“Well, my door,” Ye Xun said unhurriedly, a smile touching his lips, “was just kicked down by you.” At those words, Rosalyne’s face instantly darkened, cold fury flashing in her eyes.
She tightened her grip on his collar abruptly.
“You dare negotiate conditions with me?
If not for me back then, you fool would have frozen to death in the snow outside the House of the Hearth!” Ye Xun’s breathing grew difficult, his face gradually flushing red.
He raised a hand and pressed it against the back of hers resting on his collar.
A smooth, delicate warmth met his palm.
“I…
I…” His voice was faint, as if struggling.
Rosalyne originally thought he was going to admit his mistake and beg for mercy, but she suddenly noticed something amiss.
Why did this bastard…
look like he was…
enjoying it?
The realization dawned on her, and she was instantly filled with equal parts shame and rage.
Back then, she had picked him up and taken him in as a junior.
Yet this boy dared to harbor *such* feelings toward her?!
She let out an angry shout and slammed him hard onto the floor.
Pyro element gathered rapidly at her fingertips, manifesting into a crackling crimson whip of flames.
*CRACK!* The whip lashed through the air, leaving a charred burn mark across his chest.
Though it looked terrifying, it was merely skin-deep and did no real harm.
“Do you…
realize your mistake now?” She glared down at him, her gaze icy cold.
Yet Ye Xun couldn’t care less.
Instead, he propped himself up, meeting her gaze head-on with a composure that belied his injury.
“You are so enchanting, so what wrong is there in me falling for you?
If anyone is in the wrong, it should be you!” Hearing this, Rosalyne froze in shock.
What?!
The one in the wrong…
was actually her?
Absurd as it sounded, there seemed to be a bizarre logic to it.
He had reached the age where young men were captivated by women, while she was in her prime—glamourous, mature, and alluring.
It was only natural that his heart would flutter.
Put that way…
it really was her fault.
At the thought, her expression softened slightly.
She casually dispersed the flame whip and coughed softly.
“You are not allowed to have such ridiculous thoughts ever again!” Pausing, Rosalyne shifted the topic.
“I will pay for fixing the door.
Now, explain your plan clearly.” Ye Xun slowly stood up from the floor, brushed the dust off his coat, straightened his messy collar, and finally spoke unhurriedly: “The human enhancement experiments have devolved into a project involving illegal human trafficking.” “Do you think the higher-ups don’t know?” Rosalyne frowned.
“As long as the Tsaritsa’s noble ideal is realized, any price is considered worth paying in their eyes.” The darkness of the human enhancement experiments had never been a secret within the Fatui.
The reason it could persist was its ability to mass-produce powerful warriors—like the Fatui Skirmishers.
That Snezhnaya could hold sway over the six nations of Teyvat owed no small debt to these human enhancement experiments.
No matter how brutal or insane the methods were, no one would truly investigate or abolish them.
Ye Xun remained unruffled.
“Then we make the cost outweigh the benefit.
Once the losses outstrip the gains, the experiments will naturally come to an end.” Rosalyne pondered for a moment, her expression turning serious.
“It sounds somewhat feasible, but…
can you really pull it off?” “Why don’t we make a bet?” Ye Xun’s lips curled up, his eyes filled with mirth.
“The loser has to agree to one condition from the winner.” In the past, Rosalyne would have agreed without hesitation.
Now, however, she found herself conflicted.
If he made some embarrassing request, how was she supposed to handle it?
After all, for a period of time, he had called her “Auntie” with every breath.
Seeing her hesitate, Ye Xun shrugged with feigned regret.
“Lady Rosalyne, don’t tell me you’re…
too scared to bet?
If that’s the case, then forget it.” “Who’s scared?!” Rosalyne’s brows flared as anger surged within her.
“When you lose, don’t come crying to me for mercy, you fool!” Ye Xun chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I won’t cry.” Rosalyne shot him an annoyed glare, pulled out a bulging coin purse, tossed it to him, and turned to walk outside.
Just as she stepped out the doorway, Ye Xun’s voice called out behind her: “Lady Rosalyne, consider the extra money my allowance as your kept man!” Her steps ground to a sudden halt.
She gritted her silver teeth, the tips of her ears flushing faint red.
In the end, she left behind only two words: “…You fool!” Then she strode off into the night without turning back.
Ye Xun watched her mature figure vanish into the night, the corners of his lips curving up into a faint smile.
Their relationship had previously been stuck in that of senior and junior.
Though close, it had also become an invisible cage, preventing any possibility of taking a step further.
To break it, he needed to push the boundaries and make her realize he was no longer the helpless boy whose legs had gone numb back then.
*** By morning, the sunshine was bright and warm.
Ye Xun arrived early at the patrol team’s gathering point—an open clearing five miles from Fatui headquarters.
By now, quite a few people had already arrived.
Yet as he approached, the people nearby instinctively stepped back a few paces, as though he were a harbinger of plague.
Clearly, his “spectacular feat” from yesterday had already spread through the patrol team.
In the crowd, Karski, who usually got along well with him, hesitated for a moment before deciding against coming over.
Ye Xun wasn’t surprised by this, nor was he in the mood to lament the fickleness of human warmth.
Had he been in their shoes, he would have made the same choice.
The reason was simple: even if one didn’t care about oneself, one had to consider one’s family.
After a while, Patrol Captain Gramov strode up before the group.
He was a gaunt old man nearing retirement; after giving a few brief instructions, he dismissed the squad.
Just as Ye Xun turned to leave, Gramov suddenly called him back.
“Ye Xun, stay.” Once the crowd dispersed, the old man spoke with a grave expression: “Last night, a transfer order came down from above.
You’re being reassigned to a medical research facility.” Ye Xun’s heart jolted.
He knew full well that this so-called “medical research facility” was actually a human experimentation base controlled by Dottore.
If he were transferred there, there would be only one outcome— To end up as raw material for experiments.
In a flash, he made his decision, speaking in a calm yet faintly frail tone: “Captain Gramov, I’m feeling unwell.
I’d like to request sick leave first.” Gramov, however, slowly shook his head.
“That excuse…
won’t work.”