’I and my big mouth. I never should have asked.’

Jade was basically an orphan.

The kind with no clan members left at all.

At this thought, she said aloud, "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked."

The Azure Dragon spoke, its voice belonging to Jade.

"It’s alright, My Lady."

Celeste Grant comforted him. "This Cultivation World we’re in is probably just one tiny place among thousands of worlds in the Lower Realm. Your clan might be living in the vast Immortal Domain. Maybe you’ll have a chance to see them again someday."

’After all, we’re already practicing Cultivation. What’s impossible?’

"I hope that day comes."

"It definitely will. If we focus on our Cultivation, we might just ascend to the Upper Realm someday."

As she spoke, she looked up at the sky.

’But can one really ascend in a world created from a book?’

「That night.」

Javier Sinclair took Celeste Grant on a flight around the nearby Open Sea on the dragon. By the time they returned...

...her birthday feast had already begun.

Seeing them appear in the sky above,

Nerida and the others waved from below.

"My Lady, we were just waiting for you!"

"Daddy, Mommy, come down for the barbecue! It smells amazing!"

"Coming..."

「That night.」

Luneforget Peak was brightly lit all night long. The disciples of the Bloodfiend Den feasted on meat and guzzled wine. There were even female cultivators dancing hand-in-hand. The scene was lively.

Celeste Grant was in high spirits and had a couple more drinks than usual.

In the end, Javier Sinclair had to carry her back on his back.

「In the hallway.」

Javier Sinclair sighed.

"You can’t even hold your liquor, yet you keep drinking."

He remembered how she’d nearly sung his ears off the last time she got drunk. He absolutely wasn’t going to let her sing this time.

Celeste Grant wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling her face against the side of his.

"Kissy, kissy."

She leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Archfiend... I like you the most."

Javier Sinclair stopped in his tracks.

A smile touched his face.

"Mm, I know."

Celeste Grant lay on Javier Sinclair’s back, arms circled around his neck. One of her hands started to wander, patting his front.

"So firm..."

As she spoke, her hand slipped inside his lapels. "Archfiend, you have such a great body. Are these pecs? And abs... hehe! Is this the kind of content I can touch without a premium subscription?"

Javier Sinclair was speechless. "..."

He glanced down at the errant hand.

"No, you can’t. You’re always spouting nonsense I don’t understand."

She hugged him tighter.

Celeste Grant rested her head on his shoulder and mumbled.

"Archfiend."

"You should call me ’Husband’."

"Okay, Husband~"

’At times like this,’ he thought.

’She’s so obedient.’

"Mm, what is it?"

"I’m a little dizzy."

"Then rest against me and sleep for a bit."

"Husband~"

"I’m here."

"What if one day I just... disappear?"

Hearing this,

The Archfiend let out a cold laugh.

"Where else would you go, besides by my side?"

"You don’t know... You wouldn’t get it even if I told you. Sigh... you don’t understand."

Javier Sinclair was silent. "..."

"Try me."

"What if one day, I wake up and I’m in another world, and you can’t find me?"

Celeste Grant truly had this fear.

She had arrived in this world suddenly; what if she suddenly returned to her own?

Before, it wouldn’t have mattered if she went back. But now she had her parents, her brother, The Archfiend, and her precious son here.

She was no longer willing to leave them.

Though he didn’t fully grasp what she was saying, Javier Sinclair still replied.

"If that day ever comes, I will tear space itself apart to drag you back. Then I’ll lock you up so you can’t even think of running away."

Hearing his fierce words, Celeste smiled slightly and hugged him tighter. "Husband~ you’re so good to me. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you."

"If I left, you’d find a stepmother for my son, and she would sleep with my man and beat my child. I’d cry my eyes out."

’Beat her son?’

Javier Sinclair said irritably,

"You alone are already a big enough headache for me."

She pinched his neck. "You’re tired of me? I knew it, you don’t cherish what you’ve already got. They say a wife can’t compare to a mistress, a mistress can’t compare to a secret lover, and a secret lover can’t compare to one you can never have... So tell me, who do you want to steal away?"

"You certainly know a lot of sayings."

"So tell me... who do you want to steal?"

She was very close to him.

Her breath tickled his ear.

Javier Sinclair let go, setting her down, then turned and pulled her into his arms by the waist.

He lowered his head slightly, his voice a low whisper. "Who could I possibly steal? From start to finish, hasn’t it only ever been you?"

Celeste Grant draped herself over him, her arms wrapping around his neck.

Celeste Grant had drunk too much tonight.

Her mind was a bit hazy.

But she still knew who was holding her.

One of her hands gently stroked his chest as she whispered, "Well... do you want to steal me, then?"

As she spoke, she grabbed his lapels.

Javier Sinclair’s gaze fell on her face. Her words, "do you want to steal me, then?" were the only thing he could hear. Javier Sinclair blushed.

He tightened his arm around her waist, holding her close.

He leaned in and bit her shoulder gently, then gritted his teeth and whispered in her ear, "You’re going to be the death of me."

If this were the past, he would never have believed that someone like him could be so captivated by beauty, that one day a woman could throw his emotions into such disarray.

He thought of something Celeste Grant had said.

’Call me Husband, and I’ll give you my life!’

’Damn...’

He cupped her face and leaned down to kiss her lips...

Javier lifted Celeste Grant into his arms, and in a flash, they were gone. When they reappeared, he had her pinned to the ground in a bamboo grove.

’This scene feels a bit familiar.’

"Weren’t you the one who wanted to be stolen?"

"Hold on tight..."

He waved his hand.

He placed a Barrier around the bamboo grove, preventing anyone from entering.

They were the only two people here.

"W-wait a second..."

"This scene feels a little familiar..."

"It is familiar. Let me help you remember..."

「That night.」

The night was very long...

By the time Celeste Grant was fully conscious again, three days had passed.

She was lying in a rocking chair.

When Celeste Grant sat up, she found she was fully and neatly dressed.

Watching the bamboo leaves drift down from the sky,

she saw she was in a bamboo grove.

She was currently in a pavilion within the grove.

She was a little dizzy.

Her body ached, too.

It felt like she’d been in a fight.

’A bamboo grove?’

Some images unconsciously surfaced in her mind, and her face instantly turned red.

’What were those?’

"What on earth did I do?"

She covered her mouth.

Then she covered her face with her hands.

"I really shouldn’t have been so reckless with Elder Lowell’s wine."

Her mind was now filled with scenes you couldn’t watch even with a premium subscription. No, wait, even a subscription probably wouldn’t get you access to *this*.

Looking at her surroundings,

she saw it was another bamboo grove.

’I’ve just been moved from one bamboo grove to another.’

’No wonder that scene felt a bit familiar. It was *very* familiar.’

Stepping out of the pavilion, Celeste Grant walked a short distance. She could sense that Javier Sinclair was nearby.

When she got closer, she saw Javier Sinclair, dressed in white, sitting cross-legged in the bamboo grove, cultivating.

Demonic Qi swirled around him, and the Demon Pattern on his forehead was prominent.

His long hair was draped casually over his shoulders.

It was not tied up.

Celeste Grant stopped.

Just then, he opened his eyes.

"You’re awake?"

Celeste Grant nodded.

"Mhm."

He held out his hand.

"Come here."