In his previous life, Tris had mocked the Monkey King: after immobilizing the seven fairies, he had actually gone off to eat peaches. A monkey through and through.
In this life, that mockery had come back to smack him hard in the head. A stunning beauty stood immobilized before him, and he was doing even less than the monkey. There weren't even any peaches nearby for him to eat.
After using the counterspell to restore Pheobe's movement, Tris smiled at her defiant face. "I thought a French witch with such a temper would be pretty formidable, but..."
Tris left the rest unsaid and merely shook his head.
Pheobe gritted her teeth in fury.
She wanted to say that his fighting style wasn't remotely wizard-like. What sort of wizard charged right up to his opponent in the middle of a duel? Why didn't he just hit her with a big stick while he was at it?
But she couldn't say that. It would only sound like a sore loser's excuse.
Although Pheobe really wasn't satisfied with her defeat, she absolutely refused to be labeled a sore loser. Gritting her teeth, she said bitterly, "Enough. I lost the bet, and I'll honor it. You... go ahead and kiss me."
She turned her cheek toward him as though marching to her death.
"Hey, hey, hey. If you're honoring the bet, what's with that funeral face? Don't play if you can't handle losing." Tris looked thoroughly unimpressed.
"You... then what do you want?" Pheobe demanded, glaring.
"Come on, stand properly and face me. Who said anything about kissing your cheek?" Tris wore a teasing expression. "If you really can't stand it, why not close your eyes?"
Pheobe immediately closed her eyes. "Hurry up."
"Sure thing. Now pucker up and cooperate a little. The sooner