Chapter 584: Description

The offer was by no means minor. Even without accounting for the promised sexual gratification, its value could make Sect Leaders stop to consider it.

The Dark Heaven Tribe had two powerful branching experts who were also masters in noble arts, riches, manpower, and enslaved magical beasts. It was a mighty force, one that would definitely benefit Liam’s goals.

Rachel wasn’t even offering a mere leadership position. She wanted Liam to take the crown, knowing he was worthy. Their mindsets also aligned, at least when it came to the complete disregard for the status quo.

Liam only had to step forward, take that stunning beauty, and his life would be set in more ways than one. He would instantly obtain the best foothold he could ever hope for, an army, and even someone to propagate his cursed bloodline with.

However, Rachel had made several miscalculations.

While Liam sought power, he wouldn’t claim it at the expense of those he wanted to protect. He just couldn’t use the Dark Heaven Tribe as a blunt weapon. It had welcomed him, so he would treasure it.

It was already too late for the experts with Grace. Yet, if there were a chance, Liam would prefer not to involve the Tribe in his accursed journey. His idea of taking it with him was just another way of ensuring its safety.

The price was also problematic. While Liam had sort of acknowledged the idea of polyamory, unique circumstances drove him, exceptions rather than rules, and Rachel wasn’t one of them.

"I can’t marry you," Liam declared. "Your motivations are too shallow. I can’t take responsibility for this little."

There were similarities, at least at the foundation.

Grace had initially seen Liam as her greatest opportunity toward her life goal. In the same way, Rachel wanted someone who matched her ideals, and Liam fit them perfectly.

Yet, romance was something else altogether. Liam had accepted Grace only after facing many dangers together, their first kiss happening after she basically died.

The depth of that feeling was also incomparable. Liam had been Grace’s solution to her life’s curse, the worthlessness her Clan had branded her with.

Meanwhile, Grace had accepted all of Liam, enabling him in ways no one else could, even surpassing his Master in that regard.

Melissa wasn’t shallow, either. Nothing about her had been. She had also been cursed, but Liam had looked past her incredible beauty, prompting her to do the impossible and unlock the romantic part of his brain.

One woman was a symbol of a bright, colorful life, a break from the grimness of the cultivation world. The other had made that bleak world fun. Those were lifelong debts which Liam planned to take responsibility for.

Instead, while Liam cared for Rachel and her Tribe, she couldn’t match Grace. He wouldn’t dismiss her feelings, but they couldn’t possibly touch upon what he had with his soulmate.

The attraction was real, but the seriousness was on different levels. Liam and Grace had the literal world as their enemy and were working to defeat it.

In comparison, Rachel sounded like a child on a playground, wanting an accomplice to break rules she didn’t acknowledge.

"Shallow?" Rachel repeated, a tinge of anger in her voice. "I’ve offered myself, my Tribe, and the Great Quiet Desert. This is more-"

"Before my partner died in my arms," Liam interrupted, "She thanked me for the life I had given her."

Rachel froze on the spot. She had believed Liam’s woman to be alive, and he soon confirmed that.

"Later, when I couldn’t even stand," Liam recalled. "She came back to carry me away. Her words were: You die, I die."

Liam’s serious tone told Rachel that his previous claim hadn’t been an exaggeration. Still, she could somehow accept it since the cultivation world had plenty of magical tools.

"Even as I was powerless on her back," Liam continued, "When a branching expert came to stop us, her decision was to sacrifice herself so that I could avenge her afterward."

Liam sighed, repeating words Grace had told him in the past. "Her value, her happiness, her journey, and all of her being are in my hands."

Rachel didn’t quite know what to say. Her confidence as a woman was sky-high, but she couldn’t match Grace as a partner. The little Liam had shared had vastly outclassed her devotion.

There was also something else. A few lines had been enough to show how different Liam’s world was. The dangers he had faced surpassed anything in Rachel’s life.

But Rachel hadn’t lied. She wasn’t cheap. Liam couldn’t know it, but a man awakening her interest was quite miraculous. Giving it up wasn’t an option. She just had to change her approach, starting from the enemy she had to defeat.

"Tell me," Rachel said. "About your partner."

Liam glanced at Rachel. He smelled her genuine interest, as well as the ploy. Yet, that was also an opportunity to draw the clearest line he could think of.

"Her hair is brown and silky," Liam began, diverting his gaze, memories filling his vision. "But it shines red under a specific light. I know its texture better than my own due to how often I brush it."

Liam sorted his thoughts, eventually moving to another detail.

"Her elegance is impeccable," Liam stated. "I don’t know anything about it, but I’m sure she has it down to each of her gestures. She is so poised it’s hard to look away."

Rachel felt some kinship there, but the following descriptions changed her mind.

"She is unbelievably strong," Liam declared. "I was so lucky. Despite everything, I had my Master and people who cared for me. Instead, she has always been alone and did everything alone."

Liam heard a hiss in the back of his mind, but that didn’t affect his explanation.

"She is really smart," Liam said. "She taught me words I didn’t know existed and ways of speaking I couldn’t even fathom. I still have no idea how she came up with some of the crazy stuff we pulled over the years."

Liam couldn’t help but smile. He had instinctively feared that side of Grace, only to be its main beneficiary.

"She is honestly terrible," Liam chuckled. "I do love her, but I’m not sure whether I’m in some kind of a trap half the time. And she loves teasing and tricking me, even when all she wants is for me to hold her tight."

Liam tilted his head. He usually wouldn’t reveal the next part, but Rachel was a woman, and disclosing it might help his strategy.

"Her right breast is more sensitive than the left," Liam continued. "But her neck is her most sensitive part."

Rachel’s eyes went wide at those details, but Liam wasn’t done.

"Her left foot is ticklish," Liam explained. "Up to her ankle. Instead, she likes when I rub the back of her left knee."

Liam shook his head, sighing in bewilderment. "I swear, that leg is a mystery even to me."

"What else?" Liam pondered. "Her lips are honey, and I love the taste of her skin. I have memorized her legs’ texture and the scent of her sex. I know all her smiles, and her most genuine one lights up my world."

Liam lowered his gaze, that thorough description making his longing overflow.

"She made life fun," Liam said, smiling bitterly. "She is my princess and the one who will give me what was taken from me."