The villa was so quiet late at night that you could hear the soft crackling of the firewood in the fireplace.
Yu Jiuyuan curled up in Rong Shenghan's arms watching a movie. The light and shadow on the screen flickered on her face. Her left hand rested unconsciously on his knee, and the delicate silver ring on her pinky finger swayed gently with the movement.
"What are you thinking about?" Rong Shenghan suddenly grasped her hand, his fingertips caressing the pinky ring.
The ring was simple, just a thin plain band, but the inside was inlaid with an extremely fine blue thread that shimmered almost transparently in the firelight, creating a wonderful echo with the platinum ring she had made for him on his ring finger.
When Yu Jiuyuan looked up, she met the probing look in his eyes.
His gaze was calm, like a bottomless lake, yet it always managed to pinpoint the secrets hidden in her seemingly nonchalant demeanor.
"This ring," Rong Shenghan's fingertip paused on the blue line, his voice very soft, "does it have any meaning?"
He had actually wanted to ask this for a long time.
From the first time he saw her, this pinky ring had never left her finger.
Unlike her other jewelry, it wasn't flamboyant, but it carried an unmistakable presence, like a silent mark.
Yu Jiuyuan looked at his serious profile and suddenly smiled.
She withdrew her hand and held the pinky ring up to the firelight. The blue line flowed with an unusual luster in the warm light, like a dormant ribbon of light.
"You really want to know?" Her tone carried a hint of nonchalant danger, like teasing a curious cat.
Rong Shenghan nodded, his fingertips gently brushing against the back of her hand, the movement so gentle it was like a soothing gesture: "Mm."
The fireplace suddenly popped with a "crack," and sparks flew onto the brick wall before being extinguished instantly.
Yu Jiuyuan withdrew her hand, nestled back into his arms, rested her chin on his collarbone, and said in a voice as soft as a sigh, "This is a secret weapon."
Instead of answering directly, she extended her pinky finger, letting the ring spin in the light: "Look at this blue line, isn't it special?"
Rong Shenghan's gaze fell on that blue, and he suddenly remembered the "emotion-sensing material" that Yuan Xu had mentioned unintentionally.
It was an extremely rare crystal that could change its luster depending on the emotional fluctuations of the surrounding creatures, but because of its extremely poor stability, it had never been used in actual production.
"It can... sense emotions?" he asked tentatively, his voice tinged with a nervousness he himself was unaware of.
Yu Jiuyuan paused for a moment, then looked up at him, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes, which then turned into a deeper smile: "Baby is so smart."
She deliberately held the pinky ring up to his face: "This is the loot I redeemed on the first day I bound myself to the system."
She paused, noticing the slight change in his expression, and added, "It's that... system that lets me seduce you."
The air fell silent instantly, with only the soft crackling of the firewood in the fireplace.
Rong Shenghan's arm was still around her waist, but he didn't say anything more. His gaze was fixed on the ring, as if he was digesting this astonishing fact.
Yu Jiuyuan continued as if it were a trivial matter, "It can tell me your level of affection and sense emotional fluctuations. For example, Xie Zhecheng, he seems cold on the surface, but every time he sees me, this blue line lights up like a small lamp."
She tapped the inside of the ring with her fingertip: "Lin Yanran is different. His arrogance is real. Every time he argues with me, this spot turns gray."
“Yuan Xu is the easiest to win over,” she said, her tone becoming lighter as she mentioned the person she had already won over.
"His emotional curve is always a warm yellow, like a petri dish in his laboratory, so stable that it makes people feel at ease."
She paused abruptly, her fingertips tracing the blue line, her gaze falling on Rong Shenghan's face: "As for you..."
Her voice lowered, carrying a strange gentleness: "Your emotional spectrum is very special, it's a gradient of purple. When you're happy it leans towards pink, when you're jealous it leans towards black, like a spilled palette of colors."
She raised her hand, letting the ring dangle in front of him: "Like now, it's pale purple, which means you're... confused?"
Rong Shenghan finally found his voice, which was terribly hoarse: "What you told me, is it everything?"
“Hmm.” Yu Jiuyuan nodded, her eyes revealing nothing. “It seems there’s nothing to hide.”
She suddenly laughed and leaned close to his ear: "After all, my baby is so well-behaved, even if he knew, he wouldn't leave me, right?"
These words carried a defiant certainty, as if testing his bottom line.
Rong Shenghan looked at the cunning in her eyes and suddenly chuckled. The vibration of his chest came through their close bodies, making her involuntarily shrink into his arms.
“Yes.” He took her pinky finger, brought the ring to his lips, and kissed it gently.
Even if I know you are 'taming' me, even if I know this might just be your mission, I will not leave.
His gaze fell into her eyes, as if he were making an eternal promise: "Because it's you, it's okay."
Yu Jiuyuan's heart skipped a beat. The system panel flashed wildly in her mind. Rong Shenghan's favorability was still 100, but his positive emotional fluctuation suddenly rose to 150, like a firework that had been lit, so dazzling that it was impossible to look away.
She felt like she had gone too far.
Originally, I just wanted to test his bottom line and see how this most obedient pet would react after knowing the truth, but I didn't expect him to give such an answer.
There was no anger, no questioning, only complete acceptance, as if embracing all her darkness and scheming.
"Are you stupid?" She turned her face away, her voice a little muffled, but her fingertips gripped his collar even tighter.
"Yeah, silly." Rong Shenghan chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "But I'm willing."
He took her hand and placed the platinum ring on his ring finger next to her pinky ring.
The slightly rough, handcrafted marks and the exquisite systematic creations reflect each other under the firelight, like two completely different worlds that are perfectly blended together at this moment.
“From now on, it can rest.” Rong Shenghan’s fingertip traced the pinky ring. “I want you to feel my emotions yourself.”
He thought that his emotions should be shown to her without reservation, without relying on any external aids.
Yu Jiuyuan didn't say anything, but snuggled back into his arms and buried her face in his chest.
The fire in the fireplace gradually dimmed, leaving only residual warmth floating in the air.
She could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady, as if it were beating to a rhythm just for her.
Perhaps, being honest once in a while isn't so bad.
She thought.
At least, she was certain that even stripped of all pretense and scheming, this pet she had tamed would still obediently stay by her side.
Just like now, he held her arm tightly, as if he were protecting a rare treasure, as if what she had just said was not some earth-shattering secret, but simply that the moonlight was beautiful tonight.
The blue line on the pinky ring shimmered with a faint purple hue in the darkness, as gentle as an eternal secret.
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