to allow it.
In Mima's heart, Macal was almost like a son.
After all, he was the only male in the family.
"Mom! Introducing someone to a girl right after meeting her..."
Maggie had been educated and seen the world, and her thinking had diverged from her mother's.
"I..."
Ogre was stunned; he realized he had completely underestimated the frontier people's views on offspring and their straightforwardness.
Alright, so the initial enthusiasm was to set up that clumsy Knight with him...
"Still... young..." Ogre was genuinely at a loss for words this time.
He felt like his well-thought-out plan was unraveling...
Just then, the window beside them was pulled open.
And it was Macal who opened it.
"Uh, what a coincidence."
Macal hadn't expected anyone to be in the lounge at this hour, let alone everyone...
By the dawn, he truly hadn't intended to eavesdrop.
To read the uncut version, go to ].
He was just curious about how Miss Geling and Aunt Mima were getting along after so long.
So after pondering for a while, Macal decided to open a window to listen in on what was happening...
"I was just checking if the window was secure..." Macal pulled out the excuse he had prepared long ago.
Using the pretense of checking the safety of doors and windows to cover up, after all, this was his home too.
Just as Macal was about to close the window and make a quick escape, he saw a scene he would never forget.
"Miss... Miss Geling?!"