We Agreed I’d Be a Hero, So How Did My Future Wife End Up Pursuing Me Instead.3

Chapter 3.

“Who’s there?”

Reyno shouted loudly toward the door outside his room.

The originally hushed rustling footsteps outside the door suddenly came to an abrupt halt, then instantly became panicked and heavy.

“What’s going on… could it be that a thief has broken in?”

Reyno’s brows furrowed tightly as he immediately turned from his desk and rushed toward the door, forcefully pushing open the wooden door to his room.

DONG!

AH!

The moment the door opened, an impact force traveled from the door to Reyno’s tiger’s mouth.

Following that was a familiar female voice crying out delicately.

Reyno looked carefully and saw that outside the door was actually his apprentice Molanna Valetta.

At this moment, Molanna Valetta had been struck hard on the forehead by the door Reyno pushed open, and was half-crouching on the ground covering her head with her slender white palms. Continuous soft whimpering sounds came from her throat, making her look like a pitiful small animal.

“Molanna Valetta?” 

Reyno was stunned, then his body reacted faster than his brain, instinctively helping her up.

“Why are you tiptoeing around in your own home? I thought a thief had broken in! Move your hands away, let me take a look.”

Reyno helped Molanna Valetta into the room to examine the bruising on the area where she had been struck.

“I was discovered? Why! It clearly never happened before…”

Molanna Valetta’s mind was somewhat confused.

Having spent so much time with Reyno, she had long developed a habit—

When he returned to his room, she would sometimes secretly tiptoe and eavesdrop on the activity in Reyno’s room.

Occasionally, when he didn’t close the door properly, she would even peek inside a couple of times.

This small habit had been maintained from their old home all the way to following Reyno into life in Haila Royal City. She knew Reyno’s perception ability was weak. She knew exactly how much to lower her footsteps to avoid disturbing him.

And today, she was actually discovered!

“Fortunately, it wasn’t hit too hard. Just a little bruising, we can even save the healing magic.”

Seeing that Molanna Valetta wasn’t seriously hurt, Reyno finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at Molanna Valetta with unfocused eyes, not knowing what she was thinking, Reyno gently knocked on her forehead with two knuckles.

“What are you thinking about? Little phantom thief?”

Molanna Valetta came back to her senses and immediately stammered: “I, I just wanted to secretly go to the closet to get some food… I was afraid you’d scold me, so I kept my footsteps very light…”

Molanna Valetta would absolutely never admit to peeking at her master.

If Reyno discovered that she even knew what times he liked to do his crafting work, she’d probably be expelled from apprenticeship in minutes!

“You really are…”

Upon hearing Molanna Valetta’s reason, Reyno immediately found it both amusing and exasperating.

His apprentice was like someone with a naturally gluttonous constitution, and this was indeed something she would do.

Moreover, their rooms were only separated by less than two meters, so it made sense why she would appear at his door.

“You silly girl, if you want to eat something just tell me directly, I won’t shortchange you.”

“I know~”

Molanna Valetta rubbed her still slightly swollen forehead, then smoothly fell into Reyno’s embrace.

Her body was soft and light, making Reyno feel as if a large stuffed doll was lying in his arms.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I bumped my head and feel a bit dizzy, let me lean on you for a moment.”

After saying this, Molanna Valetta rubbed her head against Reyno’s arm, her disheveled but quite smooth black long hair making Reyno feel a wave of itchiness.

She was acting spoiled with great enthusiasm when unexpectedly Reyno suddenly exerted force with his hands and helped her up from his embrace.

“Alright, if you’re not feeling well, let’s postpone the alchemy until tomorrow.”

Reyno said while reaching out to pat her head.

“I’ll give you a day off, satisfied now?”

Before Molanna Valetta could recover, Reyno had already placed his hands under her back and thighs, lifting her up in a princess carry, then in two steps carried Molanna Valetta back to her own bed.

“Alright, I’ve already told you, I’m going out this afternoon. You stay home and rest obediently.”

“Where are you going?”

Molanna Valetta’s eyes widened round, seeming to hold back some anger.

“Your big sister Kleya asked me to go to the opera house, it won’t be long before I return. If you still don’t feel well by then, tell me and I’ll take you to see a doctor.”

The instant she heard the three words ‘Kleya,’ even though Molanna Valetta had already prepared herself mentally, she still felt an inexplicable fire ignite in her heart.

After that, Reyno casually gave a few instructions and went out.

Molanna Valetta listened to the sound of Reyno closing the house’s main door, then once again took out that silver-colored long hair from her pocket.

Only this time, she angrily tore it apart directly, then leaped up from the bed.

“Where exactly am I inferior to her!”

“Letting that woman be alone with Master, who knows what might happen between them!”

“I absolutely cannot sit and wait for disaster!”

After that, she immediately rushed out of the door, running toward the direction of Haila Opera House.

However, she seemed to have forgotten that… the bag of magical materials Reyno had bought in the morning was still in the pocket of her robe.

……

.. It wasn’t far from the market on the west side.

Reyno decided to first go to Kleya’s shop, then the two would go to the opera house together.

The crowd at Haila Market at 1 PM in the afternoon was no longer as dense as in the morning, but could still be considered substantial. 

Almost all were adventurers coming to buy equipment and potions. Besides the common tall people, dwarves, and halflings, one could occasionally even see half-dragons, beastmen, and elves.

Even though the crowd was already smaller than in the morning, Reyno still felt he was getting a headache from all the noise.

After receiving Keen Perception from the system, all of his five senses had risen by a level.

But precisely because of this, being in the already noisy marketplace, Reyno felt as if all the surrounding sounds had been amplified tenfold. 

It even began to cause him waves of tinnitus. After finding a curb to sit on and resting for several minutes, Reyno gradually adapted.

“Having perception become too keen doesn’t seem to be entirely a good thing.”

Reyno wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, secretly complaining in his heart.

At this moment, he didn’t know that behind him there was a pair of eyes silently worrying about him.

“Master looks like something’s not quite right… Did something happen?”

Fifty meters away from where Reyno was, Molanna Valetta was secretly hiding in a corner next to a fruit stand, her eyes fixed intently on the motionless Reyno.

“He’s only been walking for less than ten minutes… did he suddenly fall ill?”

Molanna Valetta looked at the sweat-covered Reyno, her heart couldn’t help but tighten.

In Molanna Valetta’s impression, Reyno was physically strong with superior martial arts skills. 

He rarely got sick, and this was the first time she had seen Reyno in such a weakened state.

Although she had considerable grievances about Reyno openly going to meet Kleya for a date, in this situation, she still prioritized her master’s safety.

“Should I give up tracking and take Master to the clinic right now?”

Just when Molanna Valetta was about to give up tracking and reveal herself, Reyno slowly stood up and continued walking toward the direction of the opera house.

Only then did Molanna Valetta breathe a sigh of relief and continue following slowly behind him.

“Hey, did you hear? This afternoon there’s a new play starring Miss Ika!”

“Of course, I’ve been looking forward to it for so long.”

When passing by a blacksmith shop, Reyno’s hearing precisely captured the conversation between two adventurers.

Ika, the most famous opera actress in Haila Royal City.

Even people who knew nothing about opera, as long as they lived in Haila Royal City, would have heard of Ika’s great name to some extent.

Legend had it that Ika was exceptionally beautiful with superb acting skills. She was kind-hearted and extremely friendly to her fans.

She was quite popular in Haila Royal City.

But she also had some gossip and rumors, with tales that she privately had some unspeakable dealings with certain male nobles.

“The young lady told me to go see the new play at the opera house this afternoon, that should be this performance starring Ika.” Reyno stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Ika’s plays, the tickets have always been expensive. They can even be scalped for several times the original price, yet the young lady was able to get discounted ones… she’s truly worthy of her reputation.”

After passing through the last corner of the market’s central street, Kleya’s potion shop would be visible.

The moment he walked out of the corner, Reyno saw that familiar figure.

The young girl was still wearing that purple-red dress, standing straight in the warm afternoon sunlight.

Her lower body had no additional decorations, and on her thick-soled leather sandals, two slender white legs and a pair of bare feet were delicate and alluring.

She stood there obediently at the entrance of the potion shop, occasionally standing on tiptoes to look around, her beautiful silver hair swaying in the wind, refracting rays of light.

Seeing Reyno appear at the street corner, the young girl’s face first showed joy, then that obvious happiness quickly faded away. Only a composed and graceful smile remained, just like sugar dissolving in coffee, extremely natural.

“You’re here.”

The young girl put her hands behind her back, tilted her head to one side, and her full head of silver hair also surged like waves. Her every movement was extremely natural, as if it had been rehearsed thousands of times.

In Reyno’s memory, Kleya seemed to particularly like the head-tilting gesture, almost instinctively tilting her head every time she saw Reyno.

“Mm, just arrived, sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Reyno smiled politely and replied.

“No, I just came out, and I happened to see you arrive.”

Kleya lied with complete composure on her face.

In fact, she had excitedly run to the door to wait right after finishing lunch, standing there at the entrance for nearly half an hour before finally waiting for Reyno to arrive. 

If it weren’t for cooling magic, this future Demon King would probably have died of heat on this ordinary afternoon.

During that time, she had even performed solo acts by herself at the door no less than five or six times, simulating the scenario after Reyno arrived, and secretly giggling to herself after finishing the performances.

The two casually exchanged a few words, then Kleya waved her hand, signaling Reyno to follow.

They walked like this, one on the left and one on the right, occasionally bringing up topics and then smiling at each other. 

Even though the two were separated by a small distance, it was enough to let people smell the sweet fragrant scent in the air.

And behind them…

Molanna Valetta’s teeth were almost grounded to pieces.

“Vixen… I absolutely cannot let Master fall into her hands!”