“Hey, Hindo. What do you think of merchants?”
Ever since she’d heard Gorky’s remarks, she’d wanted to know what Gray thought about merchants.
Maybe there were righteous merchants among them too…
Gray lightly flicked the stone dust off his fingertips from crushing the eavesdropping stone, then glanced at her.
The blizzard howled outside the window, firelight from the iron stove dancing across his half-black, half-white hair.
“Merchants are nothing more than desire maximized in human form. Desire big enough to devour themselves.”
That was a formula he’d verified long ago. His tone was flat—not like he was offering an opinion, more like stating a fact.
Olivia’s fingers stopped at the edge of the wool blanket. She’d heard something like this before.
Not the exact words—but that way of dissecting “merchants” and “desire” together, that way of peeling open a class’s essence in a few sentences.
The forbidden book with the deep brown cover she’d flipped through in the study last night spoke like that on every page. Had Gray read that book too?
Or had he come up with it himself?
She searched her mind for a thread of connection but found nothing. If this man didn’t want you reading something, you couldn’t even get past the punctuation.
“Alright, Princess. Consider that your bedtime story. It’s getting late.”
Gray stood up, unfolded the dark coat draped over the sofa arm, and laid it across her shoulders.
The coat was far too big—the hem dragged onto the cushion.
Then he walked to the corner of the lounge, pulled a spare blanket from his duffel bag, shook it open, and spread it over her knees.
Olivia wanted to say something, but drowsiness chose that exact moment to wash over her.
She closed her eyes, listening to the crackle of charcoal in the iron stove, and fell asleep.
Night.
The sound of the blizzard woke her up.
Compared to ordinary wind, the blizzard was far too violent. A Urske blizzard… even more incomprehensible than the clans themselves.
Gray wasn’t in the lounge—only a neatly folded blanket remained in his spot. From the corridor came the faint murmur of his lowered voice, probably communicating with someone again.
The dull rumble of wind trembling, snow pellets hammering the glass like countless tiny stones striking at once.
She tried closing her eyes again, but the wind was too loud. Every time drowsiness crept in, the rattling window frame bounced it right back.
She finally stood up, wrapped herself tighter in the coat Gray had left her, and headed for the door.
The door was pressed shut by the blizzard. She braced her shoulder against the panel, draconic strength channeling from her shoulder blade into the frame.
The wooden door let out a reluctant groan, then burst open under the wind’s force. Cold air and snow pellets slammed into her face.
Her silver-white hair whipped backward, ends snapping against the doorframe. She squinted and stepped outside.
Wind instantly flooded her collar.
The coat’s hem flapped backward.
She grabbed the doorframe with one hand, but her boot slipped on the icy step, and her whole body lurched sideways.
Then a pair of hands caught her shoulders.
The grip was steady—steady as a tree trunk planted in the middle of a blizzard.
“Little girl, what are you doing out here?”
Olivia looked up. Gorky stood before her.
The blizzard roared around him, but his body didn’t budge. His gray shirt cuffs snapped in the wind, bear ears standing straight through the storm, a thin layer of white frost forming on the fur tips.
His brown eyes glowed faintly in the shadow of the snowstorm—completely different from the man in the study earlier that day.
Not that old clerk holding an enamel cup, leaning back in his chair flipping through pages.
But an old bear standing immovable in a blizzard.
Olivia was deeply puzzled: Was this guy out of his mind?
Walking all the way here on foot through a storm this violent, coming all the way to the mine—what was he trying to do, turn himself in?
‘His willpower couldn’t be that weak, could it? Surrendering to the Tsar this quickly?’
Gorky remained completely still in the blizzard.
“Or what, are those inhuman bastards recruiting child labor now?”
Gorky tilted his head, bear ears rotating at an angle through the storm. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Olivia steadied herself and brushed the wind-tangled silver hair from her face.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for some air. And what are you doing here?”
Gorky didn’t answer.
He just gave her a gentle push back through the doorway, stepped in himself, and pushed the door shut behind him.
The blizzard was sealed outside, its howl squeezing through the cracks into a muffled moan.
He stood in the lounge, shaking snow off his shoulders with the casual ease of someone brushing dust off his doorstep.
Olivia watched the motion and suddenly understood how he’d walked from Akhmatova City to the mine last night.
“I…”
Not by carriage. Not by truck.
He’d walked the entire way.
Through a blizzard. Alone.
That stamina—walking through a blizzard like it was nothing. Was this guy a Urske superman?
Though, War Bear Clan was known for its physical prowess. But even so, this seemed excessive.
Gorky’s frame was noticeably smaller than the average War Bear, but whatever was in his bones hadn’t shrunk—if anything, there was several times more of it than in an ordinary person.
Then again, looking at it from another angle—her situation was even more absurd.
A girl under five feet tall, wobbling through the snow, showing up at a mine… well.
This mine was a military-guarded mining district.
Once you came in, getting out was another matter entirely. If she couldn’t leave before the blizzard passed, she really would be digging ore for Vishkov here.
Everyone had their reasons for being here, but… weren’t these reasons a bit too far-fetched…
The blizzard howled outside the door, the entire mine swallowed by a white curtain of snow.
Gorky pushed open the mine’s iron door and stepped inside sideways, snow still unshed from his shoulders.
“Little girl, what are you doing in the mining district? There are Urske soldiers everywhere. Aren’t you walking right into the lion’s den?”
Olivia wrapped herself in the coat Gray had left her, her silver-white hair slightly disheveled from the cold wind that had rushed in earlier.
She looked at Gorky and re-explained her identity.
“I’m the Silver Dragon Princess. Those furballs wouldn’t dare lay a paw on me.”
“Good.”
Gorky didn’t answer right away.
He stood by the iron stove, bear ears twitching slightly in the warm firelight.
Those murky brown eyes studied her, as if weighing something. Then he set his enamel cup on the stove ledge and turned toward the door.
“But compared to all that—what I’m more curious about is how you got here.”
“I wanted to know, just like I…”
Chapters List
Free
Karium
Chapter 85: Wooden People Even Know How to Give a Welcome Beating
200
Chapter 84: Are Senior Sister and Wooden Puppets the Same Kind?
200
Chapter 83: Protecting Senior Sister from the Unscrupulous Is a Junior Sister’s Duty!
200
Chapter 82: Stupid Senior Sister Likes Taking Losses, Not Blessings
200
Chapter 81: Anyone Can See the Favoritism Toward Junior Sister
200
Chapter 80: Why Do You Look So Guilty?
200
Chapter 79: Still Wanted to Spank Her Ass
200
Chapter 78: All Talk! Next Second I’ll Really Hit You!
200
Chapter 77: Don’t Casually Call Someone Flat-Chested, or You’ll Get Beaten
200
Chapter 76: The Howler Bird’s Provocation
200
Chapter 140: Speech
200
Chapter 39: Ugh~ That's exactly what an accident is about~
200
Chapter 40: Right and Wrong, Success and Failure—All Turn to Nothing
200
Chapter 39: Crystal at the Last Moment
200
Chapter 55: Surprise Attack on the Blood Fiend Sect (4)Chapter 54: Surprise Attack on the Blood Fiend Sect (3)Chapter 50: Inspection
200
Chapter 49: House Rules
200
Chapter 48: Conspiracy
200
Chapter 47: Answering
200
Chapter 46: White Mist
200
Chapter 45: Dusk
200
Chapter 44: Swap
200
Chapter 43: Yukina
200
Chapter 42: Nightmare
200
Chapter 41: Mom
200
Chapter 15: The cat swore loudly, and Qian Yue was on guard against child snatching
200
Chapter 14: Master or Mother?
200
Chapter 13: The White Cat Arrives, a Century-Old Deal
200
Chapter 12: The Formation Activated, the Fox Spirit Appears
200
Chapter 11: The Fox Demon Who Will Take the Lives of Your Descendants
200
Chapter 185: The Logic of Power
200
Chapter 184: The Dragon Heart
200
Chapter 170: Spiritual Will
200
Chapter 169: Breathing in the Nightmare
200
Chapter 168: Heading to America
200
Chapter 167: The World’s Strongest
200
Chapter 45: Undercurrents on the Airship
200
Chapter 44: Royal Conspiracy and Murderous Intent
200
Chapter 43: Grandmaster's Sword Intent Shapes Martial Form
200
Chapter 42: The Negotiation and the Final Test
200
Chapter 41: A Test That Shows No Kinship
200
Chapter 200: Wangcai, Don't Die!
200
Chapter 199: Monthly Exam
200
Chapter 198: Thank You Video
200
Chapter 197: Boss Ma
200
Chapter 196: Extremely Insulting
200
Chapter 195: Trouble
200
Chapter 275: Little White
200
Chapter 274: Goddess of Judgment
200
Chapter 273: Daughter Pays
200
Chapter 140: The Conditions Proposed by Lin
200
Chapter 139: Seeking Lin's Help
200
Chapter 272: You're Lying
200
Chapter 138: Shuyue's Three-Day Seclusion
200
Chapter 271: A Proposal
200
Chapter 137: The Five-Scaled Silver Dragon Princess and the Solution
200
Chapter 136: Giant Beasts and Sky Law
200
Chapter 159: Astronaut Talia
200
Chapter 130: The Cat's HelpChapter 38: Ten Thousand Swords
200
Chapter 16: Dinner Finished, Time for an Awkward Chat
200
Chapter 38: Woo~ That's exactly what we call certainty~
200
Chapter 10: Why did your mother know it was demonic energy?Chapter 9: If you like me, don't tell me!Chapter 8: Who bullied my child? Mother will kill him for youChapter 7: My Sister Said, I'll Buy You a WifeChapter 6: The Demonic Aura Originates from the Fox SpiritChapter 5: I, Cang Ye, have become a Taoist priestChapter 4: A Demon Enters the Su Mansion, and Brothels Are Sold OffChapter 3: Born with a Seductive Charm, Cang Ye Enters the MansionChapter 37: Ugh~ That's exactly what people call 'doubts'~
200
Chapter 36: Woo~ That's exactly what war is like~
200
Chapter 15: Wake Up, Let's Eat First
200
Chapter 14: Promise
200
Chapter 13: Escape, Second Coma
200
Chapter 12: Unexpected Events
200
Chapter 11: The Poisonous Granny
200
Chapter 270: New Xp System
200
Chapter 269: Punishment Time
200
Chapter 268: So Skilled ?!
200
Chapter 267: The New Mansion
200
Chapter 266: The Only Duty
200
Chapter 2: Brothels, FreebiesChapter 1: The Beginning, Leaving the MountainChapter 40: The Invisible Sword Breaks the Dragon Subduing Palm
200
Chapter 39: The Villain with a Righteous Spirit
200
Chapter 38: The Five Continents Await the Dragon Palace
200
Chapter 37: Stone Bridge: Questioning the Heart, a Path of Life and Death
200
Chapter 36: The Demonic Embryo Descends to Jiang Shangjing
200
Chapter 35: The Purple Sun Sword and the Appearance of the True Dragon (Part 2)
200
Chapter 34: The Purple Sun Sword and the Appearance of the True Dragon (Part 2)
200
Chapter 33: The Purple Sun Sword and the Appearance of the True Dragon (Part 1)
200
Chapter 32: The Heart Sword Emerges from the Living Evil Spirit
200
Chapter 31: The Wrath of the Heroic King Causes Clouds and Mountains to Fall
200
Chapter 30: Mingzi's Rebirth in the Demonic Embryo
200
Chapter 29: Going Against the Tide to Slay the Dragon's Remains
200
Chapter 28: The Promise of Keeping Dreams, Swords Cry in the Night
200
Chapter 27: Swordplay on the Ferry Boat, Strange Tales on the River
200
Chapter 265: The Secret
200
Chapter 264: Unfaithful Obsession
200
Chapter 263: A Childhood Friend's Invitation
200
Chapter 262: Submitting to Jelly
200
Chapter 129: Mutual KillingChapter 35: Wooh~ That's exactly what art is~
200
Chapter 10: What Should I Wear......Chapter 9: Serious BusinessChapter 8: Play Games with Laughter!Chapter 7: Discharged!Chapter 6: Do You Want Me to Feed You?Chapter 5: In the hospital room, the troubled administratorChapter 4: Experimental AccidentsChapter 3: Senior, Cat, and the Prelude to ObservationChapter 2: Administrators, Shelters, and ......Chapter 1: The Girl Who Was Taken InMagical Girl Little Cupcake, Becoming Everyone’s Beloved Target
200
Chapter 261: My Weapon Is Butter?!
200
Chapter 260: The Weapon Master Arrives
200
Chapter 259: Do You Like Bunny Girls?
200
Chapter 258: Bloodstained Years Disband
200
Chapter 257: Reason Of Failure
200
Chapter 256: Beg for Mercy
200
Chapter 255: Experience of Killing
200
Chapter 254: Things Are Getting Strange
200
Chapter 128: BaitChapter 37: A Pair of Tragic Lovers
200
Chapter 34: Woo~ That's exactly what the so-called beginning is~
200
Chapter 33: Woo~ That's exactly what so-called intervention is~
200
Chapter 32: Ugh~ That's exactly what an apology means~
200
Chapter 31: Woo~ That's exactly what they call opportunity~
200
Chapter 30: Ugh~ That's exactly what justice is~
200
Chapter 13: Fire Stick Or Finger?
200
Chapter 40: A Little Devil's Mouth Must Be Soft
200
Chapter 39: Oh Dear, Junior Has to Carry Me
200
Chapter 38: What Is the Price?
200
Chapter 37: Junior Is Still Too Young
200
Chapter 36: That's Right, I Was Careless on Purpose
200
Chapter 35: Is This Mana Replenishment Normal?
200
Chapter 34: Isn't It Normal for a Maid to Get Pushed Down by Her Master?
200
Chapter 33: Junior, Time to Eat Peach~
200
Chapter 32: How to Have an Affair Without Getting Caught
200
Chapter 31: Little Devil-Style Teaching?
200
Chapter 40: An Icy Heart
200
Chapter 39: Tit for Tat
200
Chapter 38: Unfamiliar Hostility
200
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Do Adults Also Make Mistakes?
200
Chapter 36: Warrior
200
Chapter 35: The Wounded God
200
Chapter 34: A Painful Choice
200
Chapter 33: The Beautiful Girl's Offensive
200
Chapter 32: Upper-Class Life
200
Chapter 31: The Teacher's Other Side
200
Chapter 125: Love Eating Chocolate?
200
Chapter 124: The Truth of the Past
200
Chapter 123: Wang Xiyu
200
Chapter 122: Who Is It?
200
Chapter 121: Loli Is Fine Too
200
Chapter 120: Breakfast
200
Chapter 119: Chest Peril
200
Chapter 118:The Little Loli Under the QuiltÂ
200
Chapter 117: That's Too Unfair!
200
Chapter 116: A Horror Movie on a Rainy Night Chapter 115: A Ghost Movie on a Rainy NightChapter 114: Do You Know This Person?Chapter 113: The DormitoryChapter 112: Help Me Put Them OnChapter 111: The Day the Accident ArrivedChapter 183: Invitation from the PastChapter 182: The Eye of LobelateChapter 181: Lobelate's EyeballChapter 180: Overwhelming MightChapter 172: He is very obedient, very good
200
Chapter 135: Monster Crystal CoreChapter 171: Excitement of the Grass Leaf Cauldron
200
Chapter 170: She Repelled the Enemy
200
Chapter 169: That female disciple... did she look pretty crying?
200
Chapter 134: Who has Bad Eyesight?Chapter 168 : Ye Li Hit Me!
200
Chapter 167: The first day, six in the morning, Luo Xing was purely dumbfounded.
200
Chapter 166: I ate rice early on the first day!
200
Chapter 133: The Choice of Magic ArmorChapter 132: The Beautiful RoseChapter 131: Shuyue's New IdeasChapter 158: Wow, Tanks Too
200
Chapter 130: Extracting Fire Element AffinityChapter 157: Talia Gave It to Her for Free
200
Chapter 156: I Am the Fishing King
200
Chapter 129: Look how kind she is!Chapter 128: Application Directions of SpiritificationChapter 127: Order to Cause TroubleChapter 138: Where Are You From?
200
Chapter 137: Beneath the Mine
200
Chapter 136: A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire
200
Chapter 135: Discussing Labor
200
Chapter 134: Forbidden Book
200
Chapter 37: Luo Xiao Arrives
200
Chapter 36: A Narrow Victory?
200
Chapter 60: Controversy Over Profanity (1)Chapter 59: Acting is a LifelineChapter 58: Seon Je-min and Lee Ju-hyeong (3)Chapter 57: Seon Je-min and Lee Ju-hyeong (2)Chapter 56: Sun Je-min and Lee Ju-hyeong (1)Chapter 55: The Killing Recipe (3)Chapter 54: Killer Recipe (2)Chapter 53: The Killing Recipe (1)Chapter 52: The Choice Not to Look AwayChapter 51: A Memory That Hurts Way Too Much (1)Chapter 50: Acting Until DeathChapter 49: Jeong Chan-yul's Confession (2)Chapter 48: Jeong Chan-yul's Confession (1)Chapter 47: I’ve Been ReformedChapter 46: The Troubleshooter Crybaby (3)Chapter 45: The Troubleshooter Crybaby (2)Chapter 44: The Troubleshooter Crybaby (1)Chapter 43: Found You (2)Chapter 42: Found You (1)Chapter 41: I Saw The Future (2)Chapter 40: I Saw the Future (1)Chapter 39: Summoning a Handsome Guy?Chapter 38: Let's Succeed TogetherChapter 37: Reality and Catharsis (3)Chapter 36: Reality and Cider (2)Chapter 34: The Best Acting (3)Chapter 35: Reality and Cider (1)Chapter 33: The Best Acting (2)Chapter 32: The Best Acting (1)Chapter 31: Yeongbin, Please (2)Chapter 30: Youngbin, Please (1)Chapter 29: Another Regressor? (3)Chapter 28: Another Regressor? (2)Chapter 27: Another Regressor? (1)Chapter 26: Let’s Do a LivestreamChapter 25: Park Yi-won Is My Fan?Chapter 24: Acceptance and Agency (2)Chapter 23: Passing the Audition and the Agency (1)Chapter 22: A Charming Villain? (3)Chapter 21 – A Charming Villain? (2)Chapter 20: The Charming Villain? (1)Chapter 19: Reverse QuestChapter 18: Pathetic Joo Tae-gang (5)Chapter 17: Loser Joo Tae-gang (4)Chapter 16: Loser Ju Taegang (3)Chapter 15 (2/2): Loser Ju Taegang (2)Chapter 15 (1/2): Loser Ju Taegang (2)Chapter 14: Loser Ju Taegang (1)Chapter 13: When You End Up in the Trash Can (2)Chapter 12: When You End Up in the Trash Can (1)Chapter 11: The Too Handsome Ad Model (2)Chapter 10: The Too Handsome Commercial Model (1)Chapter 9: From the Very Beginning, This Kid (2)Chapter 8: From the Start, It Was Him (1)Chapter 7: Give Up Acting (2)Chapter 6: Give Up Acting (1)Chapter 5: They Say He’s a Genius (2)Chapter 4: I Told You He’s a Genius (1)Chapter 3: I Found Him! (2)Chapter 2: I Found Him! (1)Chapter 1: You Die at Thirty-FiveA Genius Actor Dies If He Acts