Riding on the Neck

Xia Lun and Aina were already attractive enough to draw attention wherever they went, and Aina was currently being carried on Xia Lun’s back to boot.

Aina didn’t like attracting attention, so she used a simple spell to erase the presence of both of them.

Although people could still see them, they wouldn’t pay them much mind. After passing by, they would quickly forget them, leaving no trace—like a drop of water sliding off a lotus leaf.

Lying against Xia Lun’s back, Aina gently flared her nostrils, as though she had been drawn in by the aromas of the food around them. Feeling the subtle movement of the person on his back, Xia Lun’s lips curved into a tender smile, and his footsteps unconsciously slowed.

“Want to try something?” Xia Lun asked softly, turning his head slightly.

“You,” Aina replied without the slightest hesitation, her warm breath brushing against Xia Lun’s ear. She even deliberately grazed the fabric over his shoulder with her teeth.

Xia Lun tilted his neck slightly, exposing a stretch of skin and silently indicating that she could bite him if she wanted.

“I was joking.” Aina patted Xia Lun’s cheek from behind. “What a boring man.”

“Oh, really? So I’m a boring man now?” Xia Lun let out a melancholy sigh, though there wasn’t the slightest trace of disappointment in his voice. “You weren’t saying that fifteen minutes ago.”

Fifteen minutes earlier, Aina had still been sprawled across the bed. Her whole body had been so limp that she couldn’t even be bothered to move her fingertips.

“My darling,” “Big Brother”… even more embarrassing forms of address. No matter what Xia Lun had asked Aina to call him, she probably would have been able to force the words out.

Aina puffed out her cheeks, looking rather annoyed. Then, all of a sudden, she braced herself against Xia Lun’s shoulders and sprang upward. With a kick of her legs, she climbed directly onto his neck, her long, fair legs swaying in front of his chest.

“Aren’t you a little old for this? Don’t you feel embarrassed?” Xia Lun tried to turn his head, but Aina hurriedly tightened her thighs and wrapped both arms around his head, preventing him from moving.

“It’s not like anyone else can see us,” Aina snorted, completely unconcerned.

“Even Xia Yi doesn’t like playing the neck-riding game anymore,” Xia Lun said helplessly, feeling the softness brushing against his cheek.

“He doesn’t like it, but I do.” Aina raised her voice slightly, a hint of accusation in it. “What, Xia Lun? You’re allowed to ride me at night, but I’m not allowed to ride you now?”

“How is that the same thing, Aina…?” Xia Lun’s voice was filled with amused helplessness, though the tips of his ears had uncontrollably turned red. “You’ll say things like that out loud?”

“Hmph. Shut up, Xia Lun. Just walk properly and be my beast of burden!” Aina gave a coquettish little snort and lightly nudged his chest with her heel. She controlled her strength perfectly; it didn’t hurt at all and felt more like an intimate encouragement to keep moving.

Xia Lun thought for a moment before speaking. “I don’t mind being your beast of burden, but you have to let me—”

“Shut up! You pervert!” Aina’s face instantly turned bright red. She began fidgeting wildly atop Xia Lun’s head, her voice trembling with embarrassment and indignation. “How did my husband end up being such a man?”

“Lord Demon King, please don’t get things mixed up…” Xia Lun shook his head and explained with an air of perfect composure. “It was only after I became your husband that you corrupted me into this. I used to be a pure, untouched blank slate… It was only because I took on your color that I ended up like this.”

There was obvious teasing in Xia Lun’s tone, and he deliberately emphasized the words “took on your color.”

“You… Xia Lun, you bastard!” Sitting on his head, Aina thoroughly mussed up the hair of the detestable man beneath her.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re beating around the bush and saying all that just to call me a pervert, aren’t you?” Aina indignantly gnawed at Xia Lun’s scalp. “The person who calls someone else a pervert is the real pervert!”

“Aina… Have you forgotten? You were the one who called me a pervert first.” Xia Lun helpfully reminded her. “No matter how you look at it, it seems to be an established fact that you’re the pervert here.”

“No! You’re talking nonsense! You’re the pervert! I’m not!” Aina shamelessly denied it, squealing as she continued turning Xia Lun’s hair into something resembling a bird’s nest.

“Stop… Don’t fool around. I need to watch where I’m going. I might run into someone…”

With Aina squirming around above him, her thighs kept blocking Xia Lun’s view.

His balance, at least, wasn’t a problem. With Xia Lun’s strength, if he couldn’t even remain steady under these circumstances, then all that power would have been for nothing.

Aina rode on Xia Lun’s shoulders as he swaggered and swayed down the street, enjoying the childish amusement that only the two of them could understand. No one should have been able to see what they were doing, but—

“Father, Mother, what are you doing?”

A clear, childish voice came from behind them. Xia Yi tilted his head, his clear eyes blinking without pause as he stared at his mother sitting on his father’s shoulders like a child. His father’s hair had been completely mussed up, and a gentle smile still lingered on his face.

If it had been anyone else, Aina’s spell would have caused them to ignore the strange scene entirely. But Xia Yi was their son, and his impressions of Xia Lun and Aina were practically engraved into his soul. That simple spell had no effect on him. How could he possibly fail to notice?

“Ahem.”

Aina coughed lightly and slowly climbed down Xia Lun’s back.

Being caught getting affectionate with one’s spouse by one’s child was truly embarrassing.

“We… We were just playing a game,” Xia Lun said awkwardly with a smile. “That’s right, the neck-riding game. Xia Yi, didn’t you used to ride on your father’s neck? Your mother was only doing the same thing. It didn’t mean anything else…”

Aina quietly pinched Xia Lun’s side, her face flushed as she hid behind him, not daring to meet her son’s eyes.

“It’s all your fault!” Aina complained in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.

“You’re the one who climbed onto me!” Xia Lun was quite displeased at being blamed.

“It’s still your fault! Who told you to say all those weird things?” Aina scratched at Xia Lun’s back like an irritated kitten.

“The neck-riding game… I already think it’s pretty boring. Would Mother really enjoy playing it?” Xia Yi’s eyes were filled with unmistakable confusion. “Aunt Liyana says it’s something only little children play.”

When Xia Yi was little, he had once urinated on Liyana’s neck while riding on her shoulders. The incident had left Liyana traumatized, which was why she refused to let the little rascal ride her anymore.

“Ahem… That’s because your mother is still young at heart. She just wanted to relive the experience once in a while…”

Xia Lun forced himself to remain calm as he explained, while secretly reaching behind his back to take hold of Aina’s restless hand.

“By the way, where’s Liyana? Are you here by yourself?”

Xia Lun felt a wave of relief. Fortunately, only Xia Yi had seen them. The boy was easy enough to fool. If Liyana and the others had caught them, things would have been much more embarrassing.

But what had Liyana been thinking, letting Xia Yi get separated from her? That really wasn’t acceptable…

Xia Yi raised his little head.

“Oh, Aunt Liyana was the one who spotted Father and Mother first. So she told me to come find you two before her…”

Xia Lun: …