As he watched this tall, dark, and fierce man blankly hug Noah’s frail body, Fynn felt an overwhelming sense of defeat.

Astar Levi might not be qualified to pursue Cordia Aris. But he, Fynn, wasn’t qualified either – his own feelings couldn’t even compare to the ones of an “unqualified” person. What face did he have to continue his pursuit?

How could he convince Noah that he was the better choice, when even he, himself, didn’t believe it?

Astar Levi might be all kinds of mad and shameless; he might be a villain to every single person in this world. To everyone but Noah… this one person.

His single-minded obsession might wrong everyone, but it would never wrong Noah.

Fynn had no desire to compete with a man like Astar Levi. They just weren’t on the same level. He, Fynn, didn’t have the determination to stake his everything on this one gamble.

His like was just the regular kind. He liked this one person and wanted to be with them. But he didn’t live and breathe for this one person.

With Trey, he could compete. With Case, he could also compete.

But with Astar Levi…

Hah, that was a lost cause from the very start.

Fynn bitterly moved his eyes from Levi to Noah, who was sitting next to him. The little one nearly died earlier today, yet as Fynn looked at his eyes, he saw no pain, no fear, no anxiety. Just warm tranquility.

He had been the one who nearly died, yet he was also the one least impacted by his own near-death.

While everyone else carried a shadow in their hearts, only his eyes were pure and dazzling, carrying only the gentle warmth of spring.

At that moment, Fynn thought he could understand Levi’s obsession. Cordia Aris was truly a blindingly bright gem that one couldn’t help but covet. Once your eyes took even a single glimpse, everything else would suddenly lose its charm.

It was like looking at the sun. After your eyes took in the blinding radiance, who would be able to see the myriad of stars around it?

Once the sun rose, on the clear blue skies, there was no longer a single star.

What else could you do then, but reach for the sun with everything you had?

There was no alternative, no backup plan, no reservations. It was all or nothing.

Perhaps fate wasn’t nonsensical after all.

When reaching for the sun, only those with the firm resolution to succeed or die trying were worthy enough to grab it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Thinking about it from this perspective, his loss wasn’t unjustified.

Fynn gave Noah one last look, saying a silent goodbye to his own romantic feelings.

Yet he couldn’t even give a proper farewell before he felt Levi’s sharp stare stab into him, ‘Where are you staring so intently?! To dare defile my precious baby with your pig-eyes like this, be careful I don’t dig them out!!’

A vein on Fynn’s neck bulged out, and he felt like smashing the pot he was holding on Levi’s annoying head.

‘This retarded pot of vinegar!! Can you not shoot people indiscriminately?!? Are you blind!? Can you not tell I gave way already?!?’

(ノ꒪Д꒪)ノ︵ ┻━┻

“Are… are you alright?” Noah’s gentle voice tingled with worry broke the awkward silence.

Fynn could only force a smile, “I’m…” with difficulty, he squeezed out, “Fine.”

Noah’s concerned look didn’t ease in the slightest, ‘How could you be alright? Your face is turning green!’

(っ °Д °;)っ

Levi’s face scrunched up further as if he had eaten something sour, ‘You dare make my baby worry?!’

Fynn… just wanted to turn on his heel and return from where he came from. He couldn’t handle this bullshit right now.

Blackie: ‘Congratulations! Now you know how I feel. Every. Day.’

ಥ‿ಥ

“Um… I’m so sorry about the wet floor, I’ll get it cleaned up asap!” Noah glanced at the butler who had just entered to set up the table, and the other nodded with understanding.

Noah returned his attention back to Fynn, feeling very apologetic. Fynn didn’t come over often, yet he ended up being such a bad host the one time Fynn paid a proper visit! The man had barely entered the door and already ran into an accident!

Fynn waved his hand dismissively and carefully stepped over the wet patch to arrive next to the table.

“You two…” Fynn began but didn’t know how to continue.

Noah misinterpreted his meaning and responded, “Oh, don’t worry, we are alright.”

‘No… what I wanted to ask was…’ Fynn counted the days remaining until the marriage and thought ‘…if I start looking now, will I manage to procure a good wedding gift? It shouldn’t be too late?’

〒▽〒

“Sit down,” Noah patted the seat on the other side of him, “Have you had dinner yet? How about you sit down and take a bite? Let’s not waste my mom’s efforts.”

Fynn caught Levi’s warning look in his peripheral vision and chose to sit on the seat opposite of Noah instead, “I suppose eating a bit wouldn’t hurt.” Especially since he really hadn’t eaten much today.

Noah didn’t take it the wrong way; he even thought that having Fynn sit opposite of them would make it more convenient to talk.

Levi, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes. This Fynn usually completely ignored his warnings. How come he was so obedient today?

Did the incident make him realize that an S-ranked Enforcer was not to be messed with?

Well, whatever. This was pretty good. Sitting in such an arrangement, Levi felt as if he and his baby were a married couple hosting a guest in their home. ❤

“Did you manage to catch the sniper?” Noah got straight to the point.

Fynn shook his head, “He is getting more cautious. After shooting the dart, he didn’t even wait to see the effects, he immediately fled.”

“What about following his scent?”

“We followed it to Venture Plaza, where he had blended into the crowd. You know how packed it is around lunchtime. There are too many scents mixing together to follow a specific one.”

Noah pursed his lips and looked towards Levi, whose paw was still stroking Noah’s head, then back to Fynn, “Dart?”

Fynn nodded, “The incident took us all by surprise, but I could swear I saw something small and dark embed itself in your brother-in-law’s neck–”

“It was indeed a dart,” Levi interjected. “I have good motion vision. I saw it clearly. It was black, needle-shaped, and around 5 cm in length.”

“If it was a drug administered through a dart, it would make perfect sense why a Shooter had been at the scene every time. His power was needed to shoot the dart.” Fynn filled his plate with meat, “However, after the paramedics arrived, I had them check your neck and draw your blood. Neither of which managed to find anything. No dart and not even a foreign substance in your blood. If it weren’t for the high resolution of dr. Shaw’s scan, we wouldn’t even be able to find the puncture wound.”

Fynn paused to take a bite out of a chicken drumstick, “Later on, we searched the entire scene for hours but found no trace of the dart.”

“How is that possible? How could it…” Noah abruptly paused, his wide eyes locking with Fynn’s, “Unless…!”