"Do you think I don't dare to hit you?!" Yin Zhen shouted in anger, glaring at Nathan.
"That's enough!" Selena shouted, standing between them.
Nathan remained seated on the bed, staring at Yin Zhen with a serious face.
How did this happen? The mood had completely changed from several minutes ago.
...
A few minutes ago.
Selena was resting her head on his shoulder. She didn't say it, but the message she wanted to convey was clear.
"You are strong and talented. I know that fact, so you don't have to worry. There will come a day where you'll be able to save your father... No, we'll save your father. And I know that day will come soon."
"En." Selena nodded. "I thought you were going to shamelessly say 'our' father."
"I don't want to be killed yet. Seeing how much he sacrificed for you, I can't imagine what will happen to me if I steal his daughter," said Nathan jokingly.
Selena smiled, almost chuckling. "I'll definitely repay you in the future."
"Ahem. What are you trying to say? We are both helping each other, because that's how a relationship is supposed to go. So there's no need to repay me. However, it will be different if you're talking about marriage." Nathan teased Selena.
Selena said, "You probably need my familiars' approval first. Risa and Sasha are probably on your side, but Yin Zhen is angry at you."
"That's probably true, considering I have made a lot of mistakes on this mission."
"No one would think there would be flying aliens still hiding in the mature class alien." Selena tried to make an excuse for Nathan.
"Are you seriously not going to say anything? Are you going to hide behind a woman?" Yin Zhen clenched his hands into fists.
Nathan simply shook his head. "No. I have indeed made too many mistakes. If things haven't gone that well, we might not be here. However, I need you to follow my instructions for the next battle as well."
"You..." Yin Zhen was gnashing his teeth. "Do you think I don't dare to hit you?"
"That's enough." Selena stood between them.
"Get away. If he doesn't understand his responsibility, he will keep making the same mistake."
"I said that's enough!" Selena bit her lips. "I have made more mistakes than him, but he has never blamed me. He even used that mistake to our advantage.
"If you think you haven't made a single mistake, then you can hit him! We all make mistakes. It's not the mistake that we should talk about; it's about what we should do to not make the same mistake again." Selena turned around and continued, "You, too, Nathan. Why are you just acknowledging mistakes you're unaware of?"
Nathan shook his head. He raised both hands, clenching them as if he were hiding something in those hands. "There is a rock inside one of my hands, and the other is empty. Which hand has a rock in it?"
"There is no rock!" Selena was frustrated. This was a big matter, so she didn't want him to joke about it.
Nathan simply said, "Exactly. Why do you say there's no rock? It's because you know there's no rock. That information will change the course of everything. What if you don't know I don't have a rock? You will probably choose a hand, right?"
Selena couldn't deny it.
"It was my mistake that I didn't know this information. I might have been too complacent after a series of successes that I ended up underestimating the situation." Nathan stood up and raised his head, looking Yin Zhen in the eyes. "That's precisely the reason I need you to obey my instruction. It's so that we can complete the mission without any more mistakes.
I don't need your acknowledgement, I only need you to follow my plan this time."
"What if—" Before Yin Zhen could even finish, Nathan simply said, "Do whatever you want."