A tiny golden-haired loli, cute and cuddly in his arms—it should have been a heartwarming scene.
But Lauren’s heart was filled with dread.
Seriously, what are you trying to do?
Our Floral Fantasy Poem isn’t some 18+ game.
This isn’t the kind of scene that belongs in it.
I really don’t dare make a move!
And on top of that, she’s a member of the protagonist’s party, so Lauren was even less inclined to act.
If I said she came willingly, would you believe me?
Li An paid no attention to Lauren’s discomfort.
She was enjoying this, after all.
In her previous life, Lauren had held her just like this too.
She pouted and said, “I’m happy that you called me pretty.”
“But I don’t like this dress.”
She looked straight at Lauren, pitifully 🥹, as if hinting at something.
“This outfit was worn by someone else. It wasn’t made just for me…”
Lauren understood her hint perfectly well.
She means she wants me to give her an exclusive outfit, right?
‘Jeez, what a freeloader.’
‘Not familiar. Broke.’
Of course, Lauren didn’t say that out loud.
Seeing the expectant look on Li An’s face, he couldn’t bear to crush the girl’s hopes.
He simply turned his face away and slowly spoke.
“I’ll give you an exclusive outfit later.”
‘On the condition that you work for me for a while and buy it with your own salary.’
Lauren thought.
“Alright, Lauren dear.”
Li An finally smiled in satisfaction.
No matter what, having that answer from you was enough.
Suddenly, she leaned her face close to his.
Lauren met her golden, jewel-like eyes.
She seemed to want to make a deep impression on him.
Time passed, second by second.
The two stared at each other.
Closing the physical distance was a good way to close the psychological distance.
That was Li An’s seduction strategy.
They could even feel each other’s breath, sensing one another’s state.
But why wasn’t it as effective as she’d imagined?
She could feel that Lauren’s heart had indeed raced for a moment—but only for a moment.
It didn’t achieve the psychological effect Li An had expected.
Lauren’s mood was very calm.
He had successfully suppressed Li An’s flirtation.
Why could he do all this?
Simple—Anne had already pulled the exact same trick on him on the first day!
Lauren already had resistance.
A deep, passionate gaze works the first time, but the second time, it’s half as effective.
This time, Lauren didn’t even avert his eyes.
He faced Li An’s gaze head-on.
Their staring contest gradually fell into an awkward silence.
If Anne hadn’t been fast asleep and found out about this, she would have been overjoyed and burst out laughing.
And honestly?
Anne actually learned something useful from this reincarnation.
She successfully transformed into a bridge-blocking master on the love battlefield.
Reincarnation?
She’ll make you crash mid-flight!
So what if you were together in a past life?
Is that supposed to be a big deal?
On the current love track, everyone’s back at the starting line.
And she got a head start, sacrificed everything, and blocked you right on the bridge!
As they say, one step slow means every step slow!
One step fast means a hundred steps fast.
Holy Maiden Li An?
Just Anne’s prisoner, meow!
Seeing that her offensive wasn’t working, Li An didn’t get angry.
If there was one thing she wasn’t short of, it was patience.
After all, love grows over time, right?
Just give herself a little more time!
She faced Lauren, gave a gentle smile, and took half a step back.
A bout between experts ends with a light touch!
She gave Lauren one final reminder.
“Then I’ll remember what you said today, Lauren dear!”
“And likewise, Lauren dear, you have to remember me too!”
“You must give me a dress a hundred times prettier than this one!”
“If I find out that you’ve forgotten today’s promise, I’ll be really angry, you know! 💢”
“Lauren dear, you don’t want to know what I look like when I’m angry, hehe!”
“Of course! A word from a gentleman is a word that’s hard to take back!”
Even if she didn’t understand that idiom, the meaning was conveyed.
Lauren remembered that when writing the story, the author would occasionally throw in a few hard-to-stomach Earth idioms.
Thinking about it that way, his own words were harmless.
Now then, he’d played along with her long enough, Lauren thought.
Time to push her to get down to business.
“By the way, your hypnosis—there aren’t any restrictions that prevent someone from waking up, right?”
He found it strange.
Normally, Anne was a very light sleeper.
Any little disturbance around her, and she’d immediately shift into her Spinosaurus form.
But Lauren had carried Anne all the way here, and even after putting her on the bed, she was still dead asleep.
He didn’t want to use a rough method, like slapping her awake.
Lauren still cared about Anne.
So he wanted to let Anne rest well in sleep mode.
He asked Li An if there was a way to let Anne wake up naturally and quickly.
“Hmm… She…”
Li An hesitated, as if troubled.
“To be honest, my hypnosis doesn’t have the power to forcibly prevent someone from waking up. I’m not that domineering.”
“Judging by the time, she should actually be awake by now.”
“If she isn’t waking up, there’s only one reason: she’s having a really good dream.”
“So how to wake her up is up to you, Lauren dear.”
Li An finally answered honestly.
In truth, she bore no ill will toward Anne.
“Ah?”
Lauren was stunned after hearing Li An’s words.
“So you’re saying… she can’t wake up purely because her dream is too sweet?”
Li An blinked innocently.
“Pretty much. My hypnosis just puts her into deep sleep; it doesn’t forcefully trap her consciousness. If she doesn’t want to wake up, it means she’s having a great time in her dream.”
Lauren turned his head to look at the small bed in the fitting room.
Anne was curled up under the blanket, her tail wrapped around the corner of the quilt, and there was even a faint smile on her face—the corners of her lips slightly upturned, as if she’d found some treasure in her dream.
The scene was supposed to be heartwarming, but one thought immediately popped into Lauren’s head.
‘Is she bullying Li An in her dream?’
No wait, ‘She’s messing with me, isn’t she?’
Lauren thought it was very likely.
No—definitely!
Just now, when they returned to the mansion, he heard Anne’s sleep-talking and couldn’t hold back.
Lauren rubbed his temples and decided not to think about it.
“Alright, I’ll try waking her up.”
He walked to the bedside, crouched down, didn’t dare be too rough.
He just reached out and gently poked Anne’s cheek.
“Anne, wake up.”
No response.
Poked again, a little harder.
“Anne, it’s morning. Time to eat.”
Hearing his voice, there was finally a slight reaction.
Her tail flicked, but she still didn’t open her eyes.
Lauren sighed and looked back at Li An.
“Are you sure there’s no other restriction? Like, I can’t suddenly shout to scare her, or it’ll damage her spirit or something?”
“Hehe, why don’t you try?”
Li An said playfully.