Lust System: Conquering the World Beauties

The question hung between them.

The rippling water became still.

Even the forest itself seemed to hold its breath.

And for the first time since they had met...

Tatiana waited, completely vulnerable, for his answer.

Liam was completely speechless.

For a few long seconds, he simply looked at Tatiana without saying anything. The question had caught him so off guard that his mind had gone completely blank. He had expected many things when she walked into the pond after him. He had expected awkwardness, embarrassment, maybe even another one of her playful remarks. This, however... this was the last thing he had prepared himself for.

He let out a slow breath before scratching the back of his damp white hair.

”...Do I like you... how?”

His voice was calm, but there was genuine uncertainty behind it.

”I just want to make sure I don’t answer the wrong question.”

Tatiana’s heart pounded against her chest.

She had already crossed the point of no return.

Her cheeks remained flushed as she gathered herself enough to continue.

”...Do you find me attractive?”

The question almost made Liam laugh.

Not because it was ridiculous.

Because it genuinely surprised him that she could even ask something like that.

He looked at her as though she had just asked whether water was wet.

”Tatiana...”

A helpless smile spread across his face.

”Almost every person in this world would find you attractive.”

She quietly listened.

”Do you even realize what you look like?”

Liam shook his head with an amused smile.

”You’re impossibly attractive.”

The compliment struck her heart immediately.

A warmth spread through her chest, and for the briefest moment her lips almost curled into a smile.

But...

It wasn’t the answer she had come here hoping for.

Not even close.

She lowered her eyes for a second before speaking again.

”...Anyone can be attractive.”

Liam remained silent.

”Irina is attractive.”

She paused.

”Mary is attractive.”

Another pause.

”There are beautiful women everywhere.”

Finally...

She looked back into his eyes.

”But...”

”...do you like me...”

”...for me?”

This time there was no teasing.

No embarrassment.

No playful smile.

Only honesty.

Liam quietly held her gaze.

For perhaps the first time since they had met, Tatiana didn’t look away after a few seconds. Even though nervousness was written all over her face, she forced herself to continue meeting his eyes.

She wanted the truth.

No matter what it was.

Liam smiled gently.

”...What makes you ask?”

Tatiana released a slow, shaky breath.

She had already started this.

There was no point turning back now.

”I...”

She looked down at the rippling water between them.

”...I don’t know if you noticed...”

”...but...”

”I’ve liked you since the day we met.”

The confession escaped her lips so quietly she almost didn’t hear herself say it.

Liam didn’t interrupt.

He simply listened.

”I always wanted to get closer to you.”

Her fingers fidgeted beneath the water.

”But every time I thought about it...”

”...I’d remember everything that happened.”

Images she wished she could forget flashed through her mind.

Her childhood.

The fear.

The bloodshed.

The years she had spent carrying hatred inside her heart.

”I was scared.”

She admitted it without trying to hide it.

”I thought...”

”...if I let someone get close to me again...”

”...I’d only end up hurting them.”

”So I never made a move.”

Her smile became small and bittersweet.

”I convinced myself it was better that way.”

Liam’s expression softened.

Then Tatiana slowly lifted her eyes again.

”But...”

”...after you killed Vladimir...”

Her voice became steadier.

”...after you avenged my father...”

”...it felt like something inside me finally disappeared.”

She placed a hand lightly against her chest.

”The weight I’ve carried for so many years...”

”...was finally gone.”

She smiled faintly.

”For the first time...”

”...I could think about tomorrow.”

”Not revenge.”

”Not hatred.”

”Just...”

”...living.”

Her gaze never left Liam now.

”And when that happened...”

”...I realized my feelings hadn’t gone away.”

”They’d only become stronger.”

The warm pond around them remained completely still.

Liam hadn’t spoken once.

He simply watched her quietly as every thought she had kept hidden over the past month poured out into the open.

Tatiana laughed softly at herself.

”It sounds stupid when I say it out loud.”

”It doesn’t,” Liam answered gently.

She smiled gratefully before continuing.

”And lately...”

”...you’ve been looking at me differently.”

Liam blinked.

”You look at me with these...”

She searched for the right words.

”...soft eyes.”

”They’re warm.”

”They’re gentle.”

”And every time you look at me like that...”

”...it makes my heart race.”

Her voice dropped into almost a whisper.

”It feels...”

”...like maybe...”

”...you like me too.”

She swallowed nervously.

”I don’t know if I’m imagining it.”

”I don’t know if I’m misunderstanding everything.”

”So...”

She summoned every last bit of courage she had left.

”I just wanted to know.”

”Am I overthinking all of this...”

”...or...”

”...do you really like me too?”

Silence.

Complete silence.

Liam didn’t answer immediately.

He simply looked at her.

One second.

Then another.

Then another.

The longer he remained quiet, the more the hope inside Tatiana began to fade.

Her heartbeat slowed.

The tiny smile she had been desperately trying to hold onto slowly disappeared.

”...I see.”

She forced a small nod.

Her shoulders lowered almost imperceptibly.

The brightness that had filled her emerald eyes only moments ago dimmed as disappointment quietly settled in.

Her damp crimson hair drifted gently across the surface of the warm water.

She lowered her gaze, already beginning to mistake his silence... for a rejection.

Tatiana had already lowered her head when she suddenly felt the water ripple.

Before she could react, Liam had moved closer.

”Gently...”

His fingers slipped beneath her chin and lifted her face until her eyes met his once again.

”What are you so sad about?”

His voice was soft, carrying none of the hesitation she had feared.

Tatiana’s emerald eyes were already glistening. She hadn’t even realized tears had begun forming until he looked at her so closely.

”I...”

Her voice caught in her throat.

Liam smiled warmly.

”I never said no.”

For a heartbeat, Tatiana simply stared at him.

Then her eyes widened.

”...You’ll... consider it?”

A quiet chuckle escaped Liam.

”Consider what?”

She blinked in confusion.

”What is there for me to consider?”

Before she could process what he meant, Liam closed the small distance between them.

Their faces were only inches apart.

Tatiana forgot how to breathe.

She could only look into his blue eyes, her own heartbeat becoming louder with every passing second.

Then...

He leaned forward.

His lips met hers in a gentle kiss.

It lasted only a few moments.

There was no urgency.

No rush.

Just a quiet, sincere answer to everything she had been brave enough to confess.

Tatiana’s eyes widened at first.

Then they slowly fluttered shut.

When Liam finally pulled back, he noticed the faint tremble in her lips and the completely stunned look on her face.

A small smile appeared on his own.

”It’s your first kiss... isn’t it?”

Tatiana’s cheeks immediately turned a brilliant shade of red.

Unable to find her voice, she nodded shyly.

The smile that spread across her face was impossible to hide.

Only moments ago she had looked as though her heart had been shattered.

Now...

She looked happier than he had ever seen her.

Inside, her thoughts were complete chaos.

He kissed me...

He actually kissed me...

His answer wasn’t just words...

He kissed me...

Oh my God...

She tried her hardest to stay composed, but every emotion she had been holding back for weeks seemed to burst free all at once.

Liam watched the countless expressions race across her face and couldn’t help laughing softly.

”So...”

He asked with an amused smile.

”Do you want me to stop?”

Tatiana answered so quickly it almost startled him.

She shook her head over and over.

”No.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

”...Please.”

The single word carried more honesty than any long confession could have.

Liam smiled.

He gently brushed a damp strand of crimson hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear before looking back into her eyes.

”You really are brave.”

”I don’t feel brave.”

”You should.”

She smiled shyly.

”Not when you’re looking at me like that.”

Liam laughed quietly.

Then, with the same patience and tenderness as before, he leaned in once more.

This kiss was just as gentle.

Tatiana closed her eyes almost immediately.

The nervous tension she’d been carrying all day slowly melted away as she relaxed, no longer wondering whether her feelings had been one-sided.

She didn’t need an answer anymore.

She had already received one.

When they finally parted, neither of them spoke.

They simply looked at one another while the warm pond remained undisturbed around them, the distant waterfall filling the quiet between them.

For the first time since arriving in this unfamiliar world, neither of them was thinking about monsters, portals, or the dangers waiting ahead.

For those few peaceful moments...

It was only the two of them.