Chapter 83: Wrong… Was I Wrong?

Mabelle had been searching for a partner to whom she could entrust all her secrets—a partner who would never betray her for a lifetime—to help share the pressure the Chamber of Commerce might face in the future.

She did not know what would happen if her father could no longer hold things together.

Her brothers were all short-sighted men; if things were handed over to them, everything would be ruined.

Telling all the secrets of the Chamber of Commerce to a single person was a gamble in itself.

It practically bound her life and death to the Chamber.

It was just that… she wanted to take a gamble this time.

Regardless, she had no other choice, did she?

Father.

‘Tell me… am I doing the right thing?’ Mabelle closed her eyes and whispered to herself, “If I were in danger, would you come to save me just like you saved Airella…?”

[Mabelle is our hero!]

[It’s thanks to Sister Mabelle that we can survive…]

[I’m… I’m sorry, we won’t do it again!]

[It’s none of our business, Mabelle did it… Don’t hit me!]

As the sense of crisis from the fall gripped her body, Mabelle could not help but remember the past.

Childhood memories hit her like a tide, only to suddenly shatter just as they were about to overwhelm her heart.

Lin Yue looked at Mabelle as she plummeted toward the ground at high speed.

His chest tightened, and he gritted his teeth as he tore open a spatial rift, attempting to quickly reach her before she hit the floor.

With Mabelle’s current combat power, it wasn’t even a question of whether she would be injured falling from such a height; her very survival was in doubt!

She wasn’t Isabena.

If he didn’t catch her, she would truly die.

He reached out desperately, trying to grab Mabelle’s arm…

Mabelle opened her eyes and saw Lin Yue falling with her.

A pleasant expression crossed her face, and she proactively reached out to grab him.

“Got you…”

The moment he touched her, Lin Yue hurriedly opened another spatial rift, pushing his mana to the limit to reduce the impact of gravity.

Thud!

The two landed on the ground, neither too heavily nor too lightly.

Mabelle slowly opened her eyes and found Lin Yue holding her in a princess carry, as if terrified she would turn into a bloody pulp.

She subconsciously wrapped her arms around Lin Yue’s neck, placing her life in his hands.

“I knew you would catch me…”

Mabelle placed a finger on her own lips and then poked Lin Yue’s cheek, highly satisfied with his reaction.

“You’re crazy!”

Lin Yue had not expected her to pull such a risky stunt, and he was genuinely angry.

“Oh my, why so worked up? Could it be that you’ve fallen for me and couldn’t bear to see me die?”

Lin Yue turned his head, but when he saw the unusually flirtatious look in her eyes and realized she was still trying to tease him, his face darkened.

This girl…

Lin Yue set her on the ground and turned abruptly to leave, the forceful wind from his sudden movement slapping against Mabelle’s face.

“Eh? Are you angry?”

Mabelle had not expected Lin Yue to have such a strong reaction, and the clarity returned to her eyes.

[She… she jumped!]

[Ah!]

‘Was that… how it felt back then?’

Memories flooded his mind.

Lin Yue shook his head and clenched his fists, unwilling to revisit the experience that had caused him so many sleepless nights.

She did not know what was wrong with Lin Yue.

He acted as if someone had stepped on his tail, completely different from his usual indifferent self.

He kept his head down as if he hadn’t heard Mabelle speak, simply walking forward.

Mabelle hurried to reach out and stop him, but Lin Yue immediately caught her arm and pinned her against the wall.

“That hurts…”

Lin Yue’s “wall-slam” this time was much more forceful than when he had caught Airella before.

Combined with the increase in his strength from his promotion, the sense of pressure he exuded was more than just a little bit stronger.

Seeing Lin Yue’s ferocity, even the usually composed Mabelle could not help but lose her cool.

She curled up slightly as if she were being coerced.

“What… what are you doing?” she asked weakly.

She hadn’t expected Lin Yue, who usually refused to spend much energy on her, to be provoked to this extent.

Lin Yue closed his eyes, his face grim.

He took a deep breath and spoke to her in his most serious tone.

“If you treat your own life like a game, then I’m afraid I cannot accept your invitation…”

“I don’t care what you say about being a community of shared destiny or staying together in life and death… but you had better not die on me!”

Every single one of them… what were they thinking?

Mabelle’s action had struck the most fragile and sensitive part of his heart.

Ever since coming here, he had never lost his temper with anyone like this.

“Oh, I didn’t mean it. I just wanted to test if you had that kind of resolve…”

Seeing Mabelle’s expression, which suggested she wanted to just laugh it off, anger surged in Lin Yue’s heart.

He stared at her intently, projecting an aura of natural authority…

Mabelle wanted to say something to fix the situation, but she became flustered under Lin Yue’s gaze and could no longer find any words to defend herself.

“I was… I was wrong…”

The business genius who was usually aggressive in negotiations and played others like puppets was now acting like a weak little girl, subconsciously admitting her mistake.

Seeing her apologize, Lin Yue’s mood gradually stabilized.

His tone softened slightly, and his gaze shifted elsewhere.

“Don’t do that again. It’s terrifying. I can’t guarantee I’ll catch you every time…”

Mabelle nodded blankly, feeling somewhat at a loss.

She wanted to say something, but the words caught in her throat; she didn’t dare resist Lin Yue’s overbearing aura.

It was the first time she had been scolded so harshly, and her head felt a bit dizzy.

The two fell into a silent, awkward atmosphere.

He released Mabelle’s hand, feeling that he had been a bit impulsive.

“Sorry, I overreacted.”

To ease the tense atmosphere, Lin Yue took the initiative to apologize, hoping to make up for his loss of composure.

“Um…”

Mabelle remained dazed, her hand over her heart, seemingly waiting for Lin Yue to scold her further.

Seeing her frozen in place, Lin Yue hooked his finger under her nose and continued, “Why are you standing there? Did I really scare you that much?”

Only when she saw Lin Yue return to normal did Mabelle snap back to her senses.

‘What is wrong with me?’

She forced herself to remain calm and cleared her throat twice, speaking with a lack of confidence.

“Ahem, I’ve seen men much scarier than you. You can’t frighten me…”

Whether it was before she took over the Chamber’s affairs or after she began standing on her own, she had never let a man touch a single finger of hers, let alone scold her like this.

Mabelle had certainly seen men far more powerful than Lin Yue and had long ago developed a set of methods to deal with them.

However, Lin Yue’s strength felt completely different from others.

It wasn’t just a suffocating pressure, but something more intriguing.

Specifically, she knew his forcefulness was for her own good.

It felt completely different from that spineless, pure gentleness other men displayed.

This impactful sense of security—of having someone shove their concern directly into her mouth—caused quite a shock to her soul.

‘Maybe… I especially like this feeling?’

“That’s good then.”

Mabelle slowly raised her head, looking at the man’s profile illuminated by the streetlights.

She couldn’t help but feel that his fierce look was much more charming than his usual one.

It was much more appealing than a man who compromised on everything and only thought about solving things gently.

In her standards for a partner, she would look down on any man weaker than her from head to toe—guys like Ewan, for instance.

She placed her fist over her heart, feeling the extremely unnatural acceleration of her heartbeat.

She had proactively teased Lin Yue and tried to play with him just to see if he was that kind of man.

This sudden display of strength had thrown Mabelle off her game, and she wanted to send him away quickly.

“Fine… fine. Don’t you have to work as a chef tomorrow? Go back and rest early…”

Her behavior left Lin Yue confused.

“Didn’t I say I was staying the night at the cafe? Did you forget?”

He thought this girl might have rattled her brain during her freefall.

“Also, did you forget something very important?”

He was referring to the reason why Charles was pestering her.

“I know, don’t be so impatient…”

Looking at his serious expression, Mabelle finally adjusted her mindset and spoke slowly.

“Accompany me to the Imperial City in a few days. We’ll talk on the way, and I’ll introduce you to everyone while we’re at it.”

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow; he hadn’t heard anything about going to the Imperial City.

“Introduce me to whom?”

“The Chris Chamber of Commerce… Oh, you’ll know when you get there.”

‘I joined Nightingale, so why are you taking me to the Chris Chamber of Commerce?’

“Also, if you’re staying the night, stay the night, but don’t you dare come upstairs. I need to catch up on sleep tonight, you hear me?”

Wasn’t her room upstairs?

Who would just wander into a girl’s room for no reason…

Mabelle covered her chest, suddenly feeling something strange brewing within her, but she suppressed it ruthlessly.

‘Lately, I should probably avoid having too much physical contact with him…’