NOVPUB
Chapter 221: You Are Not a Burden
Aldrian sighed after reaching that conclusion. If it was true, there would be more chaos within the empire. If the master of one of the largest organizations on the continent truly had a connection with the devils, it would only show that the devils had already penetrated too deeply into the empire, which was not a good sign for anyone.
The events in the Forgeheart Kingdom were still fresh, and they had finally realized that the devils’ influence could extend to the inner circles of noble families. There would be unrest and widespread trust issues across the entire continent if people discovered that one of the largest organizations on the continent was also under the devils’ influence.
Most people on the continent might view the events in the Forgeheart Kingdom as nothing more than the greed of the dwarves. However, if the Alchemist Association were also found to have connections to the devils—especially its master—it would lead many to truly question their sovereigns or those in power.
Aldrian could only hope that his guess was wrong, but he felt it was the most likely situation regarding Master Dan. He sighed at this trouble, noting that his sense of the devils seemed to have strengthened. He now felt irked even by people with strong karmic connections to the devils. He wasn’t sure when it began, but until now, he had never experienced such an irksome feeling when meeting people with strong karma to the devils—Duke Badin, for example.
Was it because he had visited the devils’ territory? Perhaps. When he thought about it, the longer he interacted with the devils, the more sensitive he became to their traces and presence.
He then walked toward his room, and that was when he saw Baek Ji-Min leaning against the wall outside of his room. She looked in his direction, sensing his presence, and greeted him with a beautiful smile. He felt a pang of guilt for not giving her enough attention since they had left the demon territory. Her mother had wanted her to leave the demon territory for her safety. He wasn’t sure if her mother’s situation had been resolved, but she had entrusted her daughter to him for this journey. Determined, he had done his best to ensure her safety along the way.
"Were you waiting for me?" Aldrian asked with a smile, to which Baek Ji-Min responded with a nod.
"Let’s go inside; this isn’t a good place to talk," he said as he opened the door for her. Together, they entered his room.
Once inside, he prepared tea for both of them. When he was finished, he sat on one of the chairs beside a table meant for receiving guests and placed the glasses of tea on the table. Baek Ji-Min sat opposite him, her gaze falling on the glass of tea he had set down.
"Thank you," she said.
She touched the glass and picked it up, her gaze fixed on the tea, where she could see her own reflection on its surface. Sensing something was off about her, Aldrian decided to start the conversation.
"Is something troubling our beautiful lady?" he asked in an elegant voice. "If anything is wrong, I will gladly help to the best of my ability."
Baek Ji-Min finally smiled at Aldrian’s words, but her expression soon shifted to one of sadness. After a few moments, she looked into his eyes.
"Aldrian, do you think I’ve been a burden to you?" she asked softly.
Aldrian raised his eyebrows at the unexpected question.
"What burden? You? No way. I never consider you a burden. In fact, I’m happy that our group has an additional person to accompany us on this journey—especially a beautiful woman. I would never reject that," Aldrian replied, half-joking.
"I’m serious, Aldrian!" Baek Ji-Min said, her expression showing irritation.
"I’m being serious here. I never consider you, or anyone in our group, to be a burden. Your presence adds more color to our group. You’ve never done anything that jeopardized our safety, and you’ve never put me in danger. Well, even if you did, I have confidence that I could handle it. So no, you are not a burden," Aldrian said with unwavering confidence.
Baek Ji-Min smiled at Aldrian’s answer, but her gaze remained on the surface of her tea.
"I’m glad you think of me like that, but I still feel like I haven’t contributed anything to the group. Instead, I feel like I’m a burden."
Aldrian frowned as he looked at Baek Ji-Min. He couldn’t understand why she was suddenly feeling this way. However, a realization struck him, and he smiled at her.
"If you’re worried about the problem with the young master of the Lucard family, you don’t have to. I’ve already taken care of it," he said, waving his hand.
Baek Ji-Min widened her eyes as she looked at Aldrian.
"Hah, really? You’re the same as Sylphia in this. You and Sylphia hid this problem from me because you were afraid it would affect me or my plan, but no, Jimin, that’s not going to affect me. I can guess that you’ve already heard from Sylphia about my opinion on this matter, and now you want to talk to me because you feel guilty. So please don’t worry. What you did was the right thing, and you are not a burden. Stop overthinking it," he said in a reassuring tone.
"In fact, because of that, I can make young master Danius my new ’friend,’ so it’s all good," he added before taking a sip of his tea.
Baek Ji-Min continued to look at Aldrian, but then she lowered her head to gaze at the glass in her hands.
"Thank you. I’m sorry for bringing you trouble when you have your own matters to deal with," she said.
Aldrian simply smiled at her.
"You’re welcome, and if something like that happens again, you must defend yourself or help your friend. And if you can’t face them, then call me. I’m serious here, Jimin. I don’t want you to hold back in the future just because of this event. Is that clear? I know you have your pride and your own morals, so I prefer you to keep that way. Don’t let those arrogant young masters have their way," Aldrian said in a serious voice.
Baek Ji-Min looked at Aldrian again, noticing his serious expression—it was clear that Aldrian wasn’t accepting "no" for an answer. Finally, Baek Ji-Min smiled again, this time with genuine relief.
"Yes."
Upon hearing her answer, Aldrian instantly smiled and took a sip of his tea.
"Anyway, let’s talk about something else. How’s your everyday life been? Has anything interesting happened, or have you encountered any problems?" he asked.
They continued talking like friends do, just as they had in the demon territory when they had first gotten to know each other, sharing many things.
Baek Ji-Min also seemed to speak more openly. The weight that had been on her heart just moments ago appeared to vanish from her tone. They continued talking for hours before Baek Ji-Min finally excused herself. She left with a happy expression, causing Aldrian to shake his head.
"Those girls really treat themselves too harshly for my sake," he said, looking at Baek Ji-Min’s figure before closing the door to his room. "How cute."
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In Rivas City, a group of cultivators in armor stepped out of the teleportation portal. When the people saw one of the men at the front of the group, they instantly bowed in respect.
"My lord, welcome back!" some of them shouted.
However, a moment later, another group followed the first, and when the people saw the young man leading them, they also greeted him.
"Welcome to Rivas City, your highness!"
Grand Duke Rivas and the First Prince of the Doria Empire, Hector Doria, have now arrived in Rivas City after staying in Fanalis Town. After determining that there were no issues, the Grand Duke decided it was time for him to return. As for Hector, he had another purpose in Rivas City.
"At ease. There’s been no problem while I was away, right?" Grand Duke Rivas asked.
"No, my lord, there is..." one of the men in Rivas family attire began to answer, but then he hesitated, remembering something. Grand Duke Rivas, who had been watching him, stopped him mid-sentence, frowning.
"What’s wrong?" he asked.
"No... no, my lord. It’s just... you’d be better off asking Commander Ikhsan about this matter. He can explain it much more easily, my lord, because this situation has never happened before," the man answered.
Hearing the man’s response, the Grand Duke’s frown deepened. Hector, who had also overheard, was intrigued. What kind of problem had arisen that couldn’t be explained?
The Grand Duke then looked at Hector and spoke in an apologetic tone.
"I’m sorry, Your Highness. It seems we’ll have to postpone our visit to the mansion. A sudden problem has arisen."
"It’s alright, Grand Duke Rivas," Hector replied. "You can hear them out first. To be honest, I’m quite curious myself about what kind of trouble could arise here in the heart of the Rivas Grand Duchy."
After that, they met with a low King-stage cultivator with a mustache. He was the person who had tested Aldrian with the Orb of Origin when Aldrian first stepped into Rivas City.
"Welcome back, my lord!" Commander Ikhsan said, bowing.
"At ease. I heard you’ve encountered a problem. Explain it to me," Grand Duke Rivas said.
"Well, um, actually, it’s not a problem, my lord. However, it’s like this..." Commander Ikhsan then recounted his meeting with Aldrian and how he had tested him.
After hearing the story, both Grand Duke Rivas and Hector were left in shock.
