Serena paused in her tidying and said, "Yes."
The curve of Nicholas's smile deepened.
He was about to lean in close, ready to play the pity card just as she'd suggested.
But then he heard her cool voice again. "But I don't like it."
She turned to face him directly. "I don't like you risking your life to protect me, Nicholas. I'm not some fragile glass doll, Nicholas. I don't need you to do foolish things like that. I'm capable of protecting myself."
Nicholas's smile faded slightly.
He reached out, gently taking her hand and looking deeply into her face. "I know..."
"Serena, I know you're strong, even stronger than I imagined. But in that situation, I couldn't think about anything else. All I knew was that I couldn't let anything happen to you."
His grip was tight, his palm scorching hot, just like the fiery intensity in his eyes that locked onto hers.
“Serena, you're not alone anymore. You have your family, and you have me. You don't have to carry everything by yourself like you used to."
"You can try... leaning on me."
Nicholas's gaze was too intense.
It was so hot it made her heart burn.
A strange, tingling sensation spread from the wrist he was holding all the way to her heart.
She pressed her lips together, her mind replaying the moment of extreme danger when Nicholas had lunged forward, shielding her completely.
And now, Nicholas was looking at her with extraordinary focus, as if she were the only person in his world.
Serena's fingertips trembled slightly.
In the end, she just pulled her hand back and looked away. "You're injured. It's late,
you should get some rest. Staying up late won't help you recover."
With that, she picked up the first-aid kit and turned to go back to her room.
Nicholas watched her back disappear around the corner of the staircase, rubbing the fingertips that still held her warmth.
He smiled, his eyes filled with an almost doting indulgence.
At least...
her reaction just now showed she had some feelings for him.
That was already huge progress.
The pursuit continues. I just have to keep at it!
In the days that followed, Serena was exceptionally busy, spending most of her time
shuttling between the mansion and the Department of Defense.
She needed to work with the
Department of Defense's special operations unit to uncover the
Temaining forces and collusi channels of the two organizations, Siphon and Kurobara Shroud.
She also had to extract every last bit of intelligence value from Black Mirage,
ensuring they had no chance of ever making a comeback.
Meanwhile, Nicholas's back injury, thanks to Serena applying medicine three times
a day, was healing much faster than expected.
By the time everything was more or less settled, it was the day before Brianna's coming-of-age party.
Serena had extracted the last piece of critical intelligence, and the
launched international operation Department of Defense official ne
to wipe out the two organizations.
Her family had been messaging her from time to time over the past few days, asking how she was.
It was time for her to move out of Nicholas's mansion and return to the Lancaster estate.
Early in the morning, Serena packed her things and went downstairs, ready to say goodbye to Nicholas.
But the man who was usually waiting for her in the hall, ready to put on a show for her, was nowhere to be seen.
Fiona quickly explained, "Miss
Lancaster, the young master just took a cat. I believe it was from Old Mr. Blackwood, urging him to go back and deliver something for Miss Brianna. Tomorrow is her coming-of-age party, and he just left."
Serena's long lashes lowered slightly.
He... wasn't here.