Chương 128: B2 Chapter 33 - Most Important Person

I'm not feeling good today either,"Veyra told me later that evening." Sorry." I tried to comfort her and ask if there was something I could do to help. She avoided my eyes, giving vague answers, until I realized she was once again asking me to spend the night elsewhere." You won't get any sleep if I spent half the night puking,"she said." It really won't be fun."

I tried to say that I was really fine with that, but she sternly responded with, " I just don't have a good time hanging out with people when I feel like I'm about to pass out. You wouldn't want to go out with friends when you're sick either, right? You'd wait until you feel better." I couldn't say anything to that.

So even though sitting on the couch with Veyra lying on my lap was the most comfortable position in the whole world, I found myself on a cab ride back to the hotel, stuck in traffic amongst the thousands of mopeds in the insane traffic of Bangkok. The city was one of the busiest places I'd ever been to, though I could tell why it was a tourist attraction. The beaches we passed were truly beautiful—comparable to landscapes in Wonderwind. Maybe we could go visit one when Veyra started to feel better.

She gets dizzy in public places, though… Not that I'd come to Thailand for sightseeing. I'd be more than happy to just hang out with her in her apartment. It was a shame she wasn't feeling well.

"Vacation?" the cab driver asked in broken English while sitting at a red light.

"Or business trip?"

"Kind of both," I said from the back seat. Then I apologized to him and said that I was tired and would prefer a quiet ride. He seemed to only understand the word "quiet," but that did the trick, letting me spend the ride in my thoughts. Was I wrong for hoping to stay with her even while she was sick? I mean, if we ever moved in together, I'd be taking care of her anyway. In my eyes, this would have been a good time to see if our lives fit together.

Was I thinking too far ahead by hoping we'd move together at some point? Was she not thinking the same way? She'd rather be sick all alone? That doesn't mean she doesn't like me back, though. She looked like she liked the lap pillow… This was too complex. I could feel the overthinking spiral building, and my thoughts weren't moving anywhere intelligent, so I opened my phone and brought myself back to practice.

I spent the evening catching up on what top players were doing in Wonderwind right now. A lot had changed during the few days I'd spent in Art Of Steel. Mainly, Shaltar's castle had been entirely conquered. A squabble took place yesterday between Zenith Protocol and Eon Covenant for control over the castle. Zenith Protocol ended up bringing their B-team for the fight as well, which helped bridge the gap, leading to Eon Covenant's retreat. Thus, Aetherdale stood firmly under Zenith Protocol's command.

Suburi and Dragrath were nowhere to be seen, though a big portion of the castle grounds had already been stolen, indicating that he'd just looted whatever he could before running out, onto new bosses and assassinations. Very typical of Dragrath. The fourth level somewhat stabilized from there, as none of the smaller guilds were strong enough to contest Zenith Protocol.

The other god guilds—Eon Covenant, Syntrix, Celestial Order—instead began exploring the fourth level in different directions, finding more castles in the vicinity. Eon Covenant seemed to be having the most success. They were currently attacking a castle called Greenmist Citadel. Interestingly, Zenith Protocol still kept their livestream up. It had been renamed to "Zenith Protocol Frontrun: Castle Management Edition." FireBrand was the city's king, which gave him command over all of Aetherdale's NPCs now.

He could order guards to defend a certain location, or he could send mineral extractors to mine a location. For now, they seemed to mostly be focusing on defending the castle while they figured out all of the game mechanics available to them. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. If we were even one day faster, we would have taken the throne… I thought, still upset at myself for losing to Dragrath. We would have fallen to Zenith Protocol regardless, though.

Guild Solo Mage stood absolutely no chance against Zenith Protocol right now. FireBrand alone would have probably wiped us out just as easily as Dragrath did. Veyra and I, especially I, would need to get a lot stronger if we wanted to continue frontrunning. I logged back to Art Of Steel and continued advancing my rank.

"Hellooo," Aree said enthusiastically as she took off her shoes, having gotten into the apartment with a spare key.

"Good to be back!" Aree's smile was contagious and genuine enough to spread to Veyra for a moment, even through the pounding headache. The question of who was Veyra's favorite assistant wasn't even close. Aree's arrival was the only thing that reminded her of still living with Mom.

"And good to see you again," Veyra said.

"Sorry in advance if I'm grumpy today."

"Bad day?" Aree asked. Veyra shrugged.

"Not the worst. Just an awful headache. I think it'll pass."

"Alright. I'll forgive grumpiness." Aree smiled, while glancing around the room.

"Didn't you mention Aiden was in Thailand right now?"

"Yeah?"

"He's not with you?" Aree asked. Her tone was confused, as if asking why Aiden wasn't here.

"He's sleeping at a hotel," Veyra said.

"Really?" Aree asked.

"He didn't want to stay with you? That's surprising."

"No, I wasn't feeling well," Veyra said curtly.

"Of course he's staying at a hotel." The confusion remained on Aree's face.

"I don't see how that's an of course." She walked deeper into the apartment.

"Anyway, it's not my place to pry. What's the plan for today? The usual food and cleaning?"

"Why is everyone making such a big deal out of that?" Veyra asked curtly.

"Of course I won't go on dates and sleep with him when I'm feeling like I'm about to die!" Aree paused, taken aback.

"I… guess so? Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or argue."

"No, wait," Veyra said. She tried to shake the irritation out of her head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. I would like your opinion, though. Do you disagree with me?" Aree looked hesitant for a moment.

"I might need some more context here. Are you in a fight?"

"No, we're not in a fight!" Veyra said.

"I'm just feeling sick, and I asked Aiden to sleep in a hotel until I felt better. That's all! But everyone is telling me I'm somehow being weird about this."

"Hm," Aree said.

"You mentioned you have a headache, right? No puking?"

"I felt worse earlier," she said.

"Now it's just a bad headache." She wasn't lying about that. Everything just felt arduous. She really hoped VR would take her in tonight, or that she fell asleep quickly, because being awake really wasn't enjoyable right now.

"I see your point," Aree said.

"But I would have to disagree with your thinking."

"How?" Veyra asked.

"I mean… Aiden flew from America to be with you, no?"

"Yeah?"

"And you sent him away because you had a headache?" Veyra leaned back. That sounded a little bad when Aree put it like that…

"Not because of a headache," Veyra said, "but because I was afraid I'd puke on top of myself or on top of him if he stayed."

"What about a puke bucket?" Aree asked.

"You didn't ask him to bring that to you?" Veyra let out an uncomfortable sigh and looked away.

"No? Imagine being in his position? You wouldn't want to just watch your girlfriend vomit her lifespan away all night. I don't think you'd want to watch your boyfriend do that either."

"I'd absolutely want to stay with him," Aree said without hesitation.

"He's sick right now, and I wish I was there to take care of him." Veyra blinked at her.

"Really?"

"Of course," Aree said.

"He's the most important person in my life. If he's not feeling well, I'll be there until he gets better." That couldn't be right.

"Even if the whole vacation is just watching him puke?"

"Yeah!" Aree said, speaking louder.

"And if he tries to kick me out, I won't leave!"

"Okay, but you're a saint, Aree," Veyra said.

"Your job is to take care of people. Most people aren't like you."

"So you're saying Aiden wouldn't take care of you?" Aree asked.

"Well…" Veyra bit her lip.

"I'm saying that my first boyfriend broke up with me when he saw me in real life for the first time. He would have never held a puke bucket for me."

"Then your first boyfriend was a piece of shit!" Aree said, almost shouting. Veyra's head flinched up. Had Aree ever sworn to her before?

"Sorry," Aree said, face turning red.

"I didn't mean to shout." Veyra found herself sliding toward the side. She buried her face in her pillow. Why am I like this? Why do I make everything go wrong?

"Veyra?" Aree rushed over.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Veyra said at her pillow. Why can't I just be normal?

"Either way," Aree said, "I think you need to ask Aiden about what he thinks."

"Yeah, I'll talk to him," Veyra promised.

"Thanks Aree." Another warm smile.

"So, should I clean something today?"

"Just change my sheets and take the trash out, please… That's all I need for today." From there, Veyra spent the rest of her evening with her face pressed into her pillow. Aree carried her to bed, where she prayed that her body would miraculously cure itself, until the loop of hating herself was broken by sleep.