Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I don’t really understand what love is.

When I was seven, my mother told me she loved me, but she turned around and ran away.

When I was eight, my father told me he loved me, but he turned around and married someone else, having children with her.

When I was fourteen, I was a loner at school. A young boy once approached me, his face flushing red, and said, “I like you. Please be with me.”

But after I rejected him with a blank expression, he ran away crying.

As he ran, he shouted that I was an emotionless monster and that I deserved to be isolated.

As I grew older, I learned the ways of the world and how to read people’s expressions.

Everyone praised me for being cheerful and considerate.

But only I knew that my exterior and interior were completely fractured.

No matter how much passion I displayed, my heart remained a pool of stagnant water.

That was until the System found me and said my personality was well-suited for completing missions.

Through a twist of fate, I happened to meet Xie Huaiyan.

From then on, ripples began to stir in that stagnant pool.

Despite having a much more unfortunate childhood than mine, Xie Huaiyan, like his mother, still possessed the capacity to love.

So many people have come and gone in my life.

Only he showed me through his actions that love truly exists in this world.

It is reasonless, yet remains constant until death.

After returning home, Xie Huaiyan went to take a shower.

I sat on the bed and thought for a long time before finally pinging the System.

“System, I want to say something.”

“What is it?”

I slowly looked up, my gaze firm.

“I want to give up on the original transmigration mission.”

After all, Xie Huaiyan was sincere and honest with me, yet I only approached him because of the mission.

It felt incredibly unfair to him.

The System was shocked. “Host, are you serious?”

It stammered, “I-If you give up on this mission, the reward of one hundred million points will be gone!”

Me: “…Do I look like I’m short on money right now?”

“Just a joke,” the System said sheepishly. “You’re my Host; you should know better than I do what the cost of abandoning a mission is.”

I did know.

Giving up on the mission meant defying the predestined plot. The price was never being able to return to my original world, being trapped here forever.

Most people would find that impossible to accept.

But I was different.

“Going back isn’t actually that great. I have no family or friends there, and nothing I’m particularly attached to.”

At this point, I looked up and gave a soft laugh.

“But here, I have my lover.”

So it didn’t matter if I couldn’t get the System’s reward.

Because my greatest reward had already appeared by my side long ago.

Before the words had even fully left my lips, I suddenly froze.

A well-defined forearm tightened around my waist.

A man’s slightly husky voice came from right behind me, pressing close against my ear.

“Baby, thank you.”

My hands instantly clenched.

My mind went blank with nerves. “…You know?”

Xie Huaiyan buried his head in the crook of my neck, his voice muffled. “I’ve known for a long time.”

“From the day I heard that damn System egging you on to run away, I knew.”

It was that early?!

I was stunned.

To think I had scrambled to make up that lie about an escape room back then, thinking I had fooled him.

I never expected that he had known all along and simply refused to call me out on it.

Confused, I turned around to meet his eyes.

“You clearly knew I was lying to you. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why should I have?” Xie Huaiyan countered. “You were enjoying yourself, and I was enjoying myself. If it’s mutual, what need is there to expose it?”

Me: “…”

My voice gradually grew quieter as a sense of guilt welled up within me.

“But I kept deceiving you. It was terrible of me…”

The next moment, I felt a warm sensation on my lips.

Xie Huaiyan had reached out a slender finger, gently pressing it against my lips to silence me.

“You aren’t terrible at all. Despite being here for so long and gaining wealth and status, you’ve never harmed anyone. You were even willing to stay by the side of a villain like me…”

He moved his finger away and kissed me under the dim, yellow light.

His voice was tender and reverent.

“You are a very good person.”

“And you are my lover.”

My heart instantly spun out of control at those words.

I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around Xie Huaiyan’s neck, returning his kiss with a clumsy initiative.

I whispered, “But I bullied you so many times. I still feel a bit guilty. What should I do?”

The next second, Xie Huaiyan gripped my waist and hovered over me.

The lingering steam from his shower drifted over us, making my cheeks flush hot and staining his voice with a deep rasp.

“Since you bullied me so many times, just let me bully you back once.”

“Don’t be afraid, Baby. Just for one night.”