Chapter 452: Big Deal (1/2)

Seeing Leonel's reaction, Aina didn't know how to react herself for a long while. The level of worry in his gaze, even for something that had long since passed, left her feeling at a loss.

”I… It's wasn't a big deal, I'm here, aren't I?”

Leonel frowned at this response, he could sense Aina pulling away. Such a scene made him sigh and release his grip on her.

”Where is Lancelot? Did you not find him?”

Leonel changed the topic, but this left Aina at even more of a loss.

Forcing things and reaching the end goal as quickly as possible always seemed like the path with the most satisfaction. A slow, long grind wasn't something most people wanted to deal with and it was even something that scared most away.

Though Leonel had spoken so many heartfelt words to Aina, they were ultimately words he had spoken himself. They weren't words that Aina had said, nor were they necessarily the way she, herself, felt.

Whether she did or not wasn't something Leonel knew, nor was it quite the point regardless of what the truth was. What truly matter was that even if she did, she wasn't at a point where she was ready to say them.

This wasn't necessarily the end of the world.

The pursuit of Aina had always been a one-person affair. Leonel never took Aina's standoffishness to heart because in his mind, it was his task to get her to warm up to him. If he failed, then it was because he was inadequate, it wasn't her fault.

But, this very same logical mind of Leonel's also understood that relationships weren't supposed to work in this way. As logical as he was, he also had exceptionally high emotional intelligence.

He felt that his and Aina's relationship had taken a step forward she very clearly wasn't ready for. When things reached such a point, dragging her along would do more harm than good.

However, this abrupt change in Leonel from overly caring to, as though he had flipped a switch, strictly business… It left Aina not knowing how to face him.

Maybe for the first time, she realized just how true Leonel's words from before were. He didn't lie to her, there was no hidden truth she had to uncover… he laid out the way his mind worked and the kind of person he was right before her.

Leonel might have been kind and caring, but it was all built upon a foundation of cold calculation. What drove him first and foremost was logic.

Since he decided Aina wasn't ready to truly treat him as her boyfriend, he took a step back with ease… almost too much ease.

Watching it all play out exactly how Leonel described left Aina feeling somewhat…

Cold.

She realized that if there really came a day where she didn't trust him, where she didn't lean on him as he would lean on her… He really wouldn't come to save her.

Aina's lips trembled, but she clenched her jaw and swallowed hard forcing back the emotions she was feeling and not allowing her tears to fall. Her small reactions were missed by Leonel who had started to analyze the fallen knights, calculating if he could spare the stamina to heal them and by how much he would be able to do so.

”… While I was digging up the others, Lancelot managed to climb back up himself. He gathered the ones who could still fight and rushed off to the Lin Barony. If it wasn't ruined, they plan on taking a shortcut to the backside of the Barony and hopefully help fortify their defenses.”

Leonel raised his brows when he heard these words, looking back toward Aina. By now, she had already gone back to normal as though nothing had happened.

”Hm… They have a chance to make it before the gliders get there.”