A Knife to the Heart of Lust

After the heartwarming moment, the Marquis and Marchioness went to the city wall together. Although the war was over, the soldiers remained at their posts, dutifully standing guard despite their exhaustion. The Marchioness intended to take her husband’s place in comforting the soldiers, but the Marquis, despite his injuries, insisted on accompanying her.

The Marchioness smiled and agreed, but as the Marquis turned, she summoned her magic staff and knocked him out cold, much to the astonishment of the onlookers. She then handed the unconscious Marquis over to his personal guards and ordered them to take him to rest.

Afterwards, the Marchioness also ordered Yexi to get some rest. Although Yexi tried to hide it, the Lady could sense the subtle differences in her demeanor, a weariness from a night spent rushing back and forth. Yexi was about to refuse, but the Lady brandished her staff at her threateningly.

“Xi-chan, you must be a good girl. If you don’t listen, I’ll have to force you to rest with me.”

Yexi’s expression stiffened. She gave a wry smile and nodded. She could never quite handle the Lady, who treated her and Elienla like her own children. Seeing Yexi agree, the Lady finally left in peace, knowing that Yexi would always keep her promises. The Marchioness then went to help her son and future daughter-in-law with the post-war logistics and comforting the troops.

Yexi had intended to find any random room to rest in—there were temporary tents set up below the city wall—but when she pushed open the door to a quiet chamber, she found someone already sleeping inside.

Because she had opened the door so silently, she hadn’t disturbed the person. She was about to leave when she realized the sleeping figure was a familiar acquaintance: Ard.

Remembering he still hadn’t explained the matter of the Divine Contract, Yexi glanced outside. No one was paying attention. She gently closed the door.

The sleeping Ard was having a wonderful dream. In it, he had awakened his Black Dragon bloodline and become an immensely powerful, sky-blotting dragon. He trampled all who had once humiliated and looked down on him. The powerful figures he could only look up to in the past now groveled at his feet, chanting his name. He lived in a vast, magnificent castle, feasting on delicacies from all over the world. Of course, a being as noble as him didn’t need to feed himself. He only had to open his mouth, and a beautiful woman would offer him food. The one feeding him was a silver-haired maiden. With her slender, delicate hands, she carefully placed the food into his mouth. All he had to do was close his eyes and rest against her exquisite body. She fed him and fed him, even after he was full. He tried to stop her, but a sharp pain suddenly pierced his chest. He opened his eyes to find that the beautiful maiden who had been feeding him was now holding a longsword, which was plunged into his chest. And he finally saw her face clearly. The maiden serving him was Yexi.

“Ah!”

Ard woke with a start, bolting upright, only to be thrown back down by a sharp, intense pain.

Wondering what had happened, he saw a stunned Yexi kneeling on top of him. A silver dagger was plunged into his chest, and the hand holding it was hers.

They stared at each other blankly, neither of them sure how this had happened.

After a moment of silence, they both spoke at the same time.

“Why did you stab me?”

“Why did you suddenly sit up?”

“…”

Another silence fell between them. This time, Yexi spoke first. “I was going to ask you how you knew about the Divine Contract. To prevent you from playing any tricks, I held the knife to your chest. I had no intention of actually stabbing you. But you suddenly sat up, and I didn’t have time to react, and… this happened. But don’t worry, I pulled the knife back in time. The wound shouldn’t be too deep, theoretically. It should be fine. Um… do you have another resurrection?”

Ard looked at the dagger still sticking out of his chest, on the verge of tears. “Can’t a man have a nightmare in peace? I get stabbed by you in my dream, and when I wake up, I get stabbed by you for real.”

“…Sorry.”

What else could Yexi say? She could only apologize.

“But judging by your state, it doesn’t seem to be a fatal wound. The blade didn’t go in deep. Don’t get excited, don’t get excited.”

“Sigh!”

At that moment, Ard was grateful for his Black Dragon blood. His powerful life force and resilient body had saved his life. He looked at Yexi, who was still sitting on him with no intention of getting up. Though she was light, and her position was surprisingly comfortable, now was not the time to enjoy it.

“Aren’t you going to treat this wound on my chest?”

“That’s not urgent. If it’s not deep, we don’t need to rush. Let’s talk about the Divine Contract first. I might have to push the knife in a little deeper later, you see.”

Yexi’s calm words sent a chill down Ard’s spine. She pressed a hand on his chest, her eyes boring into his. “Explain. I hope your next words are chosen with care. Otherwise, you won’t live to see tomorrow.”

“Yes, Lady Yexi.” Ard obediently told her everything about the goddess he had met.

Yexi was silent for a moment, then took out the Divine Contract from a hidden pocket in her uniform. “So that’s how it is.”

“You noticed?”

“Yes. As an assassin, I learned a thing or two about contracts. My mind was a mess at the time, so I was careless. When I came to my senses, I realized the contract was full of loopholes, but it was too late.” Yexi tore the contract to shreds. Her last sliver of hope was shattered. A contract with no binding power was no different from a verbal agreement.

“You said the goddess you met is willing to help me find that person?”

“That’s right. And not with a loophole-ridden contract like that one. You’ll be able to read the contract before signing it.”

Yexi stared into Ard’s dark eyes for a long time. “What do you want?”

“Aren’t you curious about the change in the contract holder?”

Yexi said coldly, “That has nothing to do with me. I only care about what I have to pay.”

Ard said, his voice firm and clear, “I want you, Yexi.”

Yexi was stunned for a moment, then looked at him with disdain. Ard felt his existence in her mind regress to that of a single-celled organism.

“You lust after my body? How pathetic.”

“…” Ard wanted to explain, but as he looked at her, his eyes inevitably swept from her beautiful face to her delicate, perfect body, and the words got stuck in his throat. To say he didn’t lust after her would be a lie.

“Ahem, well, there is a little bit of that. But that’s a desire most men have. I can control it. And I have no intention of using such a low-handed method to get your body.”

Yexi sneered. “You say that, but the brain in your lower body doesn’t seem to agree.”

“Huh?”

“It’s stirring, isn’t it?”

“…” Ard couldn’t refute it. His treacherous body had betrayed his mind. What could he do? Besides, Yexi’s beautiful, black-stockinged legs were straddling him. Though she was as still as a mountain, he didn’t have her self-control. After lying there for so long, he had to shift his body, and that movement caused friction, and that friction… it was inevitable!

“It’s a normal physiological reaction! Your charm is too great, Yexi! Any man would react this way!”

“So you’re saying you’re a human-shaped cannon that can’t control its lower half?”

Ard retorted weakly, “It can’t be helped! I’m still a hot-blooded virgin!”

A corner of Yexi’s mouth lifted in a disdainful smirk. A mischievous thought occurred to her. “You know I’m not originally from this world, right?”

Seeing Yexi change the subject, Ard, who was clearly in the wrong, quickly latched on. “Yes, like me, you’re a transmigrator.”

“Before I transmigrated, I was a man. I suddenly came to this world and became a seven or eight-year-old girl.”

“Oh, so you were… a man?!!” Ard stared dumbfounded at the almost perfect silver-haired beauty before him, stammering, “Th-that’s… quite a surprise.”

“Isn’t it?” Yexi watched him with interest, finding the way his face cycled through shades of green and purple quite amusing.

Ard was having an existential crisis. Does this mean I’m attracted to men? No, I don’t know the Yexi from before. The one I’ve known from the beginning is the sharp-tongued maid, Yexi. So it’s not that I’m interested in men.

He looked at her again. It was hard to imagine that this peerless beauty had the soul of a man. What was even more terrifying was that he had never noticed anything amiss.

“You were really a man before?”

“Absolutely. And a pretty famous assassin at that. Since you haven’t heard of me, you must not have been one of the upper crust.”

“I was just an ordinary young man from society,” Ard said with a wry smile. In his social standing, he would never have had any contact with a famous assassin like Yexi.

“Why are you able to act so naturally? I couldn’t tell you were a man at all.”

“Naturally? I’m just playing the role of a maid. It has nothing to do with gender.”

Ard’s brow furrowed. “I feel like it has a lot to do with it. Would a man become a maid?”

“An assassin would. To complete a mission, an assassin sometimes needs to take on various roles—a servant, a merchant, a beggar. As long as it increases the chances of a successful kill, disguising as a man or a woman is perfectly acceptable. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken on a female role. The only difference is that last time, I still had my male attributes. This time, I don’t.”

“So you’ve been acting this whole time?”

“For me, there’s no such thing as acting. I was a pure assassin. As long as I could complete the mission, every role could be the real me.”

Ard frowned, looking at the nonchalant Yexi. “Is there no role that is uniquely your own?”

To this, Yexi gave an ambiguous reply. “There was. Then there wasn’t. Now… I don’t know.”