Chapter 138 | After Maxing Out, I Became a Landlord in Another World

She lowered her head after speaking, her voice almost inaudible. “It’s strange, isn’t it? It was our first meeting, and I’d never felt this way before…”

Chen Mian didn't respond, gently lifting Flora's face. He paused for a moment, then naturally closed his eyes as her fingers lightly clutched the hem of his shirt, and their lips slowly drew closer.

A soft rustling came from under the covers. A moment later, they slowly parted. Flora snuggled closer to him and whispered, “You’ll wake Loviki.”

“They can’t hear us.”

After a while, Flora buried her face in his chest again, her voice tinged with a smile. “Chen Mian.”

“Hmm?”

“Your heart is beating so fast.”

“That’s because you’re too close.”

“Then I want to get even closer.” Flora said, indeed snuggling further into his embrace, her entire body almost pressed against him. Then she chuckled softly, “Now it’s even closer.”

Chen Mian looked down at Flora, and a difficult-to-describe feeling suddenly swelled in his heart.

In the past, he had traveled many places on the Continent of Cecia... dense forests, deserts, snowy mountains, ruins, and deep within labyrinths.

Some of those places were magnificent, some were perilous, and some were dreamily beautiful, but he rarely stopped to truly experience them.

Most of the time, his gaze was fixed forward, on his next objective, measuring himself by how far he had traveled or how strong he had become, as if only then would his life in this world hold meaning.

But at this moment, lying on the floor bed in this small Royal Capital house, with the elf girl who was always so happy to see him nestled in his arms, he seemed to feel nothing that needed to be measured, no direction to judge, no next step to ponder...

Perhaps because he had been silent for a while, Flora’s voice sounded again, a little more serious than before. “Chen Mian.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t you think… today felt particularly long?”

“Did it?”

“Mhm.” Flora nodded, her voice soft. “This morning, I was still cooking porridge in the kitchen. At noon, Loviki went to the palace, and then you went out too. In the afternoon, we waited in the house for you both to return. In the evening, you brought back a lot of fruit wine and desserts... and tonight, I’m still awake, chatting with you.”

“So, do you think today was a good day or a bad day?”

Flora tilted her head in thought, then reburied her face in his chest, her voice light. “Good.”

“That’s good then.”

Flora’s fingers unconsciously traced circles on his clothes. After a while, she spoke again, her voice a little softer than before. “Chen Mian, after we go back, will we still sleep holding each other like this?”

Chen Mian looked down at Flora. Her face was still buried in his chest, and the blush on her ears was particularly noticeable.

After asking the question, Flora seemed a little embarrassed herself. Her fingers stopped tracing circles, resting loosely on his shirtfront, and her ears grew even redder.

“No.”

Flora’s fingers tightened slightly, and she asked cautiously, “Not like this?”

“Mhm.” Chen Mian gently rested his chin on the top of her head. “After we go back to the apartment, you’ll sleep in your room, and I’ll sleep in mine.”

Flora didn’t respond, but he could feel her fingers, resting on his clothes, relax slightly.

“Unless…”

Flora lifted her head slightly, her lively eyes looking at him with a hint of embarrassment.

“…you’re willing to climb through my window in the middle of the night.”

Flora’s eyes widened abruptly, her face instantly turning crimson as she stammered, “Who, who would climb through a window in the middle of the night?!”

“Then it won’t happen,” Chen Mian said, a little amused.

Hearing Chen Mian’s reply, Flora’s eyes drooped slightly.

“You want to sleep holding each other?”

Her face was so red it looked like it might bleed, but she didn’t bury her head again. She maintained her slightly upturned gaze, her lively eyes shy yet earnest as she looked at him, and after a long hesitation, she nodded softly.

“Then you’ll have to take responsibility,” Chen Mian said, a clear smile in his voice.

“Take, take responsibility for what?”

“For cooking for me every day.”

Flora’s lips curved slightly, her voice soft. “Then Chen Mian has to be responsible for hugging me every day.”

“Mushy Flora.”

Flora froze for a moment, then lowered her head, resting her forehead against his body, her shoulders shaking. It took her a while to compose herself. When she finally looked up, her eyes were still smiling, but her voice carried a clear note of triumph. “Even if it’s mushy, you still have to hug me.”

“Chen Mian.” Flora released her embrace and shifted her body back a little.

“What is it?”

“Can you turn around for a moment?”

Chen Mian was a little puzzled, but he rolled over, turning his back to her.

Then he felt a rustling under the covers. Flora was holding his wrist, seemingly putting something on him.

A few seconds later, Flora’s voice came from behind him, sounding cheerful. “Done!”

He rolled back over and, by the moonlight, saw Flora looking at him, her hair slightly disheveled, her cheeks flushed.

He looked down at his wrist. There was a light pink hair tie, tied onto his hand by Flora in a somewhat crooked, unpracticed bow.

“My hair tie,” Flora said, her gaze drifting elsewhere. “When you wake up tomorrow morning, you have to give it back to me.”

Chen Mian looked down at the light pink hair tie on his wrist, the corners of his lips turning up slightly. “When did you learn to tie a bow?”

“I always knew how!”

“Oh really? Someone used to tie their bathrobe sash all crooked.”

“That was just lack of practice.” She turned her head away, her ears growing even redder, but her voice held a smile. “Anyway, just give it back to me tomorrow.”

“What if I don’t give it back?” Chen Mian asked casually, looking down at the light pink hair tie on his wrist.

Flora’s fingers, however, tightened slightly.

Then, her face flushed, she looked up, her lively eyes earnestly meeting his, and whispered, “If you don’t give it back, that’s fine too.”

“Hmm?”

Flora lowered her eyes, her fingers unconsciously fiddling with the hem of his shirt, her words a little slower than usual. “Among our elf folk, there’s a saying… if a girl ties her hair tie onto someone’s hand, it means she’s willing to entrust a portion of her time to him.”