The bite mark on the pet's fair and delicate skin was abruptly glaring, seeming to carry a scorching temperature that made Ornado instinctively look away.
He was not a pervert like Ernad.
How could he develop improper feelings for a pet?
Yuxing raised her head: "Look at this!"
The pet's voice was as soft as pulled sugar, and Ornado's throat bobbed.
Her warm, damp breath brushed against his neck like a feather dipped in glue, teasing his nerves and sticking stubbornly to his sea of consciousness.
She was the one who asked him to look.
Right, she had permitted it.
Ornodo's deep eyes lowered, his gaze fixing on the pet's neck, repeatedly grinding over the bite mark with his eyes.
Buried in his arms and faking tears, Yuxing did not notice Ornado's hard-to-control restraint.
"Help me beat him."
Lowering his eyes, Ornado continued to gaze at her with those eyes so blue they looked almost black, slowly uttering a single word: "Alright."
Then.
Ornodo placed his left hand on the pet's trembling back and patted it gently to offer comfort.
"I'll help you beat him."
Unlike Ernad, Ornado's embrace was solid and his aura was calm, giving one an all-powerful sense of security.
Yet such a powerful man unconditionally yielded to her.
Under Ornado's gentle compromise, Yuxing's inner defenses instantly crumbled by more than half. Thinking of her deceased parents, she suddenly felt a strong urge to cry out loud.
Crying over her hardships in the apocalypse.
Crying over walking alone for a very, very long time.
Whether it was friends who had fought side by side or rivals with different ideals, all had fallen on the road toward the dawn.
She was already exhausted.
On her birthday, she had detonated her ability core to perish together with a city full of zombies.
Perhaps sensing her hardships, the heavens had sent her a congratulatory gift, letting her transmigrate into the interstellar era after her death.
In the interstellar era, she was no longer the only heart beating; even though their races were different, she was wild with joy.
What others saw as a cage was happiness in her eyes—she finally no longer had to constantly be on guard against dangers suddenly surging from the shadows.
Soon, Yuxing realized she was being overly sentimental. She quickly stopped her fake tears and intercepted that gathering fist.
Yuxing shook her head, sweet words tumbling endlessly from her lips: "I was just joking. You two are one and the same; beating him is beating yourself, and I couldn't bear for you to hurt yourself."
Ornodo paused his movement.
The soft voice washed over his ears, as if an electric current had shot straight to his nerve endings, stirring up the blood in Ornado's chest.
He stared at their intertwined hands, a hard-to-detect trace of morbidness lurking deep within his blue eyes.
She was still so defenseless.
Could she trust him just like that?
Ornodo closed his eyes, his voice warm yet laced with a hoarse undertone, sounding slightly doting:
"Didn't you want to give the Holt Family a small live-broadcast shock?"
"Go ahead and do it."
Yuxing: ＝v＝
Really? Adoptive father!
Then she could "do" as she pleased!
The process had been twists and turns, but the result was unexpectedly satisfying. Yuxing hopped out of Ornado's arms and rubbed her hands together excitedly.
Ornodo opened his eyes, but did not stop her.
Until the sound of the bell faded away.
Only then did he slowly withdraw his gaze, standing silently by the window.
The sea breeze carried a damp, chilly cold, yet it still could not wear away the surging heat within his body.
His tentacles beat angrily against his sea of consciousness, baring their fangs and gnawing at his mental realm in protest.
Ornodo did not suppress the tentacles. He stood in place for a long time—so long that the heavy rain temporarily stopped.
*
The Palace, Underwater Research Institute.
"It's rare for His Majesty to have the leisure to visit me."
"Since I'm already here, how about a re-examination?"
The doctor was a short youth.
With purple hair and purple eyes, he wore a proper white lab coat. Beneath the coat were not a pair of slender legs, but a snake's tail.
The scales of the snake tail fit closely together, gleaming with a mysterious purple luster under the pale lights as the muscles contracted and relaxed.
Perhaps due to long-term mental labor, he was accustomed to a lack of smiling. Though only half-grown, he lacked the innocence and vitality that a child should have.
After a complex battery of tests, the doctor stared at data that was entirely too normal and fell into deep thought.
Ornodo's tone was flat: "Well?"
The doctor frowned deeply: "Your Majesty, your sea of consciousness is improving at a very fast pace. This has never happened before."
Ornodo almost instinctively thought of the pet.
He rubbed his thumb pads, narrowing his eyes as he savored the memory. His fingertips seemed to still retain the resilient and delicate touch of the pet's waistline.
So slim.
So soft.
It seemed as though it would snap at the slightest bend.
Ornodo's throat involuntarily bobbed.
The doctor changed the subject: "However."
Ornodo: "..."
Do these academics all love plot twists?
The doctor sighed.
"Your Majesty, your dissociative identity disorder has worsened."
"According to your account, during this switch, you were completely in a passive state, unaware of when you were replaced by the alternate personality."
"Coupled with the fact that you have no memory of the alternate personality's appearances."
"In summary, for some unknown reason, he is attempting to seize dominance of the body and replace you."
Ornodo's gaze was calm.
There was no surprise, no anger, as if he were listening to an inconsequential story without a single ripple of emotion.
However, the shattered instrument in his hand betrayed him—he was far less calm than he appeared on the surface.
"The mental power tester I worked so hard to buy!"
The doctor's voice was near a roar; at this moment, he finally showed a bit of youthful temperament.
Ornodo tossed a card at the doctor.
The doctor's expression changed instantly as he waved a hand generously: "Your Majesty, smash whatever you like; if it's not enough, there are unopened ones in the warehouse."
With veins standing out on his distinct hands, Ornado crushed the fragments of the instrument, his voice chilling: "Is there any way to make him disappear completely?"
The doctor summoned the robot butler to clean up.
"If it were at the very beginning, perhaps. Unfortunately, by now he has grown to a point where he can rival you."
"We still don't know why he appeared in your body; making him disappear is very difficult."
"Your Majesty might want to find out what causes him to lose control."
Leaving the voice and the person behind, Ornado walked aimlessly, unconsciously arriving at the living quarters.
Yuxing sensed something and turned her head.
A tall figure blocked the doorway.
The corridor light poured through the open door, spilling a patch of quiet near the black boots, only to be quickly crushed.
The black boots stopped beside her.
Yuxing smiled at him, looking for credit: "Everything is ready."
Ornodo's gaze glued itself to the smile at the corner of the pet's lips. He reached out, his broad palm landing on that fluffy crown of hair.
At that moment.
Ornodo looked like a beast that had caught its prey, its claws pinning down a helpless creature while it contemplated how to take a bite.
Yuxing could not see Ornado's expression, but Quinn saw it clearly, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
He looked away for just a moment.
And now there was no room for him in this threesome?
That simply wouldn't do!!
Not wanting to be left behind, Quinn frantically searched for a common topic: "Your Majesty, I just received news from the doctor. Has he appeared again?"
Ornodo sat beside the pet, lowering his palm to rest upon her waist over her newly changed long dress, and replied nonchalantly, "Mn."
Quinn frowned: "Clearly it wasn't him who appeared..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
Ornodo pinched the pet's slender, resilient waist, his gaze falling upon that palm-sized face as he asked, seemingly offhand:
"If one day, only one of us could survive—if you had to choose, would you choose him, or me?"