"I suppose I may address you as Ms. Shay?"
Evelyn was still in a slight daze, but still answered him as firmly as she could.
"If it's convenient for you."
Rain looked at her for a couple seconds before handing her the pass card with a smile.
"Be more careful next time and don't lose it."
Coming to her senses, Evelyn took it and exhaled a sigh of relief to herself.
'Looks like he's never met the real Shay.'
Since pass cards did not contain images of their owner, unless the person knew them personally, it was impossible to know exactly who the card belonged to.
To her surprise the young man didn't stop there and offered.
"Since I bumped into you and you almost got hurt, as an apology, I'll walk you out."
"You shouldn't."
Evelyn shook her head weakly and politely declined. She was still in a depressed mood because of Grey's behavior, so she wanted to be alone.
"I insist."
Evelyn looked up at his easy smile and eyes that sparkled with persistence.
She hadn't been around any young men except her son, so she noticed at once that the atmosphere around this young man was very different from Grey's. There was something about it that drew her in, and without realizing it, she agreed with him.
"Okay..."
As they continued on their way through the academy, Rain studied her at close range.
She had long brown hair that cascaded down over her shoulders and golden eyes that showed tenderness.
Rain couldn't sense any cultivation base in her, but even without it, her skin was devoid of any flaws and her curves exuded vitality.
She seemed the epitome of femininity, and her forms, possessing a mature attraction, made it difficult to look away from them.
Her breasts bounced with every step and her hips swayed sinfully, hopelessly attracting the gazes of all the men around her. Even the austere middle-aged professors who passed by her secretly cast eager glances at her.
But she did not notice them at all, being absorbed in her own thoughts, only occasionally diverting her attention to look shyly at the young man walking beside her, as if hesitating to say anything.
Of course, anyone who dared to stare longer than they were supposed to would feel the cold stare of her companion, who seemed to be telling them to get lost, for this prey already belonged to him.
Soon Rain broke the silence, glancing at the sandwich basket in her hands.
"This man must be very happy to have such a caring woman by his side."
"You're exaggerating, I'm not as good as you think..."
Evelyn wanted to say something else, but noticed that they had already reached the exit of the academy, where the checkpoint was located.
Rain had heard her entire conversation with Grey perfectly well and knew it wasn't her pass card, so he was now watching her emotions closely.
But she walked past them without too much excitement, despite the fact that if she were caught using someone else's pass, she would face at least a hefty fine.
'Is this what is meant when they say a mother's love knows no bounds? Okay, the only thing left to do is to turn that love to me.'
With these thoughts, Rain also took out his pass card, the shimmering gold emblem on which immediately caught Evelyn's eye, and used it.
"Sure, I'll do it."
She answered him again with her smile, and they walked down a couple more streets in good spirits, mostly chatting about the latest happenings in town. Finally, Evelyn stopped in front of one of the stores and turned to Rain.
"I have a couple more places to stop by, so thanks for walking me out."
After bowing slightly, Evelyn was about to go into the store, but suddenly she remembered something. She took out a pen and a piece of paper from somewhere and, writing something down carefully, handed it to the young man across from her.
Rain noticed that there was some sort of address written on the piece of paper.
"If you want to see Grey, you can come to our house."
Rain wasn't going to turn down a chance like this, so he took it.
Unconsciously touching her hand, he felt a strange sensation run from the very tips of his fingers, through his entire body, which made his mind go fuzzy and a spark flash in his eyes.
What he felt was no ordinary desire, but a burning call to action. His body moved forward on its own, pressing her lightly against the storefront window.
It was too sudden and Evelyn didn't react, but one could tell from her hot face and ragged breathing that she was feeling something similar.
*Ding*
The store door opened and a bell sounded, bringing them out of their trance.
Evelyn immediately came to her senses and, realizing their current situation, quickly slipped between Rain and the storefront window. Not daring to look him in the eye, she only bowed.
"I'm sorry, I have to go."
Leaving those words for last, she walked quickly forward down the street.
'Didn't she want to go to the store...?'
Rain looked at the man who had just come out of that store and was still staring at him in bewilderment. Fortunately, the man quickly realized that this was not something he should be getting into and hurriedly walked away, leaving Rain alone with his thoughts.
'What the hell just happened?'
Rain checked his condition, but found nothing unusual about it now.
'It was more like a loss of body control than a normal impulsive rush.'
Rain was also distracted by a sound, allowing him to come to his senses, but that sound was coming from the system. So he opened the system notification window.
[You have been marked.]
[The main quest has been forcibly summoned in this regard.]
[Main Quest]
[Satisfy all of Evelyn Ezeeria's hidden desires.]
[Rewards: S rank cultivation technique.]
[Note: The rewards can be increased for successful completion of the quest.]
[Punishment for failure: Facing the consequences.]
[Time limit: one week.]
***
Thanks for reading, everyone.
I've been very busy at work for the last couple of days, so I haven't been able to post chapters regularly. From now on, I will try to restore the normal schedule.