Chapter 151: Felix’s Proposal

"So what are you two talking about?" Emir asked with a warm smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Valerie was at a loss for words. "I-I... we were just," she stumbled over her words under Emir’s intense gaze.

"Tch. What is this?" Kaelen interrupted. "We aren’t even married yet, and you’re already getting all possessive and jealous."

Emir paused to stare at him blankly for a moment before a faint smile crept onto her lips. "Kaelen, I believe we’ve reached an agreement. But the tournament you’re about to enter is one that’ll heavily restrict your movement within the tower walls. I can’t reveal much yet, but we’ll likely only see each other casually like this once in a while, and that is if you survive long enough to make it to even the tenth floor. I can’t determine how many floors there are, and I also can’t determine when and where you’ll find what you’re looking for..." Emir paused for a moment. "So what I’m basically saying is that you don’t have to feel the pressure of upholding your end of the bargain. Your focus and utmost priority should be surviving each and every floor."

Kaelen was silent for a moment.

Basically, what she was saying was he could decide to give her the founding successor whenever he felt comfortable with that, for as long as it took.

That only confirmed what Valerie had said.

Emir wasn’t interested in being a couple with him or having a child that might or might not be the next founding successor of the Atreus bloodline.

The founding successor was only a bargaining chip to make it seem like this was a fair trade. In truth, her target was specifically him all along—not for his body or anything she mentioned.

Kaelen could feel the clue was in the marriage and ’long-term investment’ she mentioned. Valerie seemed to have figured it out already. But with Emir here now, Kaelen might not have the chance to speak privately with Valerie again.

"What if I want to do it now and get it off my chest before I enter the tournament?" Kaelen asked sharply.

Emir was taken aback by the question. "What? I’ve told you, you won’t have my consent till we’re married."

"Then let’s get married now and get it over with." Kaelen replied immediately and went to grab the wheelchair.

Without even touching the wheels, the wheelchair moved like it had a mind of its own, creating distance between her and Kaelen.

"W-What’s gotten into you, Kaelen? This isn’t something you rush. I might not have any babies even if you tried now. Gosh," Emir stumbled over her words and heaved like she had just escaped the unthinkable, surprising both Kaelen and Valerie, whose mouth was slightly open in disbelief.

"That’s exactly why we need to start now. If we do it till the tournament kicks off, I doubt there won’t be any result if you’re fertile." Kaelen wasn’t done with her.

Emir looked flabbergasted as she stared at Kaelen. Her mouth opened several times, but no words came out. She finally let out a scoff in cold disbelief and shifted her gaze towards Valerie.

"We’re done here. Let’s go home." She said and gave Kaelen a side glance before ignoring him completely. But her flushed face betrayed what was on her mind.

"Y-Yes, milady." Valerie snapped out of her daze and quickly moved to her position behind the wheelchair, but paused for a moment to nod at Kaelen.

Her face said it all. This was probably the first time she’d seen Emir in such a helpless and feminine state.

As the two went away, a voice suddenly came from behind Kaelen.

"I’m impressed."

Kaelen turned to see Felix standing there with a glass and a goofy grin. Kaelen’s brows slightly furrowed.

"I don’t think anyone has ever seen Emir like that, but I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising since you’re both getting married. Which makes me wonder how you got to meet the War Demon and strike such a deal with her. You sure are something else, aren’t you, Kaelen?" Felix said and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder how she’d feel when she realizes you’re here planning on getting married."

"I plan on keeping it from her, and would appreciate you keeping your mouth shut as well—Not like you’d ever get the chance to see my mother again."

"Your mother?" Felix lifted a brow in confusion, before amusement flashed across his eyes and he nodded. "Yeah, sure. No hard feelings. Don’t forget I never got to meet my father because you killed him."

"What do you want, Felix?" Kaelen interrupted him.

Felix smiled before looking over his shoulder like he was looking out for something.

"I have a proposition for you, Kaelen. Something that can help the both of us in the Tower of Babel."

"I’m not interested."

"I thought you’d say that, which is why I’d be leaving my inbox open for whenever you’re ready. For a start, I’ll tell you a few things you probably don’t know that just might save your life."

"There are three types of abilities players possess. You’re probably familiar with the first two, which are Talent and Skills. Then there’s the third, Bloodline. Every millennium, a grand tournament is hosted inside the Tower of Babel where players are randomly grouped under the authority of a Herald and are given a private domain or lobby where they’ll be spending most of their recreation time inside the tower. All groups are expected to take their lobby’s growth as seriously as their battles inside floors, as that would play a big role in the strength of your group, such as building a farm for food, a better sleeping area, a smith for crafting weapons and accessories, and et cetera. At the outset of this millennium’s tournament, every candidate can only use one ability for the next ten floors. The game masters randomly choose it from their Talent, Skills, or Bloodline."

"What?" Kaelen’s brows furrowed.

"Getting interested, are we? But this is undisclosed information, and I’m counting on you to keep it to yourself. So, as a starter gift to strengthen our future partnership," Felix took out a small transparent vial that only held one ominous red pill inside. "Here’s a Suppression Pill you can take to temporarily deactivate all your abilities except one. This would help you choose the ability you want to use for the next ten floors and prevent the game masters from randomly picking a useless ability for you." Felix said with a sly smile.

Kaelen frowned as he stared from Felix to the vial in his hand. "And what if your ’undisclosed’ information is wrong?" He asked sharply without accepting the vial.

"Well then, certain deaths might await you." Felix said with a sheepish grin.

"Thanks for the heads-up, but I’ll pass." Kaelen said and began walking off without waiting for Felix’s reply.

"Kaelen, the Tower of Babel is being used for tournaments for a reason." Felix called out behind him. "Your battles are going to be streamed live across the universe, and patrons are going to sponsor parties and place bets on how long you can survive. I’ll advise you not to place any hopes on Lady Emir to walk you through, or you’ll end up in an even more unfavourable position. You should hold onto the pill for now, and when you get back, ask Lady Emir about anything I said. If her answer correlates with everything I’ve said, feel free to follow her lead instead. But if she denies all of it... you’re better off trusting your greatest nemesis."