Chapter 111. The Xino Covenant (13)
The interior garden of Xino Palace. The Moonlight Greenhouse.
Through the glass-vaulted ceiling, the Twin Moon Deities poured down their radiance; the late sumr breeze swept lightly over the green flora and blooms, accompanied by the song of cicadas, composing a bright and lilting lody.
"Sister Ailin, I—I want to urge you one more ti, please let
go, or else……"
Aina, dressed in her maidservant uniform, was sitting upright on the long bench inside the white pavilion at the center of the greenhouse.
However, she appeared to be in so distress—her little feet, wrapped in white silk, tapped the ground incessantly, producing a da-da-da sound.
A wisp of red gauze, barely-there, was draped across her body.
"Or else what? Miss Aina?"
A voice threaded with silky charm drifted out unhurriedly, causing Aina to involuntarily turn her head.
What she saw was a woman of matchless beauty—jet-black demon horns crowning her head, dressed in a black gauze gown, slender legs sheathed in skin-toned black silk—reclining indolently on the long bench, a pair of eyes the color of roses and blood gazing at her with amused interest.
That black gauze gown was cut with exquisite precision: the deep-V neckline at the chest fell at just the right depth, tracing the full and generous curves, the secluded valley between revealed with perfect clarity—yet not a trace of vulgarity.
Beneath the short skirt's gentle sway, the graceful lines of her shapely legs were laid entirely bare; above the black silk, faint dark-red threadwork swirled and coiled, converging at last at the razor-sharp tips of those ink-dark heels.
The crimson-haired woman languidly stretched her limbs; the blood-light in her eyes flickered gently, and one jade hand, its nails lacquered in a dewy rouge, made a casual beckoning gesture—the porcelain lid on the tea table floated obediently into her palm.
The rim of the cup touched lightly to her lips; her vermillion lips parted slightly, and the clear amber tea slid past that alluring lip-line, washed over her enchanting tongue, and glided down into the depths of her slender throat.
Aina was once again distracted for a mont by Ailin's beauty that devastated both n and won alike. The little maidservant shook her head, silently chanting "Luo Nan, Luo Nan" to herself, calling to mind her Young Master's peerlessly handso face, and steeling her resolve:
'Aina, Aina, you absolutely must not be bewitched by her—Sister Ailin may be beautiful, but she seems like a bad person!'
A mont later, the little maidservant who had silently reaffird her convictions raised her head again, and in a tone she considered the very height of righteousness, declared: "Sister Ailin! If you still won't let
go, when Young Master arrives later, he definitely won't let you off easy!"
"Oh?" Aeldelin smiled with playful curiosity. "Specifically…… how 'not easy' would that be?"
With that, Aeldelin rose lightly to her feet and walked to stand before Aina, one finger lifting the little maidservant's smooth, round chin, a flicker of curiosity passing through her eyes.
"It's—it's that kind…… that kind……" Aina tilted her head slightly in mild resistance, but still could not escape Aeldelin's teasing.
"What kind?"
"The kind that will make you…… make you carry a child as punishnt!"
The little maidservant finally mustered her courage and, basing it on the plot she had once read in a certain improper booklet, issued her threat with a look of grave solemnity.
"Pfft……"
Upon hearing this, Aeldelin withdrew her jade finger, raised her hand to cover the corner of her mouth, and let out a soft, enchanting laugh, her graceful figure trembling gently—her chest billowing in waves—like a blood-red mandrake blossom blooming in full, intoxicating splendor.
"I am quite looking forward to your Young Master coming to impose on
that 'punishnt' you speak of~~"
Aeldelin lightly swept a strand of crimson hair aside, her steps unhurried as she returned to recline on the long bench, crossing her black-silk jade legs, gently swaying the blood-red heels on her feet.
"Only…… your Young Master…… probably hasn't that ability or that nerve."
"Young Master is the most formidable person there is—Sister Ailin, my Young Master is soone who's been called, who's been called 'the Capital's Number One Female Hunter'!"
Seeing that her threat appeared to have had no effect, Aina could only produce the title she had once overheard the other maidservants whispering among themselves in private about Young Master.
"The Capital's Number One Female Hunter?"
Aeldelin paid the little maidservant's fierce glare no mind whatsoever; she raised her chin, her beautiful eyes blinking.
"I look forward to it~~"
As her voice fell, the pointed tips of Aeldelin's jade ears twitched slightly, and her gaze shifted toward the entrance of the greenhouse.
"It seems…… the Young Master you speak of has arrived."
***
As soone who had visited the Moonlight Greenhouse many tis before, Luo Nan paid no particular attention to this royal leisure garden, designed with painstaking devotion by a master landscape architect.
His expression was as composed as ever, his gaze clear and sharp, focused intently on the crimson figure in the white pavilion at the center of the greenhouse.
"It turns out Xino Palace holds scenery not at all inferior to that sea of crystal stars in the main hall!"
But Anya Sivans could not manage the sa composure; even though she knew there was very likely an extraordinarily dangerous, suprely powerful being waiting for the two of them inside the greenhouse, she still couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
"Anya, don't lose focus—she's right there."
Following Luo Nan's gaze, Anya too caught sight of the gorgeous crimson-haired beauty reclining beneath the pavilion.
"Hm? Isn't that…… Miss Ailin?"
The instant she saw that figure, Anya imdiately recalled a mory she had not been able to retrieve before no matter how hard she tried.
"Luo Nan, I rember now," the girl extended a finger and turned to share the intelligence with Luo Nan, "Ailin—Ailin Hilde—she's the one who pulled
and Miss Rose into a conversation!"
Luo Nan gave a slight nod. "Naturally. Other than her…… no one else could pull off that move."
"Do you still rember the instructions I gave you earlier?"
"I rember, I rember." Anya quickly reviewed them in her mind and nodded.
"Good. The battle in a mont is counting on you."
"Leave it to !" The girl patted her chest with confidence.
With that said, Luo Nan ca to stand before the white pavilion, his figure settling into stillness, his deep black eyes eting that pair of gorgeous rose-red ones.
"If my intelligence is correct, you are Aeldelin—Lady Aeldelin Xueting?" Luo Nan was the first to speak.
In order to gain more from less, Luo Nan had to seize every opportunity to establish an advantage for himself—taking the initiative in conversation was the place to begin.
Upon hearing Luo Nan accurately speak her na right from the start, a flash of surprise passed through Aeldelin's rose-red eyes. "Luo Nan von dillion—you don't mind if I call you Luo Nan?"
"As you please."
Aeldelin nodded. "Then…… Luo Nan, how is it that you know my na?"
Aeldelin was very curious. She had clearly not walked the Material Plane for over a thousand years; by all reason, any legends about herself should have long since been swallowed up by the dust of history.
Especially her true na.
She was certain that even a thousand years ago, when she had been roaming the Material Plane, she had always used a false na and had never once revealed her true na.
And as for those who did know her true na—apart from His Highness—all the rest had long since been reduced by her various ans to a single line of text in the history books.
"Ha……" Luo Nan gave a quiet laugh.
Through Aeldelin's reaction, he confird that his initial show of leverage had landed precisely.
'Good. Now I just need to sustain this sense of leverage and use my intelligence advantage to draw her into the rhythm I've designed.' Luo Nan felt a asure of calm settle within him.
It seed that even an ancient creature like Aeldelin, who had lived for thousands of years, would be caught off guard when confronted with sothing outside her expectations.
"This Young Master naturally has his own channels. So then…… Lady Aeldelin, are you very surprised?"
Aeldelin did not reply. She stepped down from the platform and ca to stand at a position exactly three ters from Luo Nan.
Luo Nan suddenly felt an impulse to cast aside all the plans he had prepared in advance—to stake everything on a single throw, to go all in.
But he suppressed it quickly.
'This distance…… is not stable.'
'No—can't act rashly. Follow the plan, step by step. Based on what I know of her, the odds of success are high.'
After suppressing the impulse that had flared up for an instant, Luo Nan continued his performance according to plan.
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