Chapter 223: Affection Increasing...

Following that line of thought, Elvira naturally connected Lance to the recently famous figure on the continent known as The Despicable Outsider.

After confirming that they were both fellow natives from the Material Realm,

Elvira developed a strong curiosity about Lance.

So during the day, she visited the village that had supposedly been ravaged by the Outsider.

To her surprise, the villagers there were far friendlier than any she had encountered before.

Even after learning that she was the Pure White Knight who loved helping others without asking for payment, the villagers actually rewarded her with the fattest wild boar leg after she finished clearing the beasts around the village.

Out of habit and according to knightly etiquette, she had instinctively tried to refuse.

Unexpectedly, her reaction terrified the villagers.

They thought she was angry because the reward was too small and was about to lose her temper.

In a panic, they forcefully stuffed the boar leg into her arms.

Returning to Golden Harvest City with her spoils, the first thing she did was run over to show off to Lance.

Meanwhile, Lance still had not realized that she was not a native inhabitant of the Astral Realm at all.

Still, his life lately had consisted of little more than practicing spearmanship every day.

Elvira's initiative in visiting him added a splash of color to his otherwise ordinary routine.

He did not dislike the interaction.

“Come in. I was just about to start making dinner.”

Lance stepped aside and let her enter.

At the dining table, Elvira discovered that this man was surprisingly attentive in daily life.

While roasting the wild boar leg, he deliberately used a knife to cut away the burnt and bitter portions of the surface before placing the most tender pieces onto her plate.

“You've got sauce on the corner of your mouth.”

Watching her enthusiastically devour the food, Lance could not help reminding her.

He had discovered that this girl truly loved food.

Hearing that, Elvira's cheeks instantly turned red.

She tried to lick it off with her tongue.

And ended up licking the wrong side.

Seeing her adorable flustered reaction,

Lance could not help bursting into hearty laughter.

On the evening of the third day,

Elvira arrived right on schedule again.

Lance had just advanced his Ice-Breaking Strike Spear Technique to LV3 and was taking a break.

Coincidentally, she had completely emptied all the food reserves in his house the previous night.

So the two simply headed out together to purchase more ingredients from the marketplace.

On the way back,

Lance unexpectedly spotted a food item by the roadside that reminded him very much of the sugar-roasted chestnuts from his previous life.

It was similar, though not exactly the same. It likely carried influences unique to the Astral Realm.

He had never seen anything like it in the Material Realm before.

Yet this world within the Astral Realm somehow had a comparable version.

Driven by curiosity, Lance bought a large paper bag.

Elvira had never eaten anything like it either.

Still, the aroma of caramelized syrup mixed with nuts smelled wonderful.

She carefully peeled open a hard brown shell.

Inside, golden flesh released a sweet, enticing fragrance.

Turning her head, she glanced at Lance walking beside her.

Both of his hands were occupied carrying groceries, leaving him no free hand to eat.

The girl hesitated briefly.

In the end, she extended her fair fingers and gently held the peeled chestnut near Lance's mouth.

Over the past two days, Lance had constantly fed her delicious food.

A sudden thought appeared in her mind.

She wanted to know what it felt like to feed someone else.

Looking at the food offered before him,

“What? Using me as a poison tester?”

Lance joked with a grin.

Yet he naturally lowered his head, opened his mouth, and ate the warm chestnut in a single bite.

Its sweet and soft texture melted across his tongue.

As he chewed, Lance quietly reflected.

Looks like all this feeding has successfully raised the character's affection level.

Now even the proactive reward interactions have started.

Classic storyline. Nice!

While chewing his chestnut, Lance failed to notice the girl's unusual reaction.

Elvira had already lowered her head.

Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest as if it might leap out at any moment.

Her previously clear green eyes now flickered uncontrollably between emerald green and dark gold.

A scorching warmth traveled upward along her spine.

The Red Dragon Blood hidden within her body seemed to have begun boiling because of that intimate gesture.

On the fourth day, rain began falling from the sky.

A steady drizzle splashed across the streets of Golden Harvest City.

Instead of going out to continue her trial, Elvira wrapped herself in a rain cloak and came to Lance's residence.

Pushing open the back courtyard door from the living room, she found Lance standing in the yard practicing with his spear shirtless.

Rainwater flowed down the contours of his well-defined muscles.

The spearhead tore through the air with sharp whistles.

Only then did she realize that this man spent nearly his entire day engaged in monotonous martial training.

Watching his focused silhouette, a novel idea suddenly emerged in her mind.

She wanted to cook a meal for Lance.

Taking advantage of his complete concentration on training, she quietly slipped into the kitchen.

Half an hour later, a thunderous boom echoed through the house.

A column of black smoke erupted directly from the kitchen window.

Startled, Lance dropped his spear into the muddy ground.

Bounding up the steps, he charged into the smoke-filled kitchen.

Through the choking haze, he accurately grabbed Elvira by the back of her collar and dragged her out like a kitten caught causing trouble.

After safely depositing her beneath the eaves, he rushed back inside and extinguished the flames on the stove with a basin of water.

After all the commotion, both of them ended up covered in soot.

They sat side by side on the wooden floor of the corridor, watching rainwater form continuous streams from the roof above.

Between them sat a scorched ceramic bowl.

Inside was a lump of something called “mushroom stew,” though its original appearance was completely unrecognizable.

Lance turned and looked at the soot-covered face of the girl.

Elvira also turned and looked at Lance's smoke-blackened nose.

The moment their eyes met, they burst into laughter simultaneously.

Their laughter pierced through the curtain of rain and echoed throughout the quiet courtyard.

Elvira clutched her stomach as she laughed so hard tears nearly appeared.

In all her memories, she had never laughed so freely.

She did not need to worry about her manners.

Nor did she need to maintain appearances.

On the evening of the fifth day, waiting for Elvira to arrive for dinner in this courtyard had seemingly become an unspoken habit between them.

Since the kitchen had been destroyed during yesterday's disaster,

Lance simply lit a campfire in the yard.

He had several iron skewers forged by a blacksmith and threaded thick chunks of meat onto them for roasting.

Fat dripped onto the glowing charcoal, producing an enticing sizzling sound.

The flickering flames cast shifting shadows across their faces.

Holding an apple, Lance took a large crunchy bite.

The crisp sound echoed clearly through the night.

While chewing, he casually turned toward the girl beside him and started a conversation.

“During your time in the trial, have you been tired?”

“Very.”

Elvira hugged her knees and answered honestly.

“It's far more exhausting than swinging a sword ten thousand times a day on the training grounds.”

Her gaze rested on the dancing flames as she softly voiced her feelings.

“But I think I'm beginning to understand the purpose of this trial.”

“It feels like it's constantly testing me to see whether I possess the qualities necessary to become a king.”

Hearing the phrase qualities necessary to become a king,

Lance bit off another piece of apple.

So in this Astral Realm trial world, Elvira had apparently been assigned the role of a knightly princess.

And after the trial ended, she would likely return to become a queen.

That completely explained why this world imposed so many strange demands on her.

“It's teaching me patience, teaching me to accept all injustice, teaching me to tolerate ignorance.”

Elvira's voice grew somewhat subdued.

“It seems that as long as I grit my teeth and finish this journey, I can transform into someone truly remarkable.”

Lance quietly listened to her without interrupting.

“But...”

A trace of confusion appeared in her voice.

“I feel like I'm becoming someone who isn't really me anymore.”

Lance swallowed the apple in his mouth and tossed the remaining core into the fire.

“Elvira, this isn't your problem. The problem lies with the trial itself.”

“It isn't broadening your capacity. It's taming you.”

Lance turned toward her and met her eyes directly.

“If someone can't even cry when they're wronged and can't even fill their own stomach, what exactly are they supposed to use to become a king?”

Seeing the stunned expression on her face, Lance sighed.

“Let me tell you a story from my homeland.”

“A long time ago, there was a girl who drew a Holy Sword from a stone in order to save a nation engulfed by war.”

“From the moment she drew that sword, she told herself she could no longer possess personal desires. She could not cry freely. She even abandoned all of her own wishes.”

“She forced herself to become a perfect king.”

Elvira listened attentively, curiosity shining in her eyes.

“She sacrificed so much for her people. Then surely everyone loved and respected her in the end, right?”

“No.”

Lance shook his head.

“She was betrayed by everyone.”

“Her kingdom ultimately fell into ruin, and the knightly order she personally established collapsed as well.”

“At the end of the story, those people left her with only one judgment.”

“They said that the king did not understand the hearts of the people.”

That king, in order to preserve the nation, had sacrificed the few to save the many.

But in the eyes of ordinary people, she had simply been too cold-hearted.