“Val! Oh, Val! That day, I was so frightened seeing you lying motionless on the floor. When I saw you unconscious, I didn’t know what to do. I tried to heal you, but it didn’t work. Nothing worked. I felt so lost, so helpless,” She cried, her voice choked with emotion.
Thankfully, there were people who helped.
Otherwise, she was afraid she would’ve lost him forever.
Gently, Val returned her embrace, his hands soothingly caressing her back. He brought his mouth next to her ears and whispered, “I’m sorry for making you worry, Eliana. But I’m fine now, I promise. You don’t need to worry about me any longer.”
After a while, Eliana pulled back and asked, “What caused you to go into a coma?”
“I overstepped the limitations of a low-level wizard,” Val said with a sheepish look crossing his face. “I performed an exorcism on the entire house, seeing it through with more wizardry than I should have performed. It was too much for my body to handle. The strain put me out of commission temporarily.”
“You did what?” Eliana gasped, her eyes widening with shock. “The entire house, all by yourself? But that’s… that’s insane, Val!”
“But it’s done. The house isn’t haunted anymore,” Val gave her a sheepish smile.
“But you should have informed me,” Eliana complained, her brows furrowing. “We could have done it together. You didn’t have to do it alone.”
Val leaned down, planting tender kisses on her forehead, smothering out her frown. “Don’t frown, I don’t like it.”
“Then stop putting yourself at risk. Even if it’s for us, I don’t allow it,” she said.
Val pulled her back into his embrace, his hands holding her protectively. “I can’t promise you that. I exorcised the house alone so you wouldn’t have to risk yourself. Seeing you hurt, Eliana… it’s something I can’t bear. Do you understand?”
She blushed furiously at his words and actions, her face turning beet red like a steamed crab, but she managed to stammer out, “I… I understand,” before she snuggled into his chest and simply rested her head on his wide chest, finding comfort in his warmth.
After a while, they separated.
“Show me your card,” Val requested, extending his hand. His voice held a level of seriousness that Eliana hadn’t often heard from him.
Without a second thought, Eliana passed her contribution card to Val. She trusted him completely. Everything she had she was willing to give to him anyway, not that she had much to offer.
“I want to transfer 800 contribution points to Eliana,” Val declared, causing Eliana’s eyes to widen in surprise.
800 contribution points was like half a month’s earnings for her.
Why was he being so generous to her?
“For what?” Eliana asked him.
“It’s a reward for your hard work,” Val replied, looking at her with a warm smile.
“I don’t remember doing anything this rewarding,” Eliana said, feeling bewildered.
“The cores you helped me purify sold for quite a sum. This is your fair share. So just accept it,” Val explained.
“If you say so,” Eliana said, her eyes welling up with tears of gratitude. Val was always so considerate and generous to her that she kept on feeling touched.
As they completed the transaction, Eliana’s net balance instantly increased to a hefty sum of 1,200 contribution points.
“Here,” Val said, extending his hand to return Eliana’s card.
However, she firmly shook her head, reaching out to gently push his hand holding her black card back towards him.
“No, keep it,” Eliana insisted, her tone determined.
“Are you sure?” Val asked, a bit surprised at her insistence.
“I am. It’s my honor to have my man in charge of my resources. I trust you, Val,” she confessed to him as she stared into his eyes with an unwavering haze.
Val didn’t know why but he felt that this woman who was still wet behind the ears was flirting with him.
And her flirting skills were so good that it made his heart race although it was barely noticeable.
“Besides, I have no doubt that you’ll make the best decisions for us. I trust you with our shared future,” she added, her cheeks flushing with a soft pink hue.
Not to mention, she was paid in coins in her job. These coins were basically contribution points in solid form. And they do the grocery together. Thus, she didn’t find it necessary to have the black card on her all the time.
Hearing her words, Val’s heart started thumping loudly.
A dirty thought crossed his mind.
He wanted to make her his in both body and mind. He wanted to possess her heart and soul!
‘I have no doubts left in my mind. I am falling for her. But I still need to make sure her background checks out,’ Val thought. ‘And if I allow it, it would be beneficial for me.’
It was undeniable that he had planned to stick with her like a leech until death do them apart as her ability to turn sincere prayers into reality were too good to be discarded.
That meant sooner or later he would’ve to satisfy her needs.
If he wasn’t in love with her, he would only feel disgusted making love to her.
But if she made a spot for herself in his heart by that time, it would be a enjoyable experience for him.
Thus, Val kept an open mind about it. He didn’t discard his emotion like he would’ve normally done.
‘Let’s just let them grow. It will be interesting to experience what [Being in love] feels like,’ Val thought, ‘Moreover, If I am in love, it would be easy to do marital duties. Otherwise, I might show disgust and if she chances upon it, our relationship would get a hit.’
His acting skills were really good, but there were times when he just couldn’t perform well. And he considered having sex with a woman he didn’t love as one of those difficult times.
Suddenly, tremors ran through the ground under their feet. The entire house shook as if caught in a hurricane. The chandeliers overhead swung wildly, the furniture rattled, and the floor beneath them trembled
Val managed to stabilize himself thanks to his extraordinary physical capabilities as a warrior.
But Eliana, with her petite frame, wasn’t so fortunate. She lost her footing and started falling towards the ground.
As the floor drew near, her heart pounded in her chest and she instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact.
However, the anticipated pain never came.
Before she could hit the floor, strong arms circled around her waist, stopping her fall. She opened her eyes in surprise and found herself just inches away from the ground.
Before she could register what happened, she was pulled back into her lover’s warm embrace. As a result, she saw Val’s handsome face upclose. He was really, really handsome and could even attract goddesses to him like bees to honey, yet he was all her, his smoldering inky black eyes with unfathomable depths looking at her with genuine concern.
It was all an act but she fell for it and thought she could never say to no to him. He loved her too much, and she didn’t want to let him down.
The tremors through the land ceased as abruptly as they began. 𝗈𝚟𝓵ℯxt.𝕔𝑂𝔪
Val held Eliana protectively in his embrace, his black eyes never leaving her almond ones.
His intense stare sent a shiver up her spine. She didn’t know what to feel when he looked at her with that overprotective and hungry gaze.
“Y-yes?” she stammered out.
“Are you alright?” Val asked, his voice a soothing balm to her rattled nerves.
“Thanks to you, I am,” she replied.
A blush crept up her cheeks as their proximity was quite intimate – she was in his arms, his body pressed against hers, his face inches from her own, their nose almost touching.
The moment was surprisingly tender, creating a romantic tension that was hard to ignore for a virgin like her.
She felt thirsty for him, but she gulped down her thirst. No wasn’t the time to think of such intimate things.
“Why did an earthquake suddenly strike?” Eliana asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.
“I’ll go out and check,” Val replied, releasing her from his embrace but keeping a protective arm around her waist until she stood perfectly on her feet. “You should stay inside where it’s safe.”
Eliana nodded before saying, “Be careful out there,” as Val left the house, entering the streets of the lower city.