Night fell like ink, casting a heavy shroud over the world.

Su Yaoyao drifted into a deep sleep, and in her dream, Noah’s familiar figure appeared once more.

His eyes were red, tears welling as he stared straight at her, his expression a mixture of anger and hurt. His gaze felt like daggers in her back.

Su Yaoyao’s heart clenched. The memory of the slap came rushing back, and a tidal wave of guilt crashed over her, drowning her completely.

She didn’t know how much time had passed before she jolted awake from the dream, her forehead slick with cold sweat.

All was silent around her, save for the faint moonlight filtering through the window, casting mottled shadows across the room.

She slowly sat up. Beside her, the little fox, Lucia, was curled up, sleeping soundly.

Su Yaoyao raised her hand and activated her Light Computer, its faint blue light flickering in the darkness.

The communication log was empty. No calls from Noah.

’Is he still angry about that slap?’

Su Yaoyao’s finger hovered hesitantly over the screen, her heart a battlefield.

She wanted to call Noah, to explain, to apologize, but her rational mind reminded her that he had returned to the Sea Clan precisely because he didn’t want to see her.

’Besides, it’s so late. Calling him so abruptly...’

Su Yaoyao sighed, helplessly hugging her knees and resting her head upon them. She was tangled in a knot of helplessness. ’How can I possibly soothe Noah’s resentment?’

Just as Su Yaoyao was lost in her distress, a cool presence quietly drew near.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind, and a hand quickly covered her mouth.

Su Yaoyao’s face went pale with fright. Her body tensed instantly, and she began to struggle with all her might.

Her eyes widened. ’This person actually managed to sneak into the Imperial Palace in the middle of the night? I didn’t hear a thing! Who is it?’

Just as her heart pounded with terror, a familiar voice whispered softly in her ear, "Yaoyao, I’ve missed you so much."

Su Yaoyao’s eyes flickered, filled with surprise and delight. ’It’s Mingye!’

At the same time, the little fox, Lucia, seemed to sense the danger and shot awake.

Seeing Su Yaoyao held by a strange man, he didn’t hesitate. Ignoring the pain from his injuries, he leaped up like a bolt of red lightning, bared his teeth, and lunged at Mingye with an furious roar. "Don’t you dare hurt Yaoyao!"

Mingye’s brow furrowed tightly. He raised a hand and precisely caught the pouncing little fox by the neck.

Seeing this, Su Yaoyao was frantic. She quickly pulled down the hand covering her mouth, looked nervously at Mingye, and cried out, "Don’t hurt him."

Then she turned to the little fox and said, "Lucia, he’s my Beast Husband."

Lucia froze mid-action. ’Beast Husband? Su Yaoyao’s other Beast Husband...’

Although Mingye loosened his grip slightly, he didn’t let go. He looked Lucia up and down, murmuring the name softly. "Lucia..." ’So it’s him.’

Just a few days earlier, Mingye had been immersed in wrapping up the complex affairs of Snake Scale City when his Light Computer screen suddenly lit up. A video call from Noah popped up without any warning.

"Mingye, you have to help me!" Noah’s voice, usually tinged with a devil-may-care attitude, was now laced with the sound of sobbing, making him sound exceptionally urgent and helpless.

"What’s wrong?" Mingye’s brow furrowed slightly, and he stopped the work he was doing on his files.

He was genuinely surprised. He had known Noah for a long time, and this was the first time he had ever seen him cry like this.

The usual Noah was cunning and mischievous. He was always the one bullying others; when had he ever looked so pathetic?

"She doesn’t want me anymore! She’s been seduced by a wretched fox, her heart is completely bewitched." Noah said, wiping the tears from his face, his eyes full of hurt and indignation.

"A fox?" Mingye repeated, confused.

"Yes!" Noah told Mingye in painstaking detail how Lucia had deliberately swayed his fluffy tail in front of Su Yaoyao, trying to seduce her. His tone made it sound as if Lucia had committed an unforgivable crime.

"She even hit me for his sake! Waaah~" As he spoke, Noah couldn’t stop himself from crying again, his sobs making it sound as if he had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.

When Mingye heard that Su Yaoyao had hit him, his brow furrowed again. He had a feeling there was more to the story.

He knew Noah’s personality all too well. He’d been spoiled rotten by his family since he was a child, and as a Prince of the Sea Clan, he acted with even more reckless abandon.

’Driven by jealousy, there’s no telling what kind of outrageous things he might have done.’

’Besides, Yaoyao has always been gentle. She would never have resorted to violence unless Noah had gone way too far.’

Mingye asked, "Did you do something you shouldn’t have?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Noah sniffled, hesitated for a moment, and finally mumbled, "I... I just crawled under Yaoyao’s skirt, and later I forcibly kissed her in the car, and before that, I used the upgraded, dream-version of the aphrodisiac..."

At this point, Noah couldn’t help but sigh, as if he too realized he had indeed gone a bit too far.

Hearing this, Mingye was so angry he gritted his teeth. "No-ah!" His voice carried such palpable fury it seemed ready to leap through the screen and teach this audacious fool a lesson.

Noah shrank back at the shout, subconsciously pursing his lips and muttering, "What? That medicine helped you out, too."

Mingye froze. Those amorous dreams he’d been having flashed through his mind.

’Could it be that those dreams he experienced every night were Noah’s doing? All this time, he thought his own feelings for Su Yaoyao were just so intense, his desire so strong, that he met her in his dreams.’

As if reading his mind, Noah nodded and said matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, with that repressed personality of yours, when would you ever have won Yaoyao over? I was just speeding things up for you."

Mingye pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, his expression one of utter exasperation. "You are completely out of line."

At that, Noah started crying aggrievedly again. "I wanted to apologize to her," he sobbed, "but she doesn’t care about me at all! I was sitting by the sea, heartbroken, and she was on a date with that wretched fox! Waaah." He looked just like a child whose favorite toy had been stolen.

Mingye let out a heavy sigh and asked helplessly, "What do you want me to do to help you?"

"I’m back in the Sea Clan territory now, and I won’t be able to apply for official papers to enter the Imperial City again anytime soon.

But I miss her so much! I regret it to death. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive. By leaving, haven’t I just given Lucia the perfect opportunity?!

So, as a member of the ’No Hair Party,’ you have to help me bring her to the Water Clan. I want to apologize to her face-to-face, sincerely and from the heart." As Noah spoke, his eyes were full of anticipation, as if Mingye were his last lifeline.