Chapter 300: My King

"Right," Chloe agreed with Vlad’s statement. She glanced at the flowery field. "I like this scenery too."

"I meant you," Vlad said, his low tone carrying a hint of awkwardness. "You are so beautiful."

"H-huh?" Chloe’s pale cheeks turned pink, her eyes lowering. She hadn’t expected the sudden compliment at all. She wore the usual academy uniform, carrying herself with the same style that Vlad had seen for years. What did he find beautiful when she hadn’t changed anything?

"Did you do something bad?" Chloe asked, her pupilless eyes rising to fix on Vlad. He must have done something to make her angry. Giving compliments must be his way of getting out of trouble.

"I did not!" Vlad shook his head. "Why?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing. "Do I only sweet-talk you when I’ve done something wrong?"

"But I haven’t changed anything," Chloe argued. She looked at herself just to be sure. Yes, nothing different.

"Wow, you are hurting my feelings now," Vlad muttered, sounding offended. Since when did she need to change herself to get his attention?

"Aan... Me sorry," Chloe blurted, grabbing his arm with both hands. "I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I was confused. Chloe is stupid. Don’t be angry at Chloe."

Vlad’s expression softened, the gentle smile returning to his lips. "I’m not angry," he assured her, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

"By the way, what were you doing here?" he asked as they resumed walking, keeping his arm draped comfortably around her shoulders.

"I was searching for monsters and found this place," Chloe revealed in her usual stoic tone. "So I decided to rest here."

They sat at the spot where Chloe had been sitting before Vlad came. She picked the incomplete flower crown up from the ground and began weaving the flowers into it again, her eyes moving back and forth between the crown and Vlad’s face. "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for you," Vlad answered. There were only two red marks on the map that were isolated from the others. Naturally, he knew one of them must be her, given her introverted nature. The other might be Noah, for obvious reasons. He was lucky to have found her instead of him.

"I needed to make sure you wouldn’t spend the entire practical sleeping somewhere."

"I’m not that stupid," Chloe groaned. "You still treat me like a child."

"Oho?" Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, big girl. What were you going to do after finishing that crown?"

"Take a nap—" she immediately closed her annoyingly honest mouth.

Vlad wasn’t even surprised. Chloe was a heavy eater and a heavy sleeper, after all. An afternoon nap was mandatory, or she would stop functioning properly and might drop off anytime and anywhere.

In that sense, she was still like a toddler. Seeing the smug look on Vlad’s face, which clearly said ’you would always be a kid,’ made Chloe groan.

Her face was still unreadable, but Vlad could tell that she was annoyed.

"You can take your nap, my little baby," Vlad chuckled, ruffling her hair. "I will wake you up when it’s time to move out."

That was the reason he had come to find her. Since the locations of the survivors were being revealed to the hunters, he was afraid that she might get ambushed while sleeping.

"Annoying Vlad," Chloe muttered, but the faint smile on her face betrayed the affection hidden behind her words.

She leaned forward and placed the colourful flower crown on Vlad’s head. It fit him perfectly, resting above his ears and covering his forehead. "I was going to give it to you after the practical."

She moved back, her pupilless eyes filled with nothing but affection for the man before her. Her voice came barely above a whisper as she murmured, "It looks good on you, my king."

Now it was Vlad’s cheeks that turned faintly red. "Thanks for the gift."

For a brief moment, neither of them said anything.

"Let me show you something," Chloe said, her eyes lighting up as she remembered something.

She pulled around forty forest tokens from her pockets and spread them out on the ground before Vlad, looking like an excited child proudly showing off their treasures to their parents.

Vlad had already seen the heavy cluster of forest tokens at her location, but he still acted surprised.

"Whoa, you collected so many tokens alone," he exclaimed, his lips parted in surprise. He raised his hand and gently stroked her head. "You worked so hard."

Chloe’s eyes glimmered with happiness, the excitement only deepening on her face.

"I have one more thing to show you."

Her hand slipped into the inner pocket of her blazer, from which she drew a thick, hand-sized token pulsating with a faint crimson glow. It looked similar to the token Vlad was wearing around his neck.

Vlad blinked, genuine surprise flashing across his face.

"You defeated Gareth?" he exclaimed, an astonished chuckle escaping his lips.

Since Vlad already owned the other eight hunter tokens, the token Chloe possessed naturally belonged to the only remaining hunter.

"Who is Gareth?" Chloe asked, tilting her head.

Vlad just facepalmed, breaking into low laughter. What kind of face would Gareth make if he realised the girl who had defeated him hadn’t even bothered to learn his name?

"Did I do something wrong?" Chloe asked, worry creeping into her tone.

"Absolutely not!" Vlad’s response came instantly.

He placed both hands on her shoulders and declared with a wide smile, "I’m so proud of you."

"Then..." Her eyes lowered, her fingers fidgeting in her lap. "My reward?"

"Ehh?" Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Say, what do you want?"

Chloe didn’t respond. She kept fidgeting with her fingers, her eyes lowered to the ground. She didn’t want to spell it out. Didn’t he already know how he always rewarded her when she did well?

Suddenly, Vlad’s scent grew stronger, his breath tickling her cheek. Before she could react, his soft lips pressed against her cheek. A gasp escaped her as her breath caught in her throat.

"You have done well, my baby," Vlad whispered before pulling his face back.

Now Chloe regretted not finding the remaining eight hunters and taking their tokens as well.