Chapter 1696: Chapter 1253: Interlude of the Journey
The seats in the compartment couldn’t recline fully, and they weren’t all that comfortable, so the best posture for a passenger was to place their hands on the table. However, Ash monopolized two seats, lowering all the armrests, crossing his legs, half-lying down, with his left hand propping up his cheek, eyes glued to the show on the Light Screen, occasionally chuckling, as lazy as a fat Labrador.
Who would have thought that such a guy was preparing to challenge the Supreme Star’s absolute supremacy? If he succeeds, he would stand as the undisputed Supreme of Magic at the pinnacle of civilization. Yet last night, he was still serving his lovers...
Felix pretended to watch the scenery flying by outside, all the while keeping an eye on Ash’s movements through the corner of her eye. Dedarose finished flipping through a magazine, leaning her chin on her hand while glancing sideways at Felix. It took Felix three seconds to notice Dedarose’s subtle gaze because her attention was all in the ’corner of the eye’.
But Dedarose wasn’t like the four Death Gods in the back compartment, so Felix wasn’t nervous at all.
She casually stretched, then bent her head to continue flipping through the magazine, pretending nothing had happened.
At this moment, Dedarose touched her Space Ring and pulled out noise-cancelling headphones, a pure black sleep mask, and a neck pillow. She poked Felix’s side and then put on the headphones, mask, and pillow, turning her head to sleep facing outward, her attitude clear—do whatever you want, I can’t see or hear anything.
Felix pretended to keep flipping through the magazine for a while before lifting her head to continue watching the scenery outside. The Kingdom of Blood Moon was sunny today, with sunlight pouring through the car window, casting square beams of light on Ash, making his earlobes shimmer with a translucent sheen, the fine hairs on his arms glistening golden, half his face basking in sunlight, the corners of his mouth carrying a gentle smile.
Initially intending only a sidelong glance, Felix became entranced as she watched. In her heart, Ash was always an irresponsible, lazy, greedy, shameless figure, practically a Supreme of Magic-level trash can. The Sword Maidens were committing folly by jumping into the pit of fire, and the day they realized it would be Ash’s day of reckoning. But she also thought that Ash, at certain times... was quite pleasing to the eye.
She took out a tiny camera from her pocket, and with several experiences of candid shots under her belt, Felix skillfully used the magazine as a cover. After adjusting the aperture and focus, she took seven or eight shots and felt satisfied, just about to put it away when Ash suddenly moved.
Felix flinched, thinking she had been caught red-handed, but Ash just took a sip of water and continued watching the show, appearing completely immersed in the drama world and oblivious to his surroundings. Because Ash changed his posture, Felix felt the current composition was even better and couldn’t help but snap a few more pictures.
No idea what show he’s watching, but he kept moving, changing poses every ten seconds or so. Whenever she saw a good composition, Felix would capture it, finding herself surprisingly not bored and even starting to look forward to what pose Ash might strike next.
After taking thirty-six pictures, Felix finally noticed something amiss—
She saw Ash deliberately flipping his bangs upwards, his fingers tugging at his collar to reveal his faintly visible collarbone, striking an overly contrived, showy pose.
Felix took a big gulp of water to calm down but couldn’t hold it in for three seconds, spurting a mouthful of water across the table all over Ash’s face.
"What’s going on with you guys?" Weiser and Vishi poked their heads in.
"Sorry," Felix covered her mouth, but tears of laughter were squeezing from her eyes, "His pose was just too tacky... I couldn’t help it..."
"Oh." Weiser immediately understood, "It’s normal, his aesthetics are pretty much stuck at a teenage level. We’ve been trying to correct him for ages, but leave his outfits unchecked for a day, and he can bring down the whole team’s fashion sense."
"Teenage level?" Vishi was somewhat puzzled.
"Meaning not above the aesthetic level of a 16-year-old," Weiser explained, "Remember his black skull shirt with chains?"
"Wasn’t that a ritual garment? I don’t really understand the ritual style of your era... but surely no one would wear such attire as everyday clothing!"
"He wore it on our date," Sonia stated calmly, "It was freezing those few days and everyone had their winter outfits on, but he purposely wore just two layers to show off his ’cool’ shirt... I had to drag him to a mall to buy more clothes, and he was reluctant!"
"Uncle Harvey and Dad really expanded my horizons on aesthetics," Diya couldn’t help but voice, "They always fancy elements like darkness, death, graves, and destruction, along with some baffling symbols. It’s just..."
Talking about Ash’s disastrous sense of fashion, everyone shared freely, filling the compartment with lively laughter.
Ash wiped the water off his face, staring at Felix across from him with a gloomy expression, muttering through clenched teeth, "Aren’t you going to say something?"
"I’m sorry..." Felix covered her face, "I just couldn’t hold it..."
"You’re still laughing, you never stopped!" Ash looked at her constantly trembling shoulders, his expression almost slipping, grumbling in frustration, "Shouldn’t have helped you in the first place!"
Felix finally managed to stop laughing, taking a deep breath and looking at the sulking man in front of her. After Ash noticed her taking pictures of him secretly, instead of saying anything, he proactively struck various (at least he thought) handsome poses to cooperate with Felix, seeming quite pleased with himself... The Supreme of Magic was secretly thrilled to be photographed by a girl... but that was precisely his style.
Felix found it hard to even pretend, holding her face in her hands, eyes smiling brightly at Ash. It was Ash who couldn’t hold it any longer: "If you’re really bored, go take pictures of the beautiful girls on the other side."
"Isn’t your hair too long?" Felix suddenly asked, "I see you often flipping your bangs."
"I haven’t had time to tidy it up," Ash brushed his bangs up, "It’s a bit long, can even tie a small braid at the back now."
"I have a hairband, let me help you with that."
"I can do it myself—"
"Tying someone else’s hair is different from tying your own," Felix leaned over, "Consider it my atonement for spraying water all over you."
Ash lowered his head, as Felix gathered all his front and back hair together, revealing his smooth nape gleaming dazzlingly under the sunlight.
"Do you use hair clips?"
"No, I don’t."
"Then I happen to have some hair gel here. Don’t move."
Felix combed all of Ash’s hair back and held his face to examine for a moment. "Your eyelashes are a mess; let me curl them for you."
"Is that really necessary?"
"After they’re curled, you can ask the Sword Maiden what’s different about you. If she can’t answer ’your eyelashes,’ you can take the chance to accuse her of not liking you enough, and then—"
"Got it!" Ash instantly understood.
"You are really..." Felix chuckled, pulling out an eyelash curler. "Lift, squint, move—lift your eyebrows, then squint."
Ash obediently did as told, Felix’s hand completely blocking his view. He felt his eyelashes being gently pulled and straightened, then...
Two soft lips gently pressed against his, the fresh scent of jasmine wafting through his nose.
"All done."
Felix sat back down, casually saying, "This makes us even."
Ash touched his lips, staring at her. She blinked as if remembering something and added, "My finger accidentally brushed your lips earlier, sorry."
"Finger?"
"Yes, the back of it."
Ash looked at the back of his hand, about to kiss it to test the feel when Felix caught his hand.
"It’s the back of the finger," the Vosloda second miss focused on him, her voice trembling slightly. "What else could it be?"
Over in another compartment, Diya expressed frustration at losing at cards; it seemed their betting had reached a fever pitch. Wearing headphones and a sleep mask, Dedarose swayed with the train, seemingly having fallen asleep. Ash felt the mixed emotions coming from Felix’s hand, sighed, and said, "Alright then."
Felix breathed a sigh of relief, casually asking, "What drama are you watching that’s making you cry and laugh?"
"The Wild Rush Rider," Ash replied. "It’s a story of love and rivalry between a gang leader and a sheriff. Quite interesting, especially the female lead. She stands against everyone because of her sense of justice, yet at critical moments, everyone trusts her the most."
"Ah—"
The two chatted idly, with Felix’s demeanor becoming much more relaxed. Even when Weiser occasionally glanced over, she could comfortably converse with Ash, as if freed from some shackles or having gained some encouragement.
Suddenly, a broadcast echoed in the carriage:
"The restaurant in car ten introduces the Ultimate Weapon Triple Red Flame Fat, available in limited quantities on a first-come, first-serve basis!"
Red Flame Fat! And it’s the Ultimate Weapon Triple!
Ash’s mouth watered, and Felix knew Ash especially liked Red Flame Fat dishes, asking, "Shall I get you a portion?"
"No." Ash thought for a moment before deciding against it. "Eating by myself feels odd...Besides, no matter how good train food is, it can’t compare to the ones in Kaimon City’s top restaurants."
They thought this was a rare announcement, but a few minutes later, it sounded again—
"Would passengers with healing abilities please proceed to car ten."
"Looks like someone got injured or sick," Felix speculated.
Ash nodded, casually saying, "Well, there are quite a few Healing Mages, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. If they broadcast a second time, Felix, you should go and check."
"Okay."
A few minutes later, the broadcast sounded for a third time, but with different content:
"Would passengers with experience traveling to three kingdoms or more please proceed to car ten."
