CHAPTER 281: MY DOMINIC

He wore one of the kingdom’s gaudy front-tied garments, glittering with decorations, and an even flashier belt, striking proud poses in front of the mirror.

The man was giddy, wondering when to announce his engagement.

In a way, he was a lucky fool, blissfully content in his delusion.

Feeling he had touched something utterly pointless, Shiao Yi severed the connection and redirected his focus elsewhere.

Then, it happened, suddenly, without warning. Like lightning through the ocean of thoughts, Dominic’s image appeared before him.

"What—?"

Panicking, he tried to chase the thought, but it vanished swallowed by the sea of countless minds.

Someone, somewhere, had thought of Dominic for just a brief moment.

He knew that much.

But before he could identify who it was, the image had disappeared completely, like a mirage fading into mist.

There was no clue to the direction, no hint of distance or place.

But still, that one fleeting trace was enough Shiao Yi was sure now.

Dominic was here.

Or at least, someone who knew him was here.

Whoever that person was, they had incredible control over their thoughts.

There was nothing she could do except waiting for that person to think of Dominic again.

Clinging to the faint thread of hope, Shiao Yi steeled himself once more, settling into a long and patient silence that would test his endurance all over again.

What had all his hard work and patience been for up to now...?

He wanted those exhausted, desperate hours of frantic searching back...

He pressed his hands to his head until he felt his ears ring and sat there feeling sorry for himself.

It happened after the sun rose and the palace had filled with the bustle of the day.

"Dominic! Dominic! My Dominic!"

A sudden roar slammed into his mind. Not physical, but it felt like a fist had struck him straight in the head.

Even while he held his throbbing skull with both hands, the relentless onslaught of "Dominic" kept crashing in without pause.

In a world without telepaths, did she have no sense to hide her thoughts?

She was pouring out her feelings for Dominic unconsciously and without reserve.

Worse yet, this woman’s magic was extremely strong.

Along with that came an iron will.

Her feelings for him carried an awful weight and blasted out in every direction.

To Shiao Yi’s sensitive brain it was a nonstop psychic barrage.

But if Dominic appeared there in her mind, he could not ignore it.

He had to pick it up and turn his attention to it.

Like a bell hammered again and again, his special mind was struck hard and without mercy while the woman chose clothes for Dominic and did her makeup.

She looked at her heavily painted face in the mirror and smiled in satisfaction.

"You don’t look thirty-seven. This skin, this glow, you could pass for someone in their twenties with this."

"An old woman, more like."

He blurted that out before he could stop himself, as if he’d declared war on every woman of a certain age across the world.

It wasn’t really his fault.

It was all because of that endless "Dominic" attack.

"Who said ’old woman’ just now?!"

The woman shot a sharp glance around.

The maids nearby went pale and shook their heads violently, one after another.

He clapped his hands over his mouth.

Of course, that was pointless, his words were telepathic, not spoken but it was the feeling that mattered.

She’s so sharp.

She caught the stray thought very quickly.

He’d better be careful.

He couldn’t risk careless contact.

"Maybe it was my imagination? Still, calling me an old woman is rude. Say that again and I’ll have you executed."

That’s frightening. How do you execute an illusion?

"It was clear that I’m a mature woman in my prime time."

The woman snorted and leaned closer to the mirror then froze.

"Oh no... are those wrinkles near my eyes? I need another layer."

Rub, pat, smear.

Her already thick makeup became even heavier.

The original color of her skin was long gone.

"I wonder what color he likes best?"

She slathered on bright blue eyeshadow and painted her lips a vivid red, as if she were painting over a thickly coated canvas.

That’s the complete opposite of what Dominic likes, Shiao Yi thought.

Dominic hated heavy makeup.

Well, whatever.

It wasn’t like Dominic would ever be interested in her anyway.

The only person Dominic loved was him.

He muttered that to himself then suddenly realized how tense he had become.

Wait. Is this... jealousy?

That woman kept shouting "My Dominic!" over and over, and before he knew it, he was getting jealous.

He’s not yours, he wanted to snap. He’s mine. My Dominic.

He sighed.

He was acting like a chil whose throwing a fit, clinging possessively and refusing to share his toy with others.

He hadn’t even known he could be this possessive before.

The woman seemed to have left her room to join Dominic for breakfast.

Shiao Yi tried to pinpoint where she was heading and instantly grabbed his head again.

Her psychic presence was far too powerful.

The torrent of "My Dominic" pouring from her mind was like searing flames.

It was as if a giant flare had exploded, blinding everything around it with unbearable brightness.

The intensity of her aura resembled a miniature sun. It was an expanding glowing sphere of heat and light at the center of a nuclear blast.

Inside that overwhelming field, direction, distance, even up and down became impossible to tell.

And that field was enormous, covering nearly half the entire palace grounds.

All that overflowing energy, as if years of pent-up emotion had burst free...

The unleashed "mature woman power" was terrifying.

Then, suddenly, the pounding waves of My Dominic! vanished.

It’s completely gone, as if they had never existed.

Like someone had flipped off a television and the blaring noise stopped instantly.

The silence that followed was so sudden that Shiao Yi could almost hear a ringing in his ears.