Chapter 40
This was the fourth day of being trapped in this room.
She hadn’t slept much, her mind in a state of high alert. She had explored every inch of the room and even assessed the feasibility of jumping out the window. After seeing the ground below, completely devoid of trees, she had behaved herself.
If Zhu Ye and his group were the type who wanted the Progenitor’s legacy, she could have threatened them with her own life. But unfortunately, they were the half-breeds who, according to Yan Zhu, intended to kill her.
Fu Xia was starting to miss Pei Wang. Although he was like a ferocious, untamable dog, at least what you saw was what you got. She didn’t have to worry about him suddenly turning on her and stabbing her in the back like Zhu Ye.
Thinking of Pei Wang, she then thought of her school life. As a scholarship student, skipping class so brazenly—for several days, no less—she didn’t know how the teachers would judge her when she got back.
But Song Yingxi would probably speak up for her, right? Considering she had helped him with his… symptoms. Even if there was no merit, there was at least hard work.
At that thought, Fu Xia began to pace aimlessly around the room. The surveillance camera followed her movements, from left to right, and back again.
The sound of the camera was getting on her nerves. She looked up and said, “I want to play on my phone.”
The red light on the camera blinked, as if shaking its head.
“But I’m bored,” Fu Xia said.
“Pleading with me is useless, senior,” Zhu Ye’s voice came through. “I’ve already told you, all you have to do is agree to cooperate with me.”
This cold-hearted, two-faced bastard!
Fu Xia found a chair, stood on it, and wrapped a pillowcase tightly around the camera.
Perhaps the sound of her voice woke him up. Song Yingxi, who had been sleeping on and off for the past few days, slowly stirred.
Fu Xia turned her head and saw the pale young man trying to push himself up, only to collapse back onto the bed from weakness. She quickly went over and helped him, preventing any further injury.
His face was still pale, but at least his lips had regained some color. Seeing his condition over the past few days, she had been worried that Zhu Ye had permanently damaged him with the drug.
“Have some water first,” she said.
He took the cup, looking a little dazed. “Excuse me, how long was I asleep this time?”
She told him he had slept for a full day and handed him this morning’s meal. It was a light porridge, but he probably didn’t have much of an appetite; he took one sip and put it down. He had barely eaten these past few days. Fu Xia stood by the bed and watched him take small sips of water, the beautiful curve of his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.
The cup was soon empty.
“How are you feeling now?” she asked. “If it’s really bad, I can try to get them to call a doctor in.”
“Thank you, I’m not dizzy anymore,” he said. He was indeed in much better shape today; at least they could have a normal conversation.
Fu Xia breathed a sigh of relief. “I haven’t found a way out, and no one has come to rescue us yet.”
“By the way,” she added, “I was the one they were trying to kidnap, so you got dragged into this because of me… As for why they kidnapped me, I’m sorry, but I can’t say.”
Song Yingxi waited quietly for her to continue. Seeing no resentment or blame in his expression, she relaxed. “It’s a good thing you woke up. Otherwise, I would have turned into a psycho talking to myself.”
It was mind-numbingly boring here. Besides talking to the camera, she hadn’t spoken to anyone in days. She had spent a long time contemplating her future, but since her knowledge of the powerful and wealthy was limited to her peers at school, she quickly grew bored of it. She felt that if this continued, she would soon agree to Zhu Ye’s proposal.
…Not having friends and rarely talking to people was one thing; having no one to talk to and nothing to do was another.
Fu Xia shook her head, banishing the thought, and watched as he slowly pushed himself up.
“…Maybe this is for the best,” he said softly. “Not having to worry about anything, just the two of us here.”
“What’s the difference between that and being a caged animal? Let’s try to find a way out.”
“But you’ve been missing for so many days. Won’t your family be worried?”
He sat up and gave a bitter smile. “The people in my family… cough, probably don’t care that much whether I live or die.”
A grand family drama immediately played out in Fu Xia’s mind. The heir to a massive conglomerate was a sickly young master. If anything happened to him, the children of the branch families would all have a chance. She had seen posts on the forum before, saying that the internal power struggles in the Song family were quite intense. In a way, he was the standard “beautiful, strong, and tragic” character.
“Don’t talk about it if it’s difficult,” she said. “I know things are complicated in rich families.”
Song Yingxi, who had been about to deliver his prepared lines, was left speechless. “…”
Her sense of personal boundaries is a little too strong.
How did she develop this kind of personality?
“But you still have to eat properly,” Fu Xia said. “Otherwise, even if we get a chance to escape, you won’t have the strength. Don’t you agree?”
He didn’t answer.
She waited for a reply, then looked up and met his gaze. The young man was watching her with his gentle blue eyes. In her peripheral vision, she could see the faint red marks and teeth marks on his neck that hadn’t completely faded.
Feeling a pang of guilt, she was once again captured by his eyes and subconsciously held her breath.
“I… will take responsibility for this,” he said.
“Didn’t I just say?” Fu Xia replied. “This kidnapping isn’t your…”
Before she could say the word “fault,” he interrupted her. “For you to encounter this in a Song Corporation hospital is my problem in itself, Fu Xia.”
His words were gentle yet firm, but the tips of his ears were slowly turning red.
“I… my personal life is very clean. I have no ex-girlfriends and no fiancée. If we can get out of here safely, please allow me to take responsibility for you.”
Fu Xia was profoundly shocked.
“Take responsibility, as in…?”
His face grew even redder. “If you’re willing, we can get married immediately after graduation.”
Fu Xia: “…”
For a split second, she felt like she had won at life. Not only was she kidnapped with her former “white moonlight,” but in less than a week, he had offered to marry her.
But she quickly calmed down.
This was the same kind of offer as Zhu Ye’s.
To have the majority of the power herself, or to become an accessory to some organization or person—Fu Xia knew which one to choose.
“Let’s not talk about this for now,” she said. “We can discuss it after we get out.”
He let out a soft “mhm.”
He was a rich young master, after all. He had been disoriented for the past few days, and now that he was lucid, he couldn’t stand his own disheveled state. He needed to take a shower.
Fu Xia hesitated for a moment, told him to be careful, and got his towels and other things for him, placing them within easy reach before closing the door.
Song Yingxi stood inside, glancing at the trash can.
…Her period should be over by now.
He quickly shifted his gaze to the mirror. The face of the blond-haired, blue-eyed young man showed no signs of fatigue. His eyes fell on the bite mark on his neck.
She had bitten down hard, leaving a round, neat set of teeth marks on his pale skin.
Song Yingxi raised a hand to the mark, the pad of his index finger tracing over it. The surrounding skin quickly turned red under the pressure.
…Making a move later isn’t always a good thing, he thought.
Her already strong guard was now multiplied, to the point where even his powers of bewitchment had little effect on her.
The smile on the young man’s face in the mirror vanished.
Song Yingxi suddenly remembered her expression when he had made his proposal. Her eyes had widened with shock and disbelief, not the look of an admirer—it was more like she couldn’t understand why he would even have such a thought.
She had no desire to form an intimate relationship with him.
—She does not belong to me.
The thought stirred a subtle displeasure within the Vampire Prince.
Very few people could refuse Song Yingxi.
Most vampires possessed a strong power of bewitchment, giving him a natural, irresistible force. And with the ability granted by his authority as a Prince…
[Desire].
Whatever he sought, he could obtain. When he made a request, regardless of whether the other party was aware of the implications, as long as they agreed, the contract was sealed.
If she had nodded when he asked if she liked him, or if she had agreed just now, the human’s life would have been entangled with his forever.
Song Yingxi’s eyes lowered.
Fine. There’s no rush.
—Outside the door, Fu Xia heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.
While Song Yingxi was showering, a young girl came in to clean the room. Before the door closed, Fu Xia glanced outside. Several tall, imposing vampires were standing guard. She silently sat back down on the sofa and watched the girl.
Like everyone else who had entered the room, she didn’t make eye contact or speak to her.
The bedding needed to be changed. The girl moved with nimble hands, stripping off the old sheets and replacing them with a fresh set. She looked very young, her pigtails swaying with her movements. She didn’t look in Fu Xia’s direction, but upon closer inspection, one could see her hands were trembling slightly.
—She seemed very nervous.
Fu Xia glanced at the covered surveillance camera and asked softly, “Do you need any help?”
The girl jumped as if she’d been electrocuted. She hastily pulled off the bedsheet and was about to run out the door when Fu Xia lunged forward and blocked her path.
“Wait, don’t go,” she said, grabbing the girl’s arm, her words tumbling out in a rush. “Secretly tell me, what’s the situation outside?”
The girl flailed. “Let me go!”
Fu Xia glanced toward the camera and lowered her voice. “Are you human?”
All the vampires she had touched so far had been ice-cold, but this girl’s hand was warm, which led to her suspicion.
The girl, clutching the pile of bedding, stared at her. “How did you know?!”
Seizing the opportunity, Fu Xia slipped a note into her hand. “Do me a favor,” she whispered. “Whatever they can give you, I can give you too. I seem more trustworthy than those vicious vampires, don’t I?”
After speaking, she quickly pulled away.
The second after Fu Xia slipped the note into her hand, the bathroom door opened.
Song Yingxi emerged, drying his hair. There were no clean clothes inside, so he had a large bath towel wrapped around his waist.
His beautiful face was flushed from the steam. Water dripped from his hair, trickling down his chest and sliding along his V-line before disappearing into the towel.
Distracted for a split second, Fu Xia lost her grip. The little maid she had cornered slipped away like an eel, clutching the pile of bedding as she opened and closed the door with incredible speed.
Fu Xia: “…”
A small pill bottle that had fallen from the bedding rolled across the floor. Fu Xia bent down, picked it up, and gave it a little shake.
“Who was that?” Song Yingxi asked, puzzled.
“The maid, here to change the sheets. They definitely needed changing.”
Most of the liquid had been wiped up with tissues, but some had splattered on the covers. It was only because he had been sleeping that it had been left until now.
Fu Xia watched as his face grew even redder. After these few days, she understood that the campus heartthrob was incredibly thin-skinned. Seeing him about to turn into a steamed shrimp, she quickly averted her gaze.
She casually slipped the pill bottle into her pocket.
Over by the door, Song Yingxi knocked and spoke to the vampires outside. “Please bring me a set of clean clothes and some liquid food, thank you.”
The half-breeds outside didn’t speak, but in less than ten minutes, the door opened again. A sealed bag of liquid was brought in on a tray, next to a clean shirt and black trousers.
Fu Xia was dumbfounded.
Aren’t they a little too obedient?
Song Yingxi didn’t understand her surprise but still gave her a smile before disappearing back into the bathroom with his wet hair.
While he was changing, Fu Xia carefully examined the bottle in her hand. There were still many pills left. It was a type of drug that could induce a coma.
But why would that little maid have something like this? Or had she come in specifically to deliver it?
The vampires who had come in the past few days had all been cold and detached. Only this girl had acted differently. Fu Xia felt her suspicion was very likely correct.
She shook the bottle, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.