Chapter 160: A Morning Filled with Jealousy

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: A Morning Filled with Jealousy

Lance half-pulled, half-pushed Nia into the living room and gently sat her down in a wooden chair.

"Do you have any idea? It wasn’t until I woke up this morning that I found out my uncle had to leave urgently in the middle of the night."

Sitting in the chair, Nia began to voice her worries.

"My aunt told me what happened in the forest last night. I was scared to death."

Lance walked over to the nearby wooden table, picked up the kettle, and poured Nia some water.

Hearing Nia’s choked sobs as she told him how worried she was, Lance felt a pang of guilt.

He placed the steaming cup of water on the table in front of her.

"Sorry for making you worry so much."

"Oh, so you *do* know how to apologize?"

Nia reached out, cupped the warm mug in her hands, and bit her lower lip hard.

After confirming Lance was safe, the panic in her heart gradually faded, replaced by a growing resentment.

Her tone suddenly soured, carrying a clear note of complaint.

"Lance, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while."

"That Cecilia... she’s the young lady of the Rosenthal Clan, that Great Noble family from White River City, isn’t she?"

Nia looked up, her eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

"With a background like that, she’s bound to be surrounded by endless trouble and danger."

"And she’s a Half-Elf! Don’t you know how coveted a rare bloodline like that is out there?"

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, and her voice rose.

"Why did you have to get involved with her and get yourself dragged into something so dangerous last night?"

In Nia’s mind, last night’s incident had to have been caused by that group of academy students with their special statuses.

After all, in her eyes, Lance was just an Ordinary, low-level Adventurer, a young man struggling to get by in a small town.

It was impossible that some big shot would hatch an elaborate plot against him or scheme for anything he possessed.

All of Lance’s worldly possessions weren’t even worth that many Gold Coins. What could he possibly have that would be worth someone going to such great trouble to obtain?

So, she immediately placed the blame squarely on Cecilia’s shoulders.

Lance, who had been listening from the side, suddenly paused.

He turned to look at Nia, a little confused.

"Wait a minute, Nia."

A hint of confusion showed in Lance’s eyes.

"Cecilia always bundles herself up tight whenever she goes out—she’s never even shown her Elf ears. How did you know she’s a Half-Elf?"

The air fell silent for a second.

Nia’s heart skipped a beat.

’I’m so screwed.’

’In my rush to vent, I accidentally blurted out the secret Judith told me.’

And at that moment, in Nia’s mind, the soul named Judith was laughing at her with wild abandon.

’Oh, little Nia, little Nia. You’re so overcome with jealousy your brain has stopped working. Let’s see you lie your way out of this one.’

"I... I..."

Nia’s face instantly flushed beet-red, and her eyes darted wildly around the living room.

In her panic, she could only bite the bullet and turn the tables, shifting the blame to Lance.

"You’re the one who told me!"

Nia raised her voice, trying to mask her guilt.

"You mentioned it to me casually at the Guild once. How can you be so forgetful?"

"I did?"

Lance froze.

He frowned, trying his best to recall. ’Could it be? Back when I took Cecilia to the Guild to accept a quest, did I let her background slip when I was introducing her to Nia?’

But this morning, his mind was completely preoccupied with Cecilia’s birthday and the "mana replenishment" incident from last night.

Lance’s thoughts didn’t dwell on this minor inconsistency for long.

He just assumed he really had let it slip unintentionally.

"Maybe I’m just misremembering."

Lance sighed and didn’t press the issue.

He pulled out a chair, sat down across from Nia, and his tone became very serious.

"However, Nia."

’Nia must be acting this way because she feels like I’m treating her differently,’ Lance thought.

With the other three girls, Nia had also gotten jealous from time to time, all because Lance would sometimes ignore her feelings.

"Cecilia is the intern the old Guild Master assigned to me. She’s also a friend I care about."

"I can’t just abandon her when danger strikes because I’m afraid of getting caught up in unknown trouble."

He looked up at the girl across from him, at her eyes, which were still streaked with tears.

"If it had been you in that dangerous situation last night..."

Lance’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word was clear.

"...I would have stood in front of you and protected you without a second thought."

Every word he spoke dripped with sincerity.

In the past, hearing such a promise from Lance would have made Nia’s heart feel as sweet as honey.

But now, she felt little comfort from his words. Instead, she keenly sensed a strange, perfunctory air about him.

Although the young man across from her was looking right at her, his gaze was unfocused. He was clearly thinking about something else.

Nia immediately looked down.

She instantly noticed Lance’s right index finger, which was fiddling with the hem of his clothes.

This was a little habit Lance had whenever he was dealing with a tricky problem or mulling something over.

This little detail was something Nia had secretly discovered after silently watching him from the Guild’s front desk so many times, and she had never told anyone.

It meant Lance was completely lost in thought.

It was as if, even though he was sitting right there in front of her...

...his heart had long since drifted away on the cold morning wind to some distant place.

"Lance, what are you really thinking about?"

Nia bit her pale lips and asked in an extremely soft voice.

"Huh?"

Called by name, Lance reflexively turned his head and glanced at the wall clock, which was ticking away.

Without even thinking, he simply followed his train of thought and answered directly.

"Cecilia fainted by accident yesterday. I was just thinking that I should head to the commercial street later."

"Today happens to be her birthday, so I have to go pick up her custom-made gift. Then I need to find time to go to White Oak Manor to check on her..."

Lance hadn’t even finished his brutally honest sentence.

Nia, who had been sitting across from him, suddenly shot to her feet.

She took a large step forward, her small, pale hands shot out without warning, and she grabbed a fistful of the linen collar on Lance’s chest.