The leading man who refuses to eat (57)

"So, your arrangement with him is that he gets the day, and you take the night?" Si Jiu narrowed her eyes at him. "How calculating of you!"

Xie Yu felt terribly wronged. "Don't I still have to tell you stories? Most of the time, we should be sleeping at night—tell me, who's really getting the short end of the stick here?"

"Do you even believe what you're saying?"

Si Jiu nudged his "full of spirit" area with her knee. "Is it really just to tell me stories?"

Her gaze, slanted toward him, was both coquettish and alluring, her voice and smile soft and sweet.

Xie Yu's breath hitched. He grabbed her wrists, pressed her back against the door, and leaned in close. "I'll tell you in the way you like best."

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, nipping and licking.

"That's... your... favorite... way, isn't it!"

The temperature in the room steadily climbed.

In the living room, Mantou buried its head under its front paws, looking utterly hopeless. Suddenly, as if sensing something amiss, it perked up its ears, stood straight, and stared at the door of Si Jiu's bedroom with dark, round eyes before suddenly baring its teeth and bristling.

"Woof... woof, woof, woof... woof..."

With a loud thud, as if someone inside had hurled an object at the door, Xie Yu's irritable, hoarse voice growled, "Mantou, shut up."

Mantou whimpered twice, stopping its barking, but continued to stare at the bedroom door as if facing a formidable enemy.

...

The storm subsided. Si Jiu drifted into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, she felt a chill beside her. Subconsciously, she burrowed into Xie Yu's arms.

Once her body grew warm, a cold draft settled on her ankles. She simply wrapped herself around Xie Yu like an octopus, one leg wedging between his, hugging him like a giant heater.

Then, the "cold wind" that had been persistently touching her seemed to lose its temper, biting (?) her sharply on the back of her neck.

It was cold and painful, making her shiver.

"What's wrong?" Xie Yu, half-asleep, stroked her back.

"Cold~"

So, he pulled her closer.

...

Because they had been up so late, both overslept.

When Si Jiu opened her eyes, it was already past ten. The moment she met his gaze, she saw eyes so deep they seemed bottomless. The man's eye sockets were slightly red, and because she was stuck to him like an octopus, he looked somewhat at a loss for what to do.

"Charles, good morning." Si Jiu let go of him, yawning sleepily. A trace of physiological moisture welled up at the corners of her eyes, which he wiped away with his thumb.

"Your Highness, good morning."

His eyes drifted uncontrollably from her crimson-rimmed eyes to her full lips, finally resting on her neck, which was covered in suggestive marks.

"Your Highness..." His voice was husky as he reached out toward her.

But Si Jiu had already risen.

"I'm going to wash up. If you're tired, you can sleep a bit more." With that, she threw on her robe and walked out of the room without looking back.

Charles's hand, suspended in mid-air, slowly tightened into a fist.

"Why..."

[Why, Host Daddy? Charles looks so heartbroken.] The system whimpered.

Si Jiu spat out the toothpaste foam and looked at herself in the mirror. "Even though I know they are the same person, it still feels... too shameless. I have to maintain my precarious sense of integrity."

System: [You didn't reject Xiu, though.]

Si Jiu gave it a look of profound pity for the dim-witted. "Did I even have the room to reject him?"

That guy Xiu basically got straight to the point every time he appeared, and his physical prowess was off the charts. There was no way she could refuse him even if she wanted to.

[Tsk! You're just bullying Charles because he's obedient and well-behaved.]

"How is this bullying? I dote on him enough as it is." Si Jiu chuckled, rinsed her mouth, and wiped the water from her lips. "Look at these few, have I ever bought clothes for anyone else?"

Thinking of her shriveled wallet, she felt another pang of heartache.

Damn it, she had been too busy with "official business" last night and forgot to ask Xie Yu for reimbursement.

"Remind me to ask Ah Yu for reimbursement for Charles's wardrobe costs when he comes over tonight."

System: [Aren't you afraid Xie Yu will get jealous or sad?]

"What's there to be sad about? Aren't those clothes still being worn by him?"

[Wow~ Host Daddy, is your scum-factor innate? You are so naturally, effortlessly heartless.]

Si Jiu: "..."

"Have I been too nice lately, making you get all puffed up, my dear child? Did you go ask the higher-level system about the Qi Yan plane yet?"

[Going now, going now...]

It's not my fault, who told you that the shura field around you is so entertaining? Can a split personality even create a shura field? What an eye-opener!

The system retreated. On the mirror behind Si Jiu, ripples began to spread, circle after circle, triggered by her mentioning the name "Qi Yan."

It was as if a pebble had been dropped into a calm lake, or as if an unknown passage had been switched on.

Like a spell, like a summoning... and also like a form of permission.