He leaned in closer, his thumb grazing her cheek.

"You are just that breathtaking, Kaida. It's not my fault my body craves you every second."

Kaida felt the heat explode in her face. It rushed up her neck, turning her ears a violent shade of scarlet. Her mouth twitched, opening and closing as her brain short-circuited. She was a warrior. A killer. She could face armies.

But this? This genuine, weaponized affection?

"Y-You..." Her voice wavered, losing all its sharpness. She batted his hand away, though with zero actual force. "Bastard... stop saying... stop it!"

Viktor didn't argue. He didn't push. He just... nodded.

He gave her a small, almost puppy-like smile—innocent and obedient—and stepped back.

"Okay," he said simply.

Then, he turned around and walked toward the piles of herbs on the table.

Kaida stood there, frozen. Her hand was still raised where she'd swatted him away. She stared at his broad back, her heart hammering against her ribs.

'Okay? Just... okay?'

She watched as Viktor's entire demeanor shifted. The playful lover vanished. The terrifying Lord vanished. In their place stood a man of absolute focus.

He picked up a bundle of herbs—Bloodthistle, if she remembered right. He brought it close to his face, sniffing it, his eyes narrowing in scrutiny. He picked up another, then a third.

The silence in the hall stretched. Outside, the last rays of the sun died, surrendering to the creeping blue of twilight.

Kaida lowered her hand. She watched him work. He was serious. Deadly serious. His fingers moved with practiced grace, separating leaves, checking roots. He wasn't looking at her. He wasn't trying to undress her with his eyes. He wasn't making lewd comments about how these roots looked like phallic objects.

He was just... working.

And god, it was annoying.

A strange, twisting ache bloomed in her chest. It wasn't pain. It was frustration. It was the irritation of a cat that had been petted for five seconds and then ignored.

'Why is he ignoring me? I told him to stop, not to... to become a monk!'

She gritted her teeth. She watched him pick up three different herbs, his brow furrowed in concentration. The silence was deafening.

She couldn't take it.

Kaida marched forward, her boots stomping on the wooden floor. She reached out and grabbed his collar, yanking him around to face her.

"What happened?!" she snapped, her voice louder than she intended. "Are you alright?!"

Viktor blinked, looking down at her hand gripping his shirt, then up at her angry, flushed face. He looked genuinely confused.

"Yeah?" He tilted his head. "Why?"

"You... you're acting weird!"

Viktor chuckled, shaking his head. "I'm just checking the goods, Kaida. Look."

He turned back to the table, not shaking off her grip. He held three stalks of withered-looking herbs in his left hand.

"These are low quality individually," he muttered, his voice shifting into a professional tone. "But..."

Kaida watched, her anger pausing as a faint, verdant glow began to emanate from his hand.

It was his 'Herb Mastery'.

The green light pulsed, wrapping around the three stalks. The dried leaves shivered. The stems twisted, losing their individual forms as if melting into one another. The air smelled suddenly fresh, like a deep forest after rain.

In seconds, the three withered stalks were gone. In their place sat a single, thick, vibrant herb. It pulsed with a faint inner light, its leaves lush and dripping with potency.

Viktor tossed the new, merged herb onto the pile of 'Premium' goods he had separated.

"Much better," he murmured, a satisfied smirk touching his lips. "That triples the potency. Efficiency is key."

He reached for another batch, already lost in the rhythm of his work.

Kaida stared at the glowing herb. Then at his profile.

He looked... cool. Capable. The way the moonlight from the window caught the sharp angle of his jaw, the way his eyes focused with such intensity... it made her thighs clench involuntarily.

But it also made her want to punch him.

'He's doing it again. Ignoring me for... for vegetables!'

"Tch."

She raised her hand. The ring on her finger—a spatial storage ring she had retrieved earlier—flashed.

Whoosh

In an instant, every single herb on the table—the piles, the coins, the merged ones—vanished. Sucked into the void of her storage space.

The table was bare.

Viktor's hand grabbed empty air. He froze. He slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyebrow raised in silent question.

"What's with you?" he asked, voice flat.

Kaida didn't answer immediately. She stood there in the growing dark, the moonlight now streaming fully through the tall windows, bathing her in silver.

She raised a hand to her own hair. Slowly, deliberately, she ruffled it—mimicking the exact gesture he had used on her moments ago.

The action pulled her hair back, revealing her face fully. Her red eyes seemed to glow in the semi-darkness, two burning coals of desire and challenge. Her skin, usually earthy and marked by the rugged life of a warrior, looked smooth, blemish-less, almost ethereal in the pale light.

She was beautiful. Dangerously so.

She took a step toward him, closing the distance until her chest brushed against his.

"I decided," she whispered, her voice husky, a wrinkle forming between her brows as she tried to maintain her fierce facade while her heart raced. "I am going to take protection money from you too."

Viktor just blinked, staring at her. He didn't move away. He didn't smirk. He just waited.

He had told her to intimidate the villagers so they would not think of his kindness as being a pushover, but this...

Kaida's gaze held his for a second longer, and then she sank.

She dropped to her knees, the movement fluid and sudden.

Viktor looked down. From this angle, she looked like a devotee before an idol, her red hair cascading over her shoulders, her face upturned and expectant.

She didn't hesitate. Her hands—strong, calloused warrior's hands—reached for his belt.

'Click.'

The sound of the buckle undoing was loud in the silent hall.

'Zzzzzzip.'

The zipper followed, the sound harsh and electric. Kaida's eyes never left his face as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his black trousers and his boxer briefs together.

She pulled.

The fabric slid down his thighs, pooling around his knees.

The cool air of the hall hit his skin. Viktor stood exposed.

Kaida leaned forward, her breath ghosting over his groin before she looked.

It was... resting.

Viktor's cock lay heavy and soft against his thigh. It was thick, undeniably so, with a heavy, hooded head that glistened slightly with pre-cum, a testament to the fact that he wasn't as unaffected by her as he pretended to be.

His dark, coarse hair framed the base, and below, his balls hung full and heavy.

But it was soft. Flaccid.

Behind him, she saw his black tail—usually strong and rigid—sway lazily, the spade tip flicking back and forth like a metronome.

Kaida blinked. She tilted her head to the side, her red eyes inspecting the sleeping beast with a mix of curiosity and critique. She reached out, her index finger gently poking the soft, velvet skin of the shaft. It twitched under her touch, thickening slightly, but remaining limp.

She looked up at him, her expression deadpan.

"Why is this thing smaller than usual?"

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