Chapter 241: Give Me a Kiss

Sora had barely realized what was happening before Damien suddenly pulled her into his arms.

Her body was caught off guard, and before she could react, Damien had already taken her hand and held it firmly.

Then came the question that seemed to strike straight at the heart.

The entire sequence of movements was so smooth that Sora couldn’t help feeling that Damien had become even more difficult to deal with than before.

She had clearly come here to ask him a question.

How had he managed to turn the situation around so quickly?

Instead of answering her, he was now the one questioning her.

Sora tried to pull her hand free from his grasp.

"How should I know?"

She frowned.

"It’s all the will of the Heavenly God. Let go of me. You’re holding my hand too tightly. It hurts."

"It hurts?"

The moment Damien heard those words, his expression changed.

His eyes immediately dropped toward the hand he was holding.

He slowly loosened his grip.

Then, without warning, he lowered his head and gently blew a soft breath against her hand.

"I’ll blow on it for you."

His voice carried an almost playful tenderness.

"Then it won’t hurt anymore."

Sora stared at him.

"..."

This was getting a little too cheesy.

She couldn’t help feeling a strange discomfort at the sight.

Sora lifted her head, intending to tell Damien to stop.

But the moment she looked up, she met a pair of beautiful, round eyes.

His gaze was unusually focused.

He was staring at her hand as though it were some precious treasure, carefully blowing against it as if he truly believed he could make the pain disappear that way.

His long, curled eyelashes cast a delicate shadow beneath his eyes.

His nose was high and straight, its sharp lines giving his face a striking appearance.

For some reason, the entire scene suddenly reminded Sora of the handsome male leads she had seen in idol dramas back in the Apocalypse.

The difference was that Damien wasn’t acting in a drama.

He was actually doing this to her.

Sora’s mind went blank for a moment.

Was she seriously getting distracted by his looks?

She almost wanted to slap herself.

This man was currently trying to form a Contract Totem with her.

If something went wrong, she could even lose her life.

Yet here she was, staring at his face because he happened to be handsome.

What was wrong with her?

Sora immediately forced those thoughts out of her mind.

Compared with staying alive, beauty was obviously meaningless.

When survival was on the line, a handsome face wasn’t worth risking anything for.

She quickly pulled her hand away and returned to the matter she had originally come for.

"You still haven’t told me."

She looked directly at Damien.

"Where is Mother living now?"

The moment Damien noticed how indifferent Sora was toward his little performance, his eyes lowered slightly.

He picked up the tortoise shell lying nearby and rubbed it thoughtfully between his fingers.

"Kaelira is asking for Mother’s address."

His lips curled into a faint smile.

"Do you want to invite her to our Contract ceremony?"

Sora rolled her eyes.

She wasn’t going to let him lead the conversation in that direction again.

"Didn’t we already say that the matter of the Contract needs Father to perform divination?"

She paused.

"The plague toxin is still so serious. I don’t know how Mother is doing."

"I want to write her a letter and check on her."

"Mother is doing very well."

Damien’s lips curved upward.

"You don’t need to worry."

Then, as though he had already solved the problem for her, he added,

"If you’re really worried, after we finish the Contract, we can go back together to visit her."

He smiled.

"How about that?"

Sora stared at him.

After all that talking, they had somehow circled right back to the original subject.

She could only bring up Martin.

"Go ask my Father about the Contract."

Then she held out her hand.

"As for Mother’s address, give it to me. I need to write a letter and ask her about some things."

Damien studied her for a moment.

Seeing how persistent she was, he didn’t continue arguing.

It seemed that Sora was genuinely determined to find her Black Bear Foster Mother.

His eyelids lowered slightly.

"Giving you Mother’s address isn’t a problem."

Sora immediately became alert.

"But you must promise me one condition."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"What condition?"

Seeing the defensive expression on her face, Damien raised an eyebrow.

"You distrust me that much?"

Sora’s expression didn’t change.

With the way Damien constantly seemed determined to stir up trouble and watch the world descend into chaos, how could she possibly trust him without knowing what he wanted?

"I have to know whether it’s something I can do before I can promise you."

Damien chuckled.

"Rest assured."

"You can definitely do it."

In fact, he emphasized,

"It has to be you."

Sora narrowed her eyes.

"What is it?"

Damien leaned closer.

His bright red lips slowly appeared directly in front of her eyes.

Then he raised one jade-white finger and pointed toward his lips.

"Here."

His smile became brighter.

"Just give me a kiss."

Sora froze.

A kiss?

What kind of condition was that?

She stared at him.

Weren’t Beastmen in this primitive society supposed to be direct?

Why was Damien suddenly acting so complicated?

If he wanted a kiss, why couldn’t he simply say it?

And now he wanted her to kiss him in exchange for Mother’s address?

Sora’s mind quickly began calculating.

If she humored him once, wouldn’t he simply take an inch and demand a mile?

But if she refused, there was a possibility that he wouldn’t give her the address.

Her eyes shifted slightly.

She looked at the playful expression in Damien’s eyes.

Then the corners of her lips curled upward.

"Fine."

Damien’s eyes brightened.

"But close your eyes first."

He gave her a light look.

"So shy?"

"If you don’t close your eyes, I can’t do it."

Damien seemed completely convinced.

He obediently closed his eyes.

The moment Sora saw that his eyes were shut, she immediately rolled her own.

Kiss him?

In his dreams.

Damien waited patiently.

Several seconds passed.

Then several more.

Still nothing.

He couldn’t help smiling.

"What?"

His voice carried amusement.

"You don’t want Mother’s address anymore?"

He tilted his head slightly despite keeping his eyes closed.

"You’ve been standing there for so long without moving..."

Before he could finish the sentence, he suddenly felt something touch his lips.

It was quick.

Extremely quick.

Before Damien could react, whatever had touched his lips had already disappeared.

He remained frozen for a moment.

Then a strange softness spread through his heart.

The sensation had been surprisingly pleasant.

Although the touch had been brief, it had still felt soft.

Perhaps the only strange thing was that it seemed slightly thicker than he had expected.

Meanwhile, Sora had already completed her little trick.

She had quickly placed her hand over Damien’s mouth, allowing her fingers to brush against his lips for just a moment before immediately pulling away.

Then she looked at her own hand.

She calmly wiped the hand that had touched his lips against her Beast-hide Skirt.

There.

Problem solved.

A kiss by hand should count.

Damien remained silent.

For several moments, he simply stood there.

Then he slowly opened his eyes.

A smile was already forming on his face.

But the moment his gaze landed on Sora, he noticed that she had quickly hidden one hand behind her back.

Although her movement had been fast, it wasn’t difficult for him to guess what had happened.

So that was why it had felt different.

She had actually replaced the kiss with her hand.

Damien hadn’t expected her to come up with something like that.

His brilliant smile froze for a brief moment.

But only for a moment.

The next instant, his smile became even more radiant.

She had tricked him.

Yet somehow, that only made him like her more.

Sora was lively.

She was clever.

And, most importantly, she wasn’t afraid of him.

Seeing that Damien had opened his eyes, Sora tucked her hand farther behind her back.

She looked up at him.

"I’ve already kissed you."

She said it with complete seriousness.

"Now you should tell me where my Mother’s address is."

Damien smiled.

"Of course."

His voice was relaxed.

"I’m not like some people who don’t keep their promises."

The words seemed to carry a second meaning.

Sora’s expression immediately became suspicious.

Had this Black Bear Beastman discovered something?

She studied him carefully.

But Damien simply leaned closer and whispered into her ear,

"It’s in a cave on Red Mountain."

Sora’s eyes widened slightly.

"To the east of Bear Mountain."

Red Mountain?

To the east?

No wonder she hadn’t been able to find her Black Bear Foster Mother on Bear Mountain.

The place was actually quite far from there.

Now that she finally had the location, Sora immediately felt relieved.

She had gotten what she came for.

Without wasting any more time, she stood up.

But before she could take even a few steps, Damien grabbed her again.

Sora looked down at the hand tightly holding her.

She frowned.

"What else do you want?"

Damien’s gaze shifted toward the tortoise shell resting on the table.

"We haven’t completed the divination yet."

Sora followed his gaze.

"You know how to perform divination?"

Damien looked at her as though the question itself were strange.

"Is it strange for me to know divination?"

Sora shook her head.

Knowing divination wasn’t necessarily strange.

But in all the time she had lived within the Wolf Tribe, she had only seen Martin perform this kind of divination.

It seemed to be something that required a certain level of status or ability.

But Damien was only the son of the Black Bear Foster Mother.

Where had he learned how to perform divination?

The more Sora interacted with Damien, the more mysterious he seemed.

There were too many things about him that didn’t add up.

He clearly wasn’t as simple as he appeared.

Before Sora could continue thinking about it, Damien placed the tortoise shell into her hand.

"Put it on the fire."

He nodded toward the flames.

"Let’s see whether the Heavenly God gives us any instructions."

Sora stared at the tortoise shell in her palm.

She wasn’t particularly interested in the result of his divination.

But since Damien seemed determined to do it, she casually tossed the tortoise shell into the fire pit in front of her.

The shell landed among the flames.

Crack.

A small sound came from within the fire.

Then another.

Crack!

The fire began to pop.

Sora watched without much interest.

The tortoise shell gradually began to crack under the intense heat.

The sound became clearer.

Seeing the cracks appear, Damien’s expression immediately changed.

He quickly released Sora and stood up.

He moved toward the fire.

His attention was completely focused on the tortoise shell.

Sora watched him walk away.

The moment she saw that his attention was elsewhere, she didn’t hesitate.

She turned around.

Then she quietly walked toward the doorway.

There was no reason for her to stay.

She had already obtained the information she wanted.

Mother was somewhere in a cave on Red Mountain, east of Bear Mountain.

That was enough.

As Damien focused on the divination, Sora slipped out of his Wooden Hut.

She walked away without looking back.

Behind her, the fire continued crackling around the tortoise shell.

And Damien remained focused on the signs appearing within it.

But Sora had already left the room.

For now, the question of the Contract Totem could wait.

The more important thing was finding her Black Bear Foster Mother.

And now, at last, she had a direction to follow.