Under the moonlight as clear as water, a graceful young girl rode swiftly on horseback, carrying on her back a person whose breath was growing ever weaker, speeding south along the path they had come through the Mist Forest…
“Ah~!”
“Madam and the Duke have already gone to the Capital.”
“The Noble Young Master… who knows if he can return… there’s such a huge black cloud in the northern sky; things probably aren’t looking good!”
“Princess Amidina’s younger sister also seems downcast. She only just went to sleep after the rain stopped…”
“Before the Noble Young Master left, he told us to prepare plenty of delicious food to entertain the princess’s sister, but if the Noble Young Master doesn’t come back, that guest doesn’t seem to have any appetite at all…”
On the city walls outside Claremont Manor, Captain Kaier of the guards paced restlessly, frustrated that there was nothing he could do to help the Noble Young Master.
Hearing noises from a bamboo basket full of watermelons, Kaier went to check and surprisingly found a marmot caught stealing a piece.
Seeing it nibbling on the sweet melon still in his hand, Kaier’s heart sank even further:
“Beast, you’re damn well eating my melon, huh?!”
Before he could finish scolding the innocent marmot, the sudden thudding sound of the drawbridge outside the moat shaking the ground drew his attention.
Looking in that direction, he saw a magnificent steed galloping at breakneck speed, ridden by a rider who skillfully leapt onto the half-lowered drawbridge—still over five meters above the ground—and dashed straight into the castle.
It was…
The Noble Young Master and the Princess returning!
“Bang!”
Back in that warm, cozy Marriage Chamber, the door was closed and a magic barrier erected, blocking out all interruptions.
Lin Nuo, still unconscious, was laid on the bed.
Amidina removed his clothes, which had already been dried by her magic.
Her two fair hands traced up from his burning abdomen, feeling the blood flowing with its abnormality.
Soon, a faint pale blue light shimmered in her palms, attempting to heal the mysterious toxin invading his vital organs.
But…
It was useless!
Amidina’s brow furrowed tightly.
No matter the type of poison, if her Sublimation Ability failed at the onset, summoning a Healing Mage would likely be even less effective.
Her hand moved gently up to his chest, then lightly brushed Lin Nuo’s equally scorching cheek, realizing her inadvertent, bold gesture.
Yet she didn’t pull away; instead, she leaned in closer, studying the wounds and the fading breath of the man before her.
Like a mirror, her peach blossom eyes fully reflected the image of the first person who had gone to such lengths for her—someone who, with unimaginable intelligence and courage, shattered the shadow that had hung over that little girl for seven years and brought forth a ray of light.
In her hand still clenched tightly was the Spirit Pearl Lin Nuo had retrieved from the perilous lake water, glowing faintly before her eyes.
“The Water Saint Elf Blood has the purest purification power, but how could he possibly ingest my blood when he’s already unconscious…”
As her thoughts shifted, Amidina’s peach blossom eyes turned to Lin Nuo’s pale lips.
Removing the Elf Circlet from her forehead, her flowing beautiful hair scattered down, bathed in the moonlight outside the window, casting a silver-white glow that was breathtaking.
Supporting Lin Nuo’s body gently as she helped him sit up, she leaned over him when a stray lock of hair suddenly brushed against him, causing a slight tickle.
“Cough, cough…”
Lin Nuo’s eyes slowly fluttered open.
Feeling Amidina’s warm breath on his lips, she instinctively recoiled a step.
“Don’t move. How do you feel now?” Amidina quickly poured a cup of water, heated it with Fire Magic to just the right temperature, and carefully brought it to Lin Nuo’s lips.
He didn’t drink it.
His eyes glazed over as he looked around, then up and down at her before his body relaxed, though his voice was weak:
“Sorry for troubling you to bring me back, Princess… cough… I’ve known you less than a week, not many would dare to do such things…”
“No, you’re the first…”
Amidina answered instinctively, then as if realizing something, a trace of sadness flickered in her eyes: “Why do you ask? Do you believe those who spread rumors, that I agreed to the engagement just to climb onto your status?”
‘No, your personality—I, as someone who knows the whole story, understand you perfectly. I just wanted to say, after you thank me, when I’m gone, burn a few more beauties down there for me…’
“Cough, cough!”
But Lin Nuo could say no more.
His only response was weak breaths.
Her peach blossom eyes darkened further: “Do you mean… that only the length of time someone stays by your side can prove they have no ulterior motives?”
“Well, I can tell you—I’ve known you longer than you’ve known me, and I understand you much better than you think.”
‘I know you understand me; you stripped off my clothes and felt me over just now—that counts as understanding, right?’
“Your bird—I met it two years ago… I know you ordered it to steal my socks.”
Lin Nuo: “???”
“No need to argue. I actually saw it giving my socks to you that day. It must have been under your command. I respect your hobby and don’t blame you.”
‘No… I didn’t!’
“And a few nights ago, when you… touched me,” Amidina bit her lip, “I was awake.”
?!!
“W-Who… who touched you?”
Eyes heavy with poison and fatigue, Lin Nuo, who hadn’t intended to speak, forced them open wider and tried to protest.
“Don’t move! I… I don’t know who it was,” Amidina placed the hand that emitted warm healing magic on his racing heart, mildly scolding his restless gaze: “You rubbed my feet for exactly seven minutes and twenty-three seconds, stared at my chest for thirteen minutes and thirty seconds…”
“……”
‘That specific? You even timed it?!’
“Then it seemed like there wasn’t enough time… someone crawled into my bed.”
“……”
The sudden silence was deafening.
‘Impossible… my head’s spinning—I must be hallucinating from the poison…’
“That’s not all,” as if needing to prove how uniquely patient she was with him, Amidina thought for a moment:
“I know since two years ago, sometimes you’d blow out the candle with a piece of paper, then crawl out from under the covers, always looking frustrated as you scribbled something on the wall… um, ‘Sealing Day One, Lady Five Fingers’…”
“Every time I come, I see you write ‘Sealing Day One.’ Though it seems you never followed through with your plans, not giving up is a kind of persistence too.”
“I know all that, I just never wrote it in my diary.”
“What… diary or not.”
Lin Nuo pressed his temples, as if seeking divine intervention.
Clearly, the poison had conjured hallucinations.
Seeing his eyes grow more confused, Amidina swallowed the rest of her intended words—”I also know you’re not fully developed”—back down.
The risqué novels he loved all featured heroes in their forties; he probably still wasn’t quite there yet.
“I just want to tell you that I understand you better than you think,” Amidina said softly as she sat down and gently massaged the back of his head.
“I don’t like your misunderstandings.”
She looked away and continued in a quieter voice:
“I really don’t.”
A buzzing filled Lin Nuo’s ears, and his breath began to falter again.
Just as he felt himself about to faint once more, a slender arm as smooth as white jade extended before him.
Amidina gently pressed his head, leaning close to the pale, fragrant arm, “Bite me.”
“…”
Three seconds of silence.
Lin Nuo: “Sorry, I don’t eat pork.”
Amidina: “…”
Not understanding why she wanted him to bite her arm, utterly weak and with no strength to argue, Lin Nuo had no energy to question it.
But before he could turn his head away, the hand resting at the back of his head suddenly gripped firmly, giving no chance for resistance to the limp body that felt as if its bones had been drained.
Like being pulled, he had no choice but to lean closer, guided by that gentle force, towards the exquisitely beautiful girl at the bed’s edge.
His eyelids fluttered over those luscious, inviting cherry lips, growing larger in his vision, until the jelly-like wonderful sensation bloomed again on his lips.
A faint metallic taste of blood mixed with the sweetness of the girl’s lips.
Sizzle~~
Sizzle~
To better perform her Healing Magic, Amidina knelt on the warm carpet, still in a submissive posture when the man leaned down to kiss her.
Though she was the one supporting Lin Nuo’s head, guiding the man on her, to any outsider it would seem Lin Nuo was the one passionately kissing her.
Perhaps the exhaustion of the journey, perhaps the emotional turmoil, Amidina’s eyes closed softly, revealing a broken vulnerability that somehow invited a stronger urge to tease and torment her.
Whether she noticed Lin Nuo’s gaze or not, her fluttering lashes trembled.
Her breath quickened, yet she didn’t part her lips from his.
Her clear peach blossom eyes dimmed with a misty shyness, and her pink, delicate cheeks once more bore the look of a “shy and humiliated” damsel in distress, as if truly ravished but helplessly alluring.
For some unknown reason, Lin Nuo stirred slightly.
“Don’t move…”
“Not enough yet…”
In a hoarse voice soft as cotton.
Perhaps realizing that this submissive position made it hard to control him, Amidina pressed both hands against Lin Nuo, her plump, delicate body gently leaning onto the bed.
Her slightly swollen lips, filled with tender sweetness, surged forward once more.
Lin Nuo could only let her continue the kiss, letting it deepen.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~
“Mm…”
Their breaths intertwined sweetly.
Before losing consciousness once again, Lin Nuo swore, if he survived, he would definitely learn magic!
Otherwise, the next time a beautiful girl pinned him down and kissed him until he couldn’t breathe, he wouldn’t have a single chance to resist!