SPELLBOUND

Another long and lingering kiss was Zanya's response to his words. He wanted to hear a positive answer to his question, but he held back his comments and just kissed her in return. Not only because he could not resist responding to her kiss, but also because he thought that this was more than enough for now. However, it was only for now. Later on, he would revisit this matter with her again.

He would always be willing to wait for her to voice her answer out, no matter how long he would have to wait.

When their kiss deepened again, she struggled a little before pulling away and glared at him. "You promised, you perv!" she reminded him, and Leon pressed his lips tight together, pulling his head away from her while giving her an injured look. His wounded look caused Zanya to suffer a pang of guilt in her heart as she could see how much he enjoyed sharing the kiss with her.

"You kissed me first… I thought that was you asking for another round –" Leon muttered out his excuse, looking all cute and adorable in Zanya's eyes.

Zanya pinched Leon's cheeks and pulled at it sideways until his gorgeous face was contorted to end up looking funny. "Gods, you're really becoming one real perv now."

"But you're loving it…" a sneaky smile spread across his face and Zanya face palmed. The thought 'I'm in deep shit' crossed her mind upon seeing that look.

Abruptly, she stood and pointed at him while narrowing her eyes a little. "Behave now, Leon. Or else…" the look in her eyes changed and there was now a dangerous warning that sparked in them, "you'll regret it. I promise you."

Leon found himself swallowing hard at her warning. His heart skipped a beat at her words and the way she was looking at him now. Warning bells also echoed at the back of his head – delicious and dangerous warning bells. His fingers itched and tickled to reach out and catch her – to have his way with her and to see what kind of 'regret' that she had in mind for him.

But he cleared his throat and averted his gaze away from her perfections before he could lose all his composure and control. "Yes, my lady." He then said, smiling in surrender and Zanya flashed him a smirk before turning and jumping fluidly back into the water.

Sighing, Leon followed her and soaked himself into the water as well. He just wanted to sit there and watch her but… he needed to wash up too and… cool down. Thankfully, the queen had the foresight not to send Levy along with them, or else that annoying guy would keep pestering him as soon as he returns.

Zanya was the first to get out of the water and get dressed. She had also dried herself with magic before turning to fully face Leon who was still half soaking in the water.

Just as Zanya was about to speak, they heard a loud sound, causing Leon to immediately jump out of the water and landed right before her as her protection.

"Seems as though a fight is going on?" Zanya muttered and Leon looked at her. After one nod, the two were then moving at full speed towards the direction of the loud sounds, with Leon running and Zanya flying over him.

They halted in unison when they sensed that they have reached the fighting scene. A body of a massive monster was already down.

A woman dressed in warrior's clothing was standing on top of it. Her sword had pierced right into the monster's mouth. Her long hair that was tied back high on her head was cascading behind her as she pulled her sword out of the monster with ease.

When she turned around, a triumphant smirk was gracing her face. "How is it, my lord? You believe me now? I told you, their most vulnerable spot isn't their eyes, it's actually the inside of their mouth. Once you pierce them through their throats, they will fall immediately. If it's their eyes, we need to hit all four of their eyeballs before they die." She explained, still looking so proud of what she had found out, as her blue eyes were blazing with excitement.

"Interesting indeed…" a deep voice echoed from the side and both Leon and Zanya already recognized the owner of the voice – Lord Cairus. "When did you find out about the monsters' weakness, Riz?"

"I don't think you should be questioning me about that first and foremost, my lord. First, I want my reward for this discovery now. You can't deny that this discovery of mine is more than a huge breakthrough. With this, our chances of winning against the monsters are now greater than ever. We can now kill them in one strike!" the lady called Riz crowed with pride at her achievement.

"Alright, state the price that you want. But first…" the lord turned over his shoulders and his eyes fell to where Zanya and Leon were standing. "Why are the two of you still here?"

Zanya and Leon could only step forward and greet the lord with respect. It was not long since Zanya had encountered this man with her people, but she had already formed a deep respect for him. This dark fae lord was such an amazing man. In fact, if not for him, Zanya was certain that there would have been a fight between the two groups of light and dark faes the moment the light faes attempted to cross the portal.

This man was intelligent and calm and very good at dealing with conflicts despite him reeking with danger and dark magic. She had immediately sensed that he was very strong the moment she met him. If a fight had broken out that time, this man could have easily killed off more than half of the light faes by himself. And not to mention that he was quite a good looking specimen too. So much so that even the young female light faes in their group could not help but be mesmerized by him.

"Never mind…" Lord Cairus averted his gaze and looked at the dark fae woman again, "you both can go now, your comrades had already left quite a while ago."