Kai followed the pull, threading the endless expanse without the guide of a constellation.

He recalled the new quest that beckoned him to enter Mallory’s domain, turning the problem over carefully while being acutely aware that he was dealing with a being who could destroy him in an instant.

So, Kai did what he always did when the odds were stacked against him.

A cold-calculated plan.

From everything he had gone through, he learned that he needs to be ruthless.

None of his enemies would be lenient to him, and so does the world, so he has to be the same.

Getting closer to her is the best way I can utilize right now.

Kai nodded inwardly.

In order for him to somehow be brought back to Mallory’s domain, he would need to get way closer to her. Taking the friend approach should do him wonders in this situation, as he cannot possibly force her to do anything.

Strength-wise, the gap between them was simply too wide.

Just remembering the sheer authority she has over the night shot a cold shiver down his spine.

Compared to her, his authority is pathetic.

Still, I can’t be too obvious about this. I’m still an ancient Nightborn in her eyes.

Soon enough, Kai saw a figure in the distance coming to be—Mallory. And though he had just spotted her when he was about a hundred yards away, she seemed to have already sensed his presence before his eyes ever found her.

It was obvious from how her eyes were already locked onto him when he finally saw her.

Mallory was the exact same since he last saw her.

Still wearing that shadow-silk garment that exposed her moonstone bluish skin, along with the ink-black vertical mark on her chest. Right now, she seemed to be chewing on something; a small black orb that looked soft and watery.

"How did you do that...?" Kai asked after he stopped a few steps away. "You don’t know my name."

His abyssal eyes narrowed, and Mallory was mesmerized by them.

"Just a trick I learned," Mallory replied with a small triumphant smile. "Are you surprised?"

Kai didn’t answer.

Normally, in order to meet a Nightborn, Kai had to hold their name and form in his mind—dwelling on them until he stumbled into their domain. But Mallory had reversed that entirely. She didn’t know his name. She shouldn’t have been able to reach him.

And yet, she had called him here as if he were the one who belonged to her.

It shouldn’t be possible.

Now he realized it seemed it wasn’t possible for him but possible for her.

"What do you have in your hand?" Kai tilted his head, letting his gaze settle on the cluster of darkness cupped in her palm. It resembled a stalk of grapes. Each one was a perfect, lightless black. Not the black of shadow, but something deeper.

An absence that seemed to drink the night’s energy around it.

A few of the grapes were missing; their stems bare and glistening.

Mallory must’ve been eating them. Casually, as if they were ordinary fruit.

But the energy inside them was not ordinary.

It pulsated against his senses like a fever-dream, so dense that his chest felt tight from looking at it. And each remaining grape seemed to throb from within, disturbingly close to a heartbeat; the surface wobbled, and its skin shifted in a way that made it look alive.

Kai’s brows dipped into a frown.

And under his gaze, one of the remaining grapes opened.

Since it looked like some sort of fruit, Kai expected juice to come out. But instead, the skin split like a delicate membrane and revealed an eyeball beneath, staring directly forward. The iris was pale honey-gold, threaded with veins of black that seemed to pulse faintly.

And the pupil contracted sharply as it found his face, as if it recognized him.

Kai wasn’t expecting to see this; the nerve of it struck him instantly, urging him backward.

Remembering that he was under the persona of a powerful and ancient Nightborn, Kai stilled his body; strangling the flinch before it could spread. His expression remained smooth, utterly unhurried with the mild curiosity of the black grapes.

Mallory had noticed nothing. Thankfully.

"Just a snack," She replied with a shrug. "Dark-Eyed Grapes. Not my usual snack choice, but since I ran out of my main supply, I’m making do with this." Her gaze drifted to the hand Kai kept hidden behind his back. "What about you? What do you have in your hand?"

Kai brought the bucket forward, and the yellow blooms shimmered into view; their glow was so vivid that Mallory’s dark-amber eyes caught the reflection. "Something I made. I thought about tossing it until you happened."

For a good second, Mallory was stunned.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the shimmering yellow flowers.

’How is he able to make that...?’ The thought struck Mallory with quiet disbelief. ’Colors can’t exist in the house. Mother’s power forbids it. Nothing holds its hue here unless it is bound to a source. But these flowers have no source. They aren’t connected to him. I can’t feel his energy in them at all. So, how are they still shimmering yellow like this?’

Under the absolute, crushing force of the Primordial Night, nothing can exist.

Only those with its essence or who adhere to its essence could exist.

Colors or anything foreign to the Primordial Night could only persist if a Nightborn, a creature of the House of Night, actively sustained them with their power. Without that tether, the color should have dissolved, bled away into muted black or white, or some lifeless monochromatic shade between them.

But Kai’s energy wasn’t in these flowers.

She couldn’t feel him in them at all.

By every law she knew, their color should have already perished.

And yet the flowers Kai was holding retained their color.

’Just who is this Nightborn...? And why is he confined to the first floor? Someone as strong as him should be on the fifth floor, standing among his peers—among Gods.’ Mallory’s eyelids lowered. ’Regardless, he’s not so simple. He’s as interesting as those eyes of his...’

Kai, oblivious to what she was thinking, extended the bucket of flowers.

"You want it?" He asked.

"Can I have it?" Mallory asked back, but her hands already reached for the bucket.

"I’m going to throw it away if you don’t want it."

"In that case, I’ll take it."

Seeing Mallory hug the bucket of flowers closely to her chest pleased Kai, as it seemed he had made the right decision to bring the bucket of flowers with him. Earlier—he had been torn whether he should bring it or give it to Matilda as he intended.

Now, watching Mallory’s interest, the doubt finally settled.

Thank Zeus that he decided to bring it with him, as Mallory seemed to like it.

Though she didn’t show it on her face, she wouldn’t accept it if she didn’t like it.

"But aren’t you the Hate Ending?" Mallory tilted her head in confusion.

Kai’s body froze, "Eh?"

"Isn’t the Hate Ending supposed to be full of hate? Giving me flowers like this... It’s strange."

"Err... You know they say love and hate are two edges of the same blade, right?" Kai laughed a little—the gears in his mind turning to find an excuse for this. "Love and hate are separated by a thin veil, but they are also interchangeable. I hate someone, but that meant I need to also love someone in return for the hate.

"A-Anyway, don’t read too much into it."

Inside, he was cursing himself for such a stupid excuse.

He should’ve said that she doesn’t know anything about him to know what the Hate Ending really meant, and that’d be a thousand times better than the bullshit excuse he cooked up. But it was already done.

The best thing he could do right now was to shut up.

On the contrary, Mallory placed a finger on her chin and contemplated.

"I see..." She nodded as if she could find something profound behind Kai’s excuse. "Love and hate are interchangeable. I’ve never thought of it like that. Such a beautiful ending... I’m really lucky to meet you."

What? She bought that? Sweet.

Kai was stunned to find that Mallory was now buttering him up.

Like she wanted to be on his good side so that he would give away his name.

"In any case, I can’t really take something to you without giving something in return—that’ll be too impolite of me," Mallory said; she was fretting about what she should give in return to get these unnatural flowers that could defy the Primordial Night’s law. "I ca—"

"What about those Dark-Eyed Grapes?" Kai pointed at the black grapes in her hands.

Mallory was stunned.

She stared at the black grapes and frowned.

’He asked for something so minor...?’ The thought unsettled her inside. ’I was thinking about giving him something valuable from my domain. Something worthy of these flowers. And he requests Dark-Eyed Grapes? They’re rare beyond my borders, but here they’re quite common. Is he... Is he pitying me? Does he think I can’t match his gift, so he’s lowering the bar to spare me the embarrassment?’

Quite frankly, Mallory didn’t know any other reason why Kai asked for something minor.

As the daughter of the primordial night—she knew the Nightborns had their own view about her, so this must be Kai’s way to save her face. So that she won’t need to stress over matching the flowers.

On the other hand, Kai’s heart pounded inside his chest.

I don’t know what those Dark-Eyed Grapes are, but they must be extremely valuable.

Judging from the energy radiating from them alone told Kai—they were valuable. If he could bring them back to the real world, he’d find a way to profit from them without a doubt. So, he took his shot, however unlikely it seemed.

Since Mallory was offering to give him something in return, he wanted those grapes.

Seemed more feasible to him as they are on her hand right now.

"S-Sure," Mallory stuttered, still in shock. "Do you want me to get a new stalk? I have already eaten a few of them."

"No need," Kai shook his head. "Just give me those; I don’t mind."

Mallory paused.

Considering what she thought was happening, giving only the remaining seemed to really be improper. She hesitated to hand the Dark-Eyed Grapes away, which Kai took the wrong way. But eventually, she did hand the grapes over.

A smile bloomed on Kai’s face the moment the grapes were in his hand.

Neither noticed the obvious gap between what was offered—and what was understood. The signs were there, but each one went over their heads. So, they traded and smiled. Both equally convinced they’d gotten the better end of the deal.