Chapter 481: Wrapped in His Arms
Raising his head, he looked up at the long horns emerging from behind.
Sansa had appeared from the shadows as she always did, catching Frey’s exhausted body and laying him gently on the bed, his head resting on her lap.
"You look wrecked. Am I really looking at the same man who just defeated the Ultras on his own?"
As she gently brushed his hair, Sansa mocked the broken state Frey was in. Right now, even the weakest Ultras could’ve beaten him.
In response, Frey wore that same smile...
The same smile he had shown the Imperial soldiers earlier.
"Not bad, right?"
Staring at him, Sansa couldn’t pretend to be strong anymore...
His face, his eyes, his expression .. even the way he spoke, the aura he gave off...
He seemed more mature. Stronger. Different.
This transformation made it difficult for her to tease him the way she used to. The longer she looked at him, the faster her heart began to race.
With a slow nod, she replied softly,
"Yeah... I never thought you’d still be stronger than me, even after I became a demon."
Even though she had spent more time near Frey than anyone else in recent months, she never truly knew the extent of his strength .. she always avoided staying with him too long, so she wouldn’t interrupt his training.
Even she was shocked by how far he had gone.
"I told you before... I’m the monster here, not you."
Frey rose to his feet. Though he was clearly exhausted after unleashing everything he had, he somehow managed to hide it with perfect control.
Sansa recalled his words from the past .. how he once told her he was a far greater monster than those beings called demons.
After witnessing his power just now, she was finally starting to understand what he meant.
But to her, he didn’t look like a monster at all.
After all, what kind of monster had that strange, magnetic pull around him?
A pull so powerful that people followed him blindly, just like they did before.
Lord Starlight had become beloved by everyone .. when once, he had been hated by all.
That was the kind of influence Frey held now.
More and more people would follow him in the future. She wouldn’t be the only one standing by his side anymore.
Frey was born to be a king... a leader.
Both of them had emerged from darkness, but unlike her... his darkness was special.
He would only grow more distant with time. Sansa already knew it.
And that knowledge stirred a strange confusion deep in her heart.
She was someone who had lost her way long ago.
A lonely girl who had lost most of her reasons to keep living. She didn’t know what to feel when the only reason she kept going began to soar far beyond her reach.
Even if he denied it and refused to admit the truth—Sansa was a demon.
A filthy creature that fed on life itself. A being born to bring death and misery.
No one could ever be happy having her around.
As these thoughts invaded her mind, Sansa considered distancing herself for a while.
But she was far too perceptive .. and she had already noticed Frey’s condition earlier... how much strain he had put on himself after unleashing all that power.
When she saw him bearing the weight alone, she found herself walking toward him without even realizing it ..just to comfort him, just to be there.
And that was how she ended up in Frey’s room, aware of her own conflicted state... wondering if what she was doing was the right thing at all.
So much had been weighing on her lately. She had hit a dead end a while ago.
Lost in her own thoughts, Sansa was snapped back to reality when Frey suddenly approached her without warning.
"Seems like your mind’s full."
His expression was unreadable.
He was so close ..and Sansa was in no shape to hold her composure around him. She immediately tried to push him away.
"You’ve pushed yourself too far lately. You need to rest."
She turned her head, trying to stand and walk away.
But Frey grabbed her immediately, pushing her down onto his bed.
Now lying beneath him, with both her arms pinned by his grip, she couldn’t do anything but stare at him in shock as he hovered over her.
"I really have pushed myself... I’ve never gone this far before," he said, his voice low. "But I still have enough strength left to do this."
Catching her off guard, Frey leaned down and stole a kiss ..one Sansa couldn’t escape from.
It was the first time Frey had taken the initiative like this, and her face turned bright red.
She tried to resist, but no strength came to her.
This wasn’t an ordinary kiss.
It was deep .. so deep she felt like Frey was about to rip her soul right out of her body.
Seconds passed. The kiss continued.
Sansa’s strength slowly left her... until she could no longer resist at all.
Frey, still locked in the kiss, felt her arms begin to loosen. Her entire body had gone limp now.
That’s when he knew.
She had completely surrendered to him .. allowing him to do whatever he wanted.
Seeing her flushed face ..that rare expression of shyness she hadn’t shown in a long time .. Frey finally pulled away after stealing her lips for so long.
Sansa looked utterly dazed, which made her look oddly adorable.
But Frey didn’t stare for long.
Instead, he gently wrapped his arms around her, leaning close to her ear.
"Stay by my side, Sansa."
At that moment, the demon princess’s eyes widened.
She realized what he was doing.
He had seen her pain, seen her desire to walk away... and took the first step himself .. stopping her before she could.
This time, it was him who held on to her.
Not the other way around.
Sansa had never been able to resist him when she was by his side.
Her affection for him had long surpassed any limit.
So when he came to her like this—asking her to stay—there was only one answer she could give.
She couldn’t speak.
But her answer was clear in the way she nodded again and again.
That was her "yes."
Frey held her even tighter once he had what he wanted.
In the end, it was him who saved her.
Not the other way around.