Born for Each Other

"You two should just get married already!"

Alicia, who had been listening to the story, exclaimed restlessly. She had never known about the past between the old Pope and Yula, which explained why they always seemed to be exchanging glances.

"As for marriage, His Excellency the Pope and Teacher already know each other's feelings, but he knows Teacher has many things to do, so he's never spoken up. The one who cried the most when Teacher left was His Excellency the Pope."

Mayona saw that Ruby was also confused as to why the two weren't together and explained a little. After becoming a Saint of Magic, one would have plenty of time to spare, so there was no need to rush into the grave of marriage. Yula had always been playful, but no one expected the accident to happen so suddenly.

"I'll go make dinner first."

Ruby bowed to the short grave and left. He had nothing to say to Yula and didn't want to disturb Mayona.

"Teacher, I'm back."

Mayona knelt before the grave, her legs buckling. She began to tell her teacher, whom she thought she would never see again, the story of her life after leaving.

"Teacher, you always told me not to get too caught up in cultivation, to go out and see the world, and to interact with more people. But I never listened to you. Because in my heart, the best way to repay you was to constantly cultivate and fulfill your expectations. So, even now, there are many things I don't understand."

"That person just now was Ruby. He saved me. He's an incredible person. He has no Magic Power, yet he can make many things that surprise even me. Besides you, Teacher, he's the first person who's been willing to tolerate my willfulness. As I've spent more time with him, I've started to think..."

Mayona's face showed a gentle smile when she mentioned Ruby. With nascent emotions, she spoke her thoughts.

"Perhaps he stayed in that little cabin just to save me, and I became an Archmage to save him, so I could always protect him. If we were both born for each other, then thinking about it makes my heart very happy."

"I don't know what this feeling is, but I won't be confused either. Because it's more interesting to find the answers yourself, right?"

Mayona spoke for a long time. When she stood up, her legs were already numb, and her body swayed, causing her to fall backward. She thought she would fall to the ground but unexpectedly landed in a warm embrace.

"Is dinner ready?"

"No, your friend is here."

Ruby knew how Mayona was without asking. He helped her up and brought her to the front yard, where the Princess, clad in armor, was already waiting.

"You just left me behind and ran off. That's so like you, Nana."

"Don't you have any self-awareness?! And the Grand Cathedral is so far away, how did you just run over here like that!"

Mayona was furious. The Archmage girl clearly didn't want Tinasha to interrupt their dinner, mainly because she was afraid she'd steal food.

"Besides, the two of us can't finish all the food today anyway."

Ruby patted Mayona to calm her down. He walked over to the lobster, whose ice had melted, and began fiddling with it, thinking about how to eat it.

"This is a Twin-Clawed Beast, isn't it? It tastes good."

Lobsters were precious, but as a Princess, Tinasha had eaten plenty. However, she was now curious about how Ruby planned to cook this big fellow.

"Just asking, how do you guys usually cook these things?"

"This Mo Beast has a very hard shell. Just throw a fireball at it and cook it before eating."

"What a waste. Tinasha, do me a favor and cut it open here."

Ruby imagined the moving scene and felt like the coffins of those top chefs were about to be crushed. He could only helplessly mark the lobster's head with a hand chop, signaling Tinasha to cut it in the middle.

"This is hard to cut. Although I have enough strength, the angle..."

Tinasha took out her weapon and gestured. The lobster was lying on the ground. If she chopped from top to bottom, she'd only cut halfway before the blade got stuck in the mud.

"Then how about this."

Ruby also felt it would be difficult to cut this way, so he grabbed the lobster's two claws and held it up in front of him.

"No, no, if anything happens to you, Nana will definitely kill me."

Tinasha quickly shook her head. Although she didn't know how close Ruby and Mayona's relationship was, her intuition told her this was not good. At the slightest mistake, both Ruby and the lobster could be cut in half.

"Tinasha, I trust you."

Ruby's gaze was serious and direct. He believed he wouldn't misjudge someone. Tinasha's words and actions were enough for him to trust her.

"Then, alright."

Ruby's unconditional trust made Tinasha pause slightly. Seeing that Mayona wasn't stopping her either, she could only nod in agreement.

With a swift swing of her spear, the lobster was split in two. The tip of the spear grazed Ruby's chest, forcing one to admire Tinasha's control.

"Perfect."

Ruby gave Tinasha a thumbs-up and went to clean out the insides of the lobster's head. Tinasha also cast a look at Mayona, seeking praise, but was completely ignored by the Archmage girl.

With the Dragon's active participation, various lobster dishes were served one after another on the wooden round table Mayona had created with magic. All the pots and pans were made perfectly. Mayona increasingly felt that the Dragon was an indispensable part of daily life.

"Wow, it's so lavish I could float to the sky."

Mayona's eyes sparkled as she looked at the table full of lobster meat, making her look like she belonged to the Starlight Family. However, when she reached out to grab food, Ruby mercilessly slapped her hand away.

"Wash your hands."

"Tch."

The Archmage girl unhappily conjured a water ball in the air and washed her hands. Tinasha had already taken off her heavy armor and was ready to act.

Tinasha was initially willing to listen to Ruby introduce the names of dishes she had never heard of, such as lobster baked with cream cheese, steamed lobster with garlic, grilled lobster, and shrimp roe tofu. But the moment she took her first bite, her mind went blank. Together with Mayona, she shamelessly stuffed meat into her mouth with both hands.

"I... I can't eat anymore..."

Half an hour later, Mayona lay on her Cloud Magic cushion, unable to move. Her brain told her to eat a little more, that she wouldn't get to eat like this again if she stopped now, but her stomach told her that if she ate any more, she'd die. She felt like she was suffering a fate worse than death from such conflicting feelings.

"Damn, why can she eat so much?"

Mayona glared unhappily at Tinasha, who was still eating. She was sure this woman had a spatial magic array in her stomach to teleport away everything she ate. That was the only explanation.

"Because the energy consumed is different. You should learn from her and train your body too."

"No way."

"Hooah, this is the first time in my life I've eaten such delicious food. Now I understand why Nana cares about you so much. It's great, I want to eat Ruby's cooking every day too."

Even though Tinasha wasn't a princess who indulged in gluttony, Ruby's cooking was enough to make a saint fall. Tinasha had reason to believe that the gluttony Satan used to tempt the angels into sin was Ruby's cooking.

"You're still ten thousand years too early to compete with me for him. I'm full, time for bed."

Mayona stretched, waved her hand, and walked back towards the house.

"Hey, Nana, were you always this lazy?"

Tinasha asked, looking at Mayona's retreating back with confusion. For her, the night's workout had just begun, but she hadn't expected Mayona to be ready to head back to her nest.

"Always."

Night fell, and Mayona lay on her long-awaited bed, unable to sleep. Although Ruby was sleeping next door, just a wall away like in their little wooden house, she felt the distance had grown. It was probably because the room was too large.

Knock, knock, knock

"What is it? You think the room is too big too? I can reluctantly let you sleep on the floor..."

Hearing the knock, Mayona immediately got out of bed and went to open the door, muttering words that made the visitor quite happy.

"Really? I thought you'd definitely refuse. That's great."

Tinasha, wearing pajamas and holding her blanket, stood at the door with a look of pleasant surprise. She was so happy upon hearing Mayona's words that she could have jumped for joy.

Crash

Ruby was awakened by the sound of something breaking his window and falling into the yard. He raised his head in confusion, looked around, and then went back to sleep. The Imperial Capital was indeed not very peaceful.