QT: Against My Will-Chapter 577 - 8.94 - Mate Mark - Monster Heist
╔═══ Author’s note ════╗
Double update! Happy New Year! ❤️
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When Sergeant Rills and Nathaniel reached the corridor, they passed by Shina’s team, who sat in a line near her door.
Their faces wore expressions of guarded caution, but at a nod from Sergeant, they made no move to stop Nathaniel.
Nathaniel staggered a little as he walked into the room. With great effort, he made his way to Shina’s bedside and lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, "Her vital organs are still functioning correctly."
The person on the bed pretended to be dead, unresponsive.
Nathaniel’s fingers closed around her wrist, channeling his energy through her veins, "How is your chip signaling your death and wrong location? Explain yourself."
Shina kept her eyes behind her mask closed, "After I figure out why the Ethers appear to be so conveniently prepared for all this, then maybe I’ll entertain your questions," she finally responded.
The idea that her husband could ever partake in a romantic school drama or a military love story seemed almost foolish now. Everything must have been staged as a love story with a harem, a clever deception designed to make everyone underestimate his real goal.
’Don’t tell me she had figured it out,’ Lu Kai hadn’t expected her to go to such lengths for the people in this world, especially while on vacation and without a direct mission from the HQ.
The irony was bitter; the situation had reversed in a way neither had foreseen.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
Nathaniel was on the Ether’s side from the very beginning. Instead of attending St. Moon Academy every day, he used to roam behind the barriers to explore this world on his own, which made him stumble on its history. To gain Ether’s trust, he made an oath with them.
Lu Kai was never into school drama, which was obvious from Bing Shi’s fourth lifetime. He didn’t interact with Silvia much, because there was Ziek who could pass the feelings to him.
He was also a lone wolf that prefered to do solo assignments in the military. Thanks to Leon, he didn’t have a need to seek his wife’s attention after Ezikiel’s death.
The big tree that grew after Riley ReClére’s and Damon Carnifex’s departure was Nathaniel’s doing. Silvia was supposed to die, his wife’s soul was supposed to be transferred to another world but Victor’s interference complicated his plans.
It didn’t discourage him from trying to kill Silvia again, and again. However, Victor’s powers were too great. She couldn’t be killed, and he was suddenly forced to reevaluate his plans.
Lu Kai still didn’t give up on helping the Ethers with wiping out the whole population. After witnessing the devastation wrought by Dai An or Ru Quan in the past, he felt his own actions paled in comparison.
In his eyes, the alliance with the Ethers wasn’t a bad one — the world could get its revenge and he could create a connection with it as a male lead.
Then, Shina Night arrived with a spaceship, of all things! Even he was taken aback, completely unaware that such a thing was buried below the ancient battleground.
Shina could have used that ship to flee with her closest allies since she was already outside the second layer. But no, she chose to call her husband to help her bring the spaceship inside his space for a quick checkup before making it appear inside the first layer.
Deep down, Lu Kai sensed that she might have hoped for Nathaniel or Victor to sacrifice themselves.
From Victor’s earlier actions, it was obvious that he would take things seriously only after Nathaniel exhausted himself to death or someone important was at a risk of dying.
Nathaniel was at a crossroads. Death would free him from the curse, but it would also mean admitting defeat in his struggle against Shina Night.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
The spaceship finally broke through the atmosphere, leaving behind a world plagued with turmoil.
Faces turned towards the viewing panel. The sight that greeted them was unlike anything they had ever seen—a limitless expanse of stars and galaxies stretching infinitely before them.
One of the rooms was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
"Where are we, mama?" A little girl finally broke the silence, her voice tinged with awe.
"The Cosmos," Elera said, equally amazed. From where she came from, just the trip to the moon would have cost millions.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
|"How much do you know?"| Lu Kai asked.
|"Quite a bit. Would have never doubted Nathaniel, the picture perfect prince, but I know my husband too well to put him at the top of my list of suspects."| She answered, |"Your greatest mistake was allowing me to infuriate your targets to death."|
It wasn’t only Riley that her husband was focusing on; it was also Damon — the Demon King. Xuan Mu told her to infuriate his targets to death if she wanted. Was it to make either Riley or the Demon King want to destroy this world?
At first, she found it puzzling. Why would he want to have this world destroyed? But then things started clicking into place when she found out about the history between this world and the ancient invaders.
He didn’t want to annihilate the world itself — "just" its uninvited inhabitants. He wasn’t portraying himself as a male lead for the public eye nor for his incognito wife, but for the Ethers.
Nathaniel strayed from any type of romance. Then stayed at the bottom ranks of both St. Moon Academy and LADs, while simultaneously displaying his formidable powers in battles against top ranked students and other LADs. It was all part of his carefully crafted facade.
He was good at covering his tracks. So good that tracing his involvement was virtually impossible, unless you knew him well like his wife.
"Why are you holding me like this?" Shina asked, raising a brow that nobody could see, "Did I finally break the ice?" she asked sarcastically.
The atmosphere in the room became electric as Shina Night’s aura unfurled like a black cloud. Those present instinctively took a step back.
The way Nathaniel continued to grip her wrist, holding her in place on the bed, lent the scene an ambiguous tone that those in the room found difficult to decipher.
"Containing a potential calamity." Nathaniel looked down at his own hand, still gripping her wrist, he secured her in place, "You seem to be fine, so why didn’t you report for duty?"
"..." The room went silent. His explanation seemed to make a twisted kind of sense. Even though Shina was perfectly fine, she decided to hide in Felicia’s room and steer clear from her duties as the Wraith. Was she actually waiting for the calamity to happen?
Beside Henry and Felicia, nobody else saw her burned uniform from the system store before she changed into her LAD’s gear.
Bing Shi found herself speechless at his attempt to villainize her, "I was in the middle of an important experiment. You know, containing a potential calamity by not dying in the battlefield. I should be considered a hero."
"A hero would have sacrificed herself to protect her people," Nathaniel said, his words carrying an amused undertone, "People call heroes like you cowards."
"I know it’s hard to believe, but some of us can actually save the day without turning ourselves into a sacrificial lamb," Shina responded, seriously contemlating the idea of letting Dai An take full charge of her body, "It’s called strategy."
"You’ve managed to save people without sacrificing yourself?" Nathaniel stared at her wrists. He chuckled darkly, "Perhaps that’s because the rest of the LADs have been making real sacrifices to allow you that luxury."
"..." Bing Shi snarled her teeth behind her mask, wanting to bite him so much! He was such a two faced evil, ah!
The mask on Shina’s face dropped on the bed. She leaned up to sink her teeth into his neck. Simultaneously, she pushed her wrist into his mouth while using her other hand to sharply hit his chin.
"Ugh!" Nathaniel bit onto her wrist sharply in response, feeling his own strength leaving his body.
’Did she...’ everyone’s jaws almost fell in surprise, ’Did she just make Nathaniel Hauxley claim her with a mate mark?!’
Neck, wrist, and shoulders were common places where mate marks were often placed.
With a swift and powerful push, Nathaniel pressed Shina against the bed with more force. It activated the curse on his body, the strength in his body dwindling with each passing second.
Shina easily overpowered him. Kneeing him in the stomach, she pushed her wrist against his mouth again, "Oh? You accepted me rather readily."
The strength in his jaw and the resistance in his eyes almost tore through her flesh, sealing the bond between them in an electrifying moment.
