Both husband and wife turned and saw the Wolf King entering the house with a frigid smile on her face; the sight of the both of them openly displaying their affection for each other didn't seem to please her one bit.

"You're back so soon?" Su Ping said.

"Did you expect me to waste my time on those riffraff?" she scoffed.

"I guess I shouldn't have," he said, taking no offense at her words. "So, how did you do?"

"The entire southern region has been cleared," she said in a calm manner.

"And yet you don't seem ashamed in the least—boasting about your strength, yet you were only able to clear one region—" Unfortunately, her master wasn't pleased in the least.

"Ouch..." Su Ping winced, then pouted after Melinda pinched him on the cheek before he could continue.

"I don't know what the both of you are discussing," she said, then paused to frown at her husband. She frowned, yet to Su Ping, there was nothing cuter at the moment. "But whatever it is, don't you think that she deserves something else rather than you admonishing her?" Melinda continued.

Seeing her stern yet cute look, the mighty Dragon King sighed in defeat. "Alright, whatever it is that'll make my lady happy," he said before shifting a calm look to the Wolf King.

"And what would you like as a reward for completing such a task? Whatever it is, so long as it's within my power, I'll be sure to give it to you—"

"I want to mate with my mate—"

"That's out of the question, anything else—" Su Ping's expression had turned displeased, to think she'd be shameless enough to ask for something like that.

"I want a kiss—" the Wolf King cut him off again. There was no way he would kiss this woman while his beloved was here.

"Denied..." Right now, his patience was wearing thin.

'Are rewards always this troubling?' he wondered to himself, regretting not holding out against his wife.

The Wolf King slowly approached Su Ping, a look of frustration in her eyes.

"Oh?" Su Ping smirked coldly, his teeth slowly morphing into his sharp draconic fangs.

'Is she actually thinking of throwing a tantrum here?' Rather than feeling worried, he was eager instead. Finally, she was giving him a justified reason to knock her down a peg or two.

"Honey... the kids." Before his dreams could come true, his wife's next words burst his bubble.

'You've got to be kidding me!' Su Ping had been so eager to fight her that he momentarily forgot that he was at home and within the southern district nonetheless. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Fine, make another request... so long as it isn't anything intimate or something I'd normally reject, I'll allow it," Su Ping said. Thankfully, the Wolf King paused; she gave his proposition some thought.

"Then I want a name!" she said through gritted teeth. The very fact that all this while, he hadn't referred to her in a proper manner had irked her more than he knew.

"A name? That's all you want?" he asked, looking baffled.

"Yes!" she said again, still looking frustrated. "Even if you hate me, the least you could do is give me that much! I've tried so hard to get you to like me, just why do you hate me so much? I never even did anything to you."

"You're the one who's always hurting me." She clenched her fists tightly.

Su Ping didn't know why, but he felt as if her eyes were looking more moist than usual.

Su Ping turned silent; he didn't know why, but right now, a seed of guilt was slowly brimming within him.

Melinda was silent as well; she saw what was going on but decided to stay silent, instead glancing at her husband from the corner of her eyes, waiting for him to make a decision.

Right now, he knew she was actually right; he'd done nothing but use her ever since she'd been enslaved by him. Yet even then, all she wanted was for him to treat her properly, even if it meant he'd never see her in the same way he saw Melinda.

"Come here," at last, he finally said something.

"W-What?" The Wolf King sounded skeptical when she saw him patting his right lap.

"I said come before I change my mind," he said with a self-pitying sigh.

The Wolf King was silent for a moment but gradually made her way to him before sitting on his right lap while Melinda sat on his left.

"...?" The Wolf King's eyes widened momentarily when he pulled the both of them close, placing their heads atop his warm chest.

She wanted to say something, but Melinda smiled and gestured for her to remain quiet. She didn't understand at first but decided to do as told.

"Since you want a name so bad, I'll give you one." The Wolf King unconsciously glanced upward at Su Ping, who was staring into the distance as if unfocused. From such a close distance, his marvelous features were far more visible, and in a way, she found herself entranced by him. Feeling the warmth of his chest and beating heart, as well as the soft touch of his arm that wrapped around her, she felt a rare sense of comfort—one she'd been longing for for so long.

"Yu An... From now on, I'll be sure to address you as Yu An—"

"I love it..."

"Huh?" Su Ping was surprised. "But you don't even know what it means, do you," he said, frowning slightly, only to pause when he saw the grateful look on her beautiful face.

"Since it's a name bestowed by you, I'm more than happy with it." For the first time ever, a warm trace of blood rushed to the Dragon King's face after he'd heard her.

---

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the group, Emilia lay atop her bed in her room. After making sure the kids had gone to bed, she'd come here to rest herself, but with her hearing, she heard everything going on downstairs. At first, she felt she was used to it, but the moment Yu An arrived, she didn't know why but she began experiencing a strange, suffocating feeling in her chest.