Chapter 14: Meira’s sincerity
The silvery-white magic car slowly came to a stop in front of the apartment complex where Erik lived.
Before that, the car had stopped in a private area so Sarna could return to the driver’s compartment. Only after confirming that everyone’s clothing had been straightened back into place did she continue taking Erik home.
The moment the car door opened, a thick scent immediately spilled out into the air.
It was the hormonal scent of a man mixed with the sweet fragrance characteristic of a Succubus. Fortunately it was already near evening, and there weren’t too many people around, otherwise it would surely have drawn quite a few strange looks.
Erik stepped out of the car.
The clothing on his body had been straightened up neatly, without any visible trace of disorder. However, on his neck there were several clear red kiss marks, like marks deliberately left behind to declare ownership.
Erik reached up to touch his neck, then looked at Elowen helplessly.
"You did that on purpose, didn’t you?"
Elowen had just stepped out of the car, and upon hearing that she blinked her jade-green eyes, an innocent smile appearing on her gentle face.
"I just couldn’t restrain myself."
Erik looked at her expression that held not the slightest hint of remorse, and in the end didn’t press the matter any further.
Sarna got out of the car from the other side.
Her usually cold face was still slightly flushed, and her eyes didn’t dare look straight at Erik. Every time she recalled what had just happened inside the car compartment, her legs would unconsciously press together a little tighter.
Elowen took Erik’s hand and said in a soft voice:
"You could move into my villa."
Erik was slightly stunned.
Elowen continued explaining: "There’s a cultivation room there, a private treatment area, and a training ground for Awakened. We still have to enter the Trial Space tomorrow, and if you stayed with me, the preparations would be more convenient too."
She looked at the old apartment building before them, a bit of worry surfacing in her eyes.
"This place isn’t safe enough."
Erik understood that Elowen had no intention of looking down on where he lived. She was simply and truly worried about his safety.
Even so, he still shook his head.
"Let’s talk about it after I open the Heaven Gate and can protect myself."
Elowen knitted her brows.
"But..."
"I’ve lived here for five years already." Erik looked toward his apartment, his voice calm: "It’s not spacious, and everything is fairly old, but this place is still the first home that truly belonged to me after I came to this world."
He paused a moment, then continued:
"Right now I feel it’s pretty good here."
Elowen looked at him for a few seconds, and in the end didn’t keep pressing him.
"Alright."
She gripped Erik’s hand tighter and earnestly instructed:
"If anything at all happens, you have to contact me immediately. No matter where I am, I’ll come right away."
Erik nodded.
"I know."
Only then did Elowen feel at ease. She turned her head to look at Sarna, then looked back at Erik, her face flushing slightly.
"There’s also one more thing..."
"What is it?"
Elowen pressed her lips together and said in a small voice:
"Thank you for helping Sarna relieve her hunger."
Hearing that, Sarna’s already red face immediately grew even hotter. But she still stepped up in front of Erik, placed both hands in front of her stomach, and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you, sir."
Sarna’s voice carried sincerity along with a bit of embarrassment.
"If it weren’t for you, I probably would have had to use the blood of a past life to suppress it for a while longer."
Erik looked at the two women earnestly thanking him, and for a moment an incredibly strange feeling rose in his heart.
The one who had clearly enjoyed himself was him.
He had been served by two beautiful women to the point where he barely had to do anything, yet in the end the ones thanking him were them, as if what he had just handed out were some enormous favor.
Erik had lived in this world for five years, but still couldn’t fully get used to this kind of culture.
The men here really were pampered to an unreasonable degree.
Perhaps it was precisely because of that that people like Nathan could become so arrogant and useless.
Erik pulled his thoughts back and looked at Elowen as he said:
"See you tomorrow morning."
"I’ll come pick you up at seven."
Elowen stepped forward, gently kissed Erik on the cheek, and only then reluctantly let go of his hand.
"See you tomorrow morning."
Erik gave Sarna a nod in farewell, then turned and walked into the apartment building.
Elowen still stood beside the car, watching his retreating back until it had completely disappeared behind the large door.
Sarna stepped closer and quietly reminded her:
"Miss, we should head back."
Only then did Elowen pull her gaze back.
"Let’s go."
Not long after, the silvery-white car left the apartment complex and drove toward the wealthiest district of the city.
...
More than half an hour later.
The car entered an estate district blanketed with greenery along with complex defensive magic arrays.
At the center of the grounds was a white villa built in Elven style. Tall stone columns were covered with green vines, and gentle light from magic crystals illuminated the vast garden.
The moment Elowen and Sarna stepped into the living room, they saw a woman sitting on the sofa near the window.
The woman had long blonde hair, pointed ears, and clear green eyes. On her head she wore a circlet woven from green leaves, accentuating a mature and beautiful face that had almost been left untouched by the passage of time.
A long white dress wrapped around her full figure, accentuating the noble and gentle aura of a high-level Elf Succubus. Her chest was full, no, it was very large, as if it were about to break through the fabric of the dress and burst out. On her lips there was always a faint smile, but her deep gaze made it hard for others to guess what she was thinking.
That was Meira.
Elowen’s mother.
And at the same time an Elf Succubus and a high-level Healer famous throughout the city.
Meira was holding a tablet.
On the screen was the video of what had happened at the commercial center.
She had already watched it a fifth time.
In the video, Nathan reached his hand toward Elowen but was stopped by Erik. Afterward, Erik threw a punch that knocked him to the ground, grabbed his hair, dragged him before Elowen, and forced him to kneel down and apologize.
Meira stared fixedly at Erik’s calm face.
Her gaze rested on the firm arm gripping Nathan, then moved to his cold face along with his utterly unpanicked bearing.
Meira’s finger unconsciously came to rest on the screen, gently brushing across Erik’s face.
"He really is very different."
Her voice was so soft it was almost as if she were only talking to herself.
Most men in this world would immediately hide behind a Succubus the moment they saw a conflict. But Erik had not only stepped up on his own to protect Elowen, he had also handled Nathan himself without needing help from the female bodyguards.
That calm and masculine presence gave Meira a feeling she had never seen in any other man.
Hearing footsteps, Meira finally lifted her head.
"You two are back?"
"Yes."
Elowen sat down across from her mother, while Sarna stood behind her as usual.
Meira looked at Elowen, then looked at Sarna.
The faint flush on their faces along with the unnatural way the two of them walked immediately made her gaze turn strange.
Meira didn’t ask right away.
She switched to another video that had been saved in the car’s security system.
Elowen saw the image on the screen, and her expression instantly changed.
"Mother!"
Meira raised an eyebrow.
"You installed a security camera in the car. Don’t tell me you didn’t know the data would automatically sync with the family’s security system?"
Elowen felt a bit guilty.
She really had secretly installed a security camera that morning.
Her original purpose was only to preserve footage of Erik so she could watch it again when she couldn’t be beside him. She hadn’t considered at all that the video would be automatically transmitted back to the estate by the system.
"Mother, you can’t watch that."
Elowen immediately tried to take the tablet back.
Meira gently dodged to one side.
"I’ve already finished watching it."
Hearing that, Sarna lowered her head even further, her black hair almost completely covering her flushed face.
Meira opened the video again.
The angle of the security crystal was fairly high, and most of the footage was blocked by Erik’s back along with the sofa. However, the sound along with the movements inside were still enough for a viewer to understand what had happened.
Especially the part where Sarna moved into the rear compartment.
The smile on Meira’s face gradually vanished. Her breathing grew heavier, and beneath her dress her legs unconsciously pressed close together.
By the time the video ended, she turned off the screen and drew in a deep breath.
"Elowen."
Meira’s voice turned serious.
"Why did you let Erik help Sarna?"
Hearing that, Sarna immediately stepped forward.
"Madam, it was my fault."
Meira raised a hand, stopping her from continuing.
"I’m not blaming you."
She looked at Elowen, knitting her brows slightly as she said:
"You only just signed a contract with him. The two of you haven’t even completed your first connection, and you already brought another Succubus to his side of your own accord."
"What if Erik felt uncomfortable about it?"
"What if he thought you don’t truly take the contract seriously, and then broke it himself?"
Elowen immediately shook her head.
"Erik isn’t that kind of person."
She recalled the way Erik had protected her at the commercial center, and her gaze instantly turned gentle.
"He’s very good."
Elowen paused a moment, then earnestly emphasized:
"Very, very good."
Meira looked at her daughter’s expression and let out a helpless sigh.
"I know he’s good. It’s precisely because he’s too good that you can’t afford any carelessness."
She set the tablet down on the table.
"A man like Erik is almost impossible to find a second time. If you lose him, that isn’t just your loss, it’s a loss for our entire family."
Elowen nodded gently.
"I understand."
"Don’t make that kind of decision on your own again."
"Yes."
Standing behind her, Sarna also respectfully lowered her head.
"I overstepped my bounds."
Meira looked at her for a while, then said nothing more.
She knew Sarna and Elowen had grown up together, their bond no different from sisters. Besides, in a world where lifespans stretched across hundreds of years, mother and daughter, sisters, or even three generations all becoming the partners of one man wasn’t a rare thing either.
What Meira was worried about wasn’t Sarna.
What she worried about was Erik’s attitude.
Meira thought for a moment, then said:
"Tomorrow I’ll prepare an additional gift for him."
Elowen immediately agreed:
"I also feel we should prepare more."
"The equipment is already enough." Meira said: "I’ll take out some medicinal ingredients to help him stabilize his Heaven Gate, plus usage rights to the hospital’s highest-grade cultivation room."
She paused slightly.
"After he returns from the Trial Space, invite him to come live here."
Elowen smiled.
"I already invited him, but he refused."
"Why?"
"He wants to wait until he opens the Heaven Gate and has the ability to protect himself."
Hearing that, Meira wasn’t displeased in the least. On the contrary, her gaze grew even more satisfied.
"Not greedy for wealth, and not wanting to depend entirely on a Succubus either."
She looked at Erik’s face on the screen and said in a soft voice:
"He truly is a magnificent man."
Meira suddenly recalled something.
"I still don’t understand. Why would a man like that rebate his previous Succubus?"
Elowen’s expression immediately went cold.
She recounted how Saraya had refused Erik for three whole months, hadn’t signed a Trial Contract yet still stayed in his home, enjoyed his care, and continuously delayed his awakening process.
By the time she finished listening, the smile on Meira’s face had completely vanished.
Her green eyes went cold, as if small shards of ice were forming inside them.
"A rank S Succubus dared to treat him like that?"
Meira’s voice was still gentle, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees.
"So what if the compatibility were zero?"
She looked at Elowen and earnestly said:
"If I met a man like Erik, even if I couldn’t sign a contract, I would still use every means to keep him."
Elowen covered her mouth and laughed.
"So Mother likes him too?"
Meira faltered slightly.
The image of Erik at the commercial center immediately surfaced in her mind, then shifted to that firm body along with the masculine strength inside the recording from the car.
Meira’s legs pressed together a little tighter.
She drew in a deep breath, trying to keep a calm expression.
"I’m simply evaluating him objectively."
"Sure ~"
Elowen drew out the word, her gaze brimming with amusement.
Meira pretended not to notice and continued with her instructions:
"Don’t follow in the footsteps of that Succubus Saraya. No matter what Erik wants, as long as it doesn’t put him in danger, you must do your best to meet it."
"I know."
"Tomorrow, let him see the sincerity of our family."
Elowen nodded, then smiled and said:
"After we return from the Trial Space, I’ll keep persuading him to move here. That way both you and I can serve him more conveniently."
Meira instinctively nodded.
"That’s right."
But just a second later, she immediately realized the problem.
Meira’s noble face, which rarely ever changed, suddenly flushed red.
"Elowen!"
"I only said we could take better care of him."
Elowen covered her mouth and laughed, then stood up and pulled Sarna out of the living room.
"I’m going to go prepare for tomorrow’s trial."
Sarna hurriedly bowed in farewell to Meira and then followed Elowen. Her face was still flushed red, her head lowered so low it almost seemed she wanted to bury it in her own full chest.
The door closed.
The living room quickly turned quiet.
Meira sat still for a long while.
Then, her gaze fell upon the tablet once again.
Her finger hesitated for a few seconds before she opened the video from the car one more time.
The muffled sounds from the device spilled out into the quiet room.
Meira’s breathing gradually grew heavier. Her legs pressed tighter and tighter together, one hand resting on the screen while the other slowly slid down beneath the layer of her long dress.
"Erik..."
She softly called his name.
The video played again from the beginning.