Avira looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile. “Thank you, Asake…”
Lucas, who stood nearby, took a long moment to suppress the astonishment in his heart.
Was this still the young Boss?
The one who seemed indifferent to everything yet always had everything under his control…
Caring for a girl with such delicate attentiveness?
And what’s more, such an ambiguous gesture between them felt entirely natural, as though it had always been this way.
After dinner, Asake personally escorted Avira back to her apartment.
Avira, rubbing her sleepy eyes, stepped out of the car. But as if suddenly remembering something, she turned back, kneeling on the seat to face him.
A faint, delicate fragrance seemed to linger around her, and her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons. Within her watery gaze swirled a silver-white light, like stardust scattered across a galaxy—brilliant, fragmented, and mesmerizing.
“Asake… thank you… I’m super, super, super, super happy today!”
She gestured wildly with her hands, using slow, exaggerated body language to express her delight.
Even after Avira disappeared into the night, Asake’s gaze lingered out the window, fixed on the fading silhouette swallowed by the darkness.
The faint smile in his eyes was like a star’s shimmering light, blossoming brilliantly in the night sky.
The car’s interior fell silent.
Through the rearview mirror, Lucas quietly observed the young Boss’s expression. Then, breaking the stillness, he finally spoke:
“Young Boss… have you fallen in love with that girl?”
He had never seen his young Boss wear such an expression before.
Asake was a stunningly beautiful young man, born into nobility with everything at his feet, possessing the authority to rule over all.
Yet his heart had always been cold. That regal aura, so unattainable it felt like desecration to even touch it, was shrouded in a mist of distant detachment. Like a king forever isolated on the highest throne.
But in front of that girl…
He seemed to become someone entirely different.
“I want her.”
The words spoken in that domineering tone had left Lucas utterly stunned.
Only he understood what it meant when Asake uttered such a statement. It signified an unwavering obsession. Although back then, Asake likely only saw her as an interesting toy.
But now… Lucas wasn’t sure anymore.
He couldn’t be sure of Asake’s thoughts.
He studied Asake’s expression, searching for an answer, but in the end, he realized something he’d forgotten: no one could ever truly decipher the young Boss’s expression.
Asake didn’t appear offended by Lucas’s bold question. Calmly, as if by habit, he adjusted his diamond cufflinks. The arc of his lips shimmered alongside the dazzling brilliance of the diamonds, refracting a kaleidoscope of rainbow light.
“You bring up an interesting point… I must admit, that girl is… indeed quite special to me.”
“Young Boss… wouldn’t it be better to stop… if it isn’t love?”
Lucas leaned back in his seat, gazing out at the starry sky, where scattered stars twinkled faintly.
“She won’t be bound by anything… or perhaps, anything capable of binding her no longer exists. That’s why she has no weaknesses.
“Just like how that girl wouldn’t easily fall for anyone. Perhaps… she doesn’t even have a heart.
“She’s not an ordinary person…
“Monster’s ace, Avira…
“Her record of missions is flawless. Even knowing the vast disparity between Eastwest and Sandfield, she took on this job for a substantial reward, which only shows… how fiercely confident she is in herself. And that girl… if she says she’ll do something, she’ll accomplish it.
“But she’s like an enigma…
“Her background, her identity—everything about her is a mystery, utterly impossible to trace.”
This girl was reliable, but at the same time… carried a destructive danger.
She was such a paradoxical existence.
That’s why Lucas couldn’t understand why the Boss had brought her into their midst.
“Not bound by anything… is that so?”
Asake chuckled softly, his voice light and ephemeral, like a petal falling onto a violin string. “Then I’ll create something to bind her.”
Lucas froze, turning back to look at his young Boss. A flicker of astonishment passed through his amber eyes.
Asake was still smiling, his radiance like the first rays of dawn illuminating a field of flowers in breathtaking bloom.
