"Hey, you can't take it out again. You already ate it. Is it okay to give it to a child after that?"
Freya gave him a playful glare, then quickly covered his lips to stop him from doing anything else.
Her soft and charming look made Brian feel a strange tingling in his chest. He awkwardly rubbed his nose and avoided looking into her eyes.
Freya chuckled and turned away, putting the remaining four candies into Sister Xiao's hands.
"Here, these four candies, one is a gift for you, one is a reward for helping me bring water for Brian to wash his hands. The other two, take them to your parents. If they won't eat them, do what I did, just stuff it into their mouths. Got it?"
"Mm, thank you, sister-in-law!"
Sister Xiao, who had been keeping her head down, finally looked up. She seemed genuinely happy.
She looked at the candies in her hands. It was the first time someone had rewarded her for doing work. That made her a little happy.
"Don't just stare at them. Eat it. Weren't you hungry? Once it's in your belly, it's truly yours. If someone takes it from you, then you'll have nothing."
Freya noticed the girl was staring at the candies without eating them, so she raised her eyebrows and tried to scare her a little.
In her previous life, Freya was abandoned at an orphanage when she was three. At eight, she almost got assaulted by her adoptive father. After escaping, she never went back to the orphanage and wandered around until she was eighteen.
She had once fought someone, covered in blood, just for a piece of bread. After finally getting it, she was too hurt to defend herself, and other beggars snatched it from her.
Since then, she developed a habit. Whenever she got something good, she would quickly make it hers so no one could take it.
Sure enough, Sister Xiao quickly unwrapped a candy and ate it.
The satisfied expression on her little face looked so much like Freya's, like they were made from the same mold.
"It's really yummy. I'll go give some to Dad and Mom."
Sister Xiao spoke with a mouth full of candy, her words a bit unclear.
Brian watched as Sister Xiao happily hopped toward her parents' room. The corners of his mouth slightly lifted, it was rare to see the usually quiet girl acting like a child.
"Wow, Brian, you smiled. You look so handsome when you smile, like a flower blooming in spring. You even have dimples, I'm so jealous."
Freya had been watching him. When she saw his usually calm and serious face show a smile, it was like discovering something amazing.
She couldn't help but reach out and poke at his dimple.
For some reason, whenever she was with Brian, she couldn't help but act more childish.
Maybe it was because his warm and calm nature made her feel at peace.
Brian felt her soft finger on his cheek like an electric shock. He quickly turned away and the smile disappeared, his expression going back to being cool and distant, but his ears were bright red.
"Aw, why'd you stop smiling? You looked so good. I didn't even get to see enough."
Freya pulled her hand back with regret, pouting slightly and muttering in a voice loud enough for Brian to hear.
"Ahem, you seem to have some skills. Have you trained before?"
Brian almost felt guilty from her sad little expression, so he coughed and quickly changed the topic, asking the question he'd been wondering about.
Earlier, the way Freya grabbed his chin and fed him candy was so smooth and fast.
He had been in the army for eight years and was one of the best fighters in his unit, yet he didn't react at all. Even though he hadn't been on guard, it was still impressive.
"Yeah, I've trained. I'm really good at fighting. If I don't use weapons, I could beat just about anyone in the world."
Freya admitted it directly. It wasn't something she could hide anyway.
After all, she would need to go into the mountains to catch cute little animals for meat soon.
"Oh! Then you're amazing!"
Brian saw her proud little expression and thought she was just exaggerating, so he didn't take it seriously. He just calmly nodded and didn't ask more questions. With their current relationship, they couldn't talk about anything too deep yet.
"That's right! So from now on, you can't do anything to betray me. Otherwise...
Awooo, I'll eat you up!"
Brian saw Freya put both hands on her cheeks, pretending to be a tiger showing its claws and trying to scare him. He couldn't help but find her a little cute.
He pulled himself together and looked into Freya's big, sparkling eyes, speaking seriously:
"Freya, have you really decided not to divorce and stay with me for the rest of your life?
My legs might never heal. Being with me will be hard.
So if you want to divorce, I'll understand.
But if you choose to stay, then let's forget all the unpleasant things from before and start over.
I promise I'll treat you as well as I can and never betray you. But at the same time, I won't allow betrayal."
He and Freya had only met a few times and barely spoken, so they didn't really know each other.
He was willing to give them both a chance, but it would be the last one.
Freya's experience both before and after the apocalypse taught her that promises and vows are the least reliable things.
But in that moment, as she looked into Brian's deep and clear black eyes, she somehow felt like she could believe him.
"Mua." Freya couldn't resist his handsome face and suddenly leaned down, biting Brian's sexy lips like a rogue.
"That's my stamp. This is how I feel, Brian. As long as you don't let me down, I'll stay with you forever."
She planned to retire anyway, and living with a handsome guy sounded like a perfect life.
Freya slapped his shoulder like a buddy and said seriously and firmly.
Meanwhile, she was secretly thinking—this man's lips are so soft, so nice to kiss.
A faint blush slowly spread across Brian's face and down to his neck, like the soft glow of sunset.
He glanced nervously at the kitchen and other rooms. Not seeing anyone, he finally relaxed and lowered his voice to speak to Freya.
"You—cough, cough—don't do that outside again. People will gossip."
"Let them talk. I kissed my own man. What's wrong with that? If anyone dares to say anything, I'll beat them up!
Alright, alright, from now on I'll only kiss you inside the house, okay?
Don't frown, it makes you look less handsome, and I don't like it!"
Freya grinned with a bit of a rascal's smile and spoke casually.
But when she saw Brian frown disapprovingly, she immediately changed her tone.
You couldn't really blame Freya for not having any shame. In the apocalypse, people climbed into others' beds just for a bite of food.
Some even stripped down and had sex in public.
At first, she was shocked and embarrassed. But later, she could watch the whole scene like a show without blinking, completely unfazed. That was way more intense than just a simple kiss.
But she also knew this wasn't that kind of time anymore. And since this didn't touch on any of her principles, if it made this shy and good-looking man happy, she could tone it down a bit.
If Brian knew what she was thinking, he'd probably want to give her a lecture.
After all, people in this era were very conservative. Even holding hands in public was considered inappropriate, and even married couples could be judged for it.
"Hey, Brian, can you introduce your family to me again? I haven't met everyone yet!" Freya blinked her big eyes and asked.
The original Freya barely left her room except for meals and the bathroom since arriving at Brian's house. Even though she had been married into the family for over half a month, she still didn't know everyone.