Chapter 182: Calm before the last trial!

After hearing her words, Vincent felt so happy that he beamed towards her, wrapped his hands around her lithe waist, feeling her soft and supple body as he embraced her tightly. He couldn't help it. Her words meant that she wanted him as much as he wanted her, but she fears that she won't be able to do the most intimate acts of love with him due to her having extremely little control over her innate racial trait. A trait that transforms her body into a cat each time she feels extremely loved, extremely embarrassed, and other extreme emotions.

Leilani felt comforted by his hug, and she rested her head on his shoulder without worrying about the gaze and thoughts of the onlookers. This moment belonged to her and her alone. She didn't want to worry about being unable to give him the happiness that he deserves, one that any normal girl would be able to give him. She didn't want to think about the heart aching feeling that has been haunting her. His warmth that comforts her and his love that envelops her body, mind, heart, and soul, that's all she wanted to feel right now. And, if possible, she wanted the time to stop at this moment so that she would forever be in his embrace, worrying not about gaining power, stopping the invasion of the creatures of hell, and her complex emotions.

Of course, time flows faster when one wants it to stop, and before she knew it, Vincent has already stopped embracing her. Though his hands never left her body, and they were currently stroking her head, each stroke made her feel his love. She raised his head to look at him and saw him looking at her like she is the most precious treasure of his life.

Feeling the traces of shyness on her face, he suddenly stood up and walked towards the tent. Before entering it, he motioned her to come inside. She nodded, obediently following after him and entering the tent. After entering the tent, she saw that he was pouring a cup of wine, one that he extended towards her.

"Do you drink wine?" Vincent asked while looking at Leilani.

"Yes," Leilani's eyes blinked in confusion, and a brief moment later, she took the cup from his hand before slowly slipping away the intoxicating content within.

"You think too much." Vincent suddenly said.

"Maybe I do. But have you never thought that it's unfair for you to hang around with someone like me, someone who can never give you the simplest joy of life?" Leilani said while looking at him with eyes that begged for an honest answer.

The troubles in her heart weren't little in number. She wasn't born a princess, but she dreamed of having her white knight as a kid. Vincent was the white knight for her. After all, he was someone that makes her feel protected, safe, and loved. And although she believes in love, she also knows that the love between them won't exist for a long time, especially because she is unable to give her body to him, much less a child. If one day, a girl far beautiful, gentler, and loveable than her comes into his life, a girl without any disability, then for what reason won't he abandon her?

One look at her face, and Vincent saw a complexity of emotions.

He sighed, wondering why she thinks so much, then said whatever flowed out of his heart, "Life is too short, and our time is full of death. The life of people like us sways according to the will of the ones in power. You've seen the greed of the humans that cause black clouds to cover the skies, just as much as I have. You've also heard about the invasion of the ones from hell, which, too, cover a part of the land in darkness. On such happenings, be it a peaceful and prospering city or an unending field of corn and greenery, all turn depressed, cover by an aura of death. Our life is too uncertain. Our superior can send us to war with a single command. Succumbing to death is common there. We can be unfortunate enough to encounter a hell invasion. The chance of surviving that with our current powers is next to zero. I don't know whether I will live on to see the next sunset, so why do you think so much? Instead of worrying about the future, we did rather focus on enjoying the present. Your words are enough for me, and they mean a lot to me. I'm happy just being able to sleep with you in the same bed while holding you in my arms. As for the rest, I believe that you'll be able to overcome your inability to control your innate racial trait with time."

Her heart swayed with each of his words, and she realized how foolish she was to think more about the future when she should be trying to embrace the happiness of the present.

"I finally understand the fool I have been." This time, Leilani took the lead, let go of the plastic cup in her mind and ran into his arms, hugging him like a ferocious bear cub, surprising him so much that he didn't make a move for some moments, and only after several seconds did he smile and hug her back.

"Can I overcome it?" Leilani asked.

Instead of saying anything, Vincent merely kissed her gently on the forehead, then carried her like a bride to the futon, and Leilani felt so surprised that her eyes widened, and her red cheeks also turned a shade darker.

"What are you thinking of doing?" She asked shyly in a low voice.

"Sleeping with you in my arms," Vincent said before placing her on the bed and then lying down next to her. Immediately after, he hugged her, pushing her towards himself and looking straight at her unblinkingly, almost as if her beauty was some kind of a lucky sleeping charm.

Leilani didn't resist him, but just like the other times, his seductive handsomeness accompanied by his crimson eyes that looked like the most precious of rubies as well as his soft, feminine, and pale skin proved too much for her, and she ended up laying on her other side. Now, she was no longer at him and his face, a face that makes her feel the irresistible urge to do indecent things.

Although she looked away from him, he didn't feel the least bit angered. He could hear her thumping heart. He could tell that she did that, not because she was disgusted with his face but because she was too in love with it.

"Do you know when it started?" Vincent asked.

Leilani shook her head, then said, "I remember I wasn't like this as a child, but then… it mysteriously started to happen."

Vincent's eyes narrowed in thoughts as he teasingly lifted a thick strand of her snowy, white hair, brought it to his face, then inhaled, taking in her smell. Leilani froze in her spot as she remembered that she hasn't had the chance to clean her hair ever since coming to this place! Does her hair smell? If it does, would he think that she is a girl who doesn't like to wash her hair? Will he end up disliking her?

"Don't smell them. I haven't washed my hair! They are probably dirty!" Leilani said in a hurry.

"They are not dirty," Vincent said as he turned her towards himself, and Leilani buried her head in the nock of his neck after taking a look at his face.

"Good girl." Vincent said while patting her head, "Go to sleep."

Leilani's emotion calmed down after some time and she closed her eyes, taking in his pleasant scent as she tried to fall asleep.

"Good night," she said when she felt that she was about to sleep.

"Sleep tight," Vincent replied in a soft, almost inaudible voice while feeling her gentle heartbeats.

"Hmm, I'm now sure that she lost a part of her memory due to the self-defense mechanism of her mind. That memory, whatever it is, resulted in her inability to control her innate racial trait of transformation. Will I be able to help her out without making her remember that part of her memory?" Vincent thought in silence, and after a while, he decided to keep things as they are. If sleeping together with her, like he initially thought, can help her maintain her form in front of him, no matter what they do, then it's for the best. Otherwise, he didn't mind just sleeping with her in his arms for a lifetime. After all, he didn't want to trigger her self-defense mechanism and make her re-experience the painful memory that her mind sealed in her.

He didn't want to see her hurt!

Drowsiness slowly took over their consciousness, and they ended up sleeping in each other's arms.