But he never imagined the dubious honor of being the first to cry in front of him would go to the Incubus—and all because she had "lost money."
Annan sighed and made Rus stop for a moment. "Incubus, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear?"
Rus raised her swollen eyes. "You mean two pieces of bad news?"
Nothing could cheer her up now. She would spend the rest of her life in the depths of despair...
"You're not wrong." Looking at the utterly miserable Rus, Annan got straight to the point. "The first piece of bad news is... well, you already know. The Rat King won."
The Incubus opened her mouth like a frog that had been poked, ready to start again. "Waaah—"
Annan quickly raised his voice over her wailing. "The second piece of bad news is... I didn't listen to you."
He took out the Purse Rus had given him, closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to look, and tossed it over.
"I forgot to place your bet."
The moment he said it, the Incubus threw herself into his arms, tears and snot streaming down her face. "Waaah, Olmedo... Just Right, waaah... Sniff... You... How are you so, so good to me? Waaah..."
"There, there." Annan patted Rus's back to soothe her. "Look at you. A battle-hardened Incubus, a warrior who survived the Bloody Battle, and you're still crying your eyes out."
"Waaah, who says... says an Incubus can't cry? Waaah... Hic..." Rus began to sob in little hiccuping bursts.
Who would have thought this brash Incubus, who feared no strong foe and loved a fight, would ever burst into tears?
And all over a Purse of Coins she thought she had lost.
Annan teased her on purpose. "So who do