Asya easily acquiescing after putting up such a fight broadened his grin. Li Yu Rong drew a finger down her cheek and then down her lips. Lips that were slightly red from his kiss. "So obedient," he teased and then positioned his mouth above hers as he asked seductively, "my pet, are you so eager for your reward?"

'Ah,' Nastasia groaned internally. 'This natural flirt! This Playboy!' She just had to speak that part out in Chinese. She managed to curse him purposefully in English well enough but just had to unconsciously drop that terrible thought out loud in a language he could understand.

She had resolved not to fall prey to his teasing, that she would face it without flinching. Yet, as Li Yu Rong brushed his mouth against hers like he was going to kiss her again now that he had her promise, her heart couldn't help panicking.

Nastasia tried to throw away her embarrassment, tried to throw away her shyness, tried to throw away the warmth that surged from her chest to her toes, and finally tried to throw away her anticipation for him to really kiss her. She tried to throw it all away and put up an indifferent front; unwilling to acknowledge all those things that came about whenever he teased her like this.

To even think about what all of it meant was too scary. She wasn't from this world; an accidental visitor. She came suddenly so she could also disappear suddenly. She didn't belong here, she needed to go home. There was her family waiting for her. Although her siblings were married off and had families of their own, her mother and grandfather were under her care.

Her mother was sickly and her grandfather too old to work, they needed her. She had to go home. The warmth she was beginning to feel for him, the attraction she had felt from the beginning, and this mass of unnamed, unknown emotions that were brought about at this moment... they couldn't happen.

But these thoughts, these feelings, were hidden beneath her shyness and inexperience. The reason she at first blushed and bashfully ran away, the reason she then used her age to block herself, the reason she found the excuse of her seniority to force her self to be unaffected by his flirtations, the reasons she was likely to come up with in the future; these, the rapidly changing defense mechanisms quite clearly displaying her greenness in romance, were how she tried to block herself from the changes slowly taking place in her heart.

However she was trying to guard herself and though she attempted to stop it from forming, the meaning of his existence to her was rapidly sliding from the safe position she tried to pin him to.

So, though she wanted his kiss and though she wanted his embrace, Nastasia put on a face that said she could live with or without his so-called reward. She shook her head, trying to ignore the way the action made their lips brush against each other as light and delicate as butterfly wings.

"Not giving up," she said, "only stopping now. I practice and then I soon will get out of this."

'Ah, so stubborn.' Li Yu Rong thought helplessly, but then at the same time, he didn't mind it. It would be a good thing for her to eventually understand how to defend herself in this world. It only mattered that she understood the "her" of right now could not recklessly jump about. That was the point he wouldn't compromise in.

Her determined yet haughty expression as she declared such a stubborn thing, he couldn't help but find it adorable. Recalling the way her face looked as she spoke of how good his kiss was, warmth flooded his chest. Those eyes that had, for a second, flooded with desire as she mentioned how it felt; the remembrance made him breathless.

He really wanted to kiss her again.

While Asya said it wasn't a punishment, he could still hold on to the excuse. While they were still like this, in this ambiguous atmosphere, under the pretense of his teasing her. He wanted to touch the girl that he likes. To feel her in his arms.

Chuckling lightly, warmly, he said, "such a naughty little pet," before fastening his lips to hers. With her gasp of surprise, Li Yu Rong slid his tongue inside, to explore her mouth even more carefully than the time before.

After hearing her unintended thoughts, there was a determination suddenly rising in him to hear her vocalizing just how good it felt. As he kissed her with a ferocity that left her head swimming, he suddenly drew the tip of his tongue down the roof of her mouth, eliciting a sharp gasp from her throat.

Hearing that sound, so pleasing to his ears, Li Yu Rong found himself becoming emboldened by it. It was like he had been given permission to go just a step further; only a step. Deepening the kiss, attempting to draw her tongue into his mouth; he wanted her to kiss him back with as much vigor as he gave in kissing her.

"Master," Hui Se Ying materialized in the room, "the spirits you sent out returned with the report you- Gah!?"

'Damn!?' Hui Se Ying cursed inside as he registered what he was looking at. This wasn't supposed to happen yet! He hadn't even gotten to the best of the plans he'd come up with and they were already-!

The complaints in his heart came to an abrupt halt as he took note of his master's deadly glare. If looks could kill he would already be in a coffin six feet under. 'Ah, master,' he really wanted to say, 'you were the one that said if they came to find you no matter what.'

However, under that stare, Hui Se Ying couldn't find the courage to say it.

Being that it was better to pretend to have seen nothing, he said. "Ah, my mistake, master isn't here at all. Definitely not in the middle of a good thing at all." After having said his piece, he fled the scene, leaving his master to pick up from where he interrupted.

Ah, Li Yu Rong really felt like cursing. Now that the atmosphere had broken, he had to let her go. Easing off of her body and letting go of her wrists, he sat upright. Looking down at her panting and dazed form, he had to firmly close his eyes a moment to beat back his rising desire.

He wanted to kiss her again.

Letting it out with a shaking breath, he stood up from the bed. Seeing that she hadn't moved despite all that happened, a teasing light entered his eyes. His grin turned provocative. Reaching out to comb his fingers through her hair, he said. "Should we make this a promise? A kiss as a reward or," he leaned in close and said mischievously, "do you want it as a punishment?"

Nastasia was still a bit dazed from his kiss; sorting out the things it made her feel. These were a first for her, thus the want that had begun to build up in her was rather dizzying. Hearing his question she almost nodded to it, but as the words registered she instantly sobered.

Realizing she was no longer pinned down, she shot up to a sitting position and put a bit of distance between them. Not too much, however, as she was trying to appear unaffected. Shooting him a glare, she said. "No teasing. I not do it anymore." She was still a little out of breath but managed to hide it well.

This was bad for the heart. Aside from dealing with the shop -should she manage to accomplish what she wanted- she was going to stick to the study to avoid trouble for a while. She was afraid he really would carry out his threat and kiss her again.

Although that wasn't the only reason she was going there, the books were the main point. The ones she had read to better her ability to talk were mainly fairy tales and other types of fiction. The ones relating to history among other technical things were too difficult to read and thus she had passed them up for the ones that were easier.

To better understand this world, she decided to attempt them again.

Holding back his amusement, Li Yu Rong dropped his teasing. Patting her head, he told her "I'll be back later tonight," before leaving the room to find Hui Se Ying.