My Idle System

Chapter 363: Reunion in Chaos (2)

The Ashvale family, one of the ancient families of the United States, carried a history stretching back more than three hundred years. Their influence had endured wars, political shifts, and the slow transformation of the modern world. For generations, their territory had remained untouchable.

Lately, they even started expanding, and yet, on this day, everything had collapsed under the hands of a single enemy.

A petite Asian woman.

She stood calmly in the center of the Ashvale estate, facing its many members, while acting under the orders of a former member of their own family.

Whether what had happened here could even be called a battle was debatable.

Still, the result was undeniable.

It wasn't a complete massacre.

But that was only because of the "mercy" of her master.

Bodies were scattered across the ground. Some Ashvale members lay unconscious, others writhed weakly on the ground. A few had already lost limbs — severed arms or legs staining the polished stone with spreading pools of dark blood.

And yet they were still breathing. Alive.

Left deliberately in that miserable state.

At this humiliation, Samuel Ashvale, the current head of the family, stood trembling with fury.

His eyes had turned bloodshot, veins bulging visibly beneath the skin of his temples. His hand was clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palm, the sharp pressure breaking the skin.

Blood seeped out slowly.

It dripped from between his fingers and fell to the ground, mixing with the blood of his fallen family members.

Not far away, Eva's father — already defeated, but spared from the worst of the punishment, was kneeling on the ground while trying to steady his breathing. His clothes were stained and torn, yet compared to the others scattered around the courtyard, he had been treated almost gently.

Eva's mother, maybe the only still left untouched, stared at the battlefield in stunned disbelief, her face pale as though the life had been drained out of it.

Everything felt unreal.

Like a nightmare she hadn't yet woken up from.

That was exactly what Liora was thinking as well while she watched the scene unfold.

This has to be a dream.

The situation had already become so absurd that it felt impossible for it to grow any more ridiculous.

She truly believed that.

Until another guest arrived.

The moment he stepped into the scene, it felt as if someone had pressed a pause button on the battlefield.

The dagger in the Asian woman's hand, a weapon that had not stopped moving since the moment it had been unsheathed, striking down Ashvale members with effortless precision — finally stilled.

Its blade hovered quietly at her side.

The battlefield fell into an unnatural silence.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

The metallic scent of blood hung heavily in the air.

Amidst the scattered bodies and spreading crimson stains across the courtyard stones, only two figures continued moving.

The one responsible for the entire mess— Eva.

And the man who had just arrived beside her.

Her little lover, Christian.

Their affectionate, intimate embrace, offered without the slightest consideration for the people around them, sparked something strange in Liora's eyes. A flicker of emotion she herself could not immediately name.

Yet just like the other Ashvale members present, she could feel it clearly.

The situation might have looked as if it had suddenly improved with the arrival of this man.

But that was only an illusion.

If anyone made a single wrong move now… if someone were foolish enough to interrupt the lovey-dovey reunion of this scandalous couple—

It would be their end.

Liora felt that instinctively.

And so she didn't dare move.

She simply watched.

Watched as the man with haunting green eyes leaned closer and whispered sweet nothings into her cousin's ear, his voice low enough that only Eva could hear him. The woman who had brought the Ashvale family to its knees only moments ago now looked completely different, her body melting into his arms as if all the strength she possessed had suddenly vanished.

"Stop crying. Even your daughter is watching. Do you want to embarrass yourself in front of her?"

Christian spoke in a helpless tone, the words accompanied by a faint sigh.

He had already tried calming her down with all kinds of sweet words. None of them had worked. Then, after catching a glimpse of Olivia from the corner of his eye, he attempted a different approach this time.

Yet even that didn't seem to work.

Eva continued crying while clinging to him, her shoulders trembling ever so slightly.

Christian's arms tightened around her almost instinctively. One hand rested on the back of her head, fingers sliding gently through her hair, while the other patted her back in slow, steady motions.

He kept doing that for several long minutes.

The battlefield remained silent during that time.

No one dared interrupt.

Finally, Eva seemed to gather herself.

Her trembling gradually stopped, and she slowly pulled herself away from his chest, though her hands still clutched the front of his clothes as if she was afraid he might disappear again.

With reddened eyes, she looked up at him.

Her gaze was intense.

Hungry.

For a moment, it truly looked as though she wanted to devour him right there, in front of everyone, without caring about shame or propriety.

But in the end, she restrained herself.

Raising one sleeve, she wiped her face, already ruined by tears, though it did little to hide the redness around her eyes.

Still, she kept staring at him.

So many words seemed to gather at the tip of her tongue. Questions, complaints, relief, anger, longing — all of it swirling together in the silence between them.

Yet in the end, everything condensed into only two words.

"Welcome back."

At the bright smile she showed on her tear-stained face, along with her words, Christian smiled back. He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against her lips before pulling away again.

"Hopefully there won't be a second time I have to be away like this," he said quietly.

Eva simply nodded. The smile never left her face.

She moved naturally to stand beside him, as if that was where she had always belonged. His hand slid around her waist almost automatically, pulling her just a little closer, and she didn't resist in the slightest.

Only then did the sounds of the battlefield seem to return.

The faint groans of wounded Ashvale members. The rustle of clothing as a few survivors shifted on the blood-stained stone. The distant wind brushing across the open courtyard.

Christian finally took in the scene around him in detail.

He casually waved a hand toward Nina, then gave Olivia a playful wink. Only after that did his gaze move toward the Ashvale family members scattered across the courtyard.

In the end, however, his attention settled on a single figure.

A woman who bore a striking resemblance to Eva standing beside him — yet carried a far more mature presence.

For a moment, Christian studied her.

Her expression was aggrieved and cold, her posture rigid despite the chaos surrounding her.

Then he reached a conclusion.

The resemblance existed only in appearance.

That coldness. That distant, aloof aura the woman carried — the sort that seemed almost ingrained into almost every member of the ancient families, was something Christian had never once seen in Eva.

Nor in her proud daughter, Olivia.

And so his brief interest faded just as quickly as it had appeared.

His gaze returned to Eva.

She had been watching him the entire time.

Observing every movement.

Christian leaned slightly closer to her and spoke in a low voice.

"Do you need any help wrapping up the situation here?" he asked. "Because I'm barely holding myself back, and I can't wait for long."

Eva raised an eyebrow at his words, immediately understanding the barely concealed meaning behind them.

A faint blush crept onto her face.

Her thighs pressed together unconsciously before she shook her head.

"No," she replied, trying to sound composed despite the warmth spreading across her cheeks. "It's already nearly done. Just give me a few minutes."