The Contract Ring, also known as the Heart Ring, allowed the wearer to sense the other party’s mood and location at any time.
Even if they were on opposite ends of the world, one could still know whether the other had changed their heart.
If there was betrayal, it meant the contract was broken, and the ring would immediately shatter.
Zhe Zilin’s action was meant to tell Ailia that if he developed any thoughts of betrayal in North City, she could immediately take action.
It was a calming dose for Ailia’s suspicions, allowing her to know at any time where Zhe Zilin was and what his mood was like.
“With the Contract Ring, I can disguise myself as your servant or guard and follow you in disguise. We’ll eat, live, and stay together without leaving your sight.”
If even this could not earn her trust, he could only take out the Love Letter. That was the item he had planned to use to save his life in front of Ailia if his escape failed.
Ailia stared at the Contract Ring in a daze. She could feel that Zhe Zilin’s current mood was indeed one of reliance.
Earlier, when Zhe Zilin spoke about resurrecting, she had felt self-blame. But now, she did not dare to look into his eyes again.
A strange sense of shame rose in her heart. Even though he had told her about his resurrection, she still had not put his safety first. Instead, out of fear, she had wanted him to take another risk.
Ailia hated her own suspicious and paranoid personality more than once.
She clearly wanted his trust the most, yet she could never bring herself to trust him.
“Ed, I’m sorry.”
Zhe Zilin shook his head. What he wanted to hear right now was not an apology. Time was slipping away by the second.
He did not want to hear Ailia apologize and then tell him she still could not take him to North City.
Wouldn’t that make everything he had done pointless?
Zhe Zilin stood in front of Ailia and looked down at her from above.
Wasn’t it said that big breasts meant no brains?
How could such a small head hold so many suspicions?
Yet at this moment, the complexity in Ailia’s eyes gradually became clear. She raised her head and looked at the frantic Zhe Zilin, at his tightly furrowed brows.
Suddenly, she stood on her tiptoes and hooked her arms around Zhe Zilin’s neck.
The sudden force caught Zhe Zilin off guard. He lightly touched Ailia with both hands to keep his balance and was forced to bend down.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask, a cold, soft sensation blocked his lips. Immediately after, a warm, slippery feeling broke through his teeth and rampaged inside his mouth.
Until this moment, Zhe Zilin still found it unbelievable.
Ailia, who would blush just from a hug, had actually taken the initiative to kiss him!?
Zhe Zilin reached out to struggle, but Ailia was a yandere. He seemed to have underestimated a yandere’s possessiveness.
Ailia tightly wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing closer and closer.
The girl in front of him had her eyes tightly shut. Her long eyelashes gently brushed across Zhe Zilin’s face. He felt the moisture clinging to them.
Ailia was crying!?
Zhe Zilin froze. He simply accepted this sweet, warm, and slightly lingering kiss.
Only when he was nearly suffocating did Ailia reluctantly loosen her arms and withdraw the warmth from his mouth.
“Hah… hah…”
Zhe Zilin greedily gulped down air, his face full of confusion.
“You… what are you doing?”
“Ed, this is the compensation I’m asking for.”
Ailia rarely showed an embarrassed smile.
“I believe you can resurrect. But I also believe that everything you just did was only to gain my trust so you could go to North City.”
“These past few days, we’ve been probing each other, haven’t we? Neither of us truly trusted the other.”
“I wanted to keep you here, while you wanted to escape the castle. That hug, this ring — they were all to move me, right?”
Zhe Zilin was silent for a moment, his expression especially serious.
“At least the moment I saw you again, everything was sincere.”
He admitted that not everything he did was from the heart. Some of it really was to win Ailia’s trust.
The Ice Demon and half-orcs were enemies he could not handle right now. The best solution he could think of was to have Ailia take him to North City. Not only would he avoid death, he would also get away from the castle.
But he had thought Ailia would fall into her own wild imagination, and that his actions would strengthen her trust. Clearly, he had been deliberately soothing her suspicions these past few days. He had not expected that he had still underestimated her distrust.
“You want to go to North City. You want to find a chance to escape. You want to see for yourself whether Princess Osha really has the terrible personality I described. If she doesn’t, you plan to use her to escape from me, right?”
Ailia continued.
Zhe Zilin remained silent. He really had thought that way. He just had not expected that his thoughts would be completely guessed by her.
He let out a deep sigh and was about to speak.
Ailia immediately interrupted him.
“You don’t need to tell me whether it’s true or not, Ed.”
Great sadness overflowed from her eyes.
“I don’t know what the right thing to do is… I only know that I don’t want you to die.”
“I can take you to North City. But the moment I think you might be taken away, I hesitate again and again and can’t make a decision.”
Zhe Zilin continued to stay silent.
If he stayed in the castle, he would die. If he went to North City, he might leave Ailia’s side. From her perspective, both options were despairing.
Ailia lowered her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. Her voice was choked.
“So I kissed you.”
The girl who would blush even from physical contact had mustered all her courage for this kiss. It was not just a kiss. It was her decision.
“What do you mean?”
Ailia raised her head and held back her tears.
“I’m betting that my suspicions won’t come true.”
“You believe me, and I believe you. During this trip to North City, you won’t leave. If you do leave…”
“Then that kiss was the compensation I asked for in advance.”
Zhe Zilin’s breathing grew heavy. The memory of that sweet kiss lingered on his lips.
Because of her suspicions, Ailia had imagined too many bad outcomes. And for her, the worst outcome was undoubtedly Zhe Zilin leaving.
Yet she had still mustered her courage and made a decision.
Zhe Zilin suddenly realized that this was what true trust really was.
Ailia forcefully suppressed the sorrow in her heart and tried to smile, but she could not manage it no matter what. She could only bite her lip.
“Ed, I tried my best to keep you, but I can’t keep your heart.”
“I… have a very strong possessiveness, don’t I?”
“As long as one day, by chance, you turn around and can still see the little witch in the castle, even if it’s only for a moment…”
Ailia murmured unwillingly in a small voice.
“…I’ll be satisfied.”