Chapter Fifteen: The Tragic Persecution of a Wayward Youth

She had intended to keep thinking, but as she stared at Ci Mo for only a short while, drowsiness overwhelmed Chao Xu, her eyelids growing heavy and battling each other as sleep threatened to claim her. She yawned, her head nodding uncontrollably, losing any desire to argue with Ci Mo. Lazily she said, "Next time, without my permission, you're not allowed to act on your own, understand?"

It was certainly convenient to hack the aristocratic family's computers directly, but as the saying goes, if you walk by the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet. If they did this too frequently, it might attract the attention of the noble families in the imperial capital, and eventually, they would suffer a backlash.

"Alright, I'll listen to you," Ci Mo replied.

Under the cold moonlight, Ci Mo watched the girl across from him, clearly exhausted yet stubbornly forcing herself to stay awake. He nodded obediently, looking utterly harmless.

Ci Mo was docile, and Chao Xu felt gratified. Her instincts were proven right again; though the little brother she had taken in could stir up a bit of trouble, he was still well-behaved.

"Yawn—" She yawned again, finally succumbing to the relentless tide of sleep. After a few more words of admonition to Ci Mo, Chao Xu collapsed onto the bed and drifted off.

Once Chao Xu was asleep, Ci Mo quietly nudged the furry bundle on the floor aside, then carefully settled himself next to her, closing his eyes in the spot where the furry creature had lain.

So, when Chao Xu woke up the next morning, she felt a warm, hefty mass in her arms and was baffled for a while, unable to figure out what was happening.

Had the furry bundle gained weight overnight?

She glanced down, and her pupils contracted sharply; even her breath stalled.

The boy lying in her arms had messy, softly curled hair, some black locks falling gently over his forehead, contrasting beautifully with his porcelain-white skin. He looked like a living ink painting, half of his usual ascetic chill replaced by an enticing charm that made him resemble a seductive sprite.

Staring at her own hands in a daze, Chao Xu began to doubt her sanity.

Could it be... had she done something utterly shameful to the innocent boy in her arms last night?

No, impossible! She prided herself on being upright and moral, the paragon of restraint—how could she have taken advantage of an amnesiac boy?

And where had the furry bundle gone? Wasn't it sleeping beside her last night?

Sitting up, she scanned the room and finally spotted the fuzzy creature fast asleep on the floor.

…

Tsk, tsk, this little bundle certainly didn’t sleep quietly—how did it manage to roll off the bed and onto the floor?

As Chao Xu observed the furry creature, Ci Mo opened his eyes beside her. Perhaps not fully awake yet, he reached out to half-embrace Chao Xu, leaning against her shoulder like a drowsy cat. "What are you looking at?"

Chao Xu jolted, clutching her blanket, rolling off the bed in a flash, and eyed the disheveled sprite across from her warily.

"You—why are you sleeping in my bed?"

"What? Didn't you pull me onto the bed last night?"

Ci Mo blinked in surprise, his innocent phoenix eyes staring straight at Chao Xu, making her begin to doubt her own memory—wondering if, perhaps, her desires had gotten the better of her and she really had dragged him onto the bed.