Chapter Sixty-Six: Xia Mi—I've Figured It Out!

Lu Mingfei slipped away, moving swiftly, but halfway through his escape he couldn’t help glancing back, his expression as clear and curious as an otter’s—an intelligent yet endearing look, tinged with caution. The sight of his usually stoic senior brother pinned beneath a beautiful girl was simply too astonishing; if circumstances allowed, he would have pulled out his phone to snap photos wildly. Even now, each stolen glance at them filled Lu Mingfei with delight.

One look—heh heh~

Another look—heh heh heh~

“Hmm?”

Xiami, still straddling Chu Zihang, instantly sensed his gaze. Like a hunter locking onto prey, her eyes tracked the source and landed on Lu Mingfei’s face. She glared at him fiercely, her gaze as sharp and merciless as a meat grinder, as if she truly meant to kill him.

“Hiss!”

Lu Mingfei shivered, flashing an embarrassed “eh-heh” smile as he backed away, stammering, “I-I’m really leaving now, don’t look at me like that! I’m a good citizen! A good citizen, really!”

“Hmph!”

Xiami watched as Lu Mingfei withdrew, not relaxing until his figure had disappeared from sight. Despite her outward show of strength, she knew that at this moment, she was just the strongest of the next generation—a force no match for that little monster.

Thankfully, he bore no real hostility toward her or Chu Zihang; he only came for the spectacle.

Chu Zihang.

Just thinking of him made her seethe!

Xiami snapped her head back, glaring daggers at him. She jabbed his chest with her delicate, pale finger, pointing straight at the dragon heart within him, and barked, “You owe me something in there! How are you going to repay it?”

…

Chu Zihang gazed at her in silence.

Unlike with Norton, after meeting Xiami, he could clearly sense that familiar feeling, as if he had known her for years—perhaps for many lifetimes. It was as though this girl was truly his lover from a past life, yet with his memories still sealed, he couldn’t recall those bygone days of love.

Still, from the cracks in that sealed memory, faint traces of sweetness seeped through.

What do I owe her?

A heart, perhaps?

Chu Zihang’s dragon heart leaped, beating rapidly as if greeting its true master—a resonance of shared authority and origin.

Instinctively, his hand moved to the spot on his chest where Xiami pressed her finger. Inwardly, he murmured: So this is what it feels like to be moved by someone. Perhaps I did once love her, and even now, my heart beats for her on its own. Not even Brother Norton could evoke such a feeling in me.

“Idiot! You big idiot!”

Seeing Chu Zihang’s usual indifferent, expressionless face, Xiami’s frustration flared anew. She let loose, pounding her soft little fists against him, while crystalline tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

Her feelings were tangled beyond comprehension—even she no longer knew what she felt.

Suddenly, her hand was caught.

Through tear-blurred vision, she saw Chu Zihang’s face draw close. He sat up, grasping her small hand in his large one, their faces nearly touching. With his other hand, he gently supported her back, worried she might fall as he moved.

A gentle breeze brushed away her tears.

The scattered light seemed to gather and solidify.

“Sorry,” Chu Zihang said earnestly, “I can’t remember you, but I’m trying to recall the feeling of loving you.”

That was his promise—a man’s promise. He had no idea how enchanting, how devastatingly powerful his words were to Xiami. He only knew he owed this girl something vital, and he had to remember, so he could return it to her properly.

A heart for a heart.

Xiami stared, dazed. Chu Zihang’s face was so close, his breath mingling with hers. The Dragon King of Desire’s resolve began to waver, but almost immediately she recalled the feeling of losing her power—a sensation that left her deeply insecure.

She looked at Chu Zihang’s handsome profile, her gaze flickering, and whispered, “If… I mean, if someday many, many people come to kill me… what will you do?”

“I will burn them to ashes with the wrath of a king.”

Chu Zihang replied without hesitation.

“But if… if those people are from your Cassell College?” she pressed.

Chu Zihang fell silent. Against those from Cassell College, it would be hard to raise his hand—they were the institution that raised him. He couldn’t simply declare he would destroy them.

Seeing the uncertainty in Xiami’s eyes, he seemed to sense her worry.

She was a next-generation dragon, a powerful one. Someone like her would likely be hunted by Cassell’s dragon slayers.

And when that time comes… what should I do?

Wait—I am the Dragon King. I am Constantine!

In an instant, Chu Zihang’s golden pupils blazed. He declared with unshakable resolve, “I am the Dragon King. You are next-generation. Let them try to step over my corpse first!”

You’re the Dragon King and I’m next-generation…

Xiami gazed at Chu Zihang in a daze. Her feelings had never been so complex. She had anticipated that Chu Zihang might say something moving, and she’d steeled herself for it.

But…

Words that could both confuse and move her, she couldn’t guard against. Her lips parted, unsure whether to retort or to be touched. The feeling was like being silenced by Demacia’s Q—utterly lethal.

Xiami fell silent. Deep in that silence…

A bold idea gradually crystallized in her mind.

Since he doesn’t know I’m the Dragon King, or that I’m Jörmungandr, only that I’m next-generation and he’s the Dragon King, Constantine—why not just go along with it? Why not play this out with him?

Why insist on being my own Dragon King? Is it so bad to be protected? Isn’t it wonderful to experience love from such a unique perspective?

This is just too wonderful!

She understood at last.

Jörmungandr’s name faded away. In this moment, she was simply Xiami—only Xiami, the strongest of the next generation, the Xiami loved deeply by Chu Zihang, the luckiest Xiami in the world.

“Hmph, I’ll let you off the hook—barely.”

Xiami hugged Chu Zihang tightly, as if she could fuse their bodies into one. The warmth of the embrace radiated from body to soul—this was what she wanted most.

Countless passersby walked by, yet none seemed to notice the pair hugging on the ground, as if the whole world simply drifted past them.

This was Lu Mingfei’s final gift—a miniature spiritual domain that shielded them from ordinary eyes.

“Senior brother, this is all I can do for you!”

“You’d better give it your all!”

—Yours truly, your little cherry blossom.

(It feels so good to go wild! Hahaha!)

(˙▽˙)

(End of chapter)