Douluo Dalu 3 | Divine Destruction

"I… do not know." Gu Yuena choked out, her voice full of sorrow and lacking its usual playful joy and excitement. At first, she intended to devour his power when she grew strong enough to resist the maddening impulses but at some point that had changed.

At some point, her goal changed from taking all he was for her own to spending as much time as she could with him. She even ignored her subordinates' pleas in favor of spending time with him, building a wall of excuses a mile high.

"Do you intend to harm me?" Tang Wulin asked, a ghost of a smile on his face though she couldn't see it with her face pointed toward the ground and her vision blurring from tears she shouldn't be shedding.

"No! I don't want to. Not that I could." She shouted loudly before slumping back into her chair, her face in her hands as she laughed self deprecatingly. Even with the help of her subordinates, it was unlikely they would weaken him enough for her to devour him.

Afterward, he may be injured for quite a while, perhaps even permanently, but what use would it be? How could she devour his power when she was dead and all her subordinates killed? If she tried to kill him, their race would die!

"In that case… it's fine." Tang Wulin said seriously, a tinge of affection in his emotionless voice. Turning her head quickly her head fluttered strangely around her head but she paid it no mind. He didn't care?

"Why?" She asked him, tightly clenching onto his shirt and pushing her head into his chest. It made no sense. As a leader, he should have no choice but to kill her. She was a threat and he was a king, there was only one choice. Yet he destroyed that notion.

"You have a lot of secrets but… so do I. Secrets aren't a bad thing, some things just can't be said. As long as you don't mean any harm I'll stay your ally and, if you can earn the respect of my comrades, FUG will become your shield." Tang Wulin declared without a moment of hesitation, gently rubbing his rough hand through her hair.

She paused, only the feeling of his hand through her long hair reminding her that there was a world outside her mind. He hadn't merely spared her, he promised her his assistance and even a potential ally in FUG, a force rising in prominence.

"You stole that, didn't you?" She asked him with a giggle in between sobs, tears of joy leaving her eyes as she hugged him tightly. Where she thought she'd be betrayed she had gained an ally and where she thought she'd become alone she received an ally. He had broken each and every one of her expectations.

"My mother said it first." He admitted, continuing to mess with her silver locks. They were extremely soft, more than they had any right to be. They were softer than anything he had felt before and smelled extraordinarily pleasant. He was tempted to ask for her hair products.

His mother appeared to be a wealth of knowledge for him to rely upon and so far she had yet to fail him. According to his father, she said some strange things every now and then however he still believed in her.

And for that reason, he would not ask. His mother had explained to him how people who care deeply for one another might not like to have the same scent while some may, it was all based on the partner's taste.

For that reason, she recommended that he didn't ask. If his partner cared she would offer it herself and if she did not she wouldn't, a simple concept to get behind. After that, his mother descended into a long lecture about how to treat a woman but those lessons were not useful currently.

A warm silence hung over them as they basked in the outflow of their emotions, not even registering their class' hard fought victory nor the excited and amazed shouts of the audience. All they focused on was each other.

The people quickly left the stands, their teacher leaving with their class, yet neither cared enough to notice. They were entirely focused on only one another, basking in the satisfaction of one another's presence.

"I… can't tell you much." Gu Yuena began, her figure still in the oh so warm embrace of her other half. She truly wanted to tell him everything while she had the courage, the courage to trust him. To trust him not to betray her.

But she couldn't. It wasn't information she could tell as she pleased no matter how much she wanted to. Certain information was dubbed taboo by the God Realm and even after it had left, its laws remained.

Sadly, the information of her origin, of the Dragon God, could not be told so thoughtlessly without incurring the wrath of heavenly tribulation. In the future, she could tell him as she pleased but now she could do nothing.

If she were to even begin to tell the story the divine thunder that the ruler of a god realm has access to will strike her down where she stands. She couldn't even rely on her other half to defend her as that would only strengthen it further.

For now, she could do nothing. All she could do was hope and pray that her other half believed her like she believed he would while growing stronger. If she did that, eventually she would be able to explain it to him.

"That's fine." Tang Wulin said softly, his voice a tad bit more affectionate than ever before as he hugged her tightly. He didn't mind her keeping her secrets, especially since she seemed to want to. There was something holding her back and he would wait.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind. It was a childish way to get around her problems but also one extremely simple. She had never had to explain it to anyone before since all her subordinates already knew it so the thought had never crossed her mind.

"Instead, can I tell you a story?" Gu Yuena asked him softly, not moving from his embrace.