'YES!' Bryce shouted inwardly while managing to keep a poker face on the outside.

"She is currently in the observatory car. I would advise you to take her to the dining car." The old man advised, informing Michael about Claire's favorite meals.

"Okay, I got it." At some point, Michael had to stop Bryce's rambling since he got into too much detail.

"Just don't expect much." He said before going towards Claire.

'The lengths we have to go to keep the old people happy.' Michael thought, a smile forming on his lips. In his two lives, this was the first time he felt like he had a grandfather. Since his grandparents had died long before he had been born, he wanted to experience what it felt like to have them.

Just like Bryce said, Claire was in the observatory car. However, rather than gazing at the window, her full attention was on Alice sitting across from her.

Since the two had become acquainted just recently, it wasn't strange to see them talking. Alice must have wanted to see how capable the White Angel was with her own eyes.

Michael would have rather asked Claire out when she was alone. But a certain pair of eyes that was bored at his back prevented him from turning.

'Bryce intends to spy? It seems that Claire's words about how bored he is were really true.' He chuckled. walking forward.

"Hm?" Alice's focus shifted when she saw Michael nearing.

"Expert Michael." She greeted him. During her assessment of the prowess of the troops, he had appeared most extraordinary.

'He has a soul weapon and is able to go toe-to-toe with Elites while just being in the Early Expert realm. The Lord will be happy to learn that we have such capable recruits.'

Of course, by her short conversation with Claire, she also learned that the Heavenly Pact had come to Neptune's help because of the influence Michael had on Bryce.

In Alice's eyes, Michael had both power and influence, which didn't benefit someone with his background.

"Has something happened?" She asked, wondering why he had approached them.

In turn, Michael smiled warmly before glancing at Claire.

"Honestly, I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch? Since we were far apart for some time, I would like to learn about the Heavenly Pact in detail."

Alice's interest immediately piqued. An Expert was asking out a Master? Usually such a sight wouldn't be rare considering Claire's beauty. However, the strange thing was that Claire didn't refute the idea on the spot.

'Does she really plan to…?' Alice glanced at Claire, who was looking at Michael in debate.

"It would be my pleasure." She said a second later, bewildering the Grandmaster.

'Now this development I wasn't expecting.' Alice mused before excusing herself, leaving the two alone.

With Claire's popularity and background, it wouldn't be strange to receive many proposals from men that wanted to court her. However, Michael was a realm lower than her with seemingly no background.

'Why did the White Angel agree?' Alice could only wonder, feeling like there was something more to the simple Expert.

Back at the duo, they went towards the dining car before Michael ordered their meal.

'He ordered my favorite dish.' Claire sighed, having her theory confirmed.

"Let me guess, Bryce made you invite me out?" Her deduction was simple; only her old man knew her favorite meal.

"Guilty as charged." He flashed her a warm smile. Fortunately, Claire didn't leave even after knowing that this ordeal had been orchestrated by her grandfather.

"Since we are going to spend a few hours together, can I ask you to tell me about your grandfather?" Michael asked. With him lacking any grandparents, he wondered how it really felt.

"I'll tell you!" Claire immediately went off on a tangent. "Everybody says how wisdom comes with age. This is the biggest lie anyone has ever said. At a certain point, the older you get, the more you revert to how you were as a child!"

She began to recall the times Bryce would act irrationally, put himself in danger, or embarrass her in public spaces.

"You really love him." Michael pointed out how passionately she spoke about him.

She shrugged. "He is the only family I have left. If he is to die, I am not sure how I will take it. This is why when the news that Triton would be invaded came, I immediately arrived to make sure he was alright."

With this, Michael's theory about how Bryce was originally meant to die was proven correct.

The meal arrived shortly after; they continued to talk mostly about the old man and his demeanor.

At the same time, Ava and Victoria had finished exploring the train and were wondering what to do now.

Just when they were about to go cultivate, Ava caught a glimpse of Bryce, who was hiding close to the dining car, suppressing his giggling.

'What is he…?' Instantly chills ran down Ava's spine. Feeling like she was missing something crucial, she immediately approached the old man. Victoria noticed the change in her cute junior demeanor and followed.

"What are you giggling about?" Ava nudged the old man, breaking him out of his daze.

Wordless, he pointed to a specific table with two people.

"Wha—" Ava fell speechless. Michael was alone with Claire; wasn't this basically a date?!

'He has gone on a date with someone else?!'

Instantly her cheeks turned pink before staring coldly at Bryce. Remembering how he had wished for the two of them to be together, she quickly figured out he was the reason for this disaster.

"Y—You cunning fox!" Ava muttered through gritted teeth.

With a sly smile, Bryce stuck out his tongue at her before shifting his attention back to the date.

"Don't they look like a couple already?" He said in an attempt to irritate her further.

Ava's face became even redder. Yet despite her frustration, she wasn't going to interrupt Michael; she wouldn't do something like that.

Just when she was about to leave, Victoria hid next to Bryce, her eyes peeking at the two.

"Victoria?!" Ava exclaimed in surprise. In her eyes, Victoria wouldn't bother with something like peeking.

"I am just curious what will happen." Victoria said with a serious tone.

"Make space for me." Gulping her frustration down her throat, Ava moved next to them, observing Michael with great interest.

Quite a ridiculous sight from the side.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.