Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 265 - 63: Testing the Waters

Chapter 265: Chapter 63: Testing the Waters

After sharing several bottles of drink with Hood, Aske staggered out of the tavern and made his way back slowly.

Although as an esports player one shouldn’t drink, this world no longer had esports, so a little alcohol didn’t matter.

Walking down the street, the cold night air sobered him up a bit.

Speaking of which, hasn’t that kid Hood been here for less than a month?

He actually managed to sow his seeds and had a shotgun wedding?

Tsk tsk tsk, who would have guessed he was such a virile young stallion.

As Aske mused, an intuition of impending danger suddenly crossed his mind, and he dodged a bullet aimed at his temple with lightning speed.

In the alley to his left, a man stared at him incredulously, his handgun still smoking.

"What are you doing?" Aske, maintaining his tilted head, asked.

"I... I..." the man stammered, then suddenly bellowed as he squeezed the trigger, "Long live the independence of Bohemia!"

Before his words ended, a throwing knife had pierced his throat, and as he fell, a string of bullets shot skyward from the flaming gun barrel.

"Crazy." Aske shook his head and continued toward Weisbach Palace.

From a rooftop in the distance, Heinrich and Meyer watched his retreating figure.

"Did you see clearly?" Heinrich asked.

"’Intuition’ or ’Conspiracy’ Sequence, able to sense danger or malice beforehand." Meyer frowned, "The knife-throwing was accurate, and the response quite swift, he might also have the ’Rapid Fire’ or ’Agility’ Sequence. Too bad we couldn’t force him to use his swordsmanship."

"Are you confident?" Heinrich inquired.

"He’s certainly a Transcendent, my lord," Meyer bowed slightly, "Unless the Level difference is more than ten, no Transcendent would dare to claim confidence in defeating another, especially when the other’s Sequence is completely unknown."

"Mmm." Heinrich nodded, his expression stern.

Unaware, or perhaps indifferent to the knowledge, Aske continued unhurriedly into Weisbach Palace.

"Have you been drinking?" A figure in crimson stood in the corridor, Medea squinting at him.

"Just a bit," Aske admitted.

"The item has been taken care of, handed off to Miel," Medea said expressionlessly.

The so-called item was, of course, that High Rank "Luck" Extraordinary Trait, which had been dissolved in Spiritual Fluid and separated through chromatography, extracting four variants of the Extraordinary Trait from "Luck I" to "Luck IV."

With the Extraordinary Trait "Luck I" as the main ingredient, and the rest of the auxiliary materials being low-Level Spiritual Materials or industrial products, Medea quickly crafted a vial of "Luck I" Magic Potion and gave it to Miel to consume.

"That’s good," Aske nodded slightly and burped.

"How many drinks did you have to get like this?" Medea looped her arm through his, helping him move forward.

"Did you know?" Aske pulled out an invitation from his inner pocket, "Hood’s gotten married."

"Oh." Medea took the invitation, frowning, "How old is that kid to be getting married?"

"He says it’s the right age for marriage," Aske shook his head, feeling sleepy.

"He is? The right age for marriage?" Medea sniffed dismissively, "Then I’m an old maid, and yet no heartless Squad Leader has come to propose to me."

"I’m a bit thirsty," Aske held his forehead, "Got water?"

"Will saliva do?" Medea licked the edge of her lips.

"No," Aske said, "Maintain some dignity, understand?"

Squad Leader seemed to be really drunk, his words coming out all slurred.

"You’re smitten again," Medusa said in her heart.

"Indeed," Medea pondered, "Can I take him back to the bedroom and then deal with him right there?"

"I hate pleasure," Medusa said. "I’m going back to sleep."

"Then let’s go back to the bedroom~" Medea said, supporting Aske’s arm with a coquettish smile.

"No," Aske said tiredly, "I know what you’re thinking."

He broke free from Medea’s embrace and sat down on the nearby bench, leaning his head back against the pillar as if he had fallen asleep.

"What am I thinking?" Medea didn’t get angry, just sat opposite him.

"You know about our team’s Xiao Liu," Aske said with his eyes closed. "One night, she purposely stayed late after work and talked to me about some things."

"The next day, she resigned and went back to Imperial City."

"So, she stayed behind to confess her feelings to you," Medea interpreted his words on her own. "And you rejected her, so she resigned."

"Not entirely," Aske said. "She originally didn’t want to go back North, but... after all, her parents are there, getting on in years with no one to look after them."

"But if you had agreed, perhaps she wouldn’t have left," Medea said. "Once she got married or even just had the status of being in a relationship here with you, she’d have a reason to stay."

"So, you’re the one who drove her away," she said as if summing it up, but also as if stating Aske’s inner thoughts.

"Yes, I drove her away," Aske admitted, still with his eyes closed.

"Why refuse?" Medea asked.

"Afraid of holding her back," Aske said.

"That’s self-doubt," Medea said bluntly.

"Suppose it is," Aske opened his eyes, speaking tiredly, "I’m also afraid of holding you back."

For a moment, Medea’s heartbeat seemed to stop, but she quickly forced herself to calm down and stubbornly said, "I’m not afraid."

"But I am," Aske said with a slight smile, "Maybe you’re right, I just have low self-esteem."

Medea stared at his smile, suddenly filled with rage, and abruptly grabbed his collar, growling:

"Aske! Listen to me!"

"I don’t care if you lacked love as a child or are asexual as an adult, nor do I care where you came from or where you’re going back to! My liking you is my own business, don’t think you can just talk me into giving up! If you keep putting on this disgusting facade as if you’ve seen through the world and try to deceive me like you do that idiot Nora, sooner or later I’ll take your body by force!"

She left in a rush of fury, Aske slumping against the pillar, watching her fiery red hair and retreating figure.

After a while, he inexplicably began to smile bitterly.

"Aske?" Miel’s voice came from the other side.

Another one after the last had left? Aske turned his head, surprised to see Miel poking her little head through the door:

"Haven’t you slept yet?"

"Lying in bed, couldn’t sleep," Miel pointed to her pointed ears, "My hearing is quite sensitive."

"It’s just a private matter, don’t mention it," Aske waved his hand and staggered to his feet.

"Are you drunk?" Miel ran over, "Let me help you back to your room."

"No need, I can walk on my own," Aske said, leaning against the wall and slowly making his way back.