Chapter 138: Chapter 138: "Have You Fallen in Love With Someone Else?
She was resisting.
Her delicate, supple hands were pressed against his chest. What resistance could they offer?
The smile vanished from the Duke’s deep, golden, serpentine eyes as he stared down at her. He had gone to great lengths to arrange this "long-awaited reunion." He didn’t blame her for running away, but the way his little pet was trying to distance herself from him made his heart ache, as if pricked by a thousand needles.
He pulled back slightly. In the Cloud Mist, the man’s figure was ethereal, his serpentine lower body completely hidden in the fog, indistinct.
Yu Zhizhi noticed he had withdrawn a bit. She slowly turned her head and looked up at the Duke, who was much taller than her.
His handsome, wicked features were veiled by the mist, then revealed as if by a passing breeze. His serpentine eyes were like golden moons in the night sky, cold and distant.
Yu Zhizhi recalled when she first met the Duke. He had been just like this, completely unmoved. Although he often wore a lazy smile, it didn’t make him seem approachable. On the contrary, he was incredibly difficult to get close to.
In the silent room, neither of them spoke again.
Yu Zhizhi looked at him, her mouth opening and closing, but she didn’t know what to say.
She could only lower her head.
The Duke looked at the little female before him. She looked flustered and helpless, her hands clasped defensively over her chest. She had maintained this posture from the very beginning.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. "A change of heart?"
’The little rabbit wasn’t like this before.’
She always used to rub up against him, demanding kisses and hugs. She would grant his every wish, no matter what he did.
The Duke’s hair was dripping wet, as if he were standing in the rain. His eyelids were also beaded with moisture. He was right in front of her, yet Yu Zhizhi felt as if a vast distance separated them.
’Where he is...’
’Is it raining?’
Seeing her dazed and unresponsive, a wave of irritation rose in the Duke’s heart. His tone sharpened. "Have you fallen in love with him?"
’Is it because she’s in love with someone else? Is that why—’
’She won’t let me kiss her, won’t let me touch her?’
Yu Zhizhi shook her head repeatedly.
Her rabbit ears drooped, and her eyes grew moist as if she’d thought of something.
Seeing the little female shake her head, the look in the Duke’s eyes softened slightly. But then he thought of that fox, and his brow furrowed.
He didn’t press closer, instead giving the little rabbit some space.
"What exactly did Li Yuan say to you?"
"About the Mermaid..."
"And besides that?"
Yu Zhizhi had just been crying, so her voice was thick. She sniffled and looked up at the Duke, who was keeping his distance.
The room, filled with white mist, had an indescribable, dreamlike quality.
"He said..."
Yu Zhizhi recalled the State Preceptor Li Yuan’s words, her voice turning accusatory. "—that you don’t value me at all."
The Duke almost laughed out of sheer anger. "I don’t value you? Who do you think I went to all this trouble for, making my Clone appear here? You abandoned our cub and ran off. Who do you think I was searching the whole world for? The Delegation left the Imperial City, and I even contacted your ex—who was all of that for?"
Yu Zhizhi was speechless.
She was never good at arguing to begin with, and the Duke’s barrage of questions made her head buzz.
Seeing her dazed little face, the Duke reached out and pinched her cheek, his expression sinister. "You’ve been fooling around on the side, yet you’re still alive and well after seeing me. You’ve really got some nerve, don’t you."
It sounded like he was praising her.
Except he said it through gritted teeth.
’The little rabbit even found a male pet and got pregnant with my cub. Before seeing her, I thought I absolutely had to punish her and teach her a lesson.’
’But after seeing her?’
’I have to coax her, comfort her, and even wipe away the tears she shed for another male.’
’She really has some nerve.’
Yu Zhizhi’s fair, tender cheek was instantly reddened from his pinch. The corners of her eyes were red too, and her voice was thick with nasality. "...I don’t know how to dance."
"So?"
"All the noble ladies know how. I’m the only one who doesn’t."
The Duke let go of her. "Is that all this is about?"
Yu Zhizhi covered her reddened cheek, her voice becoming even more muffled. "There are so many things I haven’t learned. You never had anyone teach me."
"You’re still young. There’s no hurry to learn." The Duke was starting to understand what his little female had heard from others.
The frustration in his heart hadn’t dissipated, but at least now he knew what was going on in her little head, and he didn’t want to waste any more time being angry.
Yu Zhizhi murmured, "I’m an adult. I’m not young anymore."
The Duke’s gaze fell on her fair neck and shoulders, on the tempting curves rising beneath the lace collar. His voice grew hoarse. "Mm, you’re not small."
His snake tail stirred restlessly.
The mist thinned, and he pressed closer.
Yu Zhizhi watched the raindrops falling from his face land directly on her eyelashes. She closed her eyes and wiped them away with her finger.
He was here.
Bringing with him a soft pitter-patter.
"Why are you wet?" she asked.
The Duke gently stroked her rabbit ear, his fingertips kneading and rubbing it. "The rain in the Imperial City."
The rains of Varolan had finally drifted to Moonrise.
Unfortunately, through the Clone, everything felt like a dream. Even the sensation of touch wasn’t quite real.
Even so, it was better than not being able to touch her at all.
A trace of tenderness appeared in the Duke’s golden, serpentine eyes. He slowly bent down and kissed her snow-white neck.
His snake tail supported the small of her back, forcing her to tilt her head up to meet him.
Her fingertips trembled. When she accidentally brushed against his slippery, wet snake tail, she shivered. Before she could pull her hand back, the Duke grabbed it.
"You need to get used to it." The Duke guided her hand, making her stroke his tail.
Yu Zhizhi’s gaze lowered. She mustered the courage to look—
at a tail of black scales, interwoven with crimson. It was full of aggression, just like the Duke himself.
Seeing her motionless, a hint of amusement entered the Duke’s tone. "Stunned silent?"
Yu Zhizhi’s hand suddenly felt like it was burning, and she snatched it away.
’It seems I’m not that afraid of snakes anymore.’
Suddenly, a sharp pain pricked her neck.
The Duke was biting her!
Yu Zhizhi reached out to push him away. The Duke straightened up and wiped the moisture from her neck with his thumb. "...Will you come back?"
His golden, slitted pupils were unfathomably deep, and a faint smile played on his lips.
Yu Zhizhi didn’t dare to shake her head.
She had a feeling that if she shook her head right now, something terrible would happen.
As if he could read minds, a flash of gloom passed through the depths of his serpentine eyes as he stared at her.
’The little rabbit has been playing outside for too long. She doesn’t want to come home.’
’If not the Mermaid, there will be other males.’
Just the thought sent a dull ache through his heart.
He couldn’t even bear to imagine the day his soft little female would tell him, "I’ve found someone I love."
’I’d go insane.’
The Cloud Mist began to fade.
And with it, the Duke’s figure.
Yu Zhizhi looked over in surprise. The Duke’s expression was calm. "My time is up. The Clone will disappear on its own."
Everything was an illusion, like the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror.
In the end, it was nothing like having her by his side.
The Duke lowered his eyes. Before he left, he suppressed the bitterness deep in his heart and said darkly, "The next time we meet, it won’t be as simple as just a bite."
’No one can snatch her away from me.’
’Not the Moon Rising Empire, not the Deep Sea Empire...’
’She will always belong to Varolan.’
’To me.’
As the Duke finished speaking, his figure dissipated along with the white mist. The entire room fell silent, without a single trace left behind.
Even—
The first thing Yu Zhizhi did was look down at her wrist. The chain that had been there was also gone.
It was as if she had been dreaming.
Except...
for her sleeves, soaked by the Duke, and the faint pain on her neck and shoulder where he had bitten her.
Yu Zhizhi’s face flushed. She discovered that the zipper and laces on the back of her dress had been undone at some point by the Duke.
With a RUSTLE of fabric, she took off the formal dress and changed into a casual nightgown.
After turning off the lights, she opened the door and her heart leaped in shock at the sight of a figure leaning against the opposite wall.
