Chapter 657: A secret for a secret

Maya smiled.

"That you do..." An odd light flashed in her eyes as she considered his words. "What I want to know, huh? Well, I want to know a lot of things about you, and hopefully, one day, you’ll trust me enough to tell me. But as for right now, what do I want to know the most?"

The question seemed to be directed as much at herself as it was at him.

She stayed quiet for a moment, carefully considering her next words as she leaned over her outstretched legs, reaching for her toes with both hands.

After a while, she let out a deep breath and straightened, looking toward him within the small space of the tent. She cleared her throat before finally speaking.

"Well... if you don’t mind my asking, why do you have so many... women?" Her voice grew quieter toward the end, and a light blush coloured her cheeks.

"Huh?" Elion raised a brow, staring at her for a moment. "Seriously, that’s what you decided to ask? And here I was thinking you were going to ask something about my abilities."

"Well..." She looked away, playing with a strand of her hair. "I was going to, but then my curiosity got the better of me. It’s been on my mind for a while now, so I thought to ask."

Her awkward reply earned a laugh from Elion, which only made her face grow redder. "W-what? Don’t laugh!" she protested.

Elion took his time suppressing his laughter, though it was rather clear that he was drawing it out on purpose. Eventually, he raised a hand in apology, still wearing an amused smile.

"Sorry... As for your question, why do you think? What man would turn away the opportunity to have a harem of beautiful women calling him their husband?" He shrugged before continuing. "And if you’re curious about how so many beautiful women decided to be with me, what can I say? I’m quite handsome, no? And strong too. That’s plenty of reason, isn’t it? I wouldn’t exactly call myself charismatic, but you get the idea."

Maya grumbled under her breath, continuing to play with her hair. Judging by her expression, she wasn’t particularly satisfied with his answer.

"Anyway, the other reason is that I’m quite lustful, you see," he added, a shameless smile spreading across his face. "I need as many sexy women as possible to sate my lust and hunger. I’m quite skilled in bed too; my women can’t get enough once they get a taste, hehe."

He laughed sheepishly.

"P-please don’t say such things so casually!" She complained.

She blushed deeply once again, lowering her head and making sure not to meet his eyes. Even then, she could feel his heated gaze boring into her.

’Is he going to pounce on me, right here?’ she wondered, her fingers tightening around the strand of hair she had been playing with.

He had just told her how lustful he was, after all, and there was no one else in the tent.

It was certainly something she had hoped for, but now that she was sitting alone with him, she found herself hesitating. Was this really what she wanted?

The answer was yes and no, for reasons known only to herself.

Realising that his gaze was making her uncomfortable, Elion allowed the perverted smile on his face to fade, replacing it with an amiable one as he briefly closed his eyes. When he spoke again, his tone was much more casual.

"Anyway, you still haven’t told me your secret. I hope my answer was enough of an exchange, though if you’re still unsatisfied, I can tell you one more thing." He chuckled quietly before adding, "I feel like I’ve swindled you with that answer, even if you were the one who asked a stupid question."

Maya was a little stunned, though not because he had just called her question stupid. Rather, it was the realisation that he wasn’t going to make a move on her after all.

Her gaze slowly dropped toward her body, and both hands unconsciously moved to her small chest.

’Why? Am I not attractive enough?’

A cold, unhappy smile found its way onto her lips as she looked down at herself.

’I suppose I am rather lacking in this department...’

Her gaze moved lower, and she glanced down at either side of her body.

’My hips are too small as well.’

A hand suddenly waved in front of her face, interrupting her thoughts. "...aya. Maya!"

"Hmm?" She looked up, blinking at him before realising that he must have been calling her for a while.

"Are you blacking out on me?" Elion asked, lowering his hand. "Are you that tired after all?"

Maya opened her mouth to answer, only to find herself looking into his beautiful eyes again.

Her attention wandered to the soft black bangs falling over his forehead, then to his sharp jawline and the broad chest beneath it.

All those perfect little features were things she had only ever read about in her favourite romance books, and here they were, right in front of her. She quickly shook her head, forcing herself to look away before she could get caught staring again.

’Get a grip!’ she shouted inwardly, gathering what remained of her composure.

"Y-yeah, it seems my mind is a little cloudy from all the exhaustion," she replied, reaching for her outer robe. "I should probably go and rest."

Elion watched as she moved toward the entrance and slipped her boots back on, pulling the robe over her head to shield herself from the rain. Just before stepping outside, however, she paused and glanced back at him.

"As for my secret... well, I’m not entirely sure myself, but my father claims I was blessed by a deity when I was a baby."

With that, she stepped out into the rain, which had softened considerably by then, leaving a dumbfounded Elion staring at the spot where she had been.

For a moment, he simply sat there, trying to make sense of what she had so casually told him.

"What?" he asked quietly. "That can barely be called an answer..." Had he just been swindled as well?