Chapter 181: A kiss worth repeating.

Hunter shook his head, offering a wry, tired smile. "No. This has nothing to do with your medicine. My mind just refuses to turn off when it should."

"Don’t worry," Zyra said firmly, her heart aching just a little for him. "I’ll definitely find something to help you sleep like a baby."

"I’ll hold you to that," Hunter chuckled softly, his gaze softening as he looked at her through the light screen. "Tell me something to help me pass time. What was the village you were raised in like?"

She didn’t hesitate, voice bubbling with laughter as she spoke to him. "It was mostly peaceful and very boring; we had no more than six televisions--six! And they were treated like royalty. If one broke, an entire clan went into mourning. Meanwhile, in the capital and developed cities, every house has one, even their half-life beasts watch movies there."

Hunter chuckled, and Zyra pressed on. "And don’t get me started on the phone booth. Just one, right at the entrance. The line was so long we had to take numbers like we were queuing for bread. By the time you reached the front, you forgot who you wanted to call!"

Hunter laughter was loud, like a boom box.

She grinned, remembering more details from her life in the village. "Oh, and the goats. I knew every single one by name. Daisy, Grassy, Mr. Chews-a-Lot. Honestly, they were more reliable at passing messages between those who didn’t own phones than actual phones. Also, they called when you answered."

Hunter’s laughter could not stopped. She had him in stitches with the ridiculous stories of her town. They talked for so long that an hour passed and her throat became dry.

Zyra cleared her throat, shifting her weight. "Anyway, Hunter, before I forget, I wanted to talk to you about__"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Hunter blurted out, "About the kiss? Yeah, look, I apologize__"

He was lying through his teeth, of course. He wasn’t apologetic in the slightest. In fact, thinking about her lips on his had made him think of her more than once since he had left for the mission. But he didn’t want to make things awkward for her.

Zyra blinked. That wasn’t what she had been about to bring up at all! But since he had already tossed the topic right onto the table, a slight blush crept up her cheeks, and she decided to roll with it.

"You have nothing to apologize for," She said gently, looking away for a brief second before meeting his eyes again. "It was what could save us in that moment besides, I was the one who kissed you, remember?"

Hunter stared at her screen for a beat, his lips twitching upward into a sly grin. He nodded slowly. "Well__ in that case, perhaps we should do that more often."

Zyra paused. She froze in place, her eyes wide, blinking rapidly like a mechanical doll whose gears had jammed.

Hunter let out a warm, quiet laugh at her stunned expression. "Think about it, pretend wife. To stop the people around us from getting too interested in our personal affairs, we have to play the role of the perfect married couple, right? It will save us from being manipulated by outsiders too."

A flustered laugh escaped Zyra’s lips, her heart doing a silly little flip in her chest. "Right__ I was thinking the exact same thing. We think alike more than I would like to admit. Maybe I am keeping a part of your soul."

He snorted. She remained silent, as if she had run out of stories, while he just stared at her. For a few seconds, the two just stared at each other through the screen, smiling at nothing in particular like a pair of absolute fools.

Zyra fanned her warm cheeks with her hand, trying to get her head back in the game. "Okay, okay, focus! The other thing I actually wanted to talk about was Bianca’s aunt."

The playful smirk instantly vanished from Hunter’s face. His brow raised high in surprise. He wondered what Bianca had revealed about their families, after all, Bianca’s aunt was likely to be from his family, and that was a very messy web.

Before Zyra could spill the whole story, Hunter held up a hand, stopping her politely. His tone turned unusually serious. "Listen to me, Zyra. I do not want you getting involved with my family. Getting to know them is a total waste of your time because you’re never going to meet them anyway. Not because I don’t want you to, but because__ well, they are terrible people. Just trust me on this and drop it."

Zyra listened quietly and she could understand because she had her fair share of bad family, then asked in a soft voice, "Even Aunt Denea?"

Hunter went completely still. The mention of that specific name hit him like an icy splash of water. He knew exactly who Aunt Denea was. He stared off to the side, his jaw tight.

Denea had turned out the way she did_ sick, broken, and isolated_ largely because of the cruel schemes of his own mother. It was a dark mark on the family name, and it had always burned deep inside his chest. As his mother’s son, he couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for aunt Denea’s suffering whenever he saw her.

He looked back at Zyra on the screen, his tone heavy. "Let me guess, you want her to come live in the valley."

Zyra nodded earnestly. "Bianca thinks it would be really good for her to get away from that toxic environment. And__ well, I was thinking maybe Beauty can help her get better."

Deep inside Zyra’s mind, the system’s sweet voice instantly popped up: [Host, if she is a beast, yes! I can cure anything! If she is a human, that will cost extra! I am not a charity system]

Zyra’s eyebrow twitched, and she let out a subtle, annoyed growl under her breath at the useless response.

Hunter didn’t hear the system, but seeing Zyra’s determined face made his chest feel strangely warm. She was always trying to take care of the people around him, even the broken ones. First Achilles, then Bianca, his men, now Aunt Denea. If she kept it up, he was going to get attached to her.

He gave her a gentle, genuine nod. "Okay. If you and Bianca think it’s best, bring her over. But nobody can know where she is."

Zyra smiled softly, relief washing over her. "Great. I will tell Bianca in person."

Just then, a voice called out right outside Zyra’s door__ Bianca was yelling for her to come have dinner.

Zyra turned her head back to the screen. "Someone’s calling me to eat. I have to go, but can I call you back later tonight if you can’t sleep?"

Hunter’s eyes softened completely, a sweet, fond smile spreading across his lips. "I’d like that. Go on."

He nodded, watching her face until the light from the link band faded away, leaving him in the peaceful night air with a heart that suddenly felt a whole lot lighter.