Chapter 6
Xie Rin was already the center of attention in the archery hall.
Naturally, many eyes turned to watch their interaction.
Fu Xia leaned back, taking a step away to avoid the hand Xie Rin was trying to press to her lips. If that little psycho rubbed them a few more times, her mouth would be completely ruined.
Her luck today was abysmal. First, she was cornered by Chen Wang, then mauled by Pei Wang, and now she had to deal with Xie Rin.
Being so obviously rebuffed, the smile on Xie Rin’s face vanished completely. He lowered his head, his eyes fixed on Fu Xia, silently waiting for an answer.
Fu Xia came up with a random excuse. “It’s nothing, I just bumped into something.”
A lie.
Xie Rin hated things that were outside of his control. Since he had declared he was going to observe Fu Xia, her every move was supposed to be completely under his command.
Therefore, Xie Rin decided to give Fu Xia a little punishment.
A smile returned to his exquisite, beautiful face. He lowered his hand and slowly straightened the hem of his dress, which had become slightly rumpled from his brisk walk.
“Then you should be more careful, sweetie. It would be bad if you fell and hurt yourself somewhere else.”
Fu Xia wanted Xie Rin to leave quickly; after all, they weren’t that close.
“Okay, I’ll be careful.”
Xie Rin turned and walked away.
The students at this elite academy were all shrewd observers. They could clearly sense that after just a few words with Fu Xia, Xie Rin’s mood had soured.
“Xie Rin, is she your friend?”
“No, just my current roommate.”
“…I almost forgot that ‘the poor’ is your Art Division’s project this quarter.”
“Are you trying to be friends with her? That scholarship student wasn’t very polite to you.”
Xie Rin didn’t answer. His silence only confirmed to those around him that he was displeased with Fu Xia.
“…Haha, what are you even saying? Let’s not forget Xie Rin transferred from the Night Division a few months ago.”
A sycophantic follower glanced at Fu Xia, a malicious glint in his eye. “That girl… looks like she’ll have to learn the hard way just how lucky she is.”
Xie Rin was swept away by the crowd.
Fu Xia didn’t hear any of their malicious words. She simply moved away, putting some distance between herself and that group.
There were about twenty students in the hall, but only five of them, including Fu Xia, were scholarship students—just enough to form a small team.
A girl next to her glanced over, hesitated for a second, and then whispered to Fu Xia while grabbing her arrows, “You… you should probably be careful later.”
The girl took her bow and left. Fu Xia whispered back, “Thank you.”
The wealthy and powerful students took their health very seriously; most had been training their bodies since childhood. Fu Xia, on the other hand, had often gone hungry as a child and was frequently beaten. Over time, her health had deteriorated, and she was prone to low blood sugar. The web novel trope of a “scholarship student with superhuman combat skills who flips a rich young master on his back” was highly unlikely to happen here.
…It was far more likely she’d be pinned to the ground and beaten while trying to resist.
In terms of fighting ability, Fu Xia was a complete novice. She had never learned archery, but fortunately, a teacher was there to instruct the few scholarship students.
“Straighten your back. Use your strength here.”
As the teacher corrected their posture, he added, “As expected, you’ll all end up on one team. The passing requirement for the assessment is simple: just survive for five minutes.”
Fu Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
She took aim at the target. Just as she was about to release the bowstring, an arrow shot from the side with considerable force and struck her squarely in the temple.
Fu Xia’s head buzzed.
The arrow had a foam rubber tip, but at that speed and force, the pain was no less than being hit with a hammer. She instinctively clenched her jaw, her grip on the bow tightening as she whipped her head around to look at the perpetrator.
The culprit had a smug look on his face. He lowered his bow in what he thought was a cool gesture and ran a hand through his hair, trying to show off for Xie Rin.
And Xie Rin, standing behind him, met Fu Xia’s gaze. He tilted his head and gave her a smile, looking beautiful and innocent.
…Is he even human?
Fu Xia took a deep breath and turned back, clutching her head. A throbbing pain pulsed at her temple, and a fire of suppressed rage burned hotter and hotter in her stomach.
Fu Xia’s reaction only worsened Xie Rin’s mood. The young vampire felt an inexplicable annoyance at being ignored. He watched as Fu Xia braced herself on the table with one hand while clutching her head with the other, her lips pale from the pain.
In Xie Rin’s mind, she was supposed to be terrified, to cry and wail in fear just as she had with Pei Wang, and to come seeking his protection.
But Fu Xia didn’t.
The glance she’d thrown his way held no excess emotion. Even if she was furious, she simply lowered her head and endured it.
Why?
Was it because being bitten by Pei Wang felt good?
He hadn’t given her permission to have so much contact with Pei Wang. Fu Xia was supposed to obediently wait for his command. Couldn’t she just come over now and properly admit her mistake?
The hand hanging by Xie Rin’s side suddenly clenched the hem of his dress. He lost control of his strength; blue veins popped on the back of his pale hand as he crumpled the fabric.
The clueless human was still trying to curry favor. “Xie Rin, look at her, she looks so stupid.”
“I should have aimed for her right hand. Oh well, I’ll just do it again.”
Xie Rin said coldly, “Have you no manners? Aren’t you going to apologize?”
His words silenced the entire area.
Xie Rin was beautiful, but his moods were volatile. This was a fact all his admirers knew, but because he was so exquisite, most were willing to overlook his personality.
“Uh… right, right.”
The boy, having been rebuffed, put on a stiff expression and shuffled over to Fu Xia under Xie Rin’s dark glare.
“Hey, you…”
Before the rich stranger could apologize, Fu Xia quickly raised a hand. “I’m fine. I know you didn’t mean it.”
Endure it. Don’t smash this bow over his head.
Although she desperately wanted to pin him to the ground and beat him bloody, Fu Xia couldn’t afford to take that risk right now.
She lowered her eyes.
…A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years.
The boy gave her a “you-know-what’s-good-for-you” look and returned to his group.
Fu Xia didn’t look at Xie Rin again. She rubbed her temple, turned around, and picked up her bow and arrow once more.
For the rest of the class, a single gaze followed her like a shadow. Other than that, she was left alone. The other scholarship students, wanting to protect themselves, kept a deliberate distance from her, and those who had planned on bullying her to please Xie Rin also backed off.
It was only after class, when she was held back by the teacher to clean up the equipment, that Fu Xia was suddenly dragged into a storage room.
The moment the door closed, Fu Xia smelled Xie Rin’s characteristic fragrance. The thought of him made her temple ache again, and her tone was stiff. “…What now?”
Xie Rin wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. His cool breath and the strange scent emanating from him made it hard for Fu Xia to concentrate. The numerous complex ornaments on his dress dug into her back, making her uncomfortable.
He lowered his head, turned his face, and pressed a kiss to the red mark on her temple left by the arrow. The gesture was incredibly intimate.
“…Was it Pei Wang who bit your lip?”
Fu Xia’s patience was wearing thin. “Is this also part of your ‘observation of the poor’?”
“I told you I would observe you completely, from the inside out,” Xie Rin let out a low, ambiguous laugh. “Just tell me the truth. I won’t mind.”
Xie Rin was fickle. He said he wouldn’t mind, but he probably minded a great deal. Fu Xia couldn’t tell if he was possessive of Pei Wang or of her… but the former seemed more likely.
She wanted to say she had zero interest in Pei Wang. If these people hadn’t barged into her life, she would still be an ordinary, invisible student on the fringes of the school.
“Yes,” Fu Xia said.
Xie Rin: “Did you enjoy it? Why didn’t you reject him?”
Fu Xia was speechless. She lowered her head and tried to pry his hands off her, wanting to break free and leave.
Xie Rin’s voice turned sarcastic and biting. “Pei Wang can bite you, but I can’t?”
“I thought you’d remember he’s a guy who almost killed someone, sweetie. Turns out you’re just a dishonest little thing…”
Fu Xia was baffled by his sudden jealousy. “Is there some absolute necessity for you to bite me?”
“Fine,” Fu Xia said, exasperated. “I didn’t want it either. I just couldn’t resist a young master from the Night Division. Are you satisfied now?”
Xie Rin: “Sweetie, didn’t I say I would protect you?”
Fu Xia: “Protect me?”
Even Fu Xia, who had been enduring everything with all her might, couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. “Weren’t you the one who ordered him to shoot an arrow at me in class today?”
Her struggling only made Xie Rin’s grip tighten. Fu Xia felt her waist being squeezed, a bizarre sensation like she was being kneaded into his body. In the struggle, she must have bumped into something, because Xie Rin let out a sharp gasp. “Ah…”
His voice was androgynous, the low sound strangely husky.
Fu Xia froze.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
This guy… could he actually be into girls?
But Xie Rin released her, only to pull her back just as she tried to get away. A flash of red crossed his eyes. He revealed a cruel smile.
“If Pei Wang gets to have it, then so do I.”
Xie Rin located the wound on Fu Xia’s lip. With one hand pressing her down by the waist and the other cupping her chin, he bit down on her mouth.
The sharp tips of his teeth barely grazed her skin, but it was enough to draw blood. Upon tasting what was hers, Xie Rin’s pupils constricted.
Vampires couldn’t taste human food, but they could distinguish the nuances of blood. The blood of the young was fresher, that of the old richer. The blood of a healthy person tasted good, while that of the sick might be bitter.
But Fu Xia’s blood was different.
Xie Rin lowered his gaze, his tongue lingering where it was, creating a strangely erotic image.
…It was a sensation that was hard to describe. His heart, which had been still for an eternity, suddenly began to beat. His body was ignited in an instant, a mental ecstasy that surpassed the desire of the hunt, quickly spiraling into a different, deeper fantasy.
“…Ah.”
When Xie Rin came to his senses, one of his hands was gripping Fu Xia’s face, while the other had snaked up under her skirt, stopped only by her two hands pressing down on his wrist, halting him just at the dangerous precipice. His fangs were practically resting against the side of her neck, a hair’s breadth from piercing her carotid artery.
Both of their breathing was ragged, but Xie Rin’s was heavier. He could feel Fu Xia’s tension and fear, emotions that only made her scent more intoxicating.
Fu Xia said with difficulty, “I… I’m not a lesbian.”
Xie Rin heard himself swallow. “That’s okay. Do you prefer hands or tongue, sweetie?”
He was almost completely conquered by her blood.
Fu Xia didn’t have a chance to answer.
Xie Rin’s head snapped to the side, and he shoved Fu Xia backward.
The next second, an arrow with a sharpened tip whistled past his eye, moving so fast it let out a sharp, piercing sound as it cut through the air.
Annoyed, Xie Rin looked up, his eyes meeting Pei Wang’s emerald-green gaze in the darkness.
The noble, arrogant vampire spoke slowly and deliberately.
“Who gave you permission to touch my things?”