Di Mo watched Lily rub her shoulders, her face twisted in a grimace, and then swept a glance towards Daniel Craig and the other guards standing outside. "Hungry?" He asked suddenly.
Lily looked at him in disbelief. It was extraordinarily strange that he would ask such a question, but in the end, her hunger won over logic. She was starving to death, and no amount of pretending was going to change the fact. She nodded affirmatively and said, "I'm craving cabbage in vinegar, stir-fried foie gras, sweet and sour ribs, braised duck, and fish soup."
She realized, once again, only after she spoke that there was no way Di Mo would listen to her anyway. Whatever, she thought. She was too hungry to be too picky about what was offered. Not to mention, the overlord hadn't even said that they were actually going to eat anything.
It was completely unfair. All she'd done was steal a tiny jade… all this suffering was ridiculous.
~~~
Lily eyed the grand feast that lay on the table before her. The chef had brought the steaming plates of food one after another like a magician. Everything she had ordered earlier was there; the scents that wafted up her nose told her that the food was truly authentic.
"Your reward for today."
She turned to see Di Mo with his head lowered, neatly slicing a piece of steak. She had saved his life and all she got was a meal? Lily scowled. "Cheap skate," she muttered.
She witnessed a dark cloud pass over the overlord's face and immediately shifted her glance away. She grabbed her utensils and started digging in — any reward was better than none, she supposed. It wasn't as if she could beat him in a fight currently, so she was going to submit for the time being.
The two of them ate in silence. Di Mo's stoic presence was like an austere cloud hanging over the scene, leaving no room for anything other than a suffocating stillness. Food, however, had always been a source of joy for Lily, so she refused to hold herself back. The overlord could sulk in his gloomy silence if that was what he wanted, but she was going to enjoy her food.
Eventually, the mood at the table split in half, divided by an invisible boundary. On one side there was dark and sullen Di Mo, the very picture of a cold, stark wintry scene; and on the other side was Lily, carefree and warm and beaming like a spring flower. They represented two completely opposite hemispheres of the planet.
~~~
Eating always gave Lily a food coma, so after she was finished, and especially after the day they had had, she requested permission from Di Mo to go to her room to sleep.
At some point, a towel came flying towards her along with a voice: "Clean yourself up." She reached out and caught the towel instinctually, and then saw Di Mo standing at the entrance of her room. She narrowed her eyes. He had said this was her assigned room, so what in the hell was he doing here?
She stared at him for a long moment and realized that he had no intentions of leaving. "Mr. Di, this is my room," she reiterated.
He stared back at her and said nothing. Then, he suddenly walked to her, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, and threw her into the shower.
She didn't regret not fighting back — it was too dangerous as of yet, like walking through a field riddled with land mines, and she wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences of making a mistake. However, as she showered, her thoughts kept turning to Di Mo. What was his problem anyway? The man was impossible to understand.
After showering and dressing, she exited the bathroom and was startled to see Di Mo sitting on the bed, his back leaning against the headboard. "Come here," he ordered.
She froze. "Mr. Di, I only agreed to be your servant," she said. "Not your bed warmer." Her voice had lost its usual light carefreeness and had taken on a serious, grim tone. It was obvious from the way Di Mo was laying on the bed what he was implying.
"I never repeat orders twice," he responded.
There was no murderous intent in his eyes, but those dark, blue-black pools were filled with a cold intensity reminiscent of winter, and it made her shudder. At the same time, she felt her instinctual arrogance and iron will rise up within her. A servant, she could do. After all, this was a world where some people had power and others did not. But a bed-warming companion? Fuck that.
"Since it appears as if you've decided to sleep here, I'll go somewhere else," she replied evenly. "If you would like to hire a prostitute, I will let Daniel Craig and them know. Please excuse me." She turned to leave.
"How bold of you."
His voice seemed to come from right next to her ear, and before she could react, she felt a sharp pain on her neck as once again, she was shoved backwards — this time sprawling onto the bed.