Mia racked her brains but still couldn't figure out how Arthur knew she was hiding a small dagger in her sleeve. Watching him turn it to ashes right before her eyes, Mia felt like crying but had no tears left.
Fine. If she couldn't make a move while Arthur was awake, she'd just have to wait until he was asleep!
"Mia, you can't leave such a sharp hairpin on the bed. If someone gets cut, it could be disastrous." As he spoke, Arthur pulled a silver hairpin with a pointed tip from under the mattress—the very one Mia had deliberately sharpened into a "hairpin."
"Heh, so that's where it went... under the mattress? How did it get there?" Mia, standing behind Arthur, forced a wry smile.
Alright, fine. No tools? She still had her teeth. They were intact, even if it meant biting off a chunk of Arthur's flesh. But Arthur, for the sake of our future, just grin and bear it!
I must stay awake! Stay awake! Hold on! Lying on the warm, comfortable bed, wrapped in Arthur's passionate embrace, a drowsy Mia clung to her last shred of rationality, silently chanting a mantra she believed would keep her alert.
Phew! Finally, Mia felt Arthur fall asleep beside her. Thinking she'd passed the test, she let out a sigh of relief.
Now's the moment! Arthur's robe was open, exposing his shoulder to the air. Mia stared at it, opened her mouth wide, and slowly leaned down…
Just as her teeth were about to sink into Arthur's pale shoulder, a soft chuckle sounded in her ear. Then, the supposedly asleep Arthur flipped her over and pinned her beneath him.
"Mia, I never imagined you'd be this forward. If you want it, just say so—I'm always ready, anytime."
With that, Arthur slipped off Mia's nightgown and kissed her.
"Ah—no, Arthur! Mmm…" Mia's startled cry was instantly muffled by Arthur's mouth.
And so, a night of passion began, and Mia's ulterior motive failed once again.
Time after time, Mia tried no fewer than ten times, but every attempt ended in failure. In the end, she helplessly realized that Arthur must have known her intentions all along and was deliberately pretending to be oblivious, ignoring her!
Mia sat in a plush, high-backed velvet armchair, glaring resentfully at Arthur, who was buried in work, frantically typing at his desk, absorbed in business affairs. The room was silent for a long while until she suddenly spoke, her voice full of indignation: "Arthur, you must be afraid of pain!"
"What?" Arthur, not understanding why Mia suddenly said this, looked at her with a bewildered expression from not far away. "I said, you must be afraid of pain!" Mia repeated. "Otherwise, why—after we've been married so long, with spring already here—won't you let me drink your blood, transform into my fox form, and truly become yours?" By the end, Mia's expression was one of bitter resentment as she gazed at Arthur.
Seeing her like this, Arthur paused, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "It's not that I'm afraid of pain, it's…"
"Then why…?"
"I'm afraid you'll regret it, you fool!" Arthur gazed at Mia, his eyes brimming with tender heartache. "If you drink my blood, you'll become a hybrid—neither human nor fox, what people call a 'fox-person.' You'll gain a lifespan as long as mine, but you'll be neither human nor part of the fox clan… Right now, you think you love me and want to be with me forever. But centuries from now, you'll see yourself as a 'monster,' and you'll suffer terribly!" Arthur cupped Mia's cheeks with both hands and gently kissed her lips.
"For a while now, I've been wondering if I should make another trip to Hell and ask Satan for one more favor—to permanently erase your name from the Book of Life. That way, your name would never appear in Heaven again, and God would forget you entirely. You've already fulfilled the vow you made before God: no longer a fugitive slave, but a legitimate being in your own right. Yet as long as your name remains etched in the Book of Life, one day you'll still leave me and ascend to Heaven." Arthur held Mia gently, crystalline tears slipping from the corners of his eyes.
"I don't even know if Satan would grant such an audacious request. Give me a little more time—I need to think it through." So Arthur had been worrying about her all along. Mia listened, cradling his tear-streaked face, guilt washing over her for all her unreasonable antics. "Arthur, I…"
She called the name of the man she loved. "We already have a simple, straightforward solution—why complicate things with other plans? I've thought about this long ago. Drinking your blood, becoming something other—I love you. I won't regret it. Never. Even if I become neither human nor fox, as long as you're by my side, I won't care what anyone else thinks."
"But Mia…" Arthur pulled her into his arms, burying his face deep in the crook of her neck.
"No buts," Mia cut him off. "If you doubt my resolve, you're doubting my love."
"…Hey! My Mia is getting sharper-tongued by the day—I don't even know how to argue anymore!" Arthur's face, still nestled in her hair, let out a low, rumbling chuckle.
"So, Arthur—does that mean you agree?" Mia wrapped her arms around him in return, gazing at his snow-white hair.
"Hmm… If I say no, does that mean I'm questioning your love for me?" Arthur lifted his head, meeting her eyes with a faint smile. "Let's talk about it again in a little while, okay?"
"No way!" Mia objected firmly. "Today. Right now. Immediately!" Are you kidding? She'd finally gotten Arthur to relent—there was no way she'd let it slide to "later." The longer they waited, the more likely he'd come up with another excuse to back out.
"Hmm? Today?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Mia, today isn't exactly an ideal day…"
"What do you mean 'not ideal'? Every day we're together is perfect! I think today is especially perfect! No more thinking—just today!" Mia declared with unwavering certainty.
"But today is a full moon… the night of the full moon…" Arthur murmured, staring at Mia. Suddenly, something seemed to click in his mind; a realization coalesced in his gaze. "Mia, are you absolutely sure you won't regret choosing today?"
"I swear I won't!" Mia promised him, completely missing the mysterious glint in Arthur's eyes as she spoke with absolute certainty.
"I hope you don't." Arthur's reply was enigmatic, followed by a cryptic smile.
True to his word, Arthur transformed his fingernail into a razor-sharp blade right in front of Mia and lightly sliced a line across his arm. Blood instantly welled up and flowed.
Watching the crimson stream from Arthur's arm pool into the teacup, Mia's heart clenched in pain.
"Arthur, that's enough—more than enough to turn me into a fox-person. Stop wasting your blood."
Noticing Mia's worry, Arthur smiled and said, "It's fine. This blood will regenerate in no time."
With that, he wiped the wound with his other hand, and the bleeding cut healed instantly, leaving no trace of injury.
Relieved by the sight, Mia picked up the cup, now holding half a cup of blood.
"Do I just… drink it straight?" Staring at the vivid red liquid, Mia suddenly felt a wave of trepidation. She swallowed hard and asked Arthur. The warm, crimson blood made her realize how daunting and bizarre it was to drink an entire cup of it. Even though Arthur wasn't human—he was a fox in essence—he now had a human body, a human appearance!
"Yes, just drink it directly," Arthur nodded. "If you don't want to, that's okay too." He misunderstood her hesitation.
"No way!" I worked so hard to get this!
Afraid Arthur might take it back, Mia carefully carried the cup to the other side of the room.
Glancing once more at the blood in the cup, she took a deep breath, raised it to her lips, closed her eyes, and downed it in one gulp, letting it slide straight down her throat.
She had expected a nauseating, metallic tang, but to her surprise, the aftertaste carried a faint, lingering fragrance—like sipping floral tea. It left her wanting more.
Having drained every drop, Mia instinctively licked her lips, a strange craving for another taste stirring within her…
Unbeknownst to Mia, Arthur was watching her intently, taking in her every move, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.