Baal leaned back against the soft cushions of the sofa, his military jacket tossed aside. Two buttons at the collar of his shirt were undone, and his black hair was a messy tangle.
"You're back?" Jiang Lijin walked over and stopped in front of the coffee table.
Baal looked at her with burning eyes. He grabbed a document from beside him and tossed it directly onto the coffee table.
"Take a look."
A paper document. In the interstellar era, such a retro medium was usually reserved only for top-secret agreements of the highest level.
Jiang Lijin picked it up and opened to the first page.
Special Advisor to the Federal Supreme Military Council.
The title sounded like an empty honor, but reading further, the clauses were incredibly solid. It granted permission to participate in all core council decisions and bestowed the highest level of clearance for military intelligence across the entire Federation.
Flipping to the last page, Jiang Lijin raised an eyebrow.
The Aegis Elite Special Forces Squad was to be entirely detached from the military's roster and reassigned directly under Jiang Lijin's name, becoming her private armed force. All logistical supplies and equipment upgrades would be fully funded by the Federal Military.
This was the very same squad that had gone to Valoran to pick her up earlier.
"The Federation is really willing to bleed for this." Jiang Lijin tossed the document back onto the coffee table and sat down on the sofa beside Baal. "Didn't you piss off those guys in the council?"
Baal scoffed. "They're about to lose their lives; why would they care about this little bit of stuff?"
The higher-ups of the Federal Council, those committee members ranked S-class and above, were all constantly teetering on the edge of mental rampage. Jiang Lijin, the only 3S-class female, was their absolute last lifeline.
"I'm very satisfied." Jiang Lijin leaned back. "However, I still have to attend the Imperial Royal Family's banquet in three days."
Baal leaned against the sofa, sitting with his legs spread wide, his golden eyes staring straight at her.
"You want to play both sides." He stated it as a fact.
Jiang Lijin met his gaze and asked calmly, "Can't I?"
Since she had the capital, why not make the most of it? Only children make choices; she wanted it all.
Baal didn't speak. He stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly leaned forward and scooped her up with his long arms.
Before Jiang Lijin could react, she was pulled over, tumbling right into his embrace.
"Baal!"
She pressed her hands against his chest, her palms resting flat against his warm pectoral muscles.
Baal took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her waist, locking her onto his lap. He lowered his head, his nose almost touching her face.
"My rampage levels are rising," he said, his voice husky and completely unapologetic. "I need purification."
Jiang Lijin was speechless. As long as this poison remained uncured, he would use this excuse every single time.
Without waiting for her to argue back, Baal lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers.
His kiss was just like the man himself: simple, rough, and entirely unreasonable. He pried her teeth apart and drove straight in, plundering the air from her mouth.
Kissed until she was breathless, Jiang Lijin reached out to push his shoulders, only to have both of her wrists caught in one of his hands and pinned behind her back.
"Mmph..."
The arm around her waist tightened, lifting her slightly so they were pressed even closer together.
Right at that moment, Jiang Lijin felt an icy sensation against her calf.
Baal's spiritual body, a small snake, was slithering up from her ankle. It coiled around her calf, its tongue flicking out occasionally to glide across the sensitive skin behind her knee.
"Control your snake," Jiang Lijin turned her head away, panting and gritting her teeth.
Baal chased after her lips, settling for biting down on her earlobe.
"I can't," he mumbled, his voice laced with amusement. "It's a part of me, too. It also needs purification."
The little black snake continued to slither up the inside of her thigh. The slippery sensation made Jiang Lijin's scalp tingle.
Baal's hand grew restless as well, slipping under the hem of her shirt. His fingertips brushed against her waist, sending a shiver through her.
"Stop touching me!" Jiang Lijin struggled slightly.
Not only did Baal not stop, but he intensified his efforts. He simply wrapped his arm around her waist and rolled over, pressing her down onto the wide sofa.
With a dizzying spin, Jiang Lijin's back sank into the soft cushions. Baal bent one leg and wedged it between hers, while the little black snake had already climbed all the way to the top of her thigh.
Baal lowered his head, his warm lips landing on the side of her neck and lingering all the way down to her collarbone.
Jiang Lijin tilted her head back. Her gaze drifted over Baal's broad shoulders and accidentally swept toward the second floor.
A person was standing by the railing of the second-floor corridor.
Chiron.
He was wearing his dark gray knit loungewear, gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he leaned against the railing in a relaxed posture.
Looking down from above, he watched the two entangled on the sofa without blinking.
Those gray eyes glinted coldly behind his lenses. He didn't make a sound to interrupt them, just quietly watched.
Jiang Lijin's scalp went numb. Using both her hands and feet, she forcefully shoved Baal off of her.
Baal rolled over and sat up, not forcing the issue. He straightened his messy shirt collar and let out a low chuckle.
He looked up at Chiron on the second floor.
"Seen enough?" Baal's tone was lazy, dripping with blatant provocation. "Does the director of the Imperial Central Hospital have a fetish for peeping on others getting intimate?"
Chiron pushed up his glasses, his expression unchanging.
"The living room is a public area," he said in a steady, flat voice. "If the Commander-in-Chief lacks even this basic common sense, I suggest you return to the military academy for retraining."
"So what if it's a public area?" Baal sneered. "Is it illegal for me to hold my own wife?"
"It's not illegal," Chiron said, dropping his arms and stepping away from the railing. "It's just that your posture was too unsightly and became a nuisance to others."
With that, he turned and walked back to his room. The sound of the door closing wasn't loud, but the two people downstairs heard it clearly.
The living room fell quiet once again.
Jiang Lijin sat on the sofa, smoothing out her wrinkled clothes, her heart still racing.
For the few seconds she saw Chiron, she had indeed felt a bit guilty. But on second thought, what did she have to feel guilty about?
Baal was her matched partner, and so was Chiron. Making out with her legal husband in her own living room was perfectly justified.
She looked up at Baal. The guy was leaning against the sofa armrest, playing with the little black snake, looking to be in an excellent mood.
"You did that on purpose," Jiang Lijin realized.
With Baal's 3S-class perception, it was impossible for him not to notice Chiron standing on the second floor for so long.
He had intentionally pinned her to the sofa and kissed her right in front of Chiron!
Baal didn't deny it. He withdrew the little black snake back into his spiritual sea and reached out to pinch Jiang Lijin's cheek. "I had to make him face reality. He needs to stop putting on those lofty airs all day while scheming behind our backs."
Jiang Lijin swatted his hand away.
"Are you a child?"
"As long as it works." Baal stood up, picked up his military jacket from the floor, and slung it over his shoulder. "I'm going to take a shower. I've been busy for a day and a night."
He walked toward the stairs, but after taking only two steps, he stopped and looked back at her.
"About that playing both sides thing," he said, lifting his chin. "I don't have a problem with it. But remember this: no matter how many men you attract, I am the top dog."
Jiang Lijin didn't reply, just watched him go upstairs.
[Wow~ A lover's battlefield~ Director Chiron is probably hiding under his covers crying right now.] Xiao Yi's sly voice rang out.
