Mai's expression darkened as she stared down at the floor.
A profound sense of self-loathing stinging her chest as she realized just how painfully naive she had been to hope.
Even for a second, that her mother could ever look at her as a daughter rather than a commodity.
"In that case, Haruto... you don't have to meet my mother,"
Mai said, biting her lower lip as her eyes welled with quiet hurt.
"Actually, I don't ever want to see her again, either. Let's just cut ties completely."
Haruto knew Mai's history inside and out—he remembered every agonizing detail she had confessed about the trauma when she was thirteen.
The suffocating exploitation that had nearly driven her to fade from the world entirely.
Stepping forward, he wrapped his arms tightly around her trembling frame, pulling her flush against his chest and burying his face in her raven hair.
He whispered softly, his voice a steady, grounding anchor against her ear.
"Don't ever doubt yourself, Mai. You don't owe her a single thing. And besides, you know I'm certainly not hurting for cash. Whatever obscene amount of money her high-class pride thinks it can throw at me... it doesn't even come close to how valuable you are to me."
He slid her hand downward, guiding it with a warm, wicked smirk. "Here, see for yourself just how tempted I am."
"!!!"
Mai gasped softly as her fingers brushed against his hardening, throbbing length, instantly realizing what he was pulling her into.
Her cheeks flushed an immediate, brilliant shade of crimson, and she shot him a sharp, feigned glare through her lashes. "Pervert... stop being so indecent when we're having a serious moment."
Haruto let out a low, rumbling laugh, genuinely pleased to see the heavy, depressing shadow lift from her eyes and give way to a flustered warmth—which was his primary goal.
Of course, the physical arousal pulling at his veins was entirely, ruthlessly genuine as well.
Sensing her shift in mood, Haruto's expression smoothed back into something confident and resolute.
"Besides, since your mother is so desperate to play her little game, let's play along. Let's show her right to her face that no amount of money, contracts, or manipulation could ever tear us apart."
Mai leaned her head against his shoulder, a profound sense of security blooming in her chest.
"Mmm... whatever you say, Haruto. I'm yours."
As they held each other close in the dimming light of the apartment, the atmosphere between them instantly shifted, growing heavy with heat and unspoken desire.
Mai's breathing hitched, her dark eyes glistening with a raw, needy emotion as she silently surrendered herself to him.
"Haruto... I want you..." she whispered breathlessly, her fingers instinctively sliding down to grip at his belt.
Just as things were about to escalate past the point of no return, Haruto abruptly caught her wrists, stopping her movements with a strained groan.
"Wait, matte, hold on a second!" he breathed out, fighting his own rising pulse.
Mai froze, blinking up at him in sheer bewilderment, her head tilting in a quiet, disappointed question.
Was it because she wasn't wearing her signature bunny suit? Was she not enticing enough tonight?
"It's not that," Haruto panted softly, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead to soothe her wounded pride.
"I'm not rejecting you...I just got a dimensional trade request, and judging by the priority flag, it's urgent."
[Ding! Chat member Sui has sent an urgent trade request!]
[Trade request terms: Help Sui eradicate the rampaging Poison Dragon!]
"The Poison Dragon..." Haruto muttered under his breath, instantly recalling the massive, toxic reptile Sui had run into while dealing with that troublesome beastman threat in her world.
After weighing the timing for a split second, Haruto tapped the interface and formally accepted the trade conditions.
"I'll be right back, Mai," he whispered, pressing a quick, tender kiss to her lips.
"Just wait here for me. When I get back... we'll finish what we started."
Elsewhere in the dense, perilous wilderness of her world.
Sui stood cornered, her breathing ragged as she fiercely brandished her magical sword against a colossal, serpent-like beast.
The creature's serpentine body was armored in jagged, razor-sharp violet scales that shimmered ominously under the dim canopy, and its hideous, multi-fanged head snarled with malice.
This was the dreaded Poison Dragon—a legendary, immensely formidable monster that struck terror into the hearts of mortals.
Even though Sui had already managed to land several deep wounds on the beast, she was paying a heavy price.
She had taken several brutal hits herself, and worse still, the dragon's continuous toxic breath hung in the humid air like a suffocating fog, slowly but relentlessly eroding her magical defenses.
Her garments were scorched and torn to tattered shreds, revealing glimpses of her skin, and with the creature blocking every path, escape was entirely impossible.
Driven to absolute desperation, sending a trade request to Haruto had been her very last resort.
[Ding! Your trade request has been accepted!]
[Trade conditions: "Elf Bloodline" and "Elf Magic"]
Noticing with immense relief that Haruto hadn't demanded anything outrageous or perverted—like those ridiculous "body use rights" she occasionally read about in trashy romance scrolls—Sui let out a shaky, trembling exhale.
"Accept."
[Ding! Trade initiated!]
[Trade partner: Sui]
[Trade request: Help her defeat the Poison Dragon]
[Trade conditions: "Elf Bloodline" and "Elf Magic"]
[Time limit: 3 hours]
"I-I wonder how long it'll take him to get here... kami-sama, I'm not sure my barriers can hold out much longer,"
Sui muttered frantically, her knees trembling as the enraged Poison Dragon suddenly reared back, snapping its enormous jaws wide open to unleash a torrential flood of caustic green venom straight toward her.
"Shield!"
With zero room to dodge the onslaught, Sui desperately channeled every ounce of her remaining mana to conjure a shimmering magical barrier.
But the moment the acidic flood slammed against it, she felt her energy fracture.
She knew deep down this barrier wouldn't hold for more than a few seconds—and once the acid burned through, the dragon's lethal claws and crushing teeth would finish the job.
Am I... really going to die here?
•
[Sui]
•
******
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