Skadi, My Wife

Hearing Chen An lecture Skadi for being such a disappointment, Exusiai froze completely.

A washboard!?

The corner of Exusiai's eye twitched twice. She took a deep breath, then—

"—Just die alreadyyyyy!"

Her hair practically stood on end. She shoved Chen An down, straddled him, and grabbed his neck with the savage air of I'm taking you down with me, screaming "Aaaahhh!" again in a fit of helpless rage.

"How dare you ignore me? Hurry up and repent for your sins!"

Having changed clothes and walked out of her room, Texas saw Exusiai and Chen An flirting and bickering... no, Exusiai was shouting cringey slogans while sitting on Chen An's stomach, squeezing his neck as though she genuinely wanted to strangle him to death.

Skadi sat cross-legged beside them, watching the show with great interest. Every now and then, she mischievously poked Chen An's face with a finger—Serves you right for never letting me into the kitchen, always bullying me, and saying I'm heavy. I'll teach you a good lesson!

Texas's tail swayed once. She was utterly baffled. "What happened? I only went to change clothes. How did Exusiai and Chen An start fighting again?"

Skadi looked up at her and said seriously, "Chen An mocked Exusiai for being a washboard. Exusiai got angry."

Texas: "..."

Dark lines appeared on her forehead, and she could not help raising a hand to her face.

He knew perfectly well that Exusiai cared about her bust size, yet he stepped on that landmine every single time. Chen An truly deserved his reputation for courting death.

"...All right, all right. Chen An is almost dead already. Exusiai, get up."

With a helpless sigh, Texas stepped forward and pulled Exusiai off Chen An's stomach.

Exusiai was unwilling to let it go. Her long, pale legs, bare without pantyhose, kicked wildly as she tried to give Chen An another couple of kicks. Unfortunately, she missed, and Chen An swiftly seized the chance to poke the sole of her foot with one finger. The ticklish sensation made her burst into laughter, nearly causing her to fall over.

"Stop bullying Exusiai."

After pulling Exusiai away, Texas glared at Chen An, then handed him the comb in her hand. "Comb my hair too. You're better at it than I am."

Like Skadi and Exusiai, Texas had become more casual and intimate with Chen An after leaving Lungmen. At the very least, when they were still in Lungmen, Texas had always combed her own hair.

Of course, Texas was not making excuses either. Chen An really was better at combing hair than she was. Even Skadi's long, thick hair could be quickly combed smooth by him.

"Clearly, Exusiai is the one who's always throwing her weight around on top of me, okay?"

Chen An curled his lips, casually took Texas's comb, had her sit properly, and began combing her hair as well.

This had become their routine ever since coming to Siesta. Every morning, after combing Skadi's hair, he would help Texas comb hers too. Not only that, he sometimes had to groom her fur as well—her tail fur.

Exusiai watched from the side for a while, then suddenly started making a fuss again. "Why do you only comb Texas and Skadi's hair every time? I want mine combed too! Chen, after you finish Texas's hair, you have to comb mine too!"

Chen An did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Texas and Skadi both have long hair. Your hair is so short, why would you need someone else to comb it?"

Like Skadi, Texas had long hair. Naturally, though, her lovely hair was not nearly as long as Skadi's, only reaching her hips at most.

As for Exusiai, with her energetic, lively, restless personality, she had always kept her hair short.

"I don't care!"

Exusiai said willfully, "We're all together, so why do you comb their hair but not mine? You're playing favorites, openly and blatantly. I'm unhappy!"

Chen An liked bickering with Exusiai and making her hair stand on end, but whenever she made a request, he had always indulged and spoiled her, even when her requests were not particularly reasonable.

Combing hair was hardly a big deal. Since Exusiai cared so much, Chen An naturally would not refuse.

He shook his head helplessly. "You really are becoming more and more like a child... Fine, fine, stop making noise. Once I'm done with Texas's hair, I'll comb yours too."

Exusiai blinked, revealing a satisfied smile, and stopped making a fuss.

Skadi: Let Exusiai Pick Up My Little Salted Fish and Fight You!

After grooming Exusiai's hair following Texas's, Chen An began discussing today's plans with the girls.

"Of course we're going to the beach again!"

Miss Exusiai said energetically, "Golden beaches, blue ocean, and refreshing sea breezes. Since we've come all the way to Siesta, of course we should experience more of its special scenery."

In short, she just wanted to play.

Skadi also said, "I want to go to the beach."

Unlike Exusiai, Skadi was not playful. She simply liked the sea, a place where she could swim to her heart's content.

Texas said she did not mind. She was fine going wherever everyone else went, as long as they did not leave her home alone again.

Having summarized the girls' opinions, Chen An struck his right fist into his palm and declared with complete certainty:

"Exusiai and Skadi both voted for the beach, while Texas said anything is fine. Then the majority shall obey the minority, and we'll stay home and sleep all day. Everything exists in dreams. Everyone can go back to their rooms and lie down for the day; wherever you want to play, you can make it happen in your dreams... Hey, hey, I'm not done talking yet. Exusiai, where are you going?"

Halfway through, Chen An suddenly noticed Exusiai rise and leave with a blank expression. He was extremely displeased.

He wanted to criticize Exusiai's lack of organization and discipline with Texas and Skadi, but before he could speak, he discovered that Exusiai had returned.

Holding one of the Guardian Guns Chen An had given her, Exusiai loaded bullets into it with a series of clicks. At the same time, she looked at Chen An with a kind expression and asked in an equally kind tone:

"Handsome Mr. Chen, I'll give you one chance to reorganize your wording. Say it again. Where are we going today?"

Where? Of course they were going back to their rooms to sleep!

Did she think flattering him and taking out a gun would scare him?

Let her know, he feared neither heaven nor earth. Once he made a decision, never mind one gun—even if there were ten guns, all pointed at his head, he would not change his mind!

Chen An glanced disdainfully at Exusiai and, with his integrity fully intact, resolutely said, "The beach!"

Under Exusiai's armed coercion, Chen An reluctantly left the house.

The moment he opened the door and stepped outside, he saw Ceylon.

"Good morning, Chen An."

Squinting at the friendly Ceylon and the expressionless Schwarz behind her for two seconds, Chen An looked up at the sky.

Ceylon? Miss Schwarz? Had he seen wrong?

After pondering for two seconds without finding an answer, Chen An decisively unleashed his unique ultimate move, a time-related super technique powerful enough to shake heaven and earth—Rewind!

He spread his arms to block Exusiai and the others behind him, swiftly pressed them back inside, and shut the front door while he was at it.

"Chen An, open the door."

Pretending not to hear Ceylon calling from outside, Chen An, whose Rewind technique had successfully returned the scene to before the door was opened, furrowed his brows and fell into thought.

Something was wrong!

Although Ceylon had arrived early every day these past few days, she never came before eight o'clock. Today, to avoid being blocked at the door or running into Ceylon as they went out, they had deliberately changed their departure time to seven.

At this hour, Ceylon should not have been waiting outside.

Yet she was there. Not only was she there, Schwarz was too.

Strange. How had such an unexpected development appeared? Where had things gone wrong?

After thinking for a long while without finding an answer, Chen An turned to Texas. "Texas, while we were out yesterday, did you say anything to Ceylon?"

Texas shook her head. "No. Yesterday, after learning you weren't here, that Liberi young lady left very early. And you know me, I don't like talking to people I'm unfamiliar with."

Texas had a point. Her temperament was so laid-back that even Exusiai mocked her for being frigid. After coming to Siesta, aside from talking more with them, she had barely spoken to anyone else.

Although Ceylon was the mayor's daughter and a young lady from a prominent family, Texas would not treat her differently because of that. Therefore, Ceylon's strange behavior should have nothing to do with her.

So Chen An turned to Exusiai. "Exusiai, you talk more. Did you say anything to her?"

Exusiai rolled her eyes. "I was with you the whole time yesterday. What could I possibly have said to her?"

"Skadi?"

"I wasn't home yesterday either."

"Then what exactly is going on?"

Chen An stroked his chin, feeling that things were becoming increasingly strange. "She suddenly came earlier. Could Ceylon see the future, or did she guess in advance that we might leave early? She doesn't look that smart."

"What's there to agonize over?"

Exusiai complained, "At worst, tell her we have something to do. We're not close with her, so it's not like she can insist on coming along with us, right? Also, why do you think we caused her strange behavior? You have more tricks than anyone. If she really is acting strangely, it must be because of something you did. Did you forget? That young lady only started bothering us entirely because of you!"

Chen An: "..."

After a moment of silence, he suddenly slammed his fist into his palm. "That's right! Ceylon came to find me last night, and I said a few more things to her to trick her into going home. Could that be why she came so early today?"

Last night!?

Texas's ears twitched, and she seemed somewhat concerned.

Exusiai immediately became alert. "What do you mean, last night? Weren't you at home last night? How did you come into contact with that woman?"

"Wasn't it because of you? You're bad at games but love playing them, and you can't accept losing."

Chen An looked at Exusiai disdainfully. "If you hadn't kicked me back to my room because you couldn't accept losing, how would Ceylon, who was hiding downstairs, have spotted me while I was admiring the moon? If I hadn't cleverly tricked her into going home, I might have had to go meet her father at her house today!"

Do not misunderstand. Meeting her father simply meant meeting Ceylon's father, nothing else.

Exusiai suddenly got angry. "And you have the nerve to say that! Is that how you play games? You're ridiculously good at everything. You've never even lost rock-paper-scissors. What kind of player are you? You're obviously a demon heaven sent to piss me off!"

"Stop."

Making a stopping gesture, Texas interrupted them. "This isn't the time to talk about that. That Liberi young lady is still outside."

"Why don't I go out and chase them away?"

Skadi raised her arm, her skin as fair as jade, looking as though she were saying I'm very strong. "Those two aren't my opponents. Even without weapons, I can drive them away with my fists."

Chen An was speechless.

He remembered that Skadi seemed to have said the same thing yesterday.

Whenever anything happened, she only thought about relying on force. Wasn't that far too reckless?

Too lazy to talk to this headstrong girl who was clearly beautiful yet always wanted to start fighting at the slightest disagreement, Chen An thought for a moment before his gaze fell on Exusiai.

He said earnestly, "As the saying goes, sacrifice the small self to save the greater self. Exusiai, make a small sacrifice today. Help keep Ceylon and Miss Schwarz occupied later. The three of us will leave through the second-floor balcony, just like yesterday. What do you think?"

Exusiai did not answer. Instead, she turned to Skadi. "Skadi, did you bring the knife I always told you to keep on you?"

Skadi blinked and pulled out a pair of nail clippers from her pocket.

Snatching the nail clippers from Skadi, Exusiai unfolded them and pointed the flipped-open lever at Chen An like the tip of a sword.

"See this knife? This is a knife that can cut even things as hard as nails."

Miss Exusiai looked fierce and murderous as she shouted with a tone full of resolve, "If you dare leave me home alone, I'll use this knife to perish together with you!"

Chen An: "..."

Finding Exusiai difficult to deal with, he shifted his gaze to Skadi.

Thinking Chen An wanted her to take Exusiai's place, Skadi immediately looked flustered.

She quickly snatched the nail clippers back from Exusiai, clenched them tightly at Chen An, and nervously said, "I-I don't want to stay home alone either. I don't want to be separated from you. If you insist on doing this, I-I-I..."

He had never actually considered leaving Skadi behind. Looking at her had simply been an instinctive reaction. Yet seeing her adorable, nervous appearance as she stammered for so long, Chen An could not help becoming curious. "What will you do?"

Skadi stammered for a while longer before suddenly having a flash of inspiration and finding an answer.

She stuffed the nail clippers back into Exusiai's hand, hid behind Exusiai, and loudly announced her threat, "I'll give the nail clippers to Exusiai and let her perish together with you!"

Exusiai: "..."

Although Skadi's threat seemed somewhat wrong, Exusiai still protected her. She pulled Skadi, who was always recklessly bold whenever something happened but became incredibly timid whenever facing Chen An, behind herself.

She said fiercely, "Titi is right. If you dare leave her alone, I'll perish together with you too!"

Texas silently hid behind Exusiai as well.

Then, after spending so much time with Exusiai and Chen An that she had unknowingly changed in some way, she declared righteously, "If you leave me behind, I'll make Exusiai perish together with you too."

Exusiai: "???"

Skadi was one thing. Chen An had her completely under his thumb, and she could do nothing about him. But Texas, you're not like Skadi, so why do you want me to perish together with Chen An too?

And besides, weren't you very imposing when you threatened me with a sword yesterday? Why do you act so obedient around Chen An?