Nian Yan quietly tapped her communicator to call Lu Zan, whispering that a lion had somehow gotten into the house. To her surprise, he immediately fired back a video call and frantically ordered her to hide in the panic room by the closet.
But the noise woke the lion, and it suddenly loomed right behind her. On the screen, Lu Zan instantly recognized Leon's beast form. He was terrified the idiot would accidentally swat the fragile little female and flatten her.
Just as he was panicking, the lion's eyes suddenly turned downright vicious. It took a few steps back and lowered its body into a classic pouncing stance. A split second later, it lunged straight at the man on the holographic screen.
Nian Yan rushed over to check if the lion was hurt. But seeing its thick hide and sturdy frame, and realizing it didn't have a scratch on it, she unceremoniously smacked it right on the head.
"Hey, what is wrong with you? Trying to bite people."
Then, because it looked so pitiful sitting there with its ears flat, she leaned in and planted a kiss on its fluffy cheek.
Watching this, Lu Zan's eyes started twitching wildly. Still, he urged Nian Yan to get as far away from the beast as possible, promising he was rushing back right now.
Before she could even answer, the lion tackled her straight onto the soft bed. It growled menacingly at the screen, staring Lu Zan down, making it crystal clear who she belonged to.
Lu Zan honestly couldn't stomach watching that stupid lion acting all possessive and lovey-dovey with his little female. So he just abruptly hung up.
Nian Yan, meanwhile, was left half-heartedly fending off an incredibly excited lion while she continued to deal with the dark mist on its body.
Suddenly, she saw its ears twitch. It turned to look out the window, its gaze sharp and guarded. Then, with a powerful leap, it jumped right out the window. Amidst Nian Yan's gasp of shock, it vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The moment Lu Zan came back, he saw Nian Yan leaning out of the broken window, peeking around. Terrified, he sprinted into the house in just a few strides and grabbed her tightly around the waist. He pulled her firmly into his arms, dragging her away from the edge.
It was the very first time in Nian Yan's life being held by a man like this. Her small face instantly flushed crimson. She had no idea why Lu Zan was suddenly holding her so tightly.
At first, Lu Zan only wanted to get his little female away from that dangerous broken window. But now he could smell her unique, sweet, warm scent. After taking a few deep breaths, he finally forced himself to let her go, stepping back with his head bowed to apologize.
"I am so sorry. I overstepped. But please promise me you will never stand anywhere that dangerous again."
Only then did Nian Yan realize what she had done wrong. She quickly explained that she was just looking for the lion. It had jumped out the window and disappeared.
But Lu Zan told her that wasn't just a lion. It was a male beastman who had lost control. In that state, they had no reason and they could not speak. They were also incredibly aggressive.
As he spoke, he kept a close eye on Nian Yan's expression, terrified of seeing any disgust on her face. After all, females absolutely loathed the brutal, unrefined beast forms of males. That was exactly why males always stayed in their human forms, almost never shifting into their beast forms in daily life.
To his surprise, Nian Yan stayed quiet for a long time. There wasn't a single trace of disgust on her face. All he could see was pure sympathy and heartbreak.
"If I have mental energy," she murmured, "does that mean I can save him?"
Hearing this, Lu Zan had never felt so insanely jealous of Leon in his entire life. He swallowed hard, forcing his emotions down to comfort the girl.
"You don't need to take that burden onto yourself. He isn't your mate. Besides, an S-rank male can only be soothed by a female who is A-rank or higher. And the Empire hasn't had a single female awaken S-rank mental energy in hundreds of years. Even females with A-rank energy make up only two percent of the entire female population."
He didn't tell Nian Yan that he was also an S-rank beastman. He just wanted to be her male. Even if he could never be soothed, he was willing to peacefully accept whatever tragic end awaited him.
Nian Yan snapped out of her daze and started telling Lu Zan about that dark mist she had seen hovering over the lion. To her shock, Lu Zan had never even heard of such a thing. Even the legendary S-rank females from the past had never mentioned seeing any dark mist while they were alive.
Nian Yan couldn't help but ask again. "Then how do the other females actually soothe a male's mental energy? Could you maybe teach me?"
Before she could even finish her sentence, Lu Zan's fair face flushed completely crimson. His eyes darted away, completely unable to look at her, as if she had just whispered some filthy teasing proposition to him. It took him a long while to steady his breathing.
"Females," he stammered, "they usually only ever soothe their own mates. Because of the way they do it, it's..."
Nian Yan instantly understood. Her pretty face burned, turning beet red in a flash.
And Lu Zan just had to add fuel to the fire. "You've lost your memory, so I won't take your invitation seriously this time. But if you ever invite me again, I absolutely will."
Nian Yan was so utterly mortified she wished the ground would just open up and swallow her whole.
But suddenly Lu Zan stepped forward, grabbing her shoulder and gently covering her mouth with his hand. His gaze snapped toward Leon's room, full of high alert.
The door slowly creaked open, and out walked Leon, looking impeccably sharp.
"What exactly are you two doing?"