Chapter 536 - 10: Kiss
The girl ignored the boy’s confusion.
She tilted her head, her long, flaxen hair slipping from her shoulders. "Oh, right, what’s your name?"
The boy looked at her and replied calmly, "Shouldn’t you give your own name before asking for someone else’s?"
The girl raised an eyebrow, seemingly finding his retort interesting. Her lips curled into a slight smile. "Cheris. Cheris Douglas. Now, your turn."
"My name is..." the boy began to say.
A slender index finger suddenly reached out, the cool tip of the Black Armor pressing gently against his lips.
The sweet smile on Cheris’s face remained, but a dangerous light glinted in her eyes. "Wait a second~ I have [Detect Lies] active."
She leaned closer, her breath carrying a faint, sweet scent. "Don’t lie to me. If you lie to me, you’ll lose your value. And I have no pity for worthless toys..."
Her voice suddenly grew quiet and cold. She pressed her fingertip down a little harder, pushing his lips in. "Even a life form like you, one who took a different Path and luckily reached the Second Level."
The boy’s lips moved slightly beneath the cool index finger.
A moment later, the finger moved away.
"My name is Murphy."
"No last name?" Cheris raised an eyebrow.
"It’s Murphy."
"Where are you from?"
"I don’t know," Murphy answered quickly, his tone completely flat. "I had already lost my memories when I woke up."
Cheris stared into his eyes for a few seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing with a "Pfft!" A look of keen interest flashed in her eyes. "Interesting. You’re actually... not lying?"
"Of course I’m not lying," Murphy replied. A faint light flickered in his pitch-black eyes and was gone in an instant, so fast it might have been an illusion.
"How interesting." Cheris chuckled, sizing up Murphy’s expressionless face. "Your emotional fluctuations are so faint they’re like a stagnant pond. It seems you were heavily eroded by Dimensional Energy during your Elementalization."
She spoke in a sweet, flowing voice, as if answering Murphy’s unspoken questions:
"During the process of Elementalization, losing your emotions is a minor side effect. The most severe consequence is memory loss. This typically happens when the positive energy that makes up the soul is encroached upon by other forms of Dimensional Energy."
"If you can’t stop the positive energy from draining away, the Elementalization process will fail. Of course, natural-born Extraordinary Creatures use their bloodlines to stabilize it. Some Paths use Ancestral Spirits, Divine Spirits, or even forge an indestructible force of will."
She paused, her gaze landing on Murphy. "But a life form like you, who advanced to the Second Level by chance through an unconventional Path, has no such methods. Memory loss is perfectly normal."
SNAP!
Cheris gave a crisp snap of her fingers.
The large leather swivel chair behind her slid silently into place.
Cheris sat down gracefully, leaning back slightly and sinking into the soft backrest. Her flaxen hair fanned out as she casually crossed her long, straight right leg over her left knee.
The pose made her already extremely short hot pants look even tighter, revealing a large expanse of dazzlingly fair skin on her thigh.
"However—" she drew out the word. As she swayed her ankle, the delicate, white-strapped sandal on her right foot made a soft *thump* as she casually kicked it off. It landed on the thick carpet nearby.
Then, she extended her bare right foot, holding it steady right in front of Murphy.
The foot was slender and snow-white, with a beautifully curved arch. Faint, pale-blue veins were barely visible on the fair skin of her instep.
Her ten rounded toes were painted with the same glossy, mirror-black nail polish as her fingers, reflecting a cold sheen in the sunlight that streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A sweet, radiant smile blossomed on Cheris’s face.
"Kiss it."
Murphy’s gaze shifted from her cold, gleaming black toenails to her small face, which was filled with an expression of absolute entitlement. He remained silent for a moment.
"???"
"Don’t be so confused," Cheris said, wiggling her outstretched foot. Her tone was matter-of-fact. "As my toy, you must pledge your loyalty to me. Here, the ritual of allegiance is to kiss your master’s instep."
She tilted her head and blinked her large, expressive eyes. "Hurry up, will you? I’m on a schedule."
Murphy’s gaze fell once more upon her fair foot, then slowly rose to meet Cheris’s smiling eyes.
"And what if I refuse?"
The sweet, guileless smile on Cheris’s face didn’t falter in the slightest. Even the upward curve of her lips remained unchanged.
She kept her leg crossed, her outstretched foot not retracting, only ceasing its gentle swaying.
"’Refuse’?" she repeated the word, a barely perceptible, playful note seeping into her sweet voice. "My little toy, do you not yet fully understand your current situation?"
She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees and cupping her delicate chin in her hand. She continued speaking in that same melodious voice:
"Look, I found you—an interesting individual who seems to have reached the Second Level through an unconventional Path. I fished you out of a sewer, brought you to my territory, gave you the opportunity to speak with me, and even kindly shared some knowledge about your own condition."
Her gaze swept over Murphy’s spotless black robes before returning to his placid face.
"That’s already very, very generous treatment, you know."
"The ritual of allegiance is a rule. It’s simple courtesy around here. Refusing it is more than just a slight against me." Cheris’s tone remained light, her sweet voice unwavering. "It means you refuse to acknowledge our relationship, refuse to accept your designated role in this playground."
She lowered the hand that was cupping her chin and leaned back into the chair once more. Her right leg remained elegantly crossed, her bare foot still poised in front of Murphy.
"A toy that doesn’t follow the rules, that refuses to play its part..." Cheris tilted her head, flaxen strands of hair sliding across her shoulder. "No matter how interesting, to me, it’s just a nuisance."
She paused, a flicker of almost innocent curiosity in her large eyes.
"And for me, getting rid of a nuisance is as simple as tossing out an old dress I don’t like. So what do you think I’ll do, Murphy?"
Sunlight filtered through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a mosaic of light and shadow across the carpet.
The room was so quiet you could hear the faint din of the distant city.
Murphy stood at the edge of a patch of light, while Cheris sat in her large leather chair with her leg crossed. The fair skin of her instep held a delicate luster in the sun, her black nail polish like solidified midnight.
His pitch-black, placid eyes met her large, sweetly smiling ones in a silent standoff.
Cheris’s smile remained flawless, but it felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped by several degrees.
Just as the taut silence was about to reach a breaking point...
Suddenly, Cheris burst out laughing with a "Pfft!"
She let out a crisp laugh, like a little girl’s, her shoulders bobbing slightly. Even her raised foot gave a little wobble.
Then she retracted her right leg, uncrossing it, and held out her own small hand toward Murphy—just as fair and adorned with the same black nail polish. Palm up, she wiggled her fingers at him playfully.
"Oh, honestly, how could I treat my new toy like that?" Her smile was bright and dazzling, her jade-green eyes curving into crescents. "I was just kidding! Here, let’s try a different way. A kiss here on the back of my hand will do."
Murphy looked at her outstretched hand and was just about to reply.
In that very instant!
An invisible Force Field materialized without warning and shoved him violently from behind!
The force sent Murphy stumbling forward involuntarily.
At almost the same instant, Cheris’s previously open hand shot forward like lightning. Her fingers clamped onto the collar of Murphy’s black robes, and she yanked him sharply toward her!
THUD!
With a dull thud, Murphy’s forehead connected solidly with Cheris’s smooth one.
Cheris clearly hadn’t expected this outcome. She blinked her jade-green eyes, which had gone slightly cross-eyed from the proximity. A faint throb of pain made her release Murphy’s collar, and she instinctively reached up with her other hand to rub the spot where they’d hit.
Murphy steadied himself and looked calmly at the girl who was now inches from his face. His tone was as flat as ever. "What are you doing?"
Cheris pouted, a look of annoyance and indignation on her face. "Trying to kiss you, obviously! Who knew... that a kiss on the forehead would end up with us knocking heads! That’s not how it happens in the books and plays!"
Before she had even finished speaking, she moved again, faster and more suddenly than before!
Her fair hand shot out like a bolt of lightning once more, grabbing Murphy’s collar and yanking him toward her with even greater force!
This time, having learned her lesson, Cheris deftly tilted her head to the side as she pulled him in.
There was a soft, almost inaudible touch.
Success.
For a split second, Murphy’s pupils dilated.
Cheris blinked her large, dewy eyes, now just inches away. They clearly reflected Murphy’s pale face—still expressionless, but rendered in sharp detail by the proximity.
They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Their breaths mingled in the scant space between them. Murphy could smell her sweet fragrance, clearer now than ever, and at this distance, he could even see the slight tremor of each individual eyelash.
After a moment, Cheris was the first to let go. She sat up straight, acting as if nothing had happened, and leaned back into the swivel chair.
She raised a hand and gently touched her lips with her fingertips. A look of curiosity mixed with confusion spread across her face as she muttered under her breath,
"So that’s what a kiss feels like. It’s soft... a little cool, and kind of weird." She looked up at Murphy, who was standing straight again, and blinked her jade-green eyes. "That was my first kiss, you know... I guess... it’s not that big of a deal."
Murphy: "?????"