Snowy Cold Night

--- Chapter 42 ---

On a roofed terrace, snowflakes fall beautifully.

Hayate sipped his tea and watched the snowy night sky with a calm gaze. The white moon is so beautiful because of the falling snowflakes tonight.

"What are you doing, Villa's mistress?" He asked calmly.

"E-Eh, um..." Xuanyuan Yufeng was approaching him slowly.

She stopped and fiddled with her teacup, glancing at Hayate with a nervous look.

Hong Guan chuckled on the side and enjoyed Xuanyuan Yufeng's desperation.

The Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress tried her best not to act weird around Hayate, but her resistance against his pheromone was pathetically weak.

"I-I..." She mumbled to herself.

"I just want to say thank you for attending this tournament."

Xuanyuan Yufeng picked a teapot and added, "Here, let me pour more tea for you."

However, Xuanyuan Yufeng's grip on the teapot's handle was rather sluggish because of Hayate's pheromone, making her drop it accidentally.

"Ah..." She stared at the falling teapot.

Hayate caught the steaming teapots and spilled the tea on himself. His coat was damp because of it.

"Are you okay?" Xuanyuan Yufeng pulled a handkerchief.

He stopped her from causing another accident and replied, "A splash of warm water won't affect me."

"Anyway, let's end it here, Villa's mistress."

Hayate massaged his stiff neck slightly and removed his damp coat, staring at Xuanyuan Yufeng's gleaming purple eyes.

"I'll wash it for you!" Xuanyuan Yufeng yelled while grabbing his coat.

"It's my fault, after all."

"No, I don't want to trouble you, Villa's mistress," Hayate answered while brushing his shirt. "My coat is in bad shape anyway."

"NO, I INSIST!" She returned, which left him speechless inside.

'Whatever, I don't need that robe anymore.' He walked away from the terrace, leaving Hong Guan and Xuanyuan Yufeng alone.

Hayate doesn't need to bother Xuanyuan Yufeng's weird antics because Hong Guan would deal with her for him. He wanted to rest and recover his strength quickly.

'He was still observing me, huh.' He thought when walking out of the teahouse.

Little Ghost approached Hayate and offered him an umbrella because of the snow hail. "Young master." She said with a somewhat excited tone.

"Let's go." He responded while patting her head.

They strolled to Blue Wind Empire's team residence, and Ling Kun observed them quietly in the shadow, trying to find something extraordinary from Hayate.

As Ling Kun followed Hayate, Hong Guan smirked inside because her young master was observant of the surroundings.

He purposely went away from the teahouse, letting her proceed with the plan.

"Yufeng?" Hong Guan moved her gaze to the Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress, who was about to sniff Hayate's coat.

"Remember what I said before you met my son?"

Xuanyuan Yufeng hid Hayate's coat and replied, "Yes."

"Don't fall in love with him because he was yours."

"Good, I'll take this then." Hong Guan snatched Hayate's robe and waved it in the air.

"Don't-!" Xuanyuan Yufeng lifted her body from the seat, but her lips immediately were sealed by Hong Guan's finger.

Hong Guan smiled gently and playfully asked, "Do you want this?"

Xuanyuan Yufeng was sober, but the residual scent from the young man made her want to plead over a ruined coat. It was a weird sensation because she had never felt this way for years.

After birthing two healthy and handsome sons, Xuanyuan Yufeng's feelings bloomed again.

Ling Yuefeng, who never showed a single drop of fondness for her, pushed this sinful sensation even further.

He took her as a wife because he needed Heavenly Sword Villa's master position. Her father is Mighty Heavenly Sword Region's elder, giving him influential support and pressure.

Even though Ling Yuefeng has a wife, his heart settled for another woman. Someone from Frozen Cloud Asgar, who's the number one beauty in the Blue Wind Empire.

"Guan, please give that to me." Xuanyuan Yufeng pleaded while staring at the ruined coat with a hopeful look.

Hong Guan chuckled and replied, "Yufeng, your father is from Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, right?"

"Yes, does it matter?" Xuanyuan Yufeng frowned at her.

"Of course," Hong Guan returned naturally. "I want you to contact your father and tell him to support Silver Lake City."

"Can you do that?"

She waved the coat above the Heavenly Sword Villa's mistress's head and added, "When you agree, I'll give you Hayate's coat."

"Fine, I'll do it!" Xuanyuan Yufeng agreed and grabbed Hayate's coat like a puppy clutching a bone.

Hong Guan grasped Xuanyuan Yufeng's shoulders and whispered, "Now, let's talk about another deal..."

"Another deal?" Xuanyuan Yufeng tilted her head in confusion.

"Yes." The red-haired demoness nodded her head.

"A good deal where you can get some "Precious." items like this coat."

Xuanyuan Yufeng's eyes widened because her imagination ran wild, fantasizing about the "Precious." items Hong Guan talked about a few seconds ago.

"Can you give me some for free?" She requested while hugging Hong Guan's arm. "We are friends, right?"

Hong Guan knew Miyabi Orochi's effect, but she didn't expect it would be this potent.

She wasn't affected by Hayate's strong pheromone because she was taken by him already, including other girls close to him.

However, the formerly proud and deceitful Xuanyuan Yufeng is begging in front of her.

Hong Guan couldn't contain her excitement and gently caressed Xuanyuan Yufeng's cheeks.

"Be a good girl, and I'll give you some free stuff." She spoke naturally, making the Villa's mistress giggle in delight.

"You're the best, Guan." Xuanyuan Yufeng responded immediately.

.

.

.

Hayate stepped on the thick snow and felt his feet sunken through it.

"The second round might be hard for others with this snowy situation." He commented while looking at the snow melting into profound energy instead of water.

"Did he still follow us?" He continued, to which Little Ghost responded with a shake of her head.

"No." She answered with a vigilant gaze.

"Good," Hayate patted Little Ghost's head.

He absorbed the cold energy from the snow and enjoyed the scenery on the way to the Blue Wind Empire's residence.

After walking on the road for 5 minutes, Ling Kun left them alone and probably returned to the teahouse to monitor Hong Guan's conversation with Xuanyuan Yufeng.

A couple of girls stopped them on the way and handed some gifts to Hayate, which Little Ghost took for him.

He calmly observed their faces, to which they responded with a blush. They ran away as soon as Little Ghost took their gifts.

"Throw those gifts away later," Hay ate commented while yawning a little. "There would be at least one poisoned thing inside."

Little Ghost nodded and followed him from the back. She didn't question Hayate's order because those girls are also suspicious in her view.

'They seriously handed someone a gift in the middle of a snowstorm?' She shook her head slightly.

They arrived at the Blue Wind Empire's residence and saw a young man standing at the front gate. It's Yun Che with a hopeful look on his face.

Hayate ignored his presence and walked into the residence without any care.

"Hey, you-." Yun Che shouted, but a dagger suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

Little Ghost stared at him and indifferently said, "Don't waste his time."

"You aren't even worth a second."

Yun Che stared at the girl, who was supposed to be younger than him, with a speechless look. He clenched his hand tightly because he couldn't react to her dagger movement.

'What if she decided to stab me with that speed?' He thought solemnly.

"Xun'er, hurry up," Hayate called her.

Little Ghost drew her dagger back and followed Hayate to the residence.

Yun Che raised his gaze and saw Hayate being hugged by Cang Yue, feeling dejected inside. He also noticed a glimpse of Xia Qingyue's silhouette inside.

The gate closed right in front of Yun Che's face, sweeping the cold wind to him.

"Just wait..." Yun Che whispered to himself.

"I'll be strong enough to defeat him."

Yun Che spouted such a thing without realizing more than ten pairs of eyes watched him from the shadow, observing his attitude toward Hayate.

With a single order from Hayate, they would move to eliminate him from this world immediately. Fortunately for Yun Che, he is still valuable for Hayate's plan.

.

.

Cang Yue hugged Hayate and whispered, "Thank god, you're okay."

"I thought something was happening there."

Hayate shook his head and replied, "I only drank a few cups of tea, nothing special."

"Big brother, you're back." Xia Qingyue greeted while pushing Cang Yue away.

The blue wind empire's royal princess glared at the formerly cold girl in surprise. She was about to pull her sword and recalled she was more mature than this.

"I'll let you be like this for a moment." Cang Yue sighed while staring at Hayate, who patted Xia Qingyue's head.

Even though Hayate's expression was somewhat more rigid than usual, Cang Yue still witnessed his gentleness to the people he cared dearly.

'Hmm, what's this?' Cang Yue noticed a small blood mark on her palm.

"Blood?"

"Cang Yue, let's go to the living room," Hayate called her over naturally. "The weather would become worse tonight."

"A-Ah, yeah." Cang Yue followed them to the living room.

She watched Hayate's back from behind and noticed the slight sluggish movement from him, causing her to frown inside.

Hayate's form is always solid, even when he is sleeping.

Since Cang Yue trained with Hayate for months and observed him silently, she knew how unusual his physique was.

It's close to perfection, he said to her once, but Cang Yue honestly has never seen anyone with that kind of body.

They have dinner together and talk about many things, but Hayate never opened his mouth about Dullahan to them.

It's not because Hayate didn't trust them.

'Just not the right time.' He thought while chewing on a piece of the steak.

However, Cang Yue and Xia Qingyue are wise-minded compared to people of their ages.

The royal princess had to be aware of the surroundings because one mistake could destroy her beloved empire.

While the young lady of Xia Clan was born with the ability to become wise, cursing herself with doubtful conversation and a dreadful fate.

They were mindful of Hayate's odd behavior but didn't spout a thing nor ask about it because he should have a reason to keep it secret.

"Big brother, aah." Xia Qingyue brought up a chopstick with radish to him.

Hayate opened his mouth and commented, "It tastes okay."

Xia Qingyue pouted adorably and returned, "Hmph, nothing else, just okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded his head, leaving Cang Yue to chuckle silently on the side.

"You're brutally honest." Cang Yue sipped her soup.

Hayate lifted his shoulders and replied casually, "I can't do anything about it."

Cang Yue's chuckle grew into laughter, and Xia Qingyue couldn't help but frown at her.

'How peaceful.' Hayate thought while staring at them.

He wondered if every day could be like this moment but smiled wryly inside because such a thing won't happen in his life until everything went as he planned.

As the night went on, Xia Qingyue excused herself to return to Frozen Cloud Asgard's residence, which is only a block away from Blue Wind Empire's residence.

"Do you want me to escort you there?" Hayate asked at the front gate.

"It's midnight already."

Xia Qingyue wore her snowy veil and answered, "I'm okay by myself, big brother."

"Not to mention I have something else to do."

"It's better for you to rest." She added with a calm tone.

Hayate felt Xia Qingyue's lips on his cheek and stared at her gently, giving her the same treatment.

Even though the night was cold, Hayate and Xia Qingyue could still feel the warmth inside each other's lips. They parted from each other and Xia Qingyue had a satisfied smile on her face.

"Then, see you tomorrow, big brother." Xia Qingyue waved her head and walked to Frozen Cloud Asgard's residence.

Hayate watched Xia Qingyue's figure disappear in the snowy night and sighed inside because she had grown a lot in the last four years.

Xia Qingyue entered a dark alley and whispered, "I can't let my big brother know this."

She stared at the frozen sculptures of girls, who gave him some gifts beforehand, and indifferently added, "Big brother is mine." "You filthy group of mindless people doesn't deserve his attention."

Xia Qingyue remembered every person who mocked Hayate in the first round, their faces, voices, and even physical stature stored in her mind.

'It's unfortunate that little sword princess already targeted the last girls.' She thought while looking at the horror in these girls' eyes.

Xia Qingyue brushed the nearest sculpture's face and muttered coldly, "You shouldn't mock my precious big brother like that, you know?"

"Now, I have to punish you..."

"Slowly... freezing every single bone in your body..."