A beauty with charm beyond words suddenly appeared before Ryu. Her hair cascaded like golden droplets of sunlight, her ruby irises glistening as she looked down at Ryu. However, before she could even speak, two strong arms had enveloped her completely, holding onto her so tightly that she found it difficult even to breathe.

Ryu breathed in her scent, his eyes almost sowed shut.

"Hey! I'm a delicate young lady!" Ailsa playfully chided.

However, rather than receiving the response she thought she would, Ryu's next words caught her completely off guard.

"I'm sorry."

"You"

Ailsa was baffled. These were the last words she had expected to hear from Ryu and she didn't even initially understand why he was saying them.

No That wasn't entirely true. She was perfectly aware. It was just that she didn't expect to receive an apology for it which was why she was so shocked. She had already prepared herself to always be second in Ryu's heart. Whatever he did, especially when it came to matters relating to Elena, she would simply accept because that was the choice she had made Regardless of how it made her feel.

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And yet, for the very first words Ryu to speak to her after she awoke to be this, her heart couldn't help but tremble. All her playfulness vanished into a puff of smoke, her eyes watering as she buried her head into Ryu's chest. Just the same as he drunk off her scent, she did the same, losing herself in the sensation.

Guilt had been building up in Ryu's chest for a long time. As he slowly calmed as a person and tried to change himself, he had done a lot of self-reflection, not just on himself, but his relationships as well.

That day, the last time Ailsa was awake, he had hijacked her first time, a moment she would remember for a lifetime, for his own selfish pursuits. While it had seemed like Ailsa was completely out of it, riding the wave of pleasure, how could she have been completely unaware of what was happening? Even if she hadn't been in that moment, their minds were connected, how could she not have come to know afterward?

The truth was that though Ailsa understood why Ryu had done what he had done, that didn't mean it didn't leave her with a hint of bitterness within. No one wanted to forever be second to the person the loved the dearest, even if they were willing to accept such an outcome.

It could be said that this apology, had it come at any other time, might have been worth something, but definitely not as much as now However, the timing of when it truly came made it weigh more than anything else could have. Any bitterness there had been in Ailsa's heart vanished like the wind, a sweet smile spreading across her face even as her eyes glistened with tears.

"I leave you for a few months and suddenly your tongue has become so smooth. Tell me, who have you been practicing on?"

Ryu's lip twitched, but he could already feel Ailsa's head peeking by his shoulder and arm to look toward Isemeine who had previously retreated. At the moment, she sat on her bed. She had been observing Ryu and his practice, but now that Ailsa was here, she wasn't quite sure where to look.

In the end, she became annoyed. This was her home and this was her body that had been hijacked, why was she acting like this around these bastards?

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"Eska?" Ailsa asked.

Isemeine was about to say no but her mouth opened outside of her control.

"A pleasure." She spoke in a voice that was distinctly not her own.

Isemeine's brow twitched in annoyance. But, in the end, she just humphed and turned away.

"A Sky God, hm? Not bad." Ailsa giggled.

Ryu coughed. Ailsa had clearly gone to bed and come back even more mischievous.

"Not as mischievous as you. What were you thinking? Did you forget what happened the last time you broke through a major barrier with your Heavenly Pupils?"

Ryu blinked. That was right. Last time he broke through, the entire Fate of the Moon World had shifted. In fact, now that he thought about it, he never really got to take advantage of that due to the time dilation of the Silver Touch Branch's trial. There was no telling what happened to the Moon World in his absence as a result.

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He had changed the entire Fate of a world after breaking through into the Immortal Realms, there was no telling what would happen when he broke through to the Cosmic Realms.

"It was my mistake for not taking that into account last time, but we can't make the same mistake twice, right? Plus, you should definitely go back to the Moon World to stop those opportunists from taking advantage of my Little Ryu's hard work!"

Watching Ailsa take charge the moment she came back and seeing her reprimand him so passionately brought a smile to Ryu's face, a genuine smile not marred by the sadness of the passing of his grandmother. His heart, while not having forgotten that pain, felt far lighter.

Now that his partner was back, he wouldn't have to worry about making mistakes in his journey any longer.

"Then when do you suggest I breakthrough?"

Ailsa smiled beamingly. She seemed to light up the whole night sky.

"Of course you do so when you can cause the most damage to the Martial Gods. They dared to snatch my Little Ryu's Spiritual Foundation, dared to steal your soul talent, dared to force you to take on the trial of the Phoenix Sky God and tie your Fate to another's when it should have been all your own to begin with.

"Then we should give them a taste of their own medicine. We'll flip their Fate on its head, make it so that even breaking through a minor sub stage becomes a life and death affair. Since they like to play with the Fate of others so much, we'll play them to death."

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Ryu's pupils constricted into pinholes. These words that seemed to have been spoken so casually were anything but. How did Ailsa know all of this?