CHAPTER 107: TRAP AND BAIT

Yelena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had braced herself for some daunting request, maybe a trial of strength or wit, even something dangerous she’d have to steel herself for.

But this?...This was nothing like what she had imagined.

It wasn’t noble, it wasn’t even reasonable—it was perverse, so brazenly shameless that her face burned. Her teeth clenched as the words echoed in her head, each one more off-putting than the last, leaving her flustered and unsettled in a way no battlefield ever had

Her gaze then snapped to Mika, wide with disbelief.

"You...You’ve got to be joking, Mika." She whispered, her voice brittle, almost breaking. "That...that can’t be real. There’s no way an artifact would demand something like that."

She shook her head violently, as though trying to throw off the words that still echoed inside her mind.

"No...no, this has to be some kind of mistake."

But Mika, watching her reaction with quiet satisfaction, only leaned back slightly, his smirk returning ever so faintly. "Now you see what I meant."

"This..." He continued, gesturing toward the waistband in her hands. "...is exactly why I didn’t want to give it to you."

"Not because of some other girl, not because I was trying to hide anything from you, but because the condition bound into it is absurd. Even if you kept it, it would be useless. You wouldn’t be able to wear it, and it would only frustrate you."

"...That’s why I’ve been so insistent. Do you finally understand now?"

Yelena’s brows knit together, her frustration bubbling up despite his calm words. She held the artifact tighter, glaring down at it like it had personally offended her.

"But still, Mika...just what in the world is this perverted chain?" Her voice trembled between anger and disbelief. "To actually demand that its wielder...be praised in such a filthy, dirty way, what sort of ridiculous condition is that? Who writes such absurd, perverted nonsense into an artifact?"

She shook her head furiously, strands of her dark hair swaying as her face burned red with humiliation.

"I’ve seen so much in this world, more than most people could dream of, but this, this is something I never would have expected."

Mika only shrugged, feigning casual disinterest.

"Maybe the one who made it was just trying to impress a woman. Maybe he thought if he wrote a condition like this, it would force him into...certain situations. Who knows?"

Yelena paused, then nodded stiffly, her pride trying to rationalize it.

"Yes...Yes, that has to be it! That’s the only explanation! Some pathetic man trying to impress a girl, turning his artifact into a dirty little scheme. The maker must have been an absolute pervert."

Her tone sharpened as she looked down at the waistband, her eyes narrowing with disgust.

"There’s no way a woman would ever craft something like this...Only a man with his head stuffed full of filthy thoughts could come up with something so atrocious."

Her fingers trembled around the chain, her hand trembling as she squeezed it tightly.

But Mika, behind his smirk, felt a small sting, as it was actually him she was unknowingly cursing, after all.

He was the one who had personally carved that humiliating condition into the artifact, days spent in his lucid realm carefully twisting the spellwork until it bent to his design.

And now, watching Yelena scold it, scold him without realizing it, he could feel a pain beneath the satisfaction.

He had alsothought of making the condition even harsher, of forcing her to strip, to bare herself completely, or to let him touch her more intimately, but he’d decided against it.

That would have been too much, too soon. For now, a "light" teasing was enough. Watching her struggle with this much already was more than worth it.

Yelena’s fury then broke into a sigh as her eyes softened again, gazing at the chain with a strangely tender expression.

"It’s such a pity..." She whispered, her thumb brushing across the crystals with almost loving care. "I really do like it. I wanted to wear it myself, to feel it around me."

Her lips pressed into a pout, her voice growing quieter.

"I mean, who wouldn’t, it’s so beautiful...I even wanted to show it off to my sisters, to make them jealous. I wanted to say it was from you, that it was a gift."

Her shoulders slumped, and she exhaled a breath heavy with disappointment.

"But now...now it’s all ruined. All because of this damned artifact and its stupid, disgusting condition. Pretty on the outside, rotten on the inside."

Her grip suddenly tightened, eyes flashing again as her anger reignited.

"Something like this. It doesn’t deserve to exist...I should just break it."

Mika’s eyes widened in panic. "Wait, stop! What are you doing?"

"Like I said, I’ll destroy it, Mika." Yelena pulled at the chain, her expression hardening with resolve. "There’s no reason for such a perverted thing to remain in this world. Artifacts like this are cursed by nature. Twisted. Better it be gone."

But Mika shot forward, snatching the waistband from her hands before she could do anything rash.

"No. Absolutely not." He said firmly, clutching it protectively. "There’s no way I’m allowing that!"

"But why, Mika?!" She snapped, her voice sharp with accusation. "Why protect it? You just said yourself it’s absurd. It’s disgusting. Why keep such filth around?"

He held it tight against his palm, his lips curling into a slow, sly smile that he planned just for this moment as he said,

"Because...I think I might have a use for it after all."

Yelena froze at his tone, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"A use?" She repeated slowly, her voice dangerous.

Her gaze locked on his face, and seeing that smile, the way it curved knowingly, almost mischievously, her stomach twisted with both dread and anticipation.

"Mika...what exactly are you planning?" She leaned closer, her eyes sharp as knives.

Mika had already set the trap and with how she was reacting, he knew it was time to dangle the bait, to let her walk right into it on her own.

So even though Yelena was leaning close, her eyes unwavering, waiting for an answer, he only looked away with a casual shrug.

"Nothing, Yelena." He said flatly. "Nothing at all. There’s nothing to worry about."

But that only deepened her suspicion. She narrowed her gaze, the silence between them stretching tight like a drawn bowstring. Finally, she reached out and grabbed his face with both hands, forcing him to look at her directly.

"Don’t lie to me, Mika." She said firmly, her voice low but edged with fire. "Don’t you dare lie to me. You forget, I know everything about you. Especially when you’ve got one of your devious little ideas brewing in that head of yours."

Her grip on his cheeks tightened slightly as she leaned in until their foreheads nearly touched.

"I don’t want to hear the details to know you’re plotting something. But I will hear it...So, tell me, what exactly are you going to do with this artifact?"

For a moment he only stared back at her, his expression unreadable. Then he exhaled a long sigh, tilting his head just enough that her hands slipped away.

"I didn’t want to say at first." He admitted quietly. "This was...private. Something I wasn’t planning to share. But if you’re going to be this insistent..." His lips quirked faintly. "Then fine. Especially since you’re always prying into my relationships anyway, always curious about my love life."

Yelena froze, blinking in surprise at his sudden openness. Her heart skipped, but she didn’t interrupt.

"When I first got this artifact..." Mika continued, lifting the chain slightly, letting the crystals glint in the light. "I didn’t care about it. Not at all. Just thought it was bizarre. Strange, maybe even useless. But...then I realized something. If a couple had gotten this instead of me, it would’ve been easy for them to wield. Laughably easy. No hesitation, no shame."

Yelena nodded immediately, following his logic. "Of course. For a couple, something like this is nothing. They could fulfill such a condition without a care in the world. Yes...that makes sense."

Her lips curved in a faint smile, though her eyes still studied him intently.

"But for me? There’s no way. I have no such person in my life, and I never will. I already have you, my daughter, my family, everything I need to protect and care for. What use would I have for such a thing?"

She chuckled softly, shaking her head, but then narrowed her eyes again at him.

"But what does that have to do with you? And why..." She pressed, suspicion sharpening again. "...are you suddenly so excited about it?"

Mika hesitated for only a heartbeat before replying, tone measured and calm. "At first, I thought the same. That it was nothing. But then...after hearing what you said, about how it can be used on a women I’m interested in, I started thinking differently. About how it could be used."

The look that flashed across Yelena’s face was one of pure disbelief, as though she couldn’t reconcile the Mika she knew with the implications of his words.

Her eyes then grew cold, her voice dropping into something dangerously controlled, almost maternal in its sternness.

"Mika..." She said, her voice a strained whisper. "What are you saying?"

Her fingers curled against her lap, trembling with restrained anger.

"You know, I didn’t raise you to be the kind of man who uses artifacts to...to trick or force himself on women by using her vulnerability as a weak."

"...So, tell me this is a joke. Tell me this is some foolish lie or else..."

Her glare was so severe it carried the weight of judgment, as though she might truly punish him if he gave the wrong answer.

And in response, Mika’s eyes widened slightly, but then he quickly shook his head, raising his hands defensively.

"What are you talking about, Yelena? Do you really think I’m the kind of pathetic man who’d use underhanded tricks to force himself on someone?"

Her expression softened almost instantly, relief washing over her features.

"Of course not." Mika went on, his voice firmer now, more resolute. "That’s not me. That’s not who I am. And you, of all people, should know that. You didn’t raise me to be someone like that."

Yelena exhaled, the tension in her shoulders easing as she nodded.

"Yes...that’s right. That’s the Mika I know. I was foolish even to think otherwise." She shook her head, smiling faintly despite herself. "There’s no way you would ever do something like that. I know that...My Mika would never do such a thing."

But almost immediately her suspicion crept back, her brows furrowing as she tilted her head.

"Then...what exactly are you going to use this artifact for?"

Mika hesitated only briefly before deciding to push forward, lowering his voice into something almost conspiratorial.

"To tell you the truth." He said. "T a girl. At the academy. We’ve been...going back and forth. Flirting. Something’s been building between us, and it feels like we’re right on the verge of something happening."

Yelena’s eyes widened, surprise and curiosity sparking within them, as she was always curious about his relationships and was excited to hear him talk about it. Her lips parted slightly, but she didn’t interrupt.

"The problem is..." Mika continued. "...she’s been playing hard to get. Always stopping just short. And I’ve been stuck at that point, unable to move forward."

He lifted the chain again, letting it dangle between them.

"So I thought, why not give her a gift? Something beautiful. Something that shows my intentions clearly."

Yelena’s gaze flicked to the artifact, then back to his face.

"If I give her this..." Mika said with a sly smile. "...she’ll like it. It’s pretty enough, elegant enough, to impress her. And then, when I tell her about the condition...she’ll know exactly what I want. What I’m offering."

A faint blush touched Yelena’s cheeks, though her lips pressed into a thin line. She hadn’t expected him to be so frank, so bold.

"And then..." Mika went on. "...it’ll be her choice. If she accepts it, if she wears it, she’ll be showing me her answer. If she doesn’t want that, if she doesn’t want me, she can reject it, and that’ll be the end."

"...No forcing, no trickery. Just clarity."

He leaned back slightly, his smirk returning.

"A perfect way to settle things, don’t you think?"

Yelena blinked, caught between embarrassment and reluctant agreement. She slowly nodded, her voice soft.

"Yes...yes, I suppose you’re right. If you put it like that, there’s nothing wrong. You’d be making your intentions clear, and the choice would be hers alone."

But her eyes narrowed again, confusion lacing her expression as she tilted her head at him.

"Still...something doesn’t feel right. If you were truly interested in this girl, Mika, you wouldn’t use such a risky measure. You’d wait. You’d find the right moment naturally."

"This...This sounds more like you’re not actually serious about her. Like she’s just a fling."

Her words caught him off guard, but only for an instant. He smiled faintly, almost amused by her sharpness.

"You’re right." He said simply. "I’m not that interested. She’s pretty, sure. Has a nice body. I thought I wouldn’t mind having a taste of that."

"...But a relationship? No. That’s not what I’m looking for with her."

Yelena gasped, stunned. "Mika...!"

He shrugged, unconcerned. "Don’t be so shocked, Yelena. Times have changed. It’s a new age. Relationships aren’t like they were in your day, where everything was about love and devotion. These days, sometimes a little interest is enough. That’s just how people are now."

Yelena stared at him, torn between disbelief and reluctant acknowledgment and then slowly, she nodded, almost like an elder conceding to the ways of the younger generation.

"Yes...I’ve heard of that. How young people treat relationships so lightly now. How frivolous they’ve become. But still..." She looked at him with concern. "I always knew you were a playboy, Mika, but I didn’t expect you to think this way too."

Mika only gave a lazy smile, his tone flippant.

"What can I say? If I’m really interested in a girl in that way, I’m not going to pretend otherwise...But if she’s fine with something casual, then why not?"

Yelena nodded slowly, though her eyes lingered on him with quiet doubt.

Because deep down, she couldn’t quite believe that this Mika, the one she truly knew, was the kind of man to treat love so carelessly.

But what she didn’t realize was that every word he had spoken, every careless shrug, every flippant admission, was part of the act.

Part of the carefully woven trap, as he really wasn’t someone who had frivolous relationship and he was actually someone who believed in true love which was why he was so obsessed over Yelena and the other battle angels, not letting that forbidden love die even after so many years.

And she was already tangled in it, without even knowing that it was about to swallow her whole...