Chapter 329: Chapter 329: The Voice of My Heart_1
Aiden was slightly surprised at the words; he had not thought that the preoccupied state he had been in these days was so obvious that others could notice.
After gradually learning the full picture from Melifilia and Melissa, he indeed felt the pressure had considerably increased.
"You actually noticed, huh..." Aiden laughed at himself; he had thought he wasn’t being particularly obvious.
"In recent months, since that witch assembly, I feel you have been in contact with some... dangerous organizations," Veronica said, looking at Aiden.
"..." Aiden fell silent for a moment.
True, starting with the incident at the witch assembly, he had become involved in the world of power and had slowly realized how the gods had been playing him like a chess piece all along. Within the chess game arranged by the "Conspiracy Goddess," after stepping into the world of power, he had been increasingly sinking deeper, with more and more related forces emerging to contact him. Now that the intelligence organizations of the world of power officially listed him as a client, it meant that he had become noticeable enough in this world.
"Is it something I shouldn’t know?" Veronica asked hesitantly.
Although Veronica knew nothing about the world of power, she had always paid attention to her superior and had somehow sensed there was an issue.
"On one hand, it is confidential intelligence; but actually... it’s more about personal grudges from my past," Aiden said carefully, choosing his words.
"Is it very dangerous?" Veronica inquired.
This time, Aiden did not speak but simply nodded his head.
In dealing with the Harvest Mother Cult that time, there was, at least, the support of the witch assembly, and the Blood Moon Cult had only sent a proxy of a ruler. As for the pirates that had come this time... they were nothing but ordinary robbers who had happened to pick up a Divine Artifact. Under Melissa’s trap setting, in the world of power, they were just like fish on the chopping board.
But if the opponent were changed to someone as vicious and ruthless as Mr. Bloody Garment or an overqualified ruler like Melissa... honestly, up to this point, Aiden saw not even the slightest chance of winning.
"I’ll say it again, if there’s anywhere you need me..." Veronica said earnestly, "you can just order me. It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me the details; just let me do it."
"Don’t be stubborn, foolish girl. Such blind loyalty is unwelcome; if one day I send you to die... you would truly die in vain," Aiden chided.
"But you are the one who saved my life," Veronica replied without hesitation.
"I did it because I wanted to; you’ve already helped me a lot, and you owe me nothing," Aiden responded calmly.
He suddenly found the girl a bit too naive; while a life-saving favor was certainly significant, unconditionally trusting one’s benefactor might not be a wise judgment.
"...Is there really nothing I can help with?" Veronica felt a bit disappointed. From Aiden’s polite refusal, she could somewhat perceive a fact—the world Aiden was in might be beyond her reach.
"That’s not necessarily true; in fact, I just happen to have something I could use your help with, but it needs a bit more preparation," Aiden said with a smile.
Veronica thought for a moment and realized something, "Does it have to do with that prisoner just now?"
"Exactly."
"Sir, what you and she just..." Veronica’s voice trailed off midway.
"Hmm? What about it?" Aiden gestured for her to finish her question.
"You and her just now..." Veronica hesitated for quite a while before finally squeezing out the question, "What did you do in the office?"
"I was just asking her some questions," Aiden replied.
"But there’s a scent of fruit wine in the office," Veronica raised a question, "The suspect also smelled of alcohol, did you and her drink in the office?"
He’d been detected, after all—thought Aiden.
He had indeed poured only one glass of wine for Sophie to drink, but Veronica’s keen nose had still caught the scent.
"She set a condition for me, one sip of wine for her to reveal her abilities," Aiden explained, "I decided it was more important to let her confess first."
"And you yourself..." Veronica stared at Aiden as she asked.
"Of course I didn’t drink; I’m still at work. I can tell the difference..." Aiden had barely finished speaking when he noticed Veronica’s skeptical expression, "It’s true, you should know me by now."
Veronica fell silent for a moment, then suddenly coughed, "Then you won’t mind if I confirm it, will you?"
"I would mind, but how are you going to..." Aiden’s question was cut off midway when he saw Veronica moving closer without a word, suddenly realizing what she intended to do, his face changed color, "Wait a minute!"
"You said you didn’t mind!" Veronica, unusually defiant, ignored Aiden’s protest, planted her hands on his desk, leaned forward, striving to bring her face close to Aiden’s.
Aiden was bemused by Veronica’s sudden boldness, instinctively pressing back against the chair, caught off guard by her aggressive move.
Veronica gradually brought her face to about ten centimeters from Aiden’s, a distance ambiguous enough to provoke a veil of thoughts yet subtle enough to not breach proper limits.
Veronica lightly sniffed the scent on Aiden, and though it was just for a few seconds, Aiden felt as though time had stretched a bit longer.
After a while, Veronica pulled back.
"Indeed, there’s no smell of alcohol," Veronica nodded as if she hadn’t noticed anything else.
However, Aiden observed her closely, not missing her slightly pink ears—she was not so naive to be completely oblivious to her actions just now.
Aiden realized he might have to reassess Veronica, that girl wasn’t simpleminded at all, sometimes...she turned out to be quite sharp.
Aiden coughed to cover his embarrassment, his face taking on a stern tone, "That was a bit too much; you should show some respect to your superior."
"Okay..." Veronica said softly, shifting her gaze away slightly.
Why had she suddenly done that?
Even she couldn’t come up with an answer to this question.
Perhaps it was a spur of the moment, or maybe...it was because she saw Aiden constantly interacting with that world of women beyond her reach, causing her to grow subconsciously anxious.
She still remembered the last time the pirates came, the mysterious woman who appeared by Aiden’s side. She was certain the woman was just a helper sought by her superior, but she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
How she wished to close the gap with him...even just a little—before stepping out of the office, Veronica clearly heard her own wish in her heart.
