"All right, Brother Ye, you don't have to answer. I was just asking offhand."
Jiang Mian's voice was soft, with a hint of smug amusement hidden in it.
Though she had teased him on purpose, beneath that gentle exterior, Ye Chenyang didn't read anything into it.
Instead, the way she was trying to lift her hand to pat his head looked so adorable to him, as if she were surrounded by a soft-focus filter.
"Mm."
Ye Chenyang followed the pressure of her hand and lowered his head slightly, resting his face against her shoulder as he let her stroke his hair. His own hand drifted down, gently circling her waist.
Thanks to his exceptional mental strength, he could often pick up on details most people would never notice.
For instance, at that moment, he could feel her pulse through her thin skin. It was steady and strong, only a little slower than an ordinary person's.
Was it a physical change caused by her ability?
Perhaps that was one of the reasons she hadn't let him touch her before.
Ordinary Aberrants might worry about their abilities going out of control,
but as someone at the pinnacle, the only things she truly needed to guard against were the subtle changes her ability might make to her self-perception and her body.
Habit was a frightening thing.
Even if an Aberrant insisted they were human, without suppressing the changes, they would gradually grow accustomed to a Calamity's body, until they drifted farther and farther away from being "human."
Judging by the golden eyes she'd had when she confessed her feelings, Jiang Mian could probably suppress those "changes" with ease. But some of her physical traits had likely already changed.
Who would have guessed that this gentle girl before him could bring Doom to every