On Aiden's side, being caught between two quarreling women left him rather helpless. He thought to himself that once there were two women around, unless they got along extremely well, they would always end up bickering...
Alright, fine, even women who got along well would bicker too. The black and white witches often argued in bed, accusing each other of monopolizing too much of his time.
Rubbing his temples, Aiden tried to calm them down. "Alright, alright, you two, stop arguing."
Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention.
He raised his voice. "Enough already, there are kids here!"
Still, no one responded.
So he took a deep breath and shouted, "Quiet!"
This time, it finally worked, the two women shut their mouths. But the result seemed to go a little too far, because the blonde girl, Goenico, who had been happily eating her ice cream and watching the show, flinched in fright, and her ice cream fell to the ground with a splat.
Looking at her dirty ice cream, the blonde girl's mouth drooped, and her bright eyes instantly filled with tears. She said pitifully, "My ice cream…"
Her voice was so full of grievance that Aiden felt his scalp tingle. He immediately squatted down and pressed his palms together, apologizing hurriedly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
The mature woman, Helena, also crouched down, pulled Goenico into her arms, and glared at Aiden with annoyance. "Aiden, you scared her."
"It's not my fault, you two started it. Hurry up and apologize to Goenico." Aiden shot her a glare in return.
Helena, being glared at, quieted down. After a quick "oh," she turned back to comfort the blonde girl. "Goenico, don't be sad. Later, big sister will buy you another ice cream, okay? What flavor do you want?"
"Strawberry…" The girl, around thirteen or fourteen, was easy to console and replied in a crisp voice.
"Alright, big sister will take you to get some." Helena stood up, took Goenico's hand, and then turned her head toward Shermie. "Hey, what are you spacing out for? Come with us."
Shermie rolled her eyes. "What's it got to do with me? I didn't drop her ice cream, it was that guy Aiden who scared her."
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with you?" Aiden stood up and pushed her by the shoulder toward Helena. "If you hadn't been arguing with Helena, would I have had to raise my voice that much? Stop whining. I said go, so go."
Being pushed like that, Shermie immediately gave in. "Alright, alright, I'm going, stop pushing me. Also, can you not talk to me like you're lecturing someone?"
"No." Aiden shook his head and flatly rejected her request.
After being pushed over beside Helena, the two young women, who weren't far apart in age, glanced at each other, then immediately turned their heads away.
Truthfully, though they had only just met, neither could stand the other.
Helena thought Shermie was a loose woman, singing in bars, speaking flirtatiously, and even kissing people randomly.
Shermie, on the other hand, still held a grudge over the kick Helena had given her back at the bar, thinking she was just an unreasonable rich lady.
That's just how things went between women, illogical, yet predictable.
Fortunately, they both remembered that between them was the blonde girl, Goenico. After each let out a cold snort, they simultaneously took one of Goenico's hands and walked toward a convenience store up ahead.
Watching the three figures, two adults and one child, walk away, Aiden sighed lightly, then turned to look at Goenitz, who had been silently standing there.
Goenitz was also looking at him. When he saw Aiden glance over, he first gave a small chuckle, then his expression turned cold and serious.
"You just now… wanted to kill me."
"Mm." Aiden didn't bother denying it and nodded.
"May I ask why?" Goenitz asked, puzzled.
Aiden became cryptic. "You'll know in time."
"Is that so?" Goenitz froze for a moment, thought about it, and sighed. "If that's the case, then I'll wait for that day."
After a short pause, he continued, "Then can you at least tell me why you held back your killing intent…? That much you can say, right?"
"Of course." Aiden nodded. "Goenico's a good girl. I couldn't kill her father right in front of her."
"I didn't think my daughter would end up saving my life," Goenitz said in mild surprise.
"But are you really that sure you can take me down? With your strength, you're hardly a qualified fighter. You're far weaker than that girl Helena."
Though he hadn't seen Helena fight, with Goenitz's power, he could tell at a glance that she had terrifying talent and skill.
"Pastor, don't judge people by appearances. I'm much stronger than I look." Aiden smiled faintly.
"By the way, let me give you a warning, next time we meet, we might fight. Of course, if you're with Goenico, then we'll wait until the next time after that. But what I want to say is, once we do fight, don't underestimate me and get killed too easily. Make sure to go all out."
His words sounded a bit boastful, or maybe just plain arrogant, but after hearing them, Goenitz hesitated, then nodded seriously. "I'll remember that."
Then he smiled again. "Enough of that. Though I'm curious why you want to kill me, I'm even more curious now, how did you and Shermie meet? And…"
At this, he turned his head toward the three women. They had already reached the entrance of the convenience store, where the blonde girl Goenico was leaning over the freezer, picking her favorite flavor.
Pausing briefly, Goenitz continued, "She actually kissed you."
"Shermie's personality is a bit flirty, but in reality, she's quite a conservative woman."
"Unbelievable. I'm starting to doubt she's the same woman I knew."
After so many years as comrades, Goenitz knew Shermie inside and out.
Actually, something even more unbelievable had happened just now…
That, however, was something Aiden could only keep to himself. If he said it out loud, he'd probably blush. Enjoying it in the moment and admitting it out loud were two entirely different things.
Alright, fine, he had already admitted to himself that he really enjoyed it at the time.
Still…
Clearing his throat, Aiden said seriously, "She was just trying to annoy Helena, that's all."
And that was the truth. Shermie really had only done it to spite Helena.
"There are plenty of ways to provoke someone." Goenitz smiled slyly at the young man before him. He didn't believe a word of Aiden's explanation. "But Shermie chose the one way I least expected."
"You mean…"
"I think it's possible…"
The two of them fell back into cryptic half-answers, but mostly because Helena and Shermie were now walking back with Goenico.
"Papa, big brother, do you want ice cream?"
Although it was a question, right after Goenico spoke, she pulled two ice cream cones out of the small bag she was carrying and handed them to Goenitz and Aiden. The two men didn't refuse and took them to eat.
Then Shermie, who was beside them eating her own ice cream with a blank face, suddenly asked, "What were you two talking about just now? You were laughing so much."
"You."
Goenitz answered bluntly. He then finished his cone in a few quick bites, if not for his daughter liking it, he wouldn't have touched the stuff. He preferred his own mushroom soup.
His answer made Shermie blink, her eyes flickering beneath her bangs.
"Talking about me? Why?" she asked curiously.
"Mr. Aiden said your figure is great and that you're beautiful, so he asked me what kind of things you like." Goenitz said all this with a perfectly straight face. "I think he's trying to pursue you, so I told him you like eating fish."
"Hey, Father Goenitz, don't go around slandering people, I never said any of that, okay?" Aiden looked at him in disbelief. Goenitz's dead-serious tone was so convincing he almost believed it himself.
Then he turned to Shermie, who was staring at him expressionlessly. "We really were talking about you just now, but I never said those things."
"Really?"
That came from Helena, who looked at Aiden skeptically, not really believing him. After all, Goenitz was refined and courteous, he didn't seem like the type to lie.
"Of course it's true." Aiden spread his hands and said to both Helena and Shermie.
But they still didn't believe him, especially Shermie, who had known Goenitz for years and knew he never lied.
Glancing sideways at Aiden, Shermie sneered. "If you're interested in me, just say it outright. It's not like we haven't already been intimate, so why lie about it?"
Hearing that, Aiden froze for a moment. 'What do you mean 'if you're interested in me, just say it'? How can I just say that?!'
Though he did have feelings for Shermie, such a beautiful woman was hard not to be drawn to. And yes, her body was amazing, and her strength impressive, she could easily defeat the Kagura sisters or Mai Shiranui...
His thoughts began drifting again, way off topic.
Goenitz, however, looked even more surprised.
'Intimate?'
'So, what was that supposed to mean, an embrace?'
'A kiss?'
'Or perhaps…'
At that thought, Goenitz's gaze toward Shermie grew strange.
"What's with that look, Goenitz?" Noticing his expression, Shermie frowned. "You…"
She stopped mid-sentence, as if realizing something.
Then suddenly, she relaxed her brows, let out a playful laugh, and said sweetly, "Goenitz, you're thinking exactly right. There is that kind of relationship between me and him."
"But you two only just..."
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