The layered curtains beside the bed were pulled up by gold hooks, and the teenager sat alone on the edge of the bed. Against the backdrop of the big bed, his stature seemed more slender, almost engulfed by shadows.
He was still wearing the banquet suit, but it was now wrinkled, torn from the neckline to the shoulders by him.
Rowett was by the door, instructing his subordinate generals in lowered voice.
From time to time, he turned his head to look at Ge Xiu sitting on the bed, but he didn’t seem to be very relieved.
Ge Xiu’s cheek was bulging from the candy. He lowered his head and didn’t move. He just sat there quietly, the hairband that had been tied earlier has loosened, and his long blue-purple hair was hanging loosely on his shoulders.
He looked well-behaved and clever, and he didn’t have the slightest trace of the dangerous feeling of ferocity and violence from before.
Finally, Rowett ended the conversation.
He closed the door, raised his hand and loosened the bow tie around his neck, then turned and walked towards Ge Xiu, who was sitting on the bed.
Ge Xiu raised his head.
His cheekbones were still flushed, and the red flush looked even more conspicuous on his skin as white as the first snow. A pair of blue-purple eyes were misty, so he couldn’t tell his emotions, and it was hard to say he awake he was.
Rowett raised his hand and touched the top of his hair.
Ge Xiu blinked, but didn’t move.
——Fortunately, at least it was much stronger than the guard who almost broke his arm when he came back.
Rowett asked, “How are you feeling?”
Ge Xiu shook his head.
“Are you thirsty?”
Ge Xiu thought for a while and then nodded slowly.
Rowett brought a cup of warm water to his lips from the tray on the side, Ge Xiu lowered his eyes and sipped water from cup in his palm, looking very well-behaved.
The long eyelashes drooped down, casting shadows on his face, like butterfly wings, trembling slightly in the light, a little fuzzy*.
As if a feather scratched his heart.
Rowett raised his hand and rubbed the young man’s soft cheek, feeling that his heart softened ridiculously, and his voice softened: “What else do you want?”
Ge Xiu looked up at him again, his misty eyes narrowed slightly, he seemed to take a while to digest the information, and then said:
“Hot.”
His voice was hoarse, and the originally clear and slightly cold voice was mixed with the sandy texture and gravel friction.
Rowett turned around and was about to adjust the temperature in his room, but as soon as he turned his back, he heard a harsh sound of cloth tearing behind his back.
He turned his head in surprise and looked at Ge Xiu who was sitting on the bed.
The boy’s fingernails were as sharp as razors, and in an instant, in the high-quality suit was cut a huge hole, and when he pulled hard, it turned into a fragile strip of cloth, which was simply and rudely peeled off from the body.
Fragments of clothes fell like snowflakes on the bed and carpet.
Ge Xiu blinked innocently: “Hot.”
Rowett: “…”
Ge Xiu stretched the arms were finally freed of the restraints, then lowered his head and glanced at his lower body, tugging at his trousers with fingers, as if thinking about repeating the old trick.
Rowett had a headache.
He stepped forward quickly, raised his hand to hold Ge Xiu’s hand that was about to move, and coaxed helplessly, “It won’t be hot in a while, be good.”
The boy’s soft and cold body was close at hand. The touch seemed to still remain on his palm, and the faint aroma of wine floated in the air, like a tumbling ocean of rum, it was very cold, but felt hot when it reaches the face.
Now, Rowett was feeling the heat too.
The heat that seemed if it could boil air.
He tightened his lips, and his Adam’s apple moved up and down slightly, as if he was also affected by the alcohol escaping in the air.
Rowett knew that he wasn’t not a person with a high moral standard, and as long as something could make him happy, he had always had no scruples and no worries.
The instinct of plunder and aggression were always vividly displayed in his actions.
What’s more, he had thought about his merman in this way.
Now the other was sitting in front of him so defenceless, if he didn’t do something, he would simply feel a little sorry for himself.
But…
Rowett looked down at Ge Xiu, who seemed to be still dazed in front of him. His dark eyes were as deep as an abyss, as if some complicated emotions were swirling and surging in them, and condensed into some kind of unfathomable undercurrent.
He raised his hand and stroked the other’s jaw, moving slowly and softly, lingering for a long time.
——Probably… I still care at least a little bit.
Rowett took a deep breath and forced himself to look away, and his voice had become deep and hoarse at some point: “You…”
Before he could say anything, he got interrupted by Ge Xiu.
He frowned and said: “Water.”
Rowett thought he wanted to drink more water, so he straightened up, picked up the water glass by the bed and handed it over.
But Ge Xiu’s brows furrowed even tighter, he shook his head: “Not this.”
Not this?
Rowett was confused.
Ge Xiu now seemed to be getting irritable, and his obedient and quiet appearance from just now was torn up like waste paper. He struggled to stand up and walked supporting himself on the edge of the bed: “Water…”
Rowett also stood up with him, and reached out to protect Ge Xiu in case he suddenly fell.
At that moment, he seemed to suddenly understand something, and said in a coaxing tone: “Okay, water, there is water here—”
Rowett picked up Ge Xiu.
The young man’s skeleton was slender, and he had almost no weight in his arms, but the strength of the struggle was amazing as he said in a muffled voice:
“I can walk…”
Rowett quickened his pace and patiently persuaded: “Yes, you can walk. You can go, but it’s faster like this, don’t move—”
The bathroom door was kicked open impatiently by the man, the above lights turned on, and a huge private bath appeared in front of them. The bright and clean marble covered the huge room, and water from a row of luxurious and gorgeous silver faucets began to flow at the same time, and the icy water quickly filled the bathtub.
Ge Xiu’s eyes lit up, he broke free of Rowett’s arms, fell in the bathtub with his whole body.
He knocked over the nozzle of the bath salt off, but it was too late when Rowett reached out to turn it off. Fragrant bubbles gushed out of the bathtub and spread rapidly under the impact of the water.
“RRRIP—”
The sound of fabric tearing sounded again.
The blue-purple fishtail burst through the fabric and showed, under the light and foam it shone with almost multicolour light, as beautiful and stunning as if from a fairytale.
The mermaid emerged from the water, long hair dripping with water on his naked upper body, from the top of his head, oh his eyebrows and eyelashes, covered with a layer of white foam, as if submerged by snowflakes.
Rowett couldn’t help laughing.
The merman was slow in thinking and after a while he raised his brows angrily: “You laugh at me?”
Rowett restrained the corners of his lips that kept lifting, and said in a voice full of smiles: “I didn’t laugh at you, I just…”
Before he could finish his words, the huge fishtail rose from the edge of the bath and swept towards his legs with an almost impossible speed.
Rowett lost his balance as he was caught off guard, and the whole person also plunged into the bath.
He surfaced from the water, raised his hand and wiped the water from his face, coughing violently.
The merman laughed unsympathetically: “Hahahahahaha, you are just like me now.”
Rowett looked down at himself, his shirt was completely wet, wrinkled and full of bubbles, although he couldn’t see the state of his face and head, but he estimated that it looked like a field of white flowers.
Ge Xiu caught the bubbles from around him in his arms and threw them towards Rowett, who fell into the water. He still looked drunk, but the corners of his brows and eyes were filled with pure happiness, a kind of happiness from doing a successful prank—— The bubbles flying all over the place flickered with colourful halos under the light, and instantly drowned the Emperor’s head that had just been exposed over the water.
Rowett was buried upright.
But the next second, he was silent.
Although Ge Xiu was still a little muddleheaded, he vaguely knew that the other party couldn’t breathe in the water.
He frowned and asked slowly, “Hey…?”
The pool was dead silent, and not even half a bubble appeared.
The merman blinked dully, and swam towards the place where Rowett was last seen, raised his hand to dig up in the thick and dense bubble foam in this place, raised his voice, and shouted slowly:
“Where….are you?”
At this moment, the foam pile in front of him was suddenly burst open upwards, a man jumped up from the bottom of the bathtub and rushed at him laughing loudly. The waves he brought pushed the merman back into the water and he fell into the foam pile.
Snow-white foam rose and fell, densely entangled in the blue-purple hair of the merman.
Rowett gradually restrained the smile on his lips, his dark eyes were dark and tranquil, the current turned deep and hot, tumbling like molten lava, clamouring with the astonishing desire devour the chosen person, but under it, but there was hidden tenderness and complex feelings flowing quietly, his eyes were like hooks or sharp knives, like honey or poison, staring at the young man in front of him—
as if he was the only one left in this world .
Others were no longer important.
He raised his hand to trace the curve of the merman’s jaw, the delicate and cold skin melted on his fingertips like snowflakes, and his eyes were warm and determined.
The merman blinked, and the thin bubbles fell from his eyelashes and melted into the water. His moist eyes had trouble focusing due to alcohol. He seemed to be thinking about some very difficult and profound question, innocent and dazed, confused about everything.
The distance has shortened.
Searing breath sprayed onto the icy skin.
Then… it was a kiss.
A simple kiss, without the slightest erotic colour, mixed with the overflowing aroma of bath salts and the slight bitterness of citrus, quietly fell on the lips of the merman.
The boy blinked slowly and looked at him blankly.
His soft lips were cold and wet, with a faint taste of the ocean, like the turbulent waves of the sea before a storm.
However, the dryness and heat that he felt in the living room before did not go out at all. Instead, it has ignited more vigorously from the bottom of his suppressed heart, quickly burning Rowett’s reason to ashes. The scalding temperature of a human spread rapidly like a prairie fire, and the incredibly high temperature was quickly transferred to the icy pool water around him. The water splashed, and the surrounding air became sticky and hot,
teeth cut through the tip of his tongue, the faint smell of blood spread in his mouth, and the slight pain brought the pleasure of walking on the tip of a knife.
Rowett realized more clearly that anyone that the harmless young man in front of him was a dangerous and terrifying beast, a siren that was neither a mermaid nor a human being.
He has derived from mythology and was a brutal beast that fed on humans.
——His sharp teeth could easily bite through a human’s fragile throat, his nails could tear his chest, and his huge and powerful tail could break bones in an instant, knocking an adult unconscious.
However, no matter how aware he was, he couldn’t help indulging in his obsession and depravity.
It was like a fatal bewitchment from the depths of the soul, which could evoke the most primitive fanaticism and obsession of every creature.
Rowett understood very clearly why Grand Duke Willis willingly opened the cover isolating him and embraced the icy god of death.
Because this bloody and cruel terrifying beauty was an irresistible temptation for any existence.
He was like a sailor who was steering a boat and struggling in the waves on the sea. He was tempted by the song to sail into the dangerous waters, and desperately run towards the dream that symbolizes death.
Like a puppet controlled by the other’s terrifying charm—unable to refuse, unable to escape.
Even if he used himself as bait, he was willing, and even if he was buried here in the next moment, he would have no complaints.
He was fascinated by him.
·
In the research institute.
The huge screen displayed complex rising data and different patterns, and Pandora’s index soared.
The director stared at the scene in front of him with a frantic gaze, almost forgetting to breathe.
The researcher on the side was also excited. He suppressed the trembling of his voice and asked, “So, director, the index of this world has far exceeded the expected effect. Do you want to continue?”
The director’s eyes were glued to the huge screen, the uncontrollable joy was suppressed inside them. He didn’t turn his head, but asked directly:
“What about the stability value of the criminal’s brain?”
“It fluctuates up and down, although it is not very stable, it is still within the normal range.”
After thinking for a while, the director said slowly: “Be prepared to disconnect at any time, and cut off quickly once the data exceeds expectations, but for now…”
He fixedly stared at the data on the screen, and slowly showed an excited smile:
“—Now we can indulge ourselves for a while and enjoy the joy of the upcoming victory.”
——————————————————–
*毛茸茸的, meaning fuzzy, fluffy or hairy; not sure if it refers to the eyelashes or to the shadows cast by eyelashes so I just left as fuzzy.
**乖 , can also mean darling, good boy, clever boy, etc etc <- lit. translated the same thing yesterday in different novel
Bamboo has something to say:
THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!! A REAL KISS!! THE VERY FIRST KISS!! (kiss on the hand doesn’t count, Elinor was being a Distinguished Gentleman)
Also, want to say something to Rowett: haha, your Duke Willis definitely wouldn’t be so crazy to kiss a murderous siren! Only you’re so obsessed when you see the most dangerous creature that has ever existed in this world
Drunk Ge Xiu: I can be your angel or yuor devil
The maids cleaning up the room the next day, seeing ripped clothes all over the floor and foam on the walls in the bathroom: (//////▽/////) the battle was fierce yesterday… The emperor sure has power of a dragon…