Sparkle, Thrills in the Snow!

Lin Hai walked behind the mansion into a secluded courtyard, where the only sound was the faint rustling of branches under the weight of snow.

In the distance, the wind swept past the eaves with a mournful howl.

The courtyard was deserted, as though the whole world had held its breath in the bitter cold.

Sparkle suddenly pressed close, slipped her arms softly around Lin Hai's neck, and let him support her full weight.

She tilted her face up, utterly alluring, and lowered her voice. "Hey... I'm Mr. Lin. Want to try something more exciting?"

Lin Hai looked down at the glimmer dancing in her eyes. His arms naturally circled her waist as he answered, "Yes."

"Then come on~" she said with a soft laugh.

"How?"

Sparkle's gaze swept across the courtyard.

Trees draped in white, benches buried under thick snow, and the towering outline of Belobog's walls, visible now and then through the curtain of snow.

"Look," she said, her voice softer still, yet carrying an enticing magic. "All this ice and snow, not a soul in sight... Isn't it the perfect stage, and the most dangerous one too? Here... no one will catch us, no matter what we do."

Lin Hai looked around the silent place wrapped in pure white, though reason still reminded him, "Here... isn't quite appropriate."

Even with their extraordinary constitutions that let them brave the cold, they could still be discovered out in the open.

"Hmm..." Sparkle hummed in agreement, her eyes shining even brighter. "Then... why don't we go outside the city? The real wilderness, with nothing but snow and us."

The even bolder suggestion actually made Lin Hai breathe easier, while stirring him even more.

"Sure."

He took her hand.

The two quietly left the mansion, their figures soon disappearing into the far vaster world of wind and snow beyond Belobog.

They did not notice a slender figure quietly emerging from behind a pillar in the corridor a short distance behind them.

Bronya watched them leave side by side. Driven by worry and curiosity, she suppressed her hesitation and quietly followed.

Outside the city, the snow fell even harder.

Snowflakes poured down, weaving a thick curtain that blurred everything. Visibility was extremely poor, as though the whole world had been wrapped in a cocoon of chaos.

In this secluded realm of ice and snow, Sparkle turned and embraced Lin Hai tightly.

No more words were needed. Their lips met in a kiss mingling the chill of ice and snow with burning warmth.

Snowflakes landed on their eyelashes and the tips of their hair, then quickly melted against the warmth of their touching skin.

When the kiss finally ended, white mist escaped between their briefly parted lips before they met again in a deeper kiss.

A hazy shimmer glistened in Sparkle's eyes.

She raised a hand, hooked her fingertips into the fabric on her shoulder, and gently tugged it down.

A small patch of her fair, rounded shoulder was exposed to the biting air and falling snowflakes, and her skin immediately broke into tiny shivers.

Lin Hai's gaze darkened. He lowered his head and pressed a warm kiss onto that cool skin.

It was a possessive gesture, both fragile and full of tension against the backdrop of swirling snow!

Not far away, Bronya hid behind a spruce covered in ice and snow, catching glimpses of the scene through gaps in the branches.

She froze, her pupils narrowing slightly in shock.

She had never expected to witness such an intimate, daring scene.

Then a powerful wave of shyness swept over her, heating her cheeks. Almost instinctively, she wanted to turn and flee.

Yet Bronya's feet seemed nailed to the snow.

Some complex and powerful emotion.

Mingled with curiosity, an indescribable flutter, and perhaps a trace of envy she herself was unwilling to admit.

It held her fast.

The swirling snow blurred the two figures, but also made the embracing, kissing pair seem even more like a dreamlike vision.

In the end, Bronya did not leave. She simply held her breath and remained there amid the ice and snow, a silent onlooker with turbulent thoughts.

Lin Hai tilted his head back, gazed at the endlessly swirling curtain of snow beneath Belobog's eternally frozen sky, and exhaled.

His breath condensed into white mist in the bitter cold.

He felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation and control.

He reached out and drew Sparkle naturally into his arms, saying softly, "I'm going back for a moment. I'll be quick."

Sparkle nodded in his arms. "Okay, I'll wait here for you."

Lin Hai gripped the Contract Lucky Star tightly.

The next moment, before the eyes of Sparkle and Bronya in the distance, he vanished from the ice field without warning.

Almost instantly, Lin Hai found himself in his warm, familiar living room.

Without wasting a moment, he directed his gaze straight to the supplies already prepared in the corner: five large, bulging woven plastic sacks.

Lin Hai reached out and seized the five sacks, then gripped the Lucky Star again. A faint light flowed as a powerful spatial force enveloped him and all the supplies.

Immediately afterward, amid Belobog's biting wind and snow, his figure abruptly appeared in a faint glow.

The five enormous woven plastic sacks appeared along with him, resting securely in a pile at his feet.

Lin Hai flexed his fingers, then bent down and effortlessly picked up the entire load.

The heavy supplies, enough to crush several burly men, seemed to weigh nothing in his hands.

His control over his own strength had reached a level where he could handle a heavy load as though it were light, with ease to spare.

Beside him, Sparkle instinctively took half a step forward, intending to help carry some of it. But seeing his relaxed expression and his arms steady as rocks, she stopped herself from speaking.

A trace of admiration showed in her eyes as she stepped back to his side, reassured.

Yet Bronya, who had watched it all from a distance, was shaken as never before.

She had seen Lin Hai vanish into thin air with her own eyes, then witnessed his return and the supplies that seemed to have fallen from the sky.

It completely defied every physical law she knew.

The immense shock nearly rooted her to the spot, leaving her unable for a moment to comprehend the miracle before her.

Though her emotions churned, Bronya quickly composed herself in the end.

She drew a deep breath of the frigid air and silently followed Lin Hai, who walked easily despite carrying the supplies, and the mysterious, beautiful woman at his side, toward Belobog's towering city gate.

Sparkle was still in high spirits. Smiling, she asked Lin Hai:

"How did it feel out in the snow?"

"Pretty exciting."

"How did it compare to being at home?"

"Hmm... they're two different feelings. It's hard to compare them."

"Between the two, my Mr. Lin, which do you prefer?"

"I like it when little Sparkle is sweet and well-behaved."

"Nonsense. What part of me is sweet and well-behaved?"

"Other people may not see that side of you, but I see it perfectly clearly."

"Nonsense! I'm not like that at all!"