Nephthys complimented him, and Avner's eyes lit up.
"I did, right?"
"Yes. I thought they would eat you alive at first, but the moment you started fighting, I was impressed."
"….."
Nephthys expected him to be happy at the compliment, but instead he kept a poker face, blinking slowly.
"What's wrong? I said you did a good job."
"You think that little of me?"
This time it was Nephthys who fell silent.
"No,"
she replied at last, yet Avner still didn't look convinced.
"You did good. I'm proud of you."
She tried again, but his expression didn't change.
"You worked hard. We should go eat."
Nephthys reached for his hand and took it in her own.
That finally got a reaction. Avner's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You don't want me to hold your hand?"
Nephthys asked, starting to pull away, but Avner stopped her immediately.
"No, no. You're right. It's late—we should go eat."
Avner agreed quickly.
"Let's go."
His expression brightened, and every time he looked at her like that, Nephthys couldn't help but think of a puppy.
She started walking, with Avner right behind her.
Maybe I should fight demons more often if that's going to be my reward… or was it because I was sulking? Maybe I should do that more often.
Avner tried to figure out what had triggered her reaction. Once he understood it, he could just keep doing that.
"I did good, didn't I?"
"Yes."
"I was incredible with the sword, wasn't I?"
"Yes."
They were eating now—well, Nephthys was enjoying her meal, while Avner enjoyed praising his sword skills.
"Whoa, now that I think about it, maybe the reason I'm having trouble with my powers is because of that. It would be too unfair to the other men…"
"How so?"
"Well, think about it. I'm a great swordsman, I have a great personality, I'm handsome and rich. If I were a master too, that would make it too hard for other men to get married."
"Avner."
After listening to his nonsense, Nephthys called his name, and he responded immediately.
"Yes?"
"Sit down."
Only then did Avner realize he had stood up during his explanation of Mother Nature's sense of fairness. Even so, he sat down right away at her command.
He went back to eating, and for a moment the meal became peaceful—both of them enjoying their food. At least, Nephthys was. Avner, meanwhile, was paying attention to something else… or rather, to someone.
Avner usually filled the silence. His family was loud, always talking, always noisy. It had been that way since childhood, so silence was unfamiliar to him. Yet in moments like this—moments where he could look at Nephthys like this—he fell in love with peace over and over again.
"If you don't eat, I'm sending you back to the forest."
She warned him without even looking up.
"Cough—cough!"
Avner snapped out of it.
"Wow, the food looks delicious."
He quickly put some food into his mouth.
"Now that I think about it, I've never seen you skip a meal."
At Avner's question, Nephthys paused. His words stirred flashes of her past, but she composed herself and continued eating.
"Yes."
It was a simple reply, like always. Most people wouldn't notice anything wrong—but Avner did. He caught the subtle shift in her mood and decided to change the subject.
"So… how did you become such a great master?"
"….."
Nephthys lifted her gaze from her food and looked straight into his eyes. The sudden eye contact made Avner nervous, and he immediately started talking nonsense again.
"Haha… I bet you come from a family of masters yourself."
"Is that what you think?"
Nephthys asked calmly, returning her attention to her meal.
Avner didn't even know where that thought had come from, and now he was even more nervous.
"….."
He searched for an answer that wouldn't offend her, but Nephthys spoke first.
"You may be disappointed."
"….."
When no reply came, Nephthys finally looked up again. Her eyes changed.
They turned cold.