Under the sunlight, only a solitary flower blooming on the mountain path remained, trembling as if startled by the breeze.
“It doesn’t hurt…”
It doesn’t hurt…
The girl’s soft voice floated like a cloud drifting across the sky.
She tried her best to lift the corners of her lips. In her lovely, large eyes, a misty haze welled up, refracting a luminous glow. Her slightly damp lashes and the fine, glittering tears clinging to them sparkled like diamonds.
“Because it was my fault for being careless… so it doesn’t hurt…”
Even as she said this, tears had already started to fall, one after another, like precious pearls rolling down her cheeks.
The boy, a little flustered, reached out to wipe away her tears. “Zyon, don’t cry, okay?”
“It doesn’t hurt… so don’t be afraid.”
She grasped the boy’s hand and shook her head. “I’m not crying because it hurts. Just now, some sand got into my eyes, and it stings a lot… Blow on it for me, and I’ll be fine.”
She tilted her face upward, breaking into a wide smile, her eyes curving into crescent moons.
Even though she was in pain, she could still flash such a radiant smile, dazzling and brilliant like starlight scattered across the Milky Way.
The tension in the boy’s heart seemed to slowly ease.
He cupped her face gently and blew softly on her eyes. With his small, tender hands, he carefully wiped away her tears, his movements clumsy yet remarkably tender, like ripples spreading in warm sunlight.
Around the two children, it seemed as if faint, delicate rays of light softly danced and encircled them.
The boy brushed aside her tear-dampened black hair from her cheeks. “Zyon, from now on, I’ll protect you.”
In his clear, crystalline eyes, it seemed as though starlight had gathered. Despite his young, innocent voice, the words he spoke carried an undeniable conviction.
It felt as if everything he promised would unquestionably come true.
“I won’t let you get hurt again…”
She stared blankly at the boy, who was slowly walking toward her.
Her thoughts drifted back to a few hours earlier, recalling the words spoken by the old butler before her.
“The young Boss said that if you heard this name, you would surely come.”
Perhaps sensing her doubts, the old butler had bowed gracefully, his demeanor respectful. “The name is—”
“De-Theo.”
After a brief pause, he had spoken the name in a warm, gentle tone.
De-Theo.
When she was very young, there had been a boy she could never beat no matter how hard she tried.
Because he was so exceptionally beautiful.
Everyone called him De-Theo—like delicate glass.
What she hadn’t expected was this—
The sole heir of the Morbat Corporation, the greatest rival of Eastwest, and the star forward of the Sandfield basketball team, Theo…
Could he really be De-Theo?
If…
If it truly was him…
“What a pity.”
The boy’s leisurely voice sounded so close that Avira Nassy froze for a moment. She lifted her face slightly, only to meet his gaze.
The smile on his lips exuded an irresistible allure, a magnetic pull that made it impossible not to drown in it.
“The scene I imagined… is far less disappointing than this.”
He leaned down, his crimson lips brushing close to her ear. His soft breath, like an enchanting spell, seemed capable of beguiling the very night sky. “Tell me… how should I make amends?”
“Well then…”
In the still air, Avira Nassy slowly curved her lips into a lazy smile.
Her angelic face transformed in an instant, morphing into something devilish. The smile at the corners of her mouth was stunning, yet terrifyingly beautiful, enough to make hearts tremble. “Then be ready for it!”
As soon as the words fell, her smile faded, and she raised her hand, bringing it down sharply towards the boy standing so close to her.
The speed of her strike was astonishing, the force stirring the loose strands of her hair and sending them fluttering.
Yet, Theo showed no trace of panic.
He stepped back, twisting his body.
His movements were graceful and fluid, as if performing a dance.
The distance was so narrow that Avira Nassy’s fingertips almost grazed his cheek as they swept past.
“I’ve been ready for a long time.”
Under the lights, his warm eyes shimmered with a devilish allure.
And I… already have been…
I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.
“De-Theo is still as impressive as ever. So—”
Avira Nassy lifted the corners of her lips, her voice sultry and soft like the night, with a beguiling allure yet carrying an undeniable sharpness. “That’s why… I’ve always wanted to surpass you!”
In an instant, she closed the distance between them.
Her raised fist left no room for retreat as it swung forward with an overwhelming speed that allowed no time to react—a strike devoid of mercy or restraint.
Yet Theo still showed no intention of counterattacking.
He merely tilted his head slightly, leaning just enough for her hand to graze his cheek, leaving a faint white streak in its wake.
The tips of his dark hair fluttered upward, tracing clean arcs in the air.
Through the strands of hair, his eyes glimmered with amusement, reflecting the dazzling lights. They were so astonishingly beautiful, they seemed almost unreal. “Too slow.”
