Call me hubby

Having successfully earned a B-rank practical combat evaluation, Luo Li felt as bright and radiant as the sunlight that rarely pierced Jiangcheng's Blood-Erosion Clouds.

He returned home with light steps, and the instant he pushed open the door, a familiar warmth greeted him.

"I'm home!"

Castorice was sitting on the sofa, hugging the enormous purple star plush and staring blankly at her tablet screen.

Hearing him, she looked up and blinked her violet eyes, seeming to take an extra moment to focus on Luo Li.

"Ah... welcome home, Luo Li."

Her voice was as ethereal as ever, but it carried a faint trace of distraction, and she did not immediately rise to greet him as she usually did.

Luo Li changed his shoes, sat down beside her, and leaned over curiously to look at her tablet. "What's got you so absorbed? Stuck on the new chapter?"

The tablet displayed a blank document, its cursor blinking alone.

Castorice gently shook her head and hugged the plush a little tighter, resting her chin on the star's soft fluff, her gaze somewhat vacant. "No... it's just, I'm a little... unsure what to write next."

She frowned slightly, seemingly thinking hard, but paired with her exquisite features and slightly bewildered eyes, she looked more as though she was... lost in another world.

Luo Li found this rarely seen, dazed look of hers utterly amusing.

He reached out and waved a hand before her eyes.

"Castorice? Back with us? What's got you so distracted?"

His movement startled Castorice out of her reverie. Her violet eyes blinked, and a trace of embarrassment at being caught appeared on her face as she mumbled, "N-nothing..."

Luo Li could not help laughing and deliberately teased, "Why does our Castorice look so adorably spaced-out today? Is this another one of your hidden charms? An 'airhead' trait?"

"I-it is not!" Castorice immediately protested, her cheeks flushing slightly as she tried to hide her face behind the plush.

"I was just... just planning the plot!"

"Really?"

Luo Li deliberately drew out the word, leaning closer with a mischievous grin.

"Then let me quiz you. What was the first thing I said when I came in?"

"Huh?"

Castorice froze, a flicker of panic crossing her violet eyes. She struggled to remember, only to realize she really did not seem to have caught what Luo Li had said. She only vaguely remembered the fact that he had come home.

"Was... was it 'I'm home'?"

"Correct! Looks like you haven't completely spaced out!"

Luo Li laughed heartily and reached out to ruffle her hair.

Only then did Castorice realize he had been teasing her. Flustered and annoyed, she lightly swatted his hand away. "Luo Li! You're bullying me!"

The sight of her, embarrassed and flustered, trying and utterly failing to maintain her cool image, made Luo Li's heart tickle as though a feather had brushed it.

Looking at her puffed-out cheek and slightly pouting lips, he had a mischievous idea.

"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing."

He pretended to surrender, but the instant Castorice lowered her guard, he suddenly reached out a finger and quickly gave the soft flesh at her waist a light tickle.

"Ah!"

Castorice had not expected this move at all. Her sensitive body shuddered, and she abruptly curled up like a startled kitten, letting out a short, adorable cry.

She looked at Luo Li in disbelief, her violet eyes wide and filled with the accusation, "How could you do that?"

"W-what are you doing!"

Even her voice trembled a little, and her cheeks instantly turned scarlet.

"Hmm? Nothing?"

Luo Li wore an innocent expression, but the laughter in his eyes betrayed him.

"You just looked so cute that I couldn't help myself."

As he spoke, he tentatively reached out again.

"Stay back!"

Castorice immediately retreated with the plush in her arms, looking wary, like a little animal defending its territory.

But the sofa was only so big. Where could she hide?

Luo Li chuckled wickedly, fully embracing the shameless spirit of "strike while they're down," and launched another "attack," his hands nimbly tickling sensitive spots along her waist and under her arms.

"Hahaha... n-no... Luo Li! Stop!"

Castorice had never experienced such "torture." She immediately shook with laughter, almost tearing up, dodging and begging for mercy. Her usual cool, aloof image vanished completely, leaving only a young woman's most genuine sweetness and helplessness.

She tried to block him with the plush, but Luo Li easily pushed it aside.

She wanted to push him away, but laughter had left her limp, unable to muster any strength.

"Call me big brother and I'll let you off!"

Luo Li set his condition without stopping his hands.

"No... hahaha... I won't!"

Castorice clung to her last shred of "dignity."

"Then... call me something nice?"

Luo Li changed his condition, slowing his hands a little, though they still carried a threat.

Castorice seized the chance to catch her breath. Her violet eyes were watery with involuntary tears, her cheeks crimson and her hair a little disheveled, making her look pitiful and utterly alluring.

She looked at Luo Li's face so close to hers, with its mischievous grin and anticipation, and her heart raced wildly.

A mixture of shyness, sweetness, and a slight urge to "get back at him" for teasing her made her, almost without knowing why, softly call out in a trembling voice as faint as a mosquito's hum, "H-hubby..."

That word seemed to possess magic, instantly freezing Luo Li's movements.

The mischievous grin froze on his face, replaced by utter shock and... immense elation.

He had only said it casually, half joking, never expecting Castorice to actually say it.

After all, given her personality and her background in Amphoreus, such a form of address was far too forward, far too intimate.

He had imagined that, at most, she would blush and glare at him, or quietly call him "shameless."

But she... she really said it!

Though her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum, though it was full of shyness and uncertainty, those clear syllables were like the sweetest cannonball, striking his heart with perfect accuracy and blasting him into a dizzy daze, leaving him floating.

"W-what did you just call me?"

Luo Li's voice was a little dry, filled with incredulous delight.

Seeing his dumbstruck expression, some of Castorice's embarrassment suddenly faded, and a tiny sense of triumph at her successful revenge rose in her heart, along with an even stronger surge of sweetness.

She pressed her lips together, gathered her courage, and lifted her shimmering violet eyes to look at him. This time, her voice was a tiny bit clearer, though it still carried a heart-tickling shyness. "Hubby... could you... let me go now?"

Boom!

Luo Li felt that word completely set his reason ablaze.

He stopped tickling her and instead abruptly threw out his arms, pulling her, enormous star plush and all, into a tight, tight embrace.

Castorice could barely breathe in his arms, but she did not struggle. She simply nestled obediently against him, feeling his pounding heartbeat and burning body heat, listening as he repeated in her ear, his voice a little hoarse with excitement:

"Say it again... Castorice, say it again..."

Castorice buried her burning face deep in his chest and shook her head, her muffled voice carrying a petulant refusal. "No... I already said it..."

"No, I haven't heard enough."

Luo Li began acting shamelessly, gently rocking her in his arms. "Wifey, say it again. Just once?"

The word "wifey" made Castorice shudder again, her ears turning so red they almost looked ready to bleed.

She squirmed gently in his arms, but in the end, she could not withstand his coaxing and once again fulfilled his wish in a barely audible voice. "Hubby..."

"Yes!" Luo Li answered loudly, his heart blooming with joy, feeling that his life had reached its peak.

He lowered his head and pressed a series of tender little kisses to her delicately scented hair.

"My sweet Castorice... my wife..."

They stayed tightly wrapped in each other's arms on the sofa, forgetting their earlier "battle" and the frustration of writer's block, with only sweetness and fluttering hearts quietly flowing between them.

Outside the window, the sky gradually darkened, and the Blood-Erosion Clouds stained the last light of sunset a dusky red.

The lights in the room remained off, and the dim light draped a warm, intimate veil over the embracing pair.

"Luo Li..." Only after a long while did Castorice speak softly.

"Hmm?"

"Do... do you like me this way?" she asked quietly, still seeming somewhat uncertain.

"Would you... think I'm too silly? Or... not dignified enough?"

"How could I?"

Luo Li chuckled, cupping her face and looking earnestly into her clear violet eyes in the dim light.

"I like every side of you. Cool, gentle, shy, and just like you were earlier... dazed, adorable, and acting spoiled with me."

His thumb gently brushed her smooth cheek, his tone infinitely tender. "You don't need to put on any act in front of me. Just be your truest self. No matter what you're like, you're always the Castorice I love most."

Castorice stared at him, at the undisguised love and sincerity in his eyes, and the last trace of unease in her heart vanished.

She leaned forward of her own accord and pressed a soft, brief kiss to his lips.

"Mm... I understand, hubby."

This time, though her voice was still shy, it held a little more ease and trust.

Luo Li's heart filled to the brim once again.

Holding her in his arms and looking at the dark red sky outside, he felt that this apocalyptic world, which had once seemed so oppressive to him, had become brighter and more hopeful than ever because of the person in his embrace.

"Castorice."

"Hmm?"

"From now on... can we 'play' like this often?"

"...You meanie."