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Chapter 13 — Terms of Endearment
The feeling of being touched was like a brand seared into the skin.
The god’s fingers pressed in slightly, kneading the soft flesh of her lips, tracing the faint texture along their surface.
Su Cheng was thrown into overwhelming panic.
Not because of the actions themselves—those no longer mattered.
But because her life had already begun its countdown.
“Your Highness—”
The finger on her lips suddenly pressed harder.
The pad of it forced her teeth apart without resistance, slipping into the damp heat of her mouth.
His hand was too large. One finger pinned her shrinking tongue, knuckles locking between her molars, leaving her no choice but to keep her mouth open.
Su Cheng tasted ink, saltpeter, and rust—mixed with a faint thread of blood.
A scorching breath surged in, like molten gold being poured down her throat.
The curved finger scraped lightly against her palate. Her tongue, once released, tried to recoil—but was caught again, gently twisted and rubbed against its own softness.
Too hot.
It felt like she had swallowed a flame—like a horseshoe just pulled from a forge, or sealing wax melting off a scroll.
It sealed off every argument, every question, locking away this utterly unfair transaction.
She instinctively tried to push him away, but the difference in strength and size was too vast. Her hand collided instead with a wall of hot, hardened muscle.
“……”
Her fingers sank into sharply defined abs—skin the color of warm honey, smooth as silk wrapped over steel.
Sliding along it, she could feel the direction of each muscle fiber, and the immense power coiled beneath.
A crimson-gold chain draped over his waist swayed faintly, the cold metal brushing the back of her trembling hand.
Her fingertips brushed a thin ring.
Beneath the ornate layered waist chains, an intricately carved navel ring was hidden—adorned with droplet-shaped gems that looked like falling tears.
“Before sunset,” the god murmured softly, “I will be waiting for you.”
No!
Su Cheng thought in despair.
In that instant, she felt her body grow heavier, as if an invisible chain had bound itself around her.
The god withdrew his finger and lifted his gaze toward the shop counter.
With a graceful, slightly exaggerated flourish, he bowed as if concluding a performance.
Su Cheng did not see it.
But her perception of the world shifted regardless.
Light and shadow dissolved entirely.
She slumped against the shelves, gasping violently. Sweat streamed down her hair and across her face, and her clothes from collar to back were nearly soaked through.
She bit her lip hard, trying to convince herself this was not a dream.
Yet a lingering heat still remained on her lips—followed by a sharp sting that pierced through them.
Damn it.
This… was real.
—Why, why, why?!
The murmuring in the shop vanished. The two people at the counter turned toward her at the same time.
“Hey,” the shop owner said, utterly baffled, “do you have some kind of disease? Don’t die in my shop!”
Ke stared silently at her. His gaze lingered briefly behind her before returning to her face.
His sharp golden eyes carried a trace of concern.
“Are you alright?”
Su Cheng shook her head slightly, signaling she was fine.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and covered her eyes with her hand.
In her perception, fire spirits were vividly present—like torches burning in the dark.
Their heat, condition, and numbers were all clearly mapped in her mind.
The same went for the surrounding lightning and wind elements.
She could sense that the elemental spirits bound within the formation were far more numerous than they appeared—enough to fuel large-scale spells.
Su Cheng’s fingers twitched.
The wind array suddenly shattered.
The restraints collapsed into countless golden fragments, and the bound wind spirits scattered with sharp cries.
A portion of them joyfully rushed toward her. Smoke-colored currents of wind traced arc-shaped paths, condensing into blades that circled her body.
“……”
The shop owner behind the counter slammed the table in shock.
“Only someone with top-tier talent can break a binding spirit array like that—!”
He stared at her with suddenly sharpened eyes.
“Girl, do you have a teacher?”
Su Cheng had no energy to respond.
“I do,” she said vaguely.
“Ten gold coins, or you fix my array yourself,” the owner snorted, sitting back down.
“Okay.” Su Cheng pulled out ten gold coins. “Sorry.”
The owner grabbed them and tossed out the prepared materials.
“Get out.”
He returned to his counter and ignored them completely.
Su Cheng walked over gloomily, trying to lift a crate of alchemy materials—but it barely moved.
“…?”
It looked like twenty or thirty pounds at most.
“There are some special containers inside, so it’s a bit heavier,” Ke said calmly.
He bent down and lifted the box with one hand.
“I’ll carry it.”
Su Cheng sighed.
“If I survive tonight, I swear I’m going to start training in battle qi.”
The dark-haired man glanced at her.
In the dim light, his expression was unreadable.
After a moment, he reached out and gently held her shoulder.
“If you’re serious,” he said quietly, “I can teach you. Before we reach the imperial capital.”
Su Cheng blinked.
“Huh?”
He curved his lips slightly.
“As long as you don’t mind. I’m not some academy professor or elder.”
Su Cheng let out a short laugh.
“People like that don’t mean anything—”
In a sense, she had even “killed” someone like that before.
Though not with her own hands.
Her expression shifted again.
The contract god.
Coldness crept over her body.
If she couldn’t present a “oath-breaker” before sunset today…
What even counted as an oath-breaker?
Someone who betrayed a promise?
A cheating spouse?
A corrupt official who broke their oath of office?
No—none of it was enough.
There was also the requirement of top-tier elemental talent.
Magic talent was divided into low, mid, high, and top-tier—based on elemental resonance.
Most were low-tier. Mid-tier was rare. High-tier was one in a thousand.
Top-tier was almost nonexistent.
Su Cheng abandoned the idea of finding a married brothel patron.
The contract god had given her an impossible task.
If she failed before sunset, she had no doubt her fate would be the same as Elder Li—and that junior disciple.
“Sir—”
She grasped the man’s hand on her shoulder and looked up at him.
“About the last line of that song Sasha sang—‘The bell of Tethys,’ where it says, ‘the sophists and deceivers bring you offerings’… does that mean offering oath-breaking souls to the god of contracts?”
Ke nodded slowly.
According to the song’s story, the god of contracts encouraged his followers to exploit wording and loopholes to create more “oath-breakers.”
Su Cheng thought for a moment, then suddenly patted the back of his hand.
“Anyway, since they don’t have it here, forget the demon blood. I’m leaving! You can keep shopping, Captain!”
Ke frowned slightly.
Before she could move, his hand caught her shoulder and held her in place.
“Are you in a hurry?”
“Yes,” Su Cheng nodded firmly. “I’m going to use Wind Step. It’ll make me a bit faster. Maybe even let me climb walls.”
He paused.
“Where are you going?”
“The Magic Guild.”
The moment she said it, the man suddenly bent down and wrapped an arm around her waist.
A gust of wind scattered the damp, moldy air of the underground district.
He lifted her and shot forward through the narrow alleyways.
The world blurred.
Stalls, lantern light, glowing inscriptions—all of it stretched and twisted into smeared streaks of color.
A merchant lit his pipe; sparks scattered like crimson meteors.
Another displayed a magical device; purple lightning bloomed in his palm like fireworks.
But Su Cheng could no longer process any of it.
She clutched her hat tightly as the underground district vanished behind them.
This was not the way they had come.
The lower district’s dense houses, vegetable gardens, vine-covered walls—all of it broke into fragmented images in her vision.
She heard distant cries from the wind.
The man’s chest behind her was solid and warm, but the wind blew that heat away.
In an instant, they landed in the central plaza.
Before them stood two towering structures—the Magic Guild and the Warrior Guild, facing each other like opposing mountains.
The plaza was packed with carriages.
Nobles stepped out in silk and jewels, servants carrying enchanted equipment and weapons of graded quality.
Common carriages arrived from distant regions, young adventurers stepping out alone with nothing but luggage and hope.
Occasionally, trained magical beasts passed through the crowd—griffins beating their wings, winged horses stamping the ground.
“…Would this be faster?” Ke asked.
Su Cheng leaned against his chest, still catching her breath.
“Faster?” she muttered. “That’s more like… insanely faster.”
“I see,” he said quietly. “I’m not familiar with your magic level, so I can’t judge.”
He set her down carefully at the edge of the crowd, one hand still hovering behind her back in case she lost balance.
Su Cheng turned to look at him.
If not for the urgency hanging over her life, she would have had a lot to say.
“…Thank you, Captain.”
A strange heaviness settled in her chest.
She might only have a few hours left.
“If,” she said softly, “if we’re still alive tomorrow… can I join your mercenary group?”
Ke looked down at her.
Those cold, steady golden eyes studied her face.
His hand lifted slightly, as if he might touch the corner of her lips—then stopped.
“I thought you already had,” he said.
Su Cheng froze.
“…Huh?”
“You called me Captain.”
She stared at him.
“That was just a nickname—”
Ke tilted his head slightly.
Su Cheng slapped a hand over her face.
“It means I consider you a friend!”
She turned and ran.
Only to be grabbed again within two steps and pulled back.
Her dark curls were slightly messy now, her face pale from tension and fear—only her lips remained vividly red.
Slightly swollen from earlier, like ripe fruit ready to burst.
Ke wiped away the blood at the corner of her mouth.
“Good luck,” he said.
Then he released her hand.
