Chapter 1536: A Dream House

__Somewhere else outside Zenon__

Lory was absentmindedly mixing the noodles in her bowl with her chopsticks when the old television across the room crackled with breaking news. Flames and debris filled the screen, the footage grainy and unstable. She glanced at it briefly, without a hint of surprise or alarm, only mild recognition.

Then called out lazily, "Honeeyyy—you’re on TV."

"Hm?" Zhao Li Xin came out of the kitchen at an unhurried pace, carrying a plate of chicken breast and a small bowl of sauce. He sat down beside her, following her gaze to the screen.

The footage replayed the moment he had destroyed the aircraft the night before, crimson light ripping through the darkness. Zhao Li Xin’s expression remained perfectly calm.

"Do you want more sauce?" he asked, clearly uninterested in the spectacle on the screen.

"Thank you, sweety," Lory replied, glancing up only briefly. "Look, honey—you look really cool in there." Already more invested in her meal than the broadcast, she slurped her noodles with unrestrained gusto.

Zhao Li Xin smiled faintly and placed the chicken breast into her bowl. "Eat more. You’ve been working hard."

"Why don’t you eat with me?" she looked at him and whined.

"I’m fine, I’ll eat later." As a cultivator, he didn’t require food the way ordinary people did.

Lory pouted. She knew he didn’t need food the way normal people did; nevertheless, she always feel uncomfortable when he skipped a meal.

"Come on. Eat with me," she said, nudging the plate in his direction. "You know I don’t like eating alone."

There was no urgency in her voice, no plea or command. Just a habit, soft, worn smooth by repetition. The kind of habit built from shared tables and quiet evenings, from pretending, for a little while, that things were simple and human and unchanged.

Zhao Li Xin chuckled softly. "Alright - alright." He stood and went back to the kitchen for a bowl.

At the same time, the door opened, and Clift and Jay entered, each holding a bowl of noodles.

"Where’s Samuel?" Lory asked, still focused on her food.

"Outside," Jay replied, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Talking to his daughter."

Clift ate quietly while watching the television, his expression as detached as Zhao Li Xin’s, as though the destruction on-screen was nothing more than distant noise.

"Why do they still have footage of Li Xin," Lory asked casually, "but not the rest of you?" Lory remembered they were also fighting with Sean and the others, but there is no footage of them at all.

"Well, that’s because we have wiped most of the surveillance around the area," Jay explained. "But not the one attached to the aircraft. That’s why they only caught him."

"Oh." Lory nodded. "That explains why the record is short and the image a bit distorted, honestly, it didn’t give justice to my husband’s coolness"

"Yet it ’s still managed to make everyone frantic," Clift quipped.

"That’s because Zenon people tend to overreact" Lory pursed her lips.

Zhao Li Xin returned with his bowl and mixed the sauce in with measured movements before eating. Clift studied him for a moment.

"Your sword," Clift said. "What kind of weapon is it?"

Zhao Li Xin finished chewing before answering. "It’s called Crimson Lightning. Quite good," he said perfunctorily.

Uh-huh," Jay’s eyes lit up. "Can you make another one like it? I heard you can forge weapons."

Zhao Li Xin shrugged. "Maybe. The materials are difficult to find." As a genius, he was always ready for a challenge, even if that meant forging a divined weapon. Therefore, he never said he couldn’t do it, but rather, maybe not now.

"What materials?" Jay asked eagerly.

"One of them is ancient dragon bone." Zhao Li Xin answered perfuntorily as if it was nothing.

Undoubtedly, the table fell silent. However, Lory was unfazed. She wiped her mouth and said, "Forget it. You talk about the only weapon that could kill the evil demigod Lazarus. Do you really think it can be replicated? That’s like asking someone to forge the Seven Gods’ sword or trinity staff." She rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

"So that’s how it is..." Jay muttered, disappointed for only a second. "Can I at least hold it?"

"Only if you want to burn yourself alive," Lory rolled her eyes. "Not everyone can wield that thing."

Jay clicked his tongue, undeterred, "Da*n, now I become more curious."

Clift sighed. "Instead of obsessing over weapons, you should worry about Luxemborough twisting the narrative and blaming everything on the Gifted by calling them terrorists and whatnot."

"Ah, well... I suppose I’ll just have to wait for Fred’s instructions. That sly fox must already have a plan in mind," Jay said casually, slurping his noodles as if the matter barely concerned him.

Not long after, Samuel entered the room after finishing his call. "Hey, I have some news from my contact," he said evenly. "He told me someone has placed a bounty on Zhao Li Xin and Raven Jane in the black market."

Of course, everyone knew who this ’someone’ so no one surprised.

Lory wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and broke into a wide grin. "Oh? And how much is my head worth?"

"Fifty million Rohm," Samuel replied without ceremony.

Lory’s eyes gleamed. "And Zhao Li Xin’s?"

"One hundred million Rohm." Samuel’s answer.

Lory’s smile vanished in an instant, as though it had been wiped clean. Lory puffed out her cheeks, irritation plainly written across her face. ℴ

"Why is his head more expensive than mine?"

Jay lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. "Probably has something to do with slicing an aircraft in half the other night."

Lory folded her arms on the table, her brows knitting together. "So they think I’m less dangerous than Zhao Li Xin?"

Zhao Li Xin reached out and rested a hand atop her head, his touch gentle, almost absentminded, as if he were soothing a child. "Don’t worry, honey," he said softly. "They’ll learn how dangerous you are."

"You think so?" Lory looked up at him, doubt flickering in her eyes.

"Of course," Zhao Li Xin replied in a coaxing tone. "How about later, I let you slice an aircraft too? That should show them just how dangerous you are."

Lory let out a small chuckle. "Isn’t that a bit much?"

"No," Zhao Li Xin said without hesitation, his voice warm and indulgent. "Nothing is too much for you, don’t worry when the enemy sends aircraft or another flying machine, I’ll let you slice them all."

The room fell into an uneasy silence.

There was something profoundly unsettling about hearing such violence spoken of so tenderly, wrapped in affection rather than malice.

Simultaneously, everyone at the table turned their gaze toward Zhao Li Xin, some in shock, others weighed down by helplessness. Meanwhile, the man himself remained perfectly calm, utterly unaware of the chill his gentle words had left behind.

"Um... has no one ever told you that you spoil her too much?" Jay asked at last, frowning.

"No," Zhao Li Xin replied without the slightest hesitation.

Lory understood the shock in their eyes. Even within her own family, no one had ever allowed her such freedom. Therefore, any time her behavior crossed the line, her father’s punishment followed swiftly and without compromise. Indulgence had never been an option; accountability and restraint had always been imposed in her everyday life, let alone in a mission.

There was no one else in the world who would so unconditionally permit her recklessness the way Zhao Li Xin did. For Zhao Li Xin, as long as she did nothing that might endanger herself, he was willing to support her in every way possible. After all, compared to the things Zhao Li Xin could do, Lory’s action was mild.

Samuel, too, had more or less grasped Zhao Li Xin’s nature by now. It was, in truth, quite simple. Anything that did not concern Princess Lorient’s life held no interest for him, and everything he did was guided by a single certainty: that it was what the princess wanted.

A simple conclusion, really. ’A devoted husband with a cold-blooded heart.’ That was how Samuel defined Zhao Li Xin.

"Anyway," Samuel continued, his tone practical, "this means Luxemborough will send its best assassins to hunt both of you."

His gaze moved between Lory and Zhao Li Xin. One looked mildly excited, the other utterly indifferent. Not a trace of anxiety could be found at the table.

"By the way, how exactly do they plan to kill us?" Lory asked, looking genuinely puzzled. "Would they dare to attack us in Harland? And I live in Cestine Palace—wouldn’t it be suspicious if I suddenly disappear?" Her worry lay not in the assassination attempt itself, but in the risk of her identity being exposed.

Jay propped his chin on his hand and muttered, "Oh... yeah. That’s a problem."

"Then we’ll have to arrange a residence outside Cestine Palace," Clift said with a weary sigh.

At that, Lory’s eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be great!" she squealed.

The thought of living outside the palace filled her with unexpected joy. It wasn’t that she disliked Cestine Palace, but within its walls, she could never truly relax.

There was always work waiting for her, responsibilities pressing heavily on her shoulders. Since returning, she had scarcely known a single moment of rest.

The idea of staying somewhere else, far away from courtly obligations and endless duties, felt like permission to breathe, to finally loosen the tight knot she carried within herself. For the first time in a long while, she could almost taste a quiet, ordinary life, however brief, one she could share with Zhao Li Xin without the palace looming over them.

"I want a medium-sized villa," Lory said, her eyes gleaming as she began to build it piece by piece in her mind.

"The location should be quiet, far from other residences, but not completely isolated," Clift replied at once.

"I want a fish pond under the porch," Lory added eagerly, her eyes shining. "And stone lamps."

"I’ll arrange security and surveillance around it," Jay said.

Zhao Li Xin pinched his chin, contemplating. "I suppose I’ll need to plant protective arrays in the courtyard... enough to trap any enemies."

"I’ll set up a lounge area and a furnace on the porch," Lory continued, completely absorbed in her vision. "Oh—and there should be a bamboo garden outside. And a swing!"

"This is going to take some time," Clift said, letting out a soft breath. "We should discuss this with His Majesty."

"Yes, you’re right," Jay agreed with a nod.

"By the way..." Zhao Li Xin lifted his gaze toward Clift and Jay, his tone calm, almost casual. "Should we kill the assassins, or keep them alive?"

"Alive would be better," Jay said with a shrug. "We might get useful information out of them."

"But if there’s no other option," Clift added, "you can kill them. I’ll clean everything up afterward."

"—And a barbecue area!" Lory suddenly shouted, her excitement spilling over, utterly oblivious to the quiet discussion of life and death unfolding beside her.

Samuel looked at them all, at a complete loss for words. It was as though they were speaking on entirely different wavelengths; one was cheerfully piecing together a dream home, while the other was seriously outlining meticulous measures to thwart an enemy’s attack.