Skadi, My Wife

"Of course..."

He wanted to say of course not, but then he suddenly remembered Ch'en's personality, as well as her combat strength comparable to a tyrannosaur. Chen An's voice caught in his throat.

Well, um... Ch'en was a good girl, and she was pretty, that was true. But she was fierce and serious, her combat ability was off the charts, and more importantly, she was an inspector with the Lungmen Guard Department. Normally speaking, probably, maybe, perhaps, hardly anyone would dare date her, right?

Seeing Chen An fall silent as though he agreed, Ch'en's gaze gradually turned unfriendly.

"Chen An, don't tell me you really think so too?"

Anyone who answered yes at a time like this would definitely be an idiot—an idiot who saw Ch'en drawing Chi Xiao and still dared provoke her into exploding.

Chen An considered himself extremely clever. How could he make that mistake?

So he jolted, his expression turning solemn as he chose to deny it without hesitation.

"That's your imagination!"

He spoke with utter certainty, so sincere that he practically raised a hand to swear an oath. "Sure, you're fierce, you like dragging people into the station at the slightest disagreement, you're always carrying dangerous weapons, and your fighting ability is even more terrifying than a tyrannosaur. But you're so cute—how could you possibly fail to find someone? Saying you can't find anyone is just Madam Wei worrying for nothing and accidentally speaking the truth!"

The moment Chen An opened his mouth, Ch'en's face darkened. By the end, it was as black as the bottom of a pot.

She gritted her teeth, her eyes "kind," and her voice so gentle it sounded like she wanted to bite someone. "Thank you for the encouragement, Chen An. Can you wait here for a moment while I go back and get Chi Xiao?"

"Of course not."

Chen An shook his head with a beaming smile, decisively grabbed Skadi, and ran.

What a joke. With the way Ch'en had spoken, if he moved any slower, she might really go back for Chi Xiao and chop him up!

Ch'en did not chase after them. She merely stood where she was, fuming.

Watching Chen An drag Skadi away without letting go of her hand the entire time, she remained standing there even after they vanished from reality.

No one knew how long she stood dumbly at the doorway before she suddenly muttered to herself, "You should understand now, Ch'en Huil. Chen An has always truly seen you as a good friend. So be smarter from now on. Don't listen to your aunt and get carried away trying to steal someone else's boyfriend, understand?"

"And besides..."

She suddenly clenched her fists, stomped her feet, and shouted in despair, "You idiot couldn't steal him even if you tried—!"

Orca Accident.jpg

The stars shone brilliantly tonight.

Walking down a road bathed in starlight, Skadi held Chen An's hand.

Texas had driven the two of them there. Since they did not know how long the dinner would last, Chen An had told her to head back first after dropping them off, without waiting for them.

It was getting late now. Chen An did not plan to trouble Texas by calling her over to pick them up. Instead, he decided to walk with Skadi for a while, find somewhere they could hail a taxi, and ride home—there were no buses at this hour.

"Chen An."

Skadi held Chen An's hand and had not been willing to let go. She said softly, "Officer Ch'en really likes you."

"We're good friends. I like her quite a bit too."

Skadi blinked, her expression becoming somewhat subtle.

She knew the kind of liking Chen An meant was not the same kind she meant.

Exusiai, the master of romance, was always frustrated with Skadi for failing to live up to expectations. She wished Skadi were her wife instead of her sister and was heartbroken that Skadi still had not won Chen An over, thinking she was an idiot.

But Skadi was not actually stupid.

She knew what liking meant and was certain of her own feelings. The only reason Exusiai thought she was stupid was because she was too innocent in that regard, did not overthink things, and had always felt that simply being able to live alongside Chen An was already happiness enough.

Although she was always being lectured and always being looked down upon by Chen An, this sort of life truly made her feel happy and fulfilled.

At the same time, Skadi's view of relationships differed from that of most people on Terra—people from the land. She came from Ægir in the deep sea.

Unlike the nations on land, Ægirians had always believed that the kindness of raising someone mattered more than the kindness of giving birth. Their families were not formed through bloodlines, but through mutual recognition.

If they did not recognize each other, even parent and child would disdain one another. On the other hand, once they recognized each other, even strangers with no blood relation could form an unbreakable family or become companions bound more deeply than most.

And in Skadi's heart, she and Chen An were absolutely companions who recognized each other. If he had not recognized her, Chen An would have abandoned her when they reunited back then. But he had not. He had turned back, and he had brought her to live with him in Lungmen.

So it was obvious that Chen An had already recognized her.

The person she liked recognized her in return. Skadi was already very satisfied with that alone.

Having suffered so much hardship, she was not greedy.

That was why, aside from clinging to Chen An, stealing kisses from him, and making him hold her while she slept, Skadi had basically never forced anything else on him. She and Chen An were already companions who recognized each other. They had a long future ahead of them, and there was no need to rush many things. Taking it slowly, everything would get better, and what was meant to happen would happen. Besides, their current days were already wonderful, weren't they?

"Chen An."

Skadi spoke again. "Exusiai, Texas, and Swire all like you too."

"They're all good friends too. If they didn't recognize me, how would Exusiai and the others become friends with me? By the way, why bring this up all of a sudden?"

Chen An gave Skadi a puzzled glance.

Skadi smiled brightly, gentle as water. "It's nothing. I just wanted to say, can we stay in Lungmen a little longer in the future? If possible, I'd also like to live in our own big house."

Chen An gave a surprised sound. "Just a few days ago, you said you weren't used to living in a big house and wanted to return to the apartment as soon as possible. Why do you suddenly want to live in a big house again?"

Skadi did not answer. She simply hugged Chen An's arm.

You always tell me to do my best, but actually, Exusiai and Texas, you're the ones who should work harder.

You're both good to me, kind, and good to Chen An too. I somewhat recognize you as well. If we could become family, I would be happy too.

So do your best. Work hard to make Chen An stop seeing you as just friends. Otherwise, no matter how much you like him, he'll only take your feelings as friendship.

I won't force Chen An. I can only help you buy some time. Don't be like Talulah and the old me, and let Chen An run away, okay?

Moonlight fell, turning into a silver veil draped over the two walking side by side.

Hazy and beautiful.

Meanwhile, in Chernobog.

Sitting on the edge of a skyscraper rooftop, Red Skadi gazed into the night sky.

Her silver-white hair danced in the wind. Beneath the stars, her figure looked thin and lonely.

She hummed a song no one else understood. Its melody scattered with the wind, faint and indistinct, making those who heard it feel as though they saw rolling ocean waves and, after the tide receded, a barren shore filled with nothing but emptiness.

It was the song of the sea, yet it was filled with sorrow.

Nightingale, watching from the shadows, was deeply worried. "Skadi is singing that song again. It's so sad."

Shining was also secretly observing Red Skadi with Nightingale out of concern. Nearl had been with them too, but she had something to do tonight and did not come.

Listening to Red Skadi's sorrowful song, Shining felt that something was off with her own body. She had actually felt this way ever since the first time she heard Red Skadi sing, but after several examinations, she had found nothing wrong.

"This song always feels abnormal. Is she using some kind of Originium Arts? But isn't Skadi completely incompatible with Originium Arts?"

"Is that really what we should be worrying about right now? Ever since we returned to Chernobog and learned that Chen An wasn't here, and Talulah and the others had no clue where he was, Skadi has been like this. Shouldn't we do something?"

"But there's nothing we can do."

Shining sighed helplessly. "I'm worried about Skadi too, but no matter how worried we are, not knowing where Chen An is means we still don't know. We can't exactly make up a fake message to deceive Skadi, can we?"

"Then what should we do? If this keeps going, I feel like Skadi might leave again. If she leaves in this state, won't it be easy for something to happen to her?"

"In a few days, when Talulah and I go to Lungmen, let's bring her along. Lungmen is a big city. Maybe we'll find something there."

After discussing it with Nightingale for a while, Shining made that decision.

Just then, they suddenly heard a startled cry of "Ah!" Then the sorrowful, unsettling song that had been drifting over to them vanished.

The two turned their heads in surprise and saw that a section of the rooftop edge was missing. Red Skadi, who had been sitting on the edge, was gone as well.

Nightingale: "..."

Shining: "..."

Both had thought of the same possibility. They looked at each other for a moment, and though they both felt it was somewhat immoral, neither could stop themselves from laughing.

Time skipped ahead two days.

On that day, Chen An's old apartment, which had been destroyed in the explosion, was finally rebuilt.

Though the large villa was spacious, Chen An was not attached to it. As soon as he learned the old place had been renovated, he moved straight back in with Skadi.

Exusiai, Texas, and Swire moved back to the apartment with them as well.

There was not much difference between the new home and the old one, aside from the furniture and appliances in the living room and kitchen being replaced after the explosion had destroyed them.

So despite the house having been renovated, everyone adapted well to the new environment—except Swire.

After looking around the new home, Swire pulled Chen An aside and said unhappily, "Hey, what's with this new place of yours? Why is it exactly the same as before? Didn't I give you a ton of money a few days ago?"

She had paid enough for ten figurines, and the price of those figurines had been multiplied enormously. With that much money, even if he could not renovate the place to look like her own home, he should at least have upgraded the quality of the house a little, right?

"Oh, I spent it all. I bought Skadi a few sets of clothes. Exusiai was unhappy that I only bought her games last time, so I bought her a bracelet. Texas likes chocolate bars, so I bought her two boxes..."

Chen An went through the expenses with Swire one by one, then gave his final summary. "After buying all that, I used the rest of the money to buy books and clothes and sent them to the Lower District under your name and Huil's. So there's no money left."

"What did you say!!!"

Her tail stood straight up like bristling fur, and Swire's brows shot up. So furious that she grabbed Chen An by the collar, she shook him hard.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Did I give you all that money so you could spend it like this!? You bought gifts for Skadi and Exusiai, but what about yourself!? Couldn't you buy yourself a few new sets of clothes? And what do you mean by buying things under my name and that Street Dragon's name to send to the Lower District!? If we wanted to give things away, couldn't that Street Dragon and I do it ourselves? That was money you worked hard to earn, idiot!"

"Hey, hey, talk properly. Don't get so handsy. You're shaking me dizzy."

Finally breaking free from Swire's claws, Chen An, dizzy from all the shaking, straightened his rumpled collar and wore a smug expression.

"Who said I didn't buy anything for myself? See that?"

Following the direction of Chen An's pointing finger, Swire saw Exusiai standing on the dining table in the kitchen, looping a rope twisted from bedsheets over the ceiling fan. Beside the table stood Texas, drinking canned beer as she watched the spectacle with great interest, and Skadi, who was merely watching innocently.

"What am I looking at?" Swire asked in confusion.

"The fan! The fan!"

Repeating twice what he wanted Swire to look at, Chen An said with a straight face, "That fan is what I bought for myself. There wasn't a fan in the kitchen before, so whenever it got hot while we ate, Skadi and the others would crowd next to me and say it was cooler around me. Now that we have one, they won't be able to cling to me like that anymore."

At that point, he could not help thanking Swire. "Thanks, rich girl. If it weren't for that huge order of yours, I still wouldn't have had the money to buy a fan."

He had never had much savings before, so he had been reluctant to spend it~

Swire: "..."

She wanted to hit someone.

After finally finding an opportunity to give Chen An such a huge sum of money, this was what he bought for himself?

A hanging fan?

If he had really bought the fan for himself, that would have been fine. She could barely accept it. But was it really for himself?

Bullshit!

He made it sound nice, saying it was to stop Skadi and the others from clinging to him, but in reality, he wanted Skadi and the others to have cool air while they ate too, didn't he?

Swire was speechless. She was so angry she wanted to hit him and curse him out, but seeing Chen An look as though he was genuinely happy, all her anger suddenly disappeared.

She scratched at her hair irritably and cried out in despair, "Aaargh, idiot, idiot, idiot! This young lady is never taking care of your business again!"

At the same time, she decided that she would never rely on Chen An himself again. Whatever she thought he lacked, she would just buy for him herself!

Meanwhile, Miss Exusiai finally tied the bedsheet rope to the ceiling fan.

Turning around, she gave Chen An, who Swire was glaring at fiercely not far away, a sinister look. Exusiai huffed, "Horse racing, car racing, swimming, running, fighting, flying... You actually made me lose so miserably at every game. Just you wait. I'll hang myself here right now, then turn into a red-clothed ghost tonight and come back to scare you to death."

Texas kindly reminded her, "Exusiai, your rope hangs too low. You won't be able to hang yourself like that."

Skadi nodded. She thought so too.

Exusiai: "..."

Her sinister expression froze on her face. Staring blankly at Texas for two seconds, Exusiai suddenly flew into a rage.

She jumped off the dining table with a smack, pointed at Texas, and wailed in unbearable grief, "What do you mean, Texas? What do you mean!? I was just acting to scare that guy, hoping that whenever he plays games with me in the future, he'll remember this and his hands will shake, letting me win at least once! It would've been one thing if you refused to play along and stop me, but you actually said you were worried I wouldn't manage to hang myself. Is that something a good friend should do?"

Her voice gradually rose. "Texas, you bastard, have you forgotten how I've treated you?! When you were sick, I bought you medicine. When you were hungry, I bought you food. If I hadn't always looked after you, would you be living as comfortably as you are now? I've treated you so well, and not only are you not grateful, you're actually hoping I die. I see through you now!"

Texas replied calmly, "Usually, the one who gets sick at home is you. Also, if you didn't constantly mess around and cause me trouble, I think my life would be more comfortable than it is now."