Chapter 2198: You—Sharnoth Nocthys—truly belong to me. "Don’t worry~ You will find out soon enough." Nux whispered as he brought his mouth dangerously close to Sharnoth’s ears. The moment Sharnoth heard those words, for some reason, her body flinched. Nux moved back a little, enough to look at her face, and when the Chaos Heir saw his golden eyes filled with amusement, she... BOOOOM Purple-black chaos energy exploded from her body, blinding Nux for a moment, and when he finally dealt with the energy and moved it out of his line of sight, Sharnoth— She was no longer there. Of course, someone at Nux’s level didn’t actually need his eyes to know her location. He instantly turned toward the direction she was in, and there—standing a few meters away from him—Sharnoth smiled lightly— "Y-You must have many things in your mind, especially right now with everything that has been going around. Although I did say you should not give in to your fear and make a rash decision, it will be for the better if you think everything through and come up with a few plans for certain situations. You do not need to waste your time here, I can handle Vexarion and ’her’ on my own. You can leave, or better yet, I’ll go and give you some time alone so you can streamline your thoughts." The woman gave a long explanation as she continued moving. For a moment, she wanted Shadow to teleport her back to her room, but for some reason, she could not reach Shadow even though she was inside the Universe. Of course, this wasn’t the first time it had happened either; Shadow had the habit of cutting off communications to spend some time without having to ’work,’ so instead of panicking or thinking too much, Sharnoth tried to move and get away herself. Yes, she tried to. But she couldn’t succeed. Not today. The moment she tried to leave, Nux appeared in front of her and— "I did not ask you to leave me alone." He held her hand. "...Huh?" Sharnoth froze. The moment Nux got close to her, her body began to react differently; her instincts screamed at her, wanting her to leave. She found the entire situation odd; after all, Nux was her savior. Why would her body feel threatened in his presence? But out of habit, her body quickly gave in to instincts, and she tried to move away, only to be caught by Nux. And now, when he stood right in front of her, Sharnoth froze, not knowing how to react. "W-What...?" She stuttered. "I said I did not ask you to leave, so where are you going?" "I thought you would want to spend some time alone, especially after everything that happened with the Infinity of Light." Sharnoth tried to convince him, but— "You thought wrong." Nux answered almost immediately. "...So you want me to... stay?" Sharnoth asked purely out of pressure, and Nux didn’t end it; he nodded. "Yes." "What am I supposed to do?" Sharnoth asked. "You said it yourself, did you not? Now that you got your revenge, you now belong to me." Nux spoke directly, and once again, Sharnoth nodded. "I did say that." "You do not plan on going back on your words now, do you?" "I do not." Sharnoth shook her head with a determined look on her face; she almost seemed offended that Nux even had to ask this question. And seeing that reaction, Nux’s grin widened. "Then I am correct to assume that from this day forth, you belong solely to me, correct?" "I was already yours, Nux. I saw everything you did for me. In exchange for that, what I am giving you is nothing. I feel grateful for everything you have done and will feel the same forever." Sharnoth answered honestly, letting out her true feelings. Right now, however, this wasn’t what Nux cared about— "That did not answer my question." Sharnoth stared at Nux with a flat look on her face, then, she took a deep breath and— "Yes, I belong to you." She answered in clear, direct words. Words that every man wishes to hear, and Nux— He was no exception. A big, wide grin appeared on his face as he held Sharnoth’s hand even tighter. The Chaos Heir frowned; today, Nux seemed... different than before. Today, his touch felt... threatening, almost as if... something was changing. As for what it was— She couldn’t exactly put her finger on it. What she did know, however, was that her instincts were telling her to leave, and she was thinking of a way to do just that, but— "So Sharnoth Nocthys, now that you officially belong to me, I order you to stay with me." Sharnoth froze at those words. "Stay with you...?" She frowned. "Nux, I am already part of your Universe. I already stay with yo—" "Do not play these games with me, Sharnoth Nocthys. You know what I am saying." "..." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 Sharnoth turned silent. "Or do you plan on going back against your word and freeing yourself from me?" Nux asked, and the next instant— "No." Sharnoth shook her head with the same determined expression. "I’ll stay with you." "Good." Nux nodded with a light, gentle smile on his face. "Don’t you wish to know what exactly I need you for?" He asked playfully. "I do." Sharnoth answered honestly; she truly did wish to know. "When I sleep, you’ll remain beside me—not as a servant, not as a bodyguard, not even as Chaos’s Heir..." His golden eyes locked on hers, glinting with amusement. "...but as my pillow. For today, and for the Eternity to follow." "Your... pillow...?" Sharnoth blinked. She had absolutely no clue what Nux was saying. After all, in front of Sharnoth, Nux had always been... comparatively tamer. Too many things were happening all at the same time, so while Nux still spent time with his wives, all of it was done in private; Sharnoth did not get to see or hear much of it. So even when she promised herself to him, in her mind, she was merely a... slave—someone who was supposed to do everything that was told to her. Every task that was given to her, every task that needed the Power of Chaos or her connection with Zylarith, or maybe a task where one needed to sacrifice their life— That was what Sharnoth had prepared herself for. But... being a pillow...? This... she did not understand. What does that even mean? "Yes." Contrary to her confusion, Nux just nodded shamelessly. Because of their connection, he could already sense that Sharnoth had absolutely no idea what he was saying. As someone who had already witnessed Sharnoth’s entire life, it was something he had already predicted. And he... He had already prepared an answer. "You won’t just be something I rest my head on." He chuckled. His laughter became something that made Sharnoth’s chest tighten for reasons she couldn’t explain. Nux then pulled her hand toward him—his thumb tracing small circles against her wrist. "You’ll stay close enough for me to feel your breath on my neck. You’ll stay warm enough to chase away the cold. And you’ll stay still when I decide to wrap my arms around you." "Wrap... your arms—" Sharnoth blinked, unable to process those words, but before she could process what was being said or complain, Nux placed his finger on her lips and brought his face close to hers. "Don’t interrupt," He whispered softly, his golden eyes shining with playfulness. "You may move, but you are not allowed to move away from me. You may breathe, but never sigh in protest. You may speak, but never complain. If I fall asleep with any part of my body touching yours, you will not move until I wake. If I hold you too tightly, you will accept it silently. If I pull you closer, you will not resist. Is that clear?" He leaned closer, his whisper becoming even lighter, resembling a demon tempting a clueless, innocent woman. "And if I dream... you’ll stay. Even if the dream ends, as long as I want you by my side, as long as I hold you, you—will not move away." Sharnoth’s lips parted. She tried to speak, but no words came out. There were too many questions in her head; she wanted to know what exactly this meant, but... When she saw Nux standing so close to her, she... Her mind stopped working. Her usual composure was nowhere to be seen, And Nux— He used that to his advantage and added more details— "From this hour and forth, your duty is simple—to be where I can reach you, touch you, hold you... and never find you missing." Nux then pulled the woman close to him and wrapped his arm around her body. "From this hour and forth," Sharnoth’s body flinched; her first instinct was to push him away because of how foreign it all felt, but—the conditions were clear, she may move, but she couldn’t move away from him—so in the end, she did not move and accepted what was happening to her. And using that moment, Nux did what he always did. "You—Sharnoth Nocthys—truly belong to me."