If you were to ask Aske if he liked Thira, his answer would indeed be affirmative.

After all, men are visual creatures, and he wasn't the type to claim, "I have face blindness and can't tell if someone looks good or not." If you were to rank team members purely by facial aesthetics, The second place might be up for debate, but Theodora would be firmly in first place.

Such a girl, who practically embodied his aesthetic ideals, admitting that she had a bit of a crush on him naturally gave Aske a sense of arrogant vanity... Ah, no, that's not the problem, the problem is that he couldn't afford to be in a relationship right now!

The specific reasons were cliché and hardly worth mentioning. In any case, having reassured Thira with his words, he finally managed to convince her not to rush back to retake her country for the time being.

Leaving the manor, Aske planned to inspect the girls' progress in leveling up, aiming to help everyone cross the Demigod threshold as soon as possible.

Yet, as he approached the manor's gate, he encountered Medea, with the Enchanting Demon Miss showing an unusual mix of conflict and confusion on her face, which puzzled Aske as well.

"What's wrong?" Aske asked with concern.

"Come with me." Medea grabbed his wrist, and he immediately felt a titillating, enchanting sensation radiating from the point of skin contact straight to his head, almost making him think Medea was using her Extraordinary Skill on him.

Dragged into a small grove by Medea, just as Aske was about to ask a question, he heard Medea speak with difficulty,

"Aske, Marquina insists that I return to become the Enchanting Demon Queen, what should I do?"

Aske almost burst out laughing. Why is it that Eleanor wants to leave, Thira wants to leave, and now you too?

I really shouldn't have involved these Demigods!!

At this moment, Aske finally realized that these connections could indeed be a double-edged sword.

Because the girls are outstanding, their respective Demigods are willing to back them.

And precisely because they are outstanding, as the Acid Erosion Dragon Hedwig said, "You can't stay a mercenary forever."

In fact, it's not the mercenary status that truly mattered to the girls... but never mind that, it's something Aske couldn't provide, no wonder they all wanted to leave.

"Er, what do you think?" Aske asked.

"I wanted to ask what you think." Medea gazed at him tenderly.

"Of course, I hope you stay." Having learned from the precedent set by Thira, Aske would not make the same mistake again and immediately made his stance clear.

"Then, why?" The Enchanting Demon Miss's fingers twirled unconsciously around her burgundy hair, looping it around her fingertips several times.

"Because the team needs you, Medea," Aske said earnestly, "I need you."

"Hmm." Medea nodded slightly, touched. However, she wasn't going to be fooled like Thira and simply smiled,

"Continue, I love hearing this."

You're really cheeky! Aske intended to keep the compliments coming, but her brazen remark nearly stopped him in his tracks.

"Well, I think you don't need to be in a hurry to go back and become the Enchanting Demon Queen," Aske persuaded her, "After all, you haven't reached the Demigod Rank yet, and taking that position would still be dangerous for you."

Demigod, huh? Medea had to admit that Aske did have a point.

However, she was already Lv. 15 and was about to reach Lv. 16; if she calculated carefully, even if she were to enter the Demigod Rank, she could probably reach it by the end of the year, and becoming the Enchanting Demon Queen then would be much easier.

On the other hand, if she rushed to leave the team now, she wouldn't be able to benefit from Miel's Acceleration Plan Support. It would be like having been attending lectures (with the teacher being a future version of herself) and suddenly having to start self-studying one day; a definite decline in efficiency was inevitable.

Medea, thinking this, decided to stall Marquina's request... But seeing Aske as if he were facing a formidable enemy, it seemed he was really worried I might leave.

"What, can't bear to part with me?"

The Enchanting Demon Miss quickly thought it through, then feigned a sigh as she spoke:

"I don't want to either. But Marquina said she has a way to help me rise quickly in Rank, allowing me to reach Demigod by the end of this year."

"Our Acceleration Plan works too!" Aske hurriedly said.

"The Acceleration Plan has to be kept secret, we can't let her find out," Medea said, her eyes darting sidelong, and added, "Besides, she also said…"

"What did she say?"

"She said that I've been following you for several years now, without name, without status, and I'm going to be a laughingstock among the other Enchanting Demons." Medea covered her face, pretending to be distraught.

Pfft!!! Aske really couldn't help but burst out. Since when does a damn Enchanting Demon care about status?!

Seeing Aske's strange expression, Medea continued with an upset look:

"Look, most of the other Enchanting Demons are married, and they have more than ten lovers outside of their marriages. It's just me who has followed you for so long without even establishing an intimate relationship. They all laugh at me, saying I have no charm. Marquina thinks that if this continues, it will be bad for my reputation, so she hopes that I can leave the team as soon as possible."

"Cough cough, well…" Aske was at a loss for words. It turned out Enchanting Demons also cared about reputation, but it was the opposite of normal moral views—the more lovers they had, the better their reputation.

A case like Medea's, hopelessly in love with him but without results for a long time, was, of course, laughed at by the other Enchanting Demons for lacking charm.

However, Aske himself was troubled. Under normal circumstances, seeing Medea with her sultry good looks and perfect figure, coupled with the fact that any contact with other men besides him would result in an explosion (meaning she would definitely never cheat), he might have just settled for her due to her fervent pursuit.

But now, he really couldn't do it!

Therefore, even though Aske knew that just by saying "Okay, let's be together," he could make Medea wholeheartedly stay... he still couldn't bring himself to deceive her against his conscience.

"I'm sorry." That was all he could say in the end.

Medea looked at him in shock.

"So you still insist on leaving, right?" After a moment, her voice cooled down.

"Yeah." Aske nodded, "I promise, I'll try to come back... if I can."

"And if you can't?" Her voice trembled slightly, seemingly tinged with a bit of anger.

"I can't be sure of that..."

"So you want me to wait for you?" Medea suddenly interrupted him, "Like Nora?"

"Actually..."

"You know I can't be with any other man." Medea took a deep breath, closed her eyes, "I understand what you mean, let's leave it at that."

She turned and walked away, not looking back, her wine-red hair tracing through the air, seemingly leaving behind a hint of fragrance.

Aske watched her back in surprise, yet the image of her turning her head flashed through his mind.

Did she... cry?

The forever smiling, actually cunning Enchanting Demon Miss had shed tears?

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