His heart had been taken out, yet Sindri still knelt steadily before her. The heart in his hand was still beating normally, as if it wasn't affected at all.
Elara said, "System, explain this."
System replied, "I'm shocked too, Master. But his body has been soaked in all kinds of Gu poisons since he was young, so even without a heart, the Gu insects can still support and maintain his body."
Sindri continued holding the bloody heart in his hands. His face, stained with blood, looked even more dazzling and eerily handsome, gazing at her with a mix of desire and anticipation.
Elara's shock lessened slightly. Her expression became unreadable as she looked at him. This man always managed to do something that left her speechless and caught off guard.
She asked, "Then, can I control the Gu poison inside his body now?"
People's hearts are unpredictable, and Sindri was a lunatic whose words and actions were far from normal.
Elara hadn't interacted much with him. Although she did raise him for a while, back then she thought he was Haochen. After learning his true identity, they had always been enemies, so even if he suddenly dug out his heart, she couldn't completely trust him just because of that.
She needed a situation she could fully control.
The System scanned Sindri's body, then said, "Master, your Gu egg can't control the Gu poison in his body for now. But if you spend 1000 points of national luck to upgrade its effects and make him willingly eat it, it should be fine."
Sindri was once part of the Lianhuang Sect, known for its deceptive and unpredictable methods. He had been a sharp and dangerous tool for them. Elara had to remain cautious of his identity and strength, but if she could gain full control of him, then the reason Lianhuang Sect had sent him to infiltrate Plumera Kingdom would be revealed easily.
Elara looked at Sindri. "I don't want your heart." Even if it was his weakness, she didn't want to carry a bloody, still-beating heart around all day.
"I'll give you something to eat in a bit. As long as you're willing to eat it of your own will, I'll believe you."
Sindri's blood-red eyes lit up instantly. He didn't even ask what she was going to give him and just nodded.
Elara stared at him for two more seconds before taking out a Gu egg. She silently spent 1000 points of national luck to enhance it, then handed it to Sindri.
"Ding. Your current total national luck points: 45169"
Sindri didn't ask or even look. He didn't use his hands either. He simply tilted his neck toward her, opened his crimson lips, and licked the Gu egg from her hand. He swallowed it, his Adam's apple moving with the motion. His tongue lingered on her fingers for a few seconds before pulling back.
Elara frowned slightly and pulled back her now slightly damp fingers. Moments later, she felt the familiar sensation of blood puppet control from Sindri.
The enhanced Gu egg worked quickly. The Gu poison in Sindri's body didn't resist at all and was fully assimilated by her blood puppet Gu.
Just like that, he became one of her blood puppets. The third-ranked assassin on the continent's top killer list, a man Elara had always seen as a powerful enemy, was now hers. From this moment on, he could never lie to her again, nor could he ever attempt to assassinate or betray her.
Recalling what had just happened, Elara still found it surreal, like something out of a fantasy. But the truth stood clearly before her.
Fate is indeed unpredictable.
Elara quietly focused on the feeling of the blood puppet connection coming from Sindri. Once she confirmed she had complete control over him, she composed herself, adjusted her expression and mindset, and motioned for him to put his heart back.
"Mmm, Sister, I think I can feel you now."
Sindri also noticed the changes in his body and was delighted by them.
He felt even closer to her now. She could feel him at any time, even control his body and thoughts. That feeling was amazing. It was like they were always tightly connected.
With that stronger bond, Sindri didn't mind that she didn't want his heart.
He pressed the heart back into his empty chest with a soft "pop." It was like fitting a part back into place, and soon, the heart was once again connected to his body.
Elara watched quietly for a moment. After confirming he could no longer lie to her, she asked him again, "So, Sindri, tell me why you're here."
"Hmm? No reason. I just missed you and couldn't help but come see you. I also found out some scum wanted to harm you, so I came early and followed you, killing them along the way."
Because of the blood contract, Elara knew every word he said was true. But that only made it harder to understand.
"Then why did you disguise yourself before... and that child, is he really yours? Was it because Lianhuang Sect wanted a so-called divine child with my bloodline?"
Noticing that Elara's attitude had subtly changed and was no longer so cold and defensive, Sindri's lips curled slightly. Still kneeling, he moved two steps closer to her, gently tugging at the hem of her clothes.
This time, she didn't shake him off.
Sindri's smile deepened. He moved closer to Elara, his enchanting face full of joy.
"No, Sister. The reason I used that appearance before was because I thought you might still be angry and wouldn't want to see me."
"Our baby wasn't for the Lianhuang Sect. At first, I did want to use the child to kill some scum. But later, I couldn't bear to. You were so kind to me. When I was pregnant, you even held me and gently rubbed my belly."
He remembered how, back when he was still Haochen, Elara thought his stomach hurt and gently held him in her arms, soothing his discomfort from early pregnancy. Sindri's face showed deep longing and obsession.
"Sister, I had the child just for you. I thought maybe, when you found out, you'd forgive me for the baby's sake."
As he spoke, Sindri suddenly became excited. He tightened his grip on her clothes. "A few months ago when I saw you holding our child, you don't know how thrilled I was. It felt a hundred times better than my first kill. No, a thousand, ten thousand times better."
Elara said nothing.
Sindri kept talking, his dazzling face filled with intense emotion as he stared at her. Every word he said was genuine, his most honest feelings.
But even with the blood puppet bond confirming everything, Elara still wasn't used to this man speaking to her in such a devoted, lovesick way. Deep down, she still wondered if he was pretending.
Besides, though she had indeed raised him for a short time, she didn't think that brief connection could make someone like Sindri, who had grown up in violence and madness, become so utterly devoted.
Back then, she only thought he was Haochen, and she had been busy with many matters. Even though she did spend some time teaching and caring for him, it was more out of duty to fulfill a promise to Old Master Qu.
Even if she didn't know his true identity then and had shown him some genuine care, it had been nothing extraordinary. Yet now, hearing him speak made it seem like she had been the only warmth in his world.
Hearing those words from Sindri felt so off. It made her wonder what his real goal was.
Yet the feeling from the blood puppet kept telling her that everything he said was true. He had no other thoughts. He truly just had intense, pure desire and affection for her.
A man who grew up walking through blood and corpses, feared and hated, called a living devil, actually had such deep and simple emotions.
Elara lowered her eyes to look at him and stayed silent for a long time.
After a while, a thought flashed through her mind. What kind of life had this man lived before.
But she quickly forced that thought away.
Sindri kept speaking. Noticing that Elara's attitude had softened again and that she hadn't pulled her clothes away from his hand, his smile grew a little more. He quietly inched closer on his knees, pressing even nearer, and his long arms slowly wrapped around her waist, as if wanting to embrace her like he used to when he was still Haochen, hiding his face against her stomach with affection.
Feeling his movement, Elara instinctively placed her hands on his shoulders to push him away, but the moment she touched him, she felt deep, open wounds on his shoulders, so serious they went straight through bone.
When touched, Sindri let out a low, muffled sound. His voice didn't sound pained though. Instead, there was a slight gasp and a trembling tone. His handsome, blood-stained face turned even redder.
Elara stayed silent. She had completely forgotten. The reason he'd been able to sneak into the original owner's backyard was because his weakness was pain. The more it hurt, the more excited he became.
Elara ignored the expression on his face and the sound of his shallow breathing and groans. She didn't touch his wounds again, but the blood still flowed continuously from deep gashes that exposed bone. Elara lowered her eyes and scanned his body from top to bottom, finally realizing that he had more than a dozen such penetrating wounds. There wasn't a single spot on him that was uninjured.
These wounds, if even one of them were on an ordinary person, would've already been fatal. But Sindri had been kneeling and talking with her for quite a while, and just moments ago, he even pulled out his own heart.
Elara's hand, which had been holding his shoulder, stopped pushing him away. "These injuries… with your abilities, you got hurt this badly dealing with those assassins? Did the Blood-cloaked Tower and the Lianhuang Sect send the number one and two assassins from the Central Content?"
Sindri shook his head. When Elara stopped pushing him away, he instantly leaned closer to her. His beautiful, blood-red hair fell down to her waist, and his whole body nearly clung to hers. His red eyes held a mix of shyness and deep affection as he looked at her, his voice gentle and happy.
"No, Sister. These trash weren't even worth my effort. But... because your bloodline is special, and I used a special method to get pregnant with your child, technically speaking, I haven't even recovered from childbirth and I'm still in the breastfeeding period... my strength is less than thirty percent of normal."
Childbirth and breastfeeding period... Elara: "..." Even though she tried to control her expression, she still couldn't hide a trace of indescribable shock.
She couldn't just leave someone who was still recovering from childbirth and nursing alone in this wilderness, especially when that person was already hers and carrying her child.
As absurd as the situation seemed, it was undeniably true.
After understanding Sindri's condition, Elara hesitated for the final time, wondering what to do with him. At that moment, System suddenly spoke up with something that made her decide to bring him back.
System: [Master, I just found something. Perhaps because you and Sindri have successfully formed a bond and he now belongs completely to you, I managed to trace a thread in your karmic connection. It shows that when you returned from the banquet of the Hundred Kingdoms, he silently took care of a huge problem for you.]
[Do you remember the ninety hostility points from the "Dark Firmament Hall" that suddenly appeared in your "Foreign Relations" column? That was when someone from the Dark Firmament Hall realized what you did at the banquet and was planning to act against you. But then the hostility points suddenly disappeared, meaning that the person who had noticed you met an unexpected end and vanished completely.]
[Back then, we had no idea what had happened, but now I see from your karmic link that it was him. He sensed that person's intent to harm you and killed them. He prevented you from being exposed too early to the major powers like Dark Firmament Hall and also saved you a significant amount of national fortune value.]
[Also… according to the time of his pregnancy, when he killed that person from Dark Firmament Hall... he was already heavily pregnant.]
Learning the truth, Elara silently stared at Sindri again.
She remembered that time clearly. It was right after her first international mission, and she had unknowingly provoked several powerful groups. That was nearly a year ago... had he already been in that state even then?
Elara tried to suppress the conflicting emotions in her heart. Finally, as she looked into Sindri's eyes, filled with yearning and deep attachment, she made her decision to bring him back.
Fine, the child is still so young. It would be too troublesome if they didn't have a father.
Upon realizing her decision, Sindri, instead of being overjoyed and excited as before, stared at her with stunned red eyes.
"Sister... you're really willing to take me with you?"
He lifted his wide, blood-soaked robe and hugged Elara tightly. His flawless face buried itself into her waist as if trying to confirm that this was real and not a dream.
After Elara nodded, he couldn't help but raise his head to confirm with her again and again.
Once Elara patiently nodded each time to reassure him, Sindri finally broke into laughter while holding her. His laughter sounded completely normal at first, but soon it trembled with emotion, and he clung to her even more tightly, as if he never wanted to part from her again.
So when Elara finished checking the scene and confirming that all the assassins were dead, she returned with a new addition attached to her body — Sindri.
Elara really wanted to push him away. Even though she had decided to bring him back and not treat him as an enemy anymore, and he was now the father of her child… his whole body was soaked in blood and was soaking through her clothes.
But ever since Sindri knew she would take him with her, he no longer held back. Every time Elara tried to push him away, he would hug her and whimper, "Sister... it hurts... let me hold you, please..."
Elara: "..." When she touched his wounds before, he didn't say a word. Wasn't he trembling in excitement from the pain just moments ago?