The warm yet subtly delicate atmosphere fell into silence for a moment, until Ryan was the first to break it.

  "Actually, we are especially fated, you know?"

  "I do not," Evelyn replied.

  The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched involuntarily. It seemed that in Evelyn's heart, every encounter between them was nothing more than his deliberate entanglement, with no such thing as fate at all.

  He let out a soft sigh and changed the subject.

  "If something unforeseen happens later, and this is my final lifetime, would you still kill me without hesitation, just like you did in the previous ones?"

  Evelyn abruptly raised her head and looked at Ryan, unable to understand why he would suddenly say something like that.

  Yet she instantly caught the core of his words. He said this was his last lifetime.

  "Is this really your last life?" A wave of inexplicable panic surged in her heart.

  Ryan nodded gently.

  "This is the final cycle of my reincarnation. If I die one more time, I will completely vanish from this world."

  "I am sorry," Evelyn said, her voice filled with deep remorse and guilt.

  In the past, she had only seen him as a troublesome rogue. She had never known that every time she cut him down, she was consuming what little life he had left.

  "It is all self inflicted," Ryan smiled faintly, his tone tinged with self mockery.

  "Back then, you did not know my nature, nor did you understand the truth of reincarnation. I just got killed into obedience, that is all."

  He spoke lightly, as though he were talking about someone else. Only he himself knew how much he had hated Evelyn during the time right after his revival.

  He hated her cold cruelty and her merciless extermination. Yet he could not kill Evelyn at all.

  Later, he simply changed his strategy. He stayed by her side, deceiving her and teasing her, looking for a chance to take revenge.

  But as the deception continued, without realizing it, he was the one who fell first.

  Thinking of this, Ryan could not help but shake his head and reveal a bitter smile. Fate truly loved to toy with people.

  To be honest, at the beginning he was indeed attracted by Evelyn's beauty. But what truly made him completely let go of his hatred was the moment she risked her life to save him.

  When he was on the brink of death, it was Evelyn who used forbidden magic without hesitation.

  At the instant she stood in front of him and faced Tharok's attack head on, the tightly stretched string in his heart finally snapped.

  Although Evelyn heard Ryan speak as if it were nothing, the guilt in her heart did not lessen in the slightest.

  If the two of them were still unfamiliar with each other now, she might have been able to face this past calmly.

  But now, they had long surpassed the boundary of ordinary acquaintances. He had treated her injuries, fed her, helped her dress, and had nearly touched every part of her body.

  When someone she had killed several times suddenly became as close as family, Evelyn could not help but feel guilt and pain whenever she thought of what she had done in her past lives.

  What was more, it was a blood feud tied to life and death.

  "You can name your conditions. As long as it is something I can do, I will agree to it," Evelyn said. She knew very well that verbal apologies were useless and could at best slightly comfort Ryan.

  Rather than offering hollow apologies, it was better to make up for it with real actions.

  "Really?" Ryan immediately perked up when he heard this. He tilted his head to look at Evelyn, his eyes instantly filled with eager light, and the loneliness and bitterness from before vanished without a trace.

  "Yes. Absolutely," Evelyn replied without hesitation, her tone firm.

  In her view, no matter what Ryan asked for, it was compensation she owed him.

  "You killed me so many times in your previous lives. You owe me far too much, so…" Ryan deliberately dragged out his tone.

  "So what?" Evelyn's heart inexplicably lifted.

  Based on her understanding of Ryan, she always felt that what he was about to say would definitely not be any kind of proper condition. This guy had always liked to hide his true feelings behind improper methods.

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  "Then marry me. Use yourself to atone, and spend your whole lifetime redeeming your sins. How about it?" Ryan's voice suddenly became solemn, and his eyes held nothing but pure expectation and sincerity.

  The moment the words fell, the air around them seemed to freeze. Only the crackling of firewood in the fire pit remained, sparks leaping in the quiet night, yet unable to dispel the sudden heaviness.

  After the atmosphere stiffened for a moment,

  "Glacial Arcana…" Evelyn was the first to speak.

  She had intended to bring up the rule of the Glacial Arcana Academy that forbade marriage, but after saying only Glacial Arcana, Ryan interrupted her.

  "Do not mention the Glacial Arcana Academy rules. I already thought it through," Ryan said, as if he had long known what she was about to say.

  He cut her off directly and spoke with certainty."Look, we both have the aptitude of Grand Magus. This kind of talent is extremely rare across the entire magical continent."

  "When we have children someday, they may inherit our gifts and rise to the legendary realm of the gods."

  "When the time comes, we can directly revise the academy rules so that prohibition only applies to elders and apprentices. The two of us, as special talents of the academy, will naturally not be bound by it."

  He had even planned the retreat clearly. The entire line of reasoning was so coherent that Evelyn had no way to refute it.

  Ryan's fierce wave of proposal instantly left Evelyn speechless.

  She opened her mouth, only to find that she could not say a single word. Especially when she heard the word children, the tips of her ears instantly turned red.

  Even her cheeks flushed with a fine blush, and her heart raced as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

  Seeing Evelyn remain silent, Ryan continued his advance."You said earlier that I could name any condition. Now it seems that was just your one sided statement."

  After saying this, he deliberately shook his head and lowered it with a self mocking smile. His eyes reddened slightly as he put on an appearance of being wronged and deeply disappointed.

  But in the next second, he forced himself to appear calm, picked up a small stick, and stirred the fire, acting as if he did not care at all.

  Yet the more he pretended to be strong like this, the heavier the guilt in Evelyn's heart became.

  "That is not it," Evelyn hurriedly said in defense, her voice tinged with panic.

  "Do not say it. I already know," Ryan immediately interrupted her.

  "That is not what I mean," Evelyn still tried to explain.

  "Do not say it," Ryan interrupted again, his tone carrying a hint of deliberate distance.

  Being cut off again and again, Evelyn instantly grew anxious. Her cheeks flushed bright red, yet she did not know what to say to comfort Ryan.

  She was not good with words to begin with, usually cold and taciturn. Being pushed like this by Ryan only made her so flustered that her words became disjointed.

  Watching Evelyn's flustered and helplessly cute appearance, Ryan could not help but laugh inwardly.

  How could he not have her under control. This tactic of retreating to advance was indeed effective.

  "It is fine. Let us not talk about this anymore," Ryan put away his disappointed look and changed the subject.

  "Did I not accidentally tear your Shadow Silk Stockings last time? I will compensate you with a pair."

  The urgency in Evelyn's heart was abruptly cut off by his words. She was just about to speak again to explain about the proposal when Ryan beat her to it.

  "It really is fine. If you do not want to marry, then forget it. I am not the kind of person who forces others," Ryan waved his hand, deliberately showing that he was unwilling to bring up the topic again.

  Evelyn's words were ultimately stuck in her throat, not a single sound escaping.

  She had wanted to respond seriously to Ryan's proposal, but with him interrupting her like this, all her words were bottled up inside.

  In truth, Ryan had done it on purpose. At this moment, he did not actually want to hear Evelyn's answer, and he did not even care what the answer would be.

  Even if she nodded and said yes, he felt this was still not the right time to speak it out. Some things were better left for Evelyn to mull over in her own heart, making them more meaningful.

  This could also be seen as a small punishment for her repeatedly killing him in previous lives.

  Ryan's gaze flicked over Evelyn's flushed ears, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a subtle, barely noticeable smile.

  "So, I am offering to replace the pair of stockings now. Do you want them?" Ryan shifted the topic back to the stockings.

  "No."

  Just as Ryan expected, Evelyn's slender fingers curled slightly. She hesitated for a moment, but in the end bit her lip and refused. Accepting such intimate clothing willingly was simply too embarrassing.

  "These are special warming stockings I made for you. They will keep your feet extra warm," Ryan persisted, retrieving a delicate box from his storage space and gently opening it.

  Inside the box lay a pair of white lace edged stockings. Ryan held the box out to Evelyn with a grin, letting her get a clear look.

  "No." Evelyn's gaze fell on the white lace edged stockings, and her cheeks immediately heated up.

  Her eyes betrayed obvious embarrassment, yet she could not help stealing a few more glances. She hesitated for a long moment, but ultimately refused again.

  Seeing this, Ryan knew it was time to play his trump card. He feigned disappointment, letting out a sigh."Fine then."

  "Since you do not want them, I will have to give them to Sally. I spent who knows how many days carefully sewing these stockings with warm silk. I poured so much effort into making them."

  "These are women's intimate garments. I cannot wear them myself. If I do not give them to her, there is no other way."

  As he spoke, he slowly closed the wooden box and returned it to his storage space. Then he turned, picked up a branch, and continued poking at the fire, adding sticks from time to time.

  His tone was filled with feigned disappointment, as if saddened that his carefully crafted gift had been rejected and could only be given to someone else.

  The space fell silent once more, only the crackling of the fire breaking the quiet.

  After a long while, just when Ryan thought Evelyn would really refuse, a faint, delicate voice suddenly spoke.

  "I want them."

  Evelyn's words came out with great difficulty, as if she had gone through a huge inner struggle. Each word carried a heavy sense of embarrassment.

  "What do you want?" Ryan immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at her innocently, pretending not to understand.

  "The stockings…"

  Her voice grew even quieter. If Ryan's hearing had not been sharp, he might not have caught it.

  Ryan looked at her with mock sadness."Just now you did not want them, and now you do. What do you take me for?"

  "Am I something you can just throw away whenever you want and pick up whenever you want?"

  "No," Evelyn's tone instantly became flustered, her eyes darting away.

  But when she caught the unmistakable amusement in Ryan's eyes, her heart skipped a beat. She immediately realized she had been tricked by this bastard again.

  Her cheeks burned even redder, and she glared at him, both embarrassed and angry.

  Ryan could no longer keep up the act. The smile at the corner of his mouth fully bloomed. He picked up the box again and held it in front of Evelyn."Do you really want them?"