Xia Ya's Teasing

"Really?" she asked again in a low voice, her tone carrying an indescribable shyness and a faint tremor.

Those eyes, only just freed from the haze, now seemed brighter and more crystalline—so bright that a dazzling river of stars appeared to flow within them. Her beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief, yet faint specks of anticipation flickered in their depths.

Her heart raced helplessly in her chest, pounding against her ribs like thunderous drums, as though determined to announce the nearly chaotic, unbearably complicated unease that threatened to tear her apart.

Even her breathing suddenly quickened, sounding both hurried and bashful—such a loss of composure was something Natarle had never imagined herself experiencing.

"The current me is more attractive... Major—you, do you really... think that?"

Her formerly clear thoughts had been thrown into complete disarray by Mu's praise and intimate touch, leaving her almost unable to form a coherent question.

Natarle seemed to have taken Mu's casually teasing remark as a sincere, solemn compliment. A strange and fervent joy rose within her, accompanied by an unprecedented emotion she could not identify at all.

That subtle flutter she had never felt before—or rather, had never given herself the chance to feel amid cold surroundings and military discipline—rapidly filled all five of her senses in the briefest instant. All perception and reason vanished at once.

That question successfully shattered all of Mu's nonchalance.

He, too, froze slightly, apparently never expecting things to head in a direction entirely beyond his control.

Mu watched helplessly as crystal-clear light shone in her eyes and a scorching blush, as if capable of igniting charcoal at any moment, spread across her face.

His Adam's apple bobbed twice before he finally forced out a few strained syllables.

"Ah... ah, yes. That's what I think." Mu barely managed to