Chapter 368 174: "Mutual Destruction

"You said you wouldn't move and that you'd let me have one move."

Elvire: "???"

'But I never said it was *this* kind of move!'

Elvire's pretty face rapidly turned bright red. She wanted to push Sean away, but for some reason, she lost all her strength. Her eyes, betraying her, misted over, and her tightly clenched teeth were pried open by Sean's almost rough advance, allowing his reckless lips and tongue to easily breach the final defense of her mouth.

"Sean, you bastard!"

'We're on a public street!'

Elvire cursed, flustered and annoyed, but her watery eyes closed naturally, and her hands unconsciously wrapped around Sean's neck.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Meanwhile, behind them.

"Hurry, hurry! Any slower and we'll miss the good show!"

Yisha dragged Koni along, scrambling to catch up to Sean and Elvire.

Elise followed close behind, a gloating smile on her face.

'Provoking Miss Flame Crow in front of so many people... she was curious to see how Sean would get himself out of this one.'

Even Sopea, who was usually uninterested in gossip, kept pace with the group while holding Hobbs in custody.

'After all, this was Lord Blake's drama. Out of respect, he had to go take a look.'

But when their large group finally caught up to Sean and Elvire, they froze in place one by one, petrified.

On the romantic streets of Mortana, the two people who were supposed to be fighting to the death were now locked in a passionate embrace under the suggestive gazes of passersby.

And it wasn't just an embrace—their lips were pressed together.

Elise and the others had a perfect side view, killing any possibility of a misleading camera angle or a misunderstanding. Plus, High-tier Wizards all had excellent eyesight. They could even clearly see the gentle movement of their cheeks...

Yisha: "?"

Koni: "??"

Elise: "???"

'Wait, weren't they just arguing so fiercely? One wanted to hold Elise's hand, the other wanted to chop off his hand... How did they end up kissing in the blink of an eye??'

'Can someone please tell her what the hell is going on?'

Sopea: "..."

Watching the two young people making out on the street, he suddenly regretted following them.

'Instead of getting to watch the drama, I just got a face full of PDA.'

'I'm so stupid, really...'

'I only knew this was Lord Blake's drama, but I never considered that Lord Blake had his own methods.'

'Lord Blake managed to "tame" Her Highness the Saintess and the young mistress of the Blazing Angel Family—who were once like fire and water—into a temporary truce. How could a mere little Flame Crow, so naive about the world, possibly trouble him?'

Sopea looked up at the sky, a sour taste in his mouth. 'See no evil.'

'I'm never coming along again.'

「After a long while.」

The two finally broke apart.

Elvire's face was so red it looked like it could bleed. She was both embarrassed and furious, wishing she could find the Gate of Hell and dive right in.

She had to admit, Sean's kiss felt really good. She'd never imagined kissing could feel like this; she was practically melting...

But!

That still didn't change the fact that Sean had tricked her!

Besides, the street was full of people. To make matters worse, Elvire caught sight of Elise and the others out of the corner of her eye. How was she ever going to face anyone again!

"You damn pervert!"

Utterly furious, Elvire turned and stormed off.

She didn't even dare to turn back and say hello to Elise and the others.

"Hey, wait for me." Sean hurried after her and reached for her hand.

But Elvire shook him off. "You're still trying to hold my hand!"

"Don't you see all the people around us?"

"Of course I do," Sean said with an innocent expression. "I warned you it would be mutually destructive. You were the one who told me to go for it. I'm very shy too, you know."

Elvire: "???"

'Who the hell knew *that's* what you meant by 'mutually destructive'?'

'Shy, my ass...'

"Pah!"

"Shameless!"

Elvire cursed, her face red, and quickened her pace.

Sean kept up, continuing to try and grab the young woman's hand.

"C'mon, let me hold it."

"No!"

"Yes, yes. Otherwise, if you chop it off later, I won't be able to hold your hand anymore," Sean said.

Elvire: "What's it got to do with me if you can't hold my hand?"

Sean: "But then you wouldn't be able to hold my hand either, right?"

Elvire: "Who says? Once I chop your hand off, I'll preserve it in a jar of Magic Potion. I can take it out whenever I want to hold it. As for you... Hah, go find your little Maids. We'll see if they still want you when your hand is gone. Hmph."

"It doesn't matter if they want me or not. As long as you do," Sean said with a completely serious face.

"So cheesy. Who would want you?" Elvire disgustedly shook off Sean's hand as he tried to grab hers again. "Don't touch me! Go away!"

"I won't." Sean failed, tried again, failed, and tried again, looking as if he was determined to hold her hand today, no matter what.

From behind, the group could only watch as the two walked shoulder-to-shoulder, their hands flailing back and forth as if they were fighting. Then, whether out of fatigue or acquiescence, under the midday sun, the large hand finally succeeded in capturing the small one, their fingers intertwining, holding on tight.

Elise and the others: "..."

"Aaargh!"

"It's so sweet it's killing me!"

Yisha said, exasperated, "This isn't what I wanted to see!"

Elise chimed in sourly, "This isn't what I wanted to see, either."

She had been so close to succeeding, only to have him snatched away by Elvire.

Elise sighed and murmured, "It's over. It's all over."

As everyone knows, kissing is something only lovers do. And couples who have just broken through that ambiguous phase into a relationship always go through a ridiculously clingy honeymoon period—regardless of whether these two proud, stubborn people admitted they were a couple or not, this wouldn't change. This meant that in the days to come, none of them would need to eat. They could just fill up on PDA.

And things turned out just as Elise expected.

That afternoon, Sean did nothing productive at all, simply taking everyone out to wander the streets and go shopping at the mall.

It was as if they had really come to Sonaros State just to be tourists.

At one point, Elise tried to change the mood: "Shouldn't we be asking around about the Gate of Hell?"

But Sean just replied, "Gate of what? Never heard of it. Is it more important than my Miss Flame Crow?"

"Come on, Miss Flame Crow, let's keep shopping!"

With just two sentences, he had Elvire wrapped around his finger, making her forget all about the incident with Elise.

Elvire wasn't actually someone who liked to spend money frivolously. For things like bags, shoes, lipstick, and so on, she was happy as long as she had enough to get by and never pursued luxury brands. But this time, for some reason, watching Sean tell the sales clerks to wrap this and that, she felt it was a huge waste, yet her heart was filled with joy.

So, after Sean was done buying things for her, she dragged him to the men's clothing floor and started frantically buying things for him.

They made such a scene that nearly every salesperson in the mall knew two VIPs had arrived. The shy new employees stayed in their stores, praying Sean and Elvire would "flip their card," while the old veterans took the initiative, swooping in at every opportunity to praise their own brands and say how perfect they were for a handsome man and beautiful woman like Sean and Elvire.

It left Elise and the others completely numb.

'Whoever ends up being this mall's top salesperson of the year,' they thought, 'they'll definitely have these two to thank for it.'

Even Yisha, who usually loved to shop, had a look of utter despair on her face. "Seriously, I never realized shopping could be this exhausting..."

「Until evening.」

It was almost seven o'clock. The group checked into their hotel rooms, dropped off their things, and went out to find a restaurant for dinner, finally getting a chance to rest.

Inside the restaurant, Sean suddenly flung his arm up, showing off the new watch Elvire had bought him. "Huh, is it that late already?"

"Stop looking at it. How many times have you checked it on the way here?" Elise said weakly. "We know you have a new watch. Be a good boy and put it away."

"Oh, you all know already?" Sean paused, then asked, "So, is my new watch nice?"

Everyone: "..."

'We'd like to teach you a lesson!'

Elvire, however, turned her head to hide a smile, her heart feeling sweet as honey.

Amidst the lighthearted chatter, the waiter soon began to serve their meal.

Just then, Sean's phone rang.

The caller ID showed "Genduo."

"See? Perfect timing," Sean said. "There should be news."

He answered the call.

"Hello? Genduo?"

"Yeah, it's me," Genduo said from the other end of the line. "I've passed your message on to the Chairman."

"What did he say?" Sean asked.

Genduo: "The Chairman wants you to come meet with him in person."

Sean: "When?"

Genduo relayed the exact words: "Tonight. Before midnight. He won't wait."

...