"Move aside!" Adrian Night's voice was so cold it could probably freeze the sun—seriously, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, and everyone got hit with a full-body shiver. (Note to self: never mess with this guy in winter.)
The hundred-plus sword dudes blocking his way all shot each other a look, then stared back at him like, "Uh, you wanna go first, or should I?"
"Don't make me say it twice!" His sword slid out from his waist—slow, deliberate, and with that classic 'shiiing' sound—while Adrian's eyes locked onto the black-clad sword squad, half-lidded but murderously intense, like he was leaking killing intent all over the place.
"Adrian Night, Ice Palace Master!" One guy with more guts than sense stepped forward and blurted out his name like it was supposed to mean something.
His sword slid out of its sheath with a creepy 'szzzzt' sound, making everyone's hair stand up like they just stuck their fingers in a socket.
Adrian Night was clearly done with this nonsense. You could practically see the steam coming out of his ears—he was not here for chit-chat.
"Wait, do you even know who we are? We're sword guys too, you know!" The man peeked at Adrian's icy glare and nearly peed his pants, but still tried to puff up and announce his name.
"Three, two..." Honestly, if he could avoid throwing hands, he would. Fighting was a pain, wasted energy, wasted time. If these dudes had any sense, they'd just scoot out of the way and save everyone the trouble.
"Wait!" For some reason, even though he was a sword guy too, Adrian's vibe was so overpowered that just standing there made his knees wobble.
Obviously, that thought was super embarrassing. This weird feeling of being totally outclassed was making him squirm—like, who said this guy was supposed to be easy to deal with?
"Bring her out—now!" The leader noticed that if he wasted even one more sentence, that sword was probably going to come flying out of its sheath and straight at him.
"Brother..." Suddenly, a sobbing voice came from the crowd of black-clad men. The next second, they parted to reveal a woman with messy hair and a sword at her throat, dragged forward by one of the goons.
"Qingqing!" Adrian Night's eyebrows shot up and he couldn't help blurting out her name.
"Bro... bro, save me, save me..." The woman's hair was a total disaster, her face streaked with tears from top to bottom.
Adrian's face kept shifting as he realized who they'd grabbed—it wasn't just some random hostage, it was Night Qingqing, his one and only little sister. And now, she was sporting a seriously huge belly.
Wait, could it be—Adrian's mind flashed to a certain scene. Was it back in Flame Valley? Did she really get pregnant that time?
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense—her belly looked like she was about to pop. If everything was normal, she had to be close to giving birth, right?
"Bro, save me, save me..." In this moment, Night Qingqing had zero of her usual bossy attitude. Her hair was a mess, her face was all tears, and both hands were clutching her belly tight—clearly, she was desperate to protect the baby inside.
"Qingqing..." Adrian couldn't help letting out a sigh, his face showing a whole rollercoaster of emotions.
"Haha, so you’re not a total block of ice after all! So you do have feelings, you do have expressions. Turns out, she’s your soft spot, huh?" The old man leered, grinning like he’d just discovered gold.
Watching Adrian's expression go from bad to full-on thunderstorm, the old guy couldn't help but smirk. Wow, Empress Dowager Cao really played a genius move with this one.
He glanced at the sobbing girl beside him, then the black-clad creep leered, "Hey, sweetheart, quit your crying. Once I handle your brother, I'll take good care of you, if you know what I mean."
"Ew, gross!" Clara Night spat right in the old man's face, pure disgust written all over her.
"You—"
"Touch her and see what happens!" Adrian snapped, voice so icy it could freeze lava. The old creep paused, hand halfway to slapping Clara Night, suddenly not so brave.
That voice made the old guy flinch, hand hovering awkwardly. He wiped Clara's spit off his face and tried to play it cool. "Adrian Night, are you really still clueless about your situation? Listen up—" He looked up at the sky and kept ranting, "Outside, the fighting never stops. The Chu Kingdom's toast, and the glorious Soaring Phoenix Realm is about to unite the Serpent World! You people are about to be permanent residents of this graveyard!"
Adrian ignored his fantasy villain speech and just looked at Clara Night, pure worry written all over his face.
"Bro..." Clara Night's tears kept falling, and hearing him call her name made her chest ache so bad she almost doubled over.
"Bro..." By now Clara's voice was so hoarse it sounded like she'd swallowed sandpaper. She must've cried herself raw. "Bro... Aiden... Aiden was killed by them, killed by them..." Her sobs got louder, her whole body shaking. Total breakdown incoming.
"Clara..." Adrian froze at her words, staring at her face—there was something in her expression he hadn't seen before...
"Bro, he was my man—your brother-in-law, the father of my child..." Clara Night couldn't even finish. Her tears said everything.
All this time, he'd been by her side. Even after she came back to the palace with a temper that could melt steel, he still pampered her, put up with her, did stuff no sane person would ever do just to make her smile.
She’d laugh—super sarcastic, by the way—and tell him, "If you want me to eat, fine, but you have to eat with me." Of course, she got the table, and he had to crawl on the floor like a dog and eat down there. Only then would she eat. She knew it was totally messed up, figured it’d chase him off, but nope. He stuck around, eating like a dog every day, no complaints.
When she found out she was pregnant, she tried everything to get rid of the baby. But he stayed by her side, comforting her nonstop, taking every slap and insult without fighting back. He’d even dress up as a beggar, as a woman, or crawl around barking like a dog—just to cheer her up.
It hurt to think about. How much love does it take for a guy to do all this for a girl? Seriously, is this even humanly possible?
Of course, she didn’t believe it. She figured he only stuck around because she was carrying his kid.
So she watched him crawl, watched him act like a beast just to make her happy. Seeing him suffer made her weirdly pleased. But after a while, watching him do it over and over, she started feeling... off. Uncomfortable, even. She blamed it on her growing belly and tried not to think about it.
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It wasn’t until those black-clad killers stormed the Ice Palace that she finally understood.
He could’ve run. They only wanted her. But he didn’t...
Yeah, he didn’t run. Instead, he stepped up, protected her, and got beaten to death for it. And at the very end, he was still smiling, mouthing three words: 'I love you.'
That was the moment she finally got it—he’d always loved her. Really, truly loved her.
But she’d always been petty, always doubting whether he meant it.
Only then did she understand what real pain was. It wasn’t like her obsession with her brother—not jealousy, not possessiveness. It was just pure pain, the kind that hurts so much you can’t breathe...
Her tears filled her eyes, spilled down her cheeks, her breath caught in her throat. Pain, pain, and more pain.
Turns out, she did have feelings. Turns out, she’d already fallen for him without realizing it.
She never told him, but as her belly grew and she felt the baby kick for the first time, her heart finally softened. From that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to hurt the innocent little life inside.
With every kick, she felt something new—warmth, a weird kind of happiness she couldn’t explain.
And that’s when she realized she didn’t hate Ivy Shen anymore, didn’t hate Adrian Night anymore, and started to not hate him either...
Aiden really was a good guy. Back in Flame Valley, he knew Colin Kerr had slept with her too.
But he still loved her, still treated her like a queen. He even said if the baby turned out to be Colin’s, he’d raise it like his own—because it was hers.
He treated that baby like his own flesh and blood, loved it with all his heart. He even said one kid was enough—he’d heard childbirth was super painful, and he couldn’t stand to see her suffer again.
Why? Why is it that just when she finally understood what real love was, it disappeared so cruelly?!
Her tears fell like pearls, one by one, 'plop, plop,' onto the noisy ground, silent but endless.
"Clara..."
"Bro, I love him. I really do. But... but he never got to hear me say it..." Her voice shook. "I can’t... I can’t let his only child die too."
That night, both Aiden and Colin were out of it, but she was totally clear-headed. From the moment she got pregnant, she knew the baby was Aiden’s, because Colin never actually slept with her. No way was it his kid.
But she never told anyone. She didn’t know why—maybe she just wanted to see how forgiving a man could be. She’d never really believed in love, not once.
But why, just when she was about to believe, did fate have to be so cruel? Why?!
"Clara..." Adrian Night’s eyebrows scrunched tighter. That look on her face—he’d never seen it before. But it was familiar, too. When Ivy Shen fell off that cliff, he’d felt the same gut-wrenching pain.
She really did love him. Truly, with all her heart.