"Play a game with me?"
Malinda looked at Arthur doubtfully.
Suspicion was written all over her face.
And she made no effort to hide it-
"I feel like you're up to no good.
And playing a game as compensation...
Do you think I'm a child?"
Malinda folded her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair, her azure eyes fixed unblinkingly on Arthur.
Arthur immediately laughed.
"You can't handle grown-up games, can you?
I'm only trying to accommodate you!
Get to work, woman.
I'm going to catch up on some sleep."
Without giving Malinda another chance to speak, Arthur picked up the little cookies in front of him and lay back down on his bedding on the floor.
He had been seriously short on sleep these past few days.
Both his [Ritual] and his [Bloodline] were telling him so.
Arthur had no desire for anything to go wrong.
Catching up on sleep was obviously a must.
Of course, watching Malinda work nonstop while he snacked before drifting off was a real pleasure.
As he lay there, Arthur imagined the northwesterly wind howling outside, huge snowflakes swirling through the air, and poor Malinda toiling away sweeping the streets in thin clothes.
And Arthur himself?
Naturally, he would be sitting beside a warm fire, cooking slices of lamb in a copper hot pot.
It had to be lamb hot pot!
Anything less would be an insult to Malinda's half-frozen body.
Just thinking about it felt wonderful.
"I suspect you're thinking about something outrageous."
Malinda put down her fountain pen and looked at Arthur.
It wasn't that she couldn't concentrate. Arthur's smile was simply too distracting.
Especially that faint smile tugging at his lips. It was practically begging for a beating.
She really wanted to slap him.
"No.
I was just