The drinks brought over by Numby seemed especially potent. Even Topaz, usually shrewd and calculating with plenty of ideas, was showing a somewhat spoiled, willful side.
This novel change was rather refreshing.
Yet Russell's heart was full of confusion.
He looked up at the Prompt Device and communicated with it in a way only the two of them could perceive:
"Have I ever tried to court Topaz?"
Russell was certain he had never pursued Topaz.
But Topaz's sudden, girlishly haughty behavior had completely shaken his confidence.
If you hadn't been lured onto the ecology ship by magical animals, the role you were supposed to play really was her pursuer.
The Prompt Device pondered for a while before replying.
In Russell's abandoned plan, he was supposed to befriend Topaz as a Great Lord of Annihilation disguised as the High Elder.
The purpose was naturally to make Topaz—someone on good terms with the "High Elder" and exceptionally perceptive—notice something off. Then, at a critical moment, she would expose the identity of "Russell, Great Lord of Annihilation," allowing the process to enter its next phase.
—Force Phantylia to duel Jing Yuan, then reasonably seize the Drinking Moon Legacy.
But unfortunately—
Russell wanted to see all kinds of magical little animals, while the Prompt Device wanted to watch Phantylia lose her composure.
Thus, that perfectly feasible plan had been shelved.
So—
"You weren't waiting for me to pursue you, were you?"
The woman narrowed her eyes slightly, displeasure flickering within her pupils.
Her hair seemed to drift as she climbed up, sometimes brushing against her cheeks, sometimes lifted gently by the wind. Yet no matter what, it could not conceal the obvious dissatisfaction on her face.
Russell: "..."
Holy shit.
There was a bug in the program.
He felt like he was the guy