<h4>Chapter 171 Meeting Before the Journey (1)</h4>


    When he arrived at Nova''s door, Vicente realized that this woman was in her house even before he got to her door.


    After talking to the armymander in Millfall, she had gone through some procedures at the local headquarters and then been released to take a day''s rest.


    As delicate as the local situation was now, after what she had been through the night before, she would be given the day off, regardless of theck of army personnel that day.


    Unless the Basilisk decided to attack the city, she could get her well-deserved rest without even having to obey the Commander.


    But even on her day off, Nova had a lot on her mind and stood in her kitchen trying to make tea to calm herself down.


    Amid her nervousness, she couldn''t help but think of Cesar, the mysterious man around her who had saved her life twice the night before.


    ''Why did he do that?'' She asked herself again when she suddenly heard a knock at her front door and was startled.


    But when she looked strangely in that direction, she soon heard a familiar voice, and her stress eased.


    "Nova, it''s me, Vicente."


    "Sigh..."


    Sighing, she put down the knife she had quickly picked up when she heard the sound of Vice knocking on the door and went to the front door of her house.


    "Vice, it''s good to see you. You don''t know what happened the night before." She said as she opened the door and saw the look in her friend''s eyes.


    "Really?" He smiled at her but pushed against Nova, forcing her to walk backward until she found one of the walls behind her.


    Vicente quickly closed the door and wrapped his arms around Nova''s slender waist, going for her lips.


    Nova still didn''t know what would happen between her and Vicente. Her feelings for him were strange, but she let herself do more than she should whenever she was with him.


    Even though she hadn''t intended to kiss him, the moment she felt his lips touching hers, she couldn''t help but open her mouth and let her friend''s tongue pass through.


    "Mmmmmm~"


    Vicente grabbed one of Nova''s buttocks while his other hand massaged the blue-haired woman''s seductive neck.


    Feeling a mixture of sensations caused by his touches, she gradually overcame the temptation, opened her eyes, and pulled her lips away from his.


    "Hah... Hah... You left me breathless..." She said this before turning her face away, her cheeks flushed.


    Seeing her take a few steps away from him, Vicente smiled and asked. "You seem more tense than usual. Is there something wrong? I can listen or, if you don''t want to talk, give you a massage."


    She looked at him, saw that he wanted to go further with his touches, andughed. "We can talk for today."


    She knew what went through every man''s mind when they were alone with a beautiful woman like her. Vicente surely wanted to take her to bed!


    Even though she was a virgin, Nova was no fool. And hell, she herself was tempted to give in and experience the feelings she had...


    But she was a woman who wanted to get married, who wanted to have a family. It wouldn''t be right for her to let Vicentee into her life and do whatever he wanted with her without there being amitment between them first, at least an interest in something more profound.


    She was determined not to give in to his attempts until she was sure of what she wanted with him!


    Vicente knew when to push and when to give his women space. Seeing the look on Nova''s face, he walked toward the kitchen, smelling the aroma of his friend''s tea.


    "What happened? Does this have something to do with Cesar''s actions the night before?" He asked as he sat down on a chair in the kitchen. "I heard that Cesar died after defying the local leaders..."


    "Impossible. He''s definitely alive." She walked over to the side of the boiler. "But I don''t know how he is. The night before was very chaotic...? But he was alive thest time I saw him."


    "Oh? You were involved in all that?" He showed surprise.


    "Yes, unfortunately. I really wish I hadn''t had to see the things I did..." She said vaguely, staring into space as if her mind was far away.


    "The important thing is that you''re okay, Nova. Everything else doesn''t matter. The problems of the future can be left forter. You should think about what you can do here and now." He looked at her with interest as heced the fingers of his hands behind his back.


    "But with your report, I believe the city will finally be rid of this Cesar. Alive or not, he will definitely be captured by the royal forces after tonight."


    Hearing this, Nova swallowed her saliva while expressing her concern.


    "No..." She murmured quietly. "After all, he only protected himself the night before. Cesar actually tried to avoid the confrontation as much as possible."


    "Eh?" Vicente''s eyes lit up at the words. ''You decided to protect me?'' He thought, seeing that one of the possibilities he had considered was developing, even though it was one of the least likely.


    "I wouldn''t expect that from a criminal associated with the Defiant Tyranny and the Scarlet Syndicate," Vicentemented, trying to get Nova to open her mouth.


    Hearing this, Nova looked at Vicente but didn''t say anything right away. ''I thought about telling the truth. Still, when I heard that young master Symons would make Cesar''s situation worse, I felt terrible about not doing anything for the person who saved me...


    I''m sorry, Vice, I can''t talk to you about this. It would make me look like a corrupt person!'' She closed her eyes as she turned off the magical device she was using to heat the water.


    In Nova''s mind, what Cesar had done the night before had been a reaction of self-defense against people who had unjustly attacked him.


    He had killed army soldiers and deserved to be punished. However, he didn''t deserve to be med for all the deaths the night before, nor did he deserve to be an enemy of the army because corrupt acts led to these deaths.


    The whole problem had started because of the army members'' strange actions. She didn''t want his situation to reach a critical point of no return because of something wrong and because she herself had done nothing to prevent an injustice.


    She knew he deserved to be punished for the dead soldiers, but she also owed Cesar a debt.


    After much thought and considering Marcus Symons'' bad reputation, she decided to protect Cesar and pay for it by using the second chance she had been given to remain a soldier in the royal army.


    She looked at the hot water falling into a mug and thought. ''My debt to you is paid, Cesar. Don''t make a mistake before me. This time, I will not spare you!''


    She turned and smiled at Vicente and handed him a cup of tea.