Ryu didn't know what he expected to hear, but it certainly wasn't that.
"Why do you look so surprised?" Elena giggled. "Wait, stay like that, it's the first time I've seen that expression on your face. It's almost as handsome as that cold, stern look. No, no-go back!"
Elena seemed to be having the time of her life trying to get Ryu to change his facial expressions on her whim, and it was ironically because he was trying to keep in control that they kept changing in the first place.
"Are you finished?"
"Not yet," Elena grinned, poking at Ryu's cheek.
"Alright, that's enough," Ryu spoke as he slowly pushed himself up.
"Hey, easy. Your body isn't-"
"My body is fine."
"No it isn't!"
Ryu sneered. "That's none of your business."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Didn't you just say your body was fine? Now you're not denying that it isn't anymore?"
"I do believe you!"
"Leave me alone, woman."
Ryu pulled back his rage, he used the sudden surprise the woman gave him as a chance to try and extricate himself from this situation. He felt that if he didn't rein this under control, next time he might truly end up dying. By then, what would the point of all of this have been? To live a mortal and die a mortal? Absolutely not.
Before he could stand, though, Elena's palm pressed down on his chest and he felt that rage about to come bubbling forth again. But before he could speak, she did first.
"I really do believe you! You are very impressive, and I don't mean that in a condescending way. I've never seen anyone else piss off my annoying grandmother more than you have."
Ryu frowned. Was this woman trying to compliment his sharp tongue? He was having a really hard time not snapping right now.
Elena giggled. "Of course, you're also capable of doing things no one else has been able to do? How many lost Shrines have you found already? How many Spiritual Herbs have you revived? I also heard that you improved your parents' Spiritual Foundation-or at the very least, you're close."
Ryu tried to sit up at that again, but Elena pressed him down.
His mind was in turmoil. He could care less about the compliments, but there was something fishy going on here.
The matter of the Spiritual Foundations was top secret information, that was something that his grandparents had only recently found out about, how could she know about it? That was ridiculous.
The only people that knew were the people he trusted the most in this world. None of them would betray him, that was certain.
The only explanation seemed to be that it was his fault. This woman had extracted the memories from his soul and he hadn't been able to resist because again, he was too weak.
Elena smiled, seemingly understanding Ryu's thoughts.
"Didn't I tell you? Granny Kunan and I are very close. She's my future granny-in-law, how could we not be!"
Ryu's brows furrowed.
"Either way, you're a great man. You don't need to press so hard to be perfect all the time. How about you learn a thing or two from me and be lazy from time to time, hm?"
Ryu shook his head. That woman was really too much.
That had started a stretch of time where he was "forced" to be lazy, whatever that meant. He wasn't allowed to go into the library, he wasn't allowed to continue his research, and he was forced to listen to Elena's incessant nagging everyday.
As for his family? They were nowhere to be found as though they had all tacitly decided to avoid him.
To this day, Ryu still had no idea how Elena managed to convince them to allow that to happen. Though, some of them were probably paying attention from the shadows. It wasn't like he could tell the difference even with his eyes back then.
Finally, though, after his condition stabilized, Elena went away and disappeared for quite a while.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShe never really told Ryu why she had vanished back then, but Ryu had a feeling that she had just given up.
Even for someone who had lived for almost a million years like her, at least that was the case back then, there was only so much patience she could have. She had already done more than her fair share and Ryu seemed to have no intention of meeting her halfway.
For someone as prideful as Ryu, just one rejection was enough for him to never bother again. He had no idea how Elena had done it.
Then that fateful day came.Ryu sat under the moonlight, looking out toward the open double doors that led to his terrace. The Tatsuya Clan was quite hot year 'round, so even in the depths of the night, he didn't feel particularly cold.
His mind flickered to that woman before he shook his head. Why was he thinking about her again?
Women... he had had their fair share throw themselves at him, but he never took any of them seriously. His pride didn't allow it.
Sometimes he thought about finding a mortal woman to marry one day... it wasn't like he wanted to be alone. But he felt that that would be like giving up, like resigning himself to the fact that he would never be able to cultivate in his life.
His head suddenly snapped back as his [Third Perspective] sensed something. But when he saw the scene before him, he was baffled.
Beneath the moonlight, her exposed skin was nothing short of perfection. It glittered like a silvery, polished metal, her pink-diamond hair and eyes twinkling with their own light.
Her curves, the healthy, elastic drop of her breast, the faint sheen of red that seemed to point to an embarrassment he had never seen her wear before...
It was all accentuated by the fact she struck such a valiant pose, her arms akimbo and her legs spread to reveal another patch of sparkling pink.
"You're the first man to see my everything, now you have no choice but to take responsibility. Come, put a child in me!"
Ryu was speechless.