Chapter 307: The Ice Empress and the Sun Dragon

As Silas was in the bathroom pondering the purpose of his current life and cursing the system for not being of help, he got a call from Kelvina. Chloe, who was sleeping, still heard his ringtone; the sound made her embarrassed even in her sleep, as the tune was of her singing.

She had never seen him take that recording, but apparently, it had become one of his favorite tunes and now his ringtone. If only she knew that he’d paid someone to turn it into an actual song...

Well, that was a thing for the future.

Chloe didn’t plan on answering or checking who it was. As possessive and obsessive as she was over her boyfriend, she understood her boundaries and respected Silas. Besides, it could be one of the other women calling to check up. After all, Silas still had to answer to them about Kelvina.

The phone rang and stopped, only to ring again. Chloe knew the pattern of everyone close to Silas. If it was the other women, they would call once. If there was no answer, they would stop, as Chloe or any of them would definitely be around him.

If it were Alpha, he would call once too and stop, sometimes twice. Raymond would call thrice and stop, thinking he was probably busy with something else. Others ranged from three to five. But ten, with more incoming?

That was new!

And so, Chloe’s curiosity got the best of her, causing her to pick up the phone with a certain someone in mind. And she was right. It was Kelvina calling. It seemed she was either new to this, or...

"She’s definitely the next one..."

As funny and annoying as it sounded, Chloe couldn’t help but comment. The girl had clearly fallen head over heels for Silas. But she wasn’t going to accept her just like that. It started with one, and now they were four. Silas had come clean and told them that he would never be with a single woman, even if he wanted to. Harem was his curse, so he would make sure to turn it into a blessing for him and his women.

But that also didn’t mean they or she would accept just any woman into the family. They weren’t sisters or friends in the first place. Even with the current women, there were still a few skirmishes among them, and only Silas was holding them together. If it were any other man, it would’ve been his death or the death of his so-called harem.

Looking at the screen after the thirteenth call, Chloe decided to answer. He would apologize to Silas later, but for now, she had to act. Chloe picked it up.

"Hello?"

A woman’s voice answered cautiously.

"Silas?"

"No. It’s Chloe," Chloe said with a smile.

"Oh." Chloe could practically imagine Kelvina straightening wherever she was.

"Hello, Miss Chloe."

"Hello, Kelvina."

None of them spoke for a moment. Then Kelvina cleared her throat.

"I’m sorry. I was trying to reach Silas."

"I figured. Thirteen calls made that rather obvious."

"I’m sorry about that, too."

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I just wanted to speak with him."

"At this hour?"

"I didn’t realize it was so early."

Chloe glanced at the clock. It wasn’t particularly early, but it was certainly early enough for most sensible people to stop repeatedly calling someone who wasn’t answering.

"He’s occupied at the moment," Chloe said. "But he knows you’re calling."

That wasn’t technically true. Silas was in the bathroom, probably threatening the system again. However, Chloe had no intention of explaining that.

"I see," Kelvina replied. There was a subtle shift in her voice, as if she sounded disappointed, perhaps a little embarrassed. Chloe’s amusement faded slightly. The woman wasn’t trying to argue or demand that Silas answer. She had called too many times, certainly, but now that someone had picked up, she was behaving politely. That was interesting.

"Kelvina," Chloe said.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to meet me... in the afternoon?"

The silence that followed was so complete that Chloe checked whether the call had disconnected. But then, Kelvina spoke.

"Meet you?"

"Yes. You and me."

"Alone?"

"Unless you’d prefer to bring an audience."

"No! I mean, yes. Alone is fine."

"Good. There’s a café near the central district. I’ll send you the address. Let’s meet at twelve in the afternoon," Chloe said with a chuckle.

"May I ask why?"

"Because I think we should talk."

"About Silas?" Kelvina said, gulping.

"Among other things." That answer did absolutely nothing to calm Kelvina’s nerves.

"All right," she said eventually. "I’ll be there."

"Good morning, Kelvina."

"Good morning, Chloe."

The call ended, and Chloe placed it on the bedside table and fell back onto the pillows. A moment later, she heard the bathroom door open. Silas emerged, rubbing his hair with a towel. He looked considerably less irritated than he had when he went in, which meant either the system had finally stopped talking or he had threatened it into silence.

"You’re awake?"

"Your phone kept ringing."

Silas glanced at the device and grimaced, a chill spreading through his spine. Whoever had called was going to get a hearing in Chloe got angry at him.

"Oh..."

"The person called thirteen times."

"Thirteen? The fuck?!"

"Yes."

He picked up the phone and checked the screen, only to see Kelvina’s name stamped repeatedly in the missed-call list. His expression immediately became pale. He was so cooked.

"Did you answer?" He asked, fearing the worst.

"Yes."

"God... Save me..."

***

Kelvina stared at her phone long after the call ended. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She had acted foolishly, and somehow, she had spoken to Chloe. But instead of being told to stop calling Silas, blocked, threatened, or insulted, she had been invited to a café for a conversation alone.

Kelvina slowly lowered the phone.

"What did I just agree to?"

A few minutes ago, she had been perfectly content. She had only wanted to speak with Silas. After the banquet, she had returned home with his image still occupying far too much of her thoughts. The way he had looked at her during their dance, the warmth of his hand, his confused expression when she admitted she was his greatest fan- she had replayed those moments so many times that she had nearly forgotten to eat.

Eventually, she decided to call him in the morning, completely forgetting that he had his girlfriend with him.

Kelvina covered her face with both hands.

"Oh, gods."