Chapter 13

"Of course, I just wanted to spend the night with you. Didn't I tell you I was interested in you? Have you forgotten so soon?" He hugged her tender body closely, fondly inhaling the fragrance of her hair, and murmured, "You smell so good, so warm. I like holding you like this."

His voice was soft and tender, making her dazed for a moment, as if she was his beloved lover. However, she quickly came to her senses—did he naively think that sleeping together would erase all past grievances, allowing them to coexist peacefully?

Thinking of this, Derlin Shala suddenly broke free from him, grabbing the blanket to cover herself as she sat up, coldly saying, "Since I have done what I promised you, you can give me Yuan Zhen back now, right?"

"Are you in a hurry to leave?" He couldn't bear to part with her soft and fragrant body, reaching out to pull her back, but she dodged, raising her right palm slightly, channeling fifty percent of her magical power. Clearly, she considered their transaction complete and owed him nothing further. If he dared to make a move, she would make him regret it.

"So quick to turn your back on me? It seems my 'skills' were not satisfactory, failing to make you wish to turn an enemy into a friend." Before she could flare up, he took out an oval wooden piece engraved with runes from the headboard and threw it to her.

Derlin Shala caught the wooden piece, reciting a spell taught by her foster mother. The wood emitted a cold chill, turning into a ball of blue light, within which a handsome male face could be vaguely seen—Yuan Zhen of the Derlin family, his expression neither happy nor sad, his gaze empty.

"Are you planning to just leave like this?"

Hearing this, Derlin Shala looked at Emil with caution, "What do you mean?"

"Why don't you stay and spend a few more nights with me? After all, we did work well together just now, didn't we?"

He knew how frivolous he sounded, but he was merely stating the truth. He quite enjoyed this "sticky and troublesome wrestling game," appreciating her resistant yet passionate response. If it was her, he wouldn't mind repeating it several times.

Derlin Shala felt a surge of anger. His attitude clearly treated her as a one-night stand! She suppressed her anger, her gaze sharp as she said sternly, "Who do you think I am? If you want company, there are plenty in the dance hall downstairs. You can find them! I am under no obligation to accompany you!"

"I don't want them, I want you." His warm foot touched her leg through the blanket, his lazy smile admiring her furious and unapproachable beauty.

He had wanted to destroy those eyes so similar to that person's last night, but now he wanted to possess them.

"I don't like to force people. If I want you to stay, I will make you willing. For example, you have taken Yuan Zhen back, but now the wristband and silver sword are not in your possession. If I get them, maybe you would stay a few more nights?"

He dared to threaten her!

Derlin Shala was furious, her right palm striking down heavily on his left shoulder, channeling all her magical power. With a few crackling sounds, his shoulder bone was shattered.

Yet, Emil's expression remained unchanged, his smile deepening, causing her to panic and try to withdraw her hand, but he caught her wrist, pressing it firmly against his broken, bleeding shoulder, gazing into her bewildered eyes.

"I want you to accompany me for a month."

"Impossible!"

"Don't be so quick to refuse, I haven't finished speaking. During this month, I will return the silver sword and the other two items to you. You can try to kill me anytime, in bed or in front of others, and I won't fight back. But you can't contact anyone from the Derlin family, nor can you try to escape from me; if you run, I will destroy these three items, kill your female servant, and chase you to the ends of the earth."

His tone was casual, but his eyes held a reckless madness. She knew he meant every word, but—why? Why was he so obsessed with her?

"Why do you want me to stay with you?"

The situation was spiraling out of control, like a boulder rolling down a hill, not following the path she had laid out but heading in an unpredictable direction.

He lifted her blood-stained, soft palm to his lips, kissing it enticingly, murmuring, "Because I'm lonely, I want someone to accompany me."

Lonely?

The dance hall downstairs was lively every night, with trendy women eagerly falling into his trap. He didn't even have time to be bored, yet he claimed to be lonely?

She stared at him, his seemingly genuine affectionate gaze as if accusing her of being a heartless master who abandoned him. She was about to retort sarcastically but inexplicably held back, her face cold as she said, "Nice act, but I'm not buying your pity play."

If she didn't fall for this act, why didn't she leave? He smiled subtly, "If you think I'm acting, then consider it an act. So, this pitiful man who can't even win your sympathy through acting, could I possibly earn your pity to accompany me for a month?"

His gaze was tender yet cruel, firmly capturing her hesitant eyes, intentionally cornering her with no way out.

Beside the two confronting figures, within the faint blue glow, the face that should have been oblivious to everything suddenly moved, looking towards Derlin Shala. His gaze was still unconsciously blank, but it fixed on her, on the face that, whether in a past life or this one, had never lingered on him.

...

Even if the most skilled fortune-teller had told Derlin Shala that one day she would share a bed with the Derlin family's greatest enemy, she would have dismissed it as absurd.

Yet, fate is a strange and vast machine, sometimes the more you resist, the more eagerly it descends. Emil was an inevitable part of her destiny, and she was not strong enough to oppose him, only to submit.

Apart from insisting that she must share a bed with him, he was otherwise gentle and kind. He didn't allow her to go home, prepared the necessary clothes for her, and was willing to accommodate her lifestyle, but it was she who ended up being assimilated. The dance hall operated at night, and like him, she became nocturnal, with dawn marking the time for sleep.

His cool demeanor remained, though he always loved to hug her before sleep, acting out of affection and within the bounds of propriety, never venturing into lust.

He loved to chat with her, sitting on the bed reading while talking to her, and even though her responses were cold, showing a clear reluctance to engage with him, he always found topics to keep the conversation going, until she eventually fell asleep to his endless, smooth talking.

This strange cohabitation maintained a bizarre and peaceful balance. He never took advantage of their constant companionship to deliberately trouble her, treating her quite well, and she didn't dislike being with him. Especially when dusk fell and she woke up in a daze, she would always find herself tightly wrapped in a blanket, while he still sat by the bed, holding the book he was reading before she fell asleep, as if he had never slept or left.