Tales returned to the Dungeon after seeing off his guest. ("You'll make him suffer terribly, right?"—Belicia, whose attitude before leaving had been intriguing.) He now faced Luosang the Second, who was clearly different from before.
"I heard you finally agreed to see me again?"
Luosang the Second struggled to raise his head. His gaze pierced through his disheveled hair and first turned to the person beside Tales:
"Only you."
Beside Tales, Miss Cecilia Cavendish—looking thoroughly displeased at having lost face ("Fine, your method worked better than Soul Bone Yak's. Happy now?")—folded her arms and frowned, her tone threatening:
"Oh? Are you sure?"
Tales looked left and right, hastily trying to smooth things over:
"Uh, well, Shilai, if you stay here, he won't be very willing. So maybe..."
"I'm staying."
Shilai's decisive words shut down every possibility.
Tales raised his brows and quickly changed his tune:
"Fine."
The Prince looked at the assassin without losing his smile:
"See? I tried."
Luosang the Second sneered:
"Try harder."
"Are you sure?" Shilai coldly tugged at her glove. "You want me to try harder?"
Tales put on a smile, preparing for another round of persuasion, but the Bloodline Assassin only gave a bleak smile.
"Drop the good-cop-bad-cop routine," he said, turning his head aside. His attitude was indifferent, utterly unmoved by Shilai's threat. "I'm tired of it."
His attitude of having given up on everything made Tales and Shilai both frown. They exchanged a glance.
"Looks like you had a good talk with your Old Friend?" Tales asked tentatively.
Luosang the Second was silent for a while.
"How did you think to look for her?"
Good. He was willing to talk, so there was no need to think of another way to send Miss Cavendish away.
"Because I couldn't catch you—in any sense of