Chapter 94: I wanna meet him

Laviana’s behavior was even more suspicious than a direct admission, so Vylana was about to continue questioning her when a loud crash suddenly rang out.

BAM!

The office door was kicked open, causing both women to turn at once.

Corvina stood outside, still wearing her familiar black leather jacket, tight trousers, and knee-high boots. Her long black hair fell down her back, while her deep violet eyes stared directly at Laviana. Behind her were the five biker Succubus from last time. The moment Vylana saw them, she instinctively reached up to touch her neck, for the memory of being lifted off the ground with one hand was still far too fresh.

Laviana was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, she smiled.

"Corvina."

"You still remember my name?" Corvina strode into the room, her boots striking the stone floor with heavy thuds. "I thought you’d forgotten that too."

"How could I?"

"You called me here, said you had something important to discuss, then disappeared for the entire day. You wouldn’t answer your phone, and in the end, you even left your daughter to receive me."

Laviana glanced at Vylana.

Vylana immediately pointed at the new desk.

"She smashed the old one."

Corvina: "..."

The anger that had been rising inside her abruptly stalled, and her gaze unconsciously shifted aside.

Don’t mention the desk.

However, her five subordinates were still standing behind her, so Corvina immediately restored her cold expression.

"I’m talking to Laviana."

Vylana instantly fell silent.

Laviana leaned lightly against the edge of the desk.

"Do you want me to apologize?"

"Of course." Corvina stepped closer. "But an apology isn’t enough."

"What else do you want?"

"An explanation."

"An explanation for what?"

Laviana’s calm question only made Corvina more irritated.

"You truly don’t know?"

She grabbed Laviana by the collar and pulled her closer. With her tall physique and Titan strength, Corvina needed only one hand to lift Laviana until her feet nearly left the floor. Vylana immediately tensed, while the five biker Succubus behind Corvina prepared to step forward.

Laviana remained perfectly calm.

"Corvina."

"Hmm?"

"Before you lose your temper..."

She raised her phone directly in front of Corvina’s face.

"...watch this."

Corvina frowned but still looked at the screen.

At first, it showed only a room inside a wooden house. Then the angle shifted slightly, and a man appeared, causing Corvina’s entire body to freeze.

She had seen Erik in several pictures Laviana had sent, so she recognized him almost immediately. However, this video had clearly been recorded from much closer, allowing her to see his masculine features, muscular physique, and calm expression in perfect detail.

What truly made Corvina stiffen was Laviana’s appearance in the footage. More importantly, the distance between the two of them was nothing like that of a professional relationship.

Corvina’s violet eyes slowly widened.

Several faint sounds came from the phone. Laviana immediately lowered the volume before the people behind them could hear clearly, but Corvina had already heard enough.

Heat rapidly spread across her face, and she released Laviana’s collar as quickly as though she had touched something scorching.

"You..."

Laviana calmly straightened her collar.

"Hmm?"

"That..."

Corvina swallowed.

Vylana and the five biker Succubus behind her all stared at her. Only a few seconds earlier, Corvina had looked ready to devour someone alive, yet now her face was red all the way to her ears.

One of the women behind her immediately whispered, "Boss is really angry this time."

The woman beside her nodded solemnly.

"Her whole face is red."

Corvina heard every word.

I’m not angry!

Yet she could not turn around and explain. A boss obviously could not admit that her face had turned red merely because she had watched an intimate video.

Corvina gritted her teeth and forced her expression back under control.

"Who is that man?"

Laviana put away her phone.

"You already know."

"I’m asking what he has to do with the project."

"Oh."

Laviana smiled.

"He’s a co-star."

Corvina paused slightly.

"A co-star?"

"And the principal writer."

Her violet eyes immediately lit up. The reaction lasted only a fraction of a second, but Laviana saw it with perfect clarity.

Corvina also realized that she had reacted too quickly. She crossed her arms over her chest, turned her face aside, and gave a cold snort.

"Don’t misunderstand."

"I haven’t said anything."

"I don’t care about that man."

"Mm."

"I came here because of the project."

"I know."

Corvina grew more serious with every word.

"I’m a Succubus who believes she doesn’t need men."

Laviana struggled not to laugh.

Corvina immediately turned toward her.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing."

"You’re clearly laughing."

Laviana watched her for several more seconds before stepping closer, causing Corvina to become wary at once.

"What are you trying to do?"

"There’s something I should tell you."

Laviana leaned close to her ear and lowered her voice until only Corvina could hear.

"Those sounds you heard over the phone yesterday..."

Corvina immediately stiffened.

Laviana deliberately paused before smiling and finishing her sentence.

"...weren’t acting."

Corvina’s entire face turned crimson almost instantly.

Before Laviana could step back—

BAM!

Corvina slammed one hand down on the desk. The desk, which had been replaced less than a day ago, emitted an agonized crack before splitting straight down the middle.

Vylana’s mouth fell open.

The five biker Succubus behind Corvina fell silent at once. Then they all looked at Laviana, no longer with wariness, but as though they were staring at a dead woman. One of them even shook her head faintly.

She actually provoked Boss this badly.

There’s no saving her.

Corvina clenched her teeth, her hands trembling slightly, but what was going through her mind was completely different from what her subordinates imagined.

It wasn’t acting?

Then yesterday... those sounds really were...

The more she thought about it, the hotter her face became.

Stop thinking about it!

Corvina spun around.

"We’re leaving!"

Her five subordinates immediately followed. The door quickly slammed shut behind them.

Vylana stared at the newly broken desk, her eyelid twitching repeatedly. It was a long while before she turned toward her mother.

"Mother."

"Hmm?"

"What did you say to Corvina?"

"Nothing."

"She was so angry her entire face turned red!"

Laviana laughed.

"Perhaps."

Vylana became even more anxious.

"How can you still laugh? Last time, she only got a little angry and lifted me with one hand. This time, she split the new desk in half!"

Laviana looked at the desk and calmly remarked, "Her strength truly is impressive."

"That isn’t the point!"

Vylana was still speaking when the door that had just closed was violently shoved open once more.

BAM!

A biker Succubus standing too close outside failed to dodge and was struck directly in the shoulder, sending her staggering aside.

"Ah!"

Corvina did not notice at all. She merely stood in the doorway, her face still red even though her eyes were struggling to regain their customary coldness.

"Laviana."

"Hmm?"

"Next time..."

Corvina clenched her teeth, as though the words that followed were extraordinarily difficult to say. Her five subordinates immediately fell silent, waiting for their boss to declare war. Even Vylana swallowed nervously.

At last, Corvina took a deep breath and said coldly, "I want to meet him."

Laviana smiled.

"All right."

BANG!

The door slammed shut again.

This time, the Succubus who had been struck had learned her lesson and hurriedly moved well out of the way beforehand.

Vylana remained motionless for roughly three seconds before slowly collapsing onto the floor.

"I’m exhausted..."

Laviana looked at her daughter.

"Why are you sitting down there?"

"I don’t want to stand anymore." Vylana sighed. "I feel like if I stay at the company for a few more days, sooner or later I’ll get hit in the head by a flying desk."

Laviana burst out laughing, then stepped around the broken desk and sat in her chair. Her hand habitually settled over her lower abdomen. The moment her fingertips touched the spot where the Succubus Mark lay hidden beneath her dress, a faint warmth immediately spread through her body.

Erik’s face quickly appeared in her mind, followed by Meira wearing dog ears and Elowen wearing cat ears.

Laviana silently considered the matter for a moment.

He already has a dog and a cat...

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Then what about her?

The snake’s pupil within the Mark seemed to grow warm as well. Laviana slowly extended her long tongue, its pointed tip gliding across her lower lip as the corners of her mouth curved upward.

"He already has a dog and a cat..."

Still sitting on the floor, Vylana immediately raised her head.

"What did you just say, Mother?"

Laviana did not answer. Instead, the look in her eyes grew increasingly peculiar.

"Then..."

Her tongue swept across the corner of her mouth once more.

"...should I be a snake?"

Vylana: "..."

For some reason, she suddenly felt that Corvina might not be the most frightening person in this room after all.

...

Nearly an hour after the meeting in the valley ended, Erik and Meira had still not returned to the settlement.

A relatively low mountainside stood north of the outpost, covered with ancient trees that had existed since before monsters occupied the region. Some were so enormous that it would take more than ten people joining hands to encircle their trunks, while their main branches extended beyond the cliffside and were almost as wide as a small road.

Erik sat on one such branch with his back resting against the trunk, one leg bent and the other hanging over the edge. From this position, he could see nearly the entire valley below. The abandoned cotton fields stretched between the two mountain ranges, and farther away lay the remains of an old urban district that had been almost completely overtaken by vegetation.

Several high-rise buildings were still standing, but their outer glass had vanished. Vines covered the walls, and great trees had even grown through the rooftops. Only a few sections of gray-white concrete remained visible amid the greenery, making the entire city look as though the forest were slowly swallowing it.

Erik gazed at the scene for a long time.

In his previous life, he had seen similar landscapes in films, video games, and computer-generated images. Back then, he had merely thought they were beautiful, but now the feeling was entirely different.

People had once lived beneath those buildings. There had once been streets and the sounds of traffic. Then all of it disappeared, leaving only the trees to continue growing over everything humanity had abandoned.

Erik exhaled softly.

"I never thought I’d actually see something like this one day."

Meira, who was lying in his arms, immediately raised her head.

"You don’t like it?"

"It’s beautiful." Erik continued looking at the city nearly submerged beneath the forest. "It just feels a little strange."

Meira did not ask any further. She merely adjusted her position and nestled closer, resting her head against his chest while wrapping one arm around his waist. Her face was no longer red after what had happened earlier. She was even in the mood to trace small circles over Erik’s chest with her fingertip, as though the incident beneath the table had never occurred.

Erik looked down at her.

"You recover quickly."

Meira blinked.

"Hmm?"

"A little while ago, you wanted to kill people to silence them."

Her circling finger immediately stopped. Meira remained silent for several seconds before resuming the motion as though she had heard nothing.

"The scenery truly is beautiful."

Erik nearly laughed.

"Meira."

"That’s already in the past."

"It hasn’t even been an hour."

"That’s a very long time for the little dog."

Erik: "..."

Meira raised her head, kissed his chin lightly, then happily settled down again.

"Besides, they’ve already left."

"Are you sure?"

Meira’s entire body immediately stiffened. She abruptly raised her head and looked around, finally making Erik burst out laughing.

"I’m joking."

Meira turned back and stared at him for a long time before reaching out and pinching his waist hard.

"Bad Master."

"Don’t call me Master while pinching me."

"The little dog has the right to be angry too."

"I didn’t know dogs had that right."

"Now you do."

After speaking, Meira deliberately rubbed her face against his chest several times, as though determined to prove that she was still a little dog, even if this particular little dog occasionally dared to rebel against her master.

Erik could only shake his head.