"It applies to everyone, right? Even on you?" The man asked suddenly.

Li Ming finally realized what was happening. She was caught in her own words.

Her shoulders slumped as a sigh left her lips.

"Just forget it. It's easy to say these things but real life sucks," she said with a soft sad smile.

"You haven't even tried yet. I thought you are going to help the Demon Realm, never knew that you will give up just after a month." The man in the black robe looked at Li Ming as he said.

Li Ming folded her hands and turned to give a mocking look to the man. "I never said that I'm giving up. I'm just sad for not seeing a single good result so far but that doesn't mean I'm giving up."

"That's good to hear then." The man replied with that usual twitch on his lips.

Due to some reason his company comforted her and this only led to more confusion. Why would she be comfortable in the company of a stranger?

But before she could voice out her doubts, a huge wave of the black mist came flying towards her from the sky.

By the time Li Ming noticed it there was barely any time left for her to take action. However, she felt the mist passing behind her.

Her hair flew dramatically due to the breeze that was created by the lightning speed of the mist.

Li Ming's breathing had quickened due to the adrenaline rush and she closed her eyes for a moment to balance her breathing.

"Are you alright?"

The soft but deep voice entered her ears, making her realize that the man was standing close to her, so close.

As she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing that met her gaze was his deep obsidian eyes. They looked like a deep abyss and she could fall into it any moment.

But as her senses returned to their works, she realized the other things too.

The reason the mist missed her and blew past her was because the man had pulled her into his arms, getting her away from the path of the black mist.

Her hands were resting on his shoulders and both of them were standing so close to each other.

Their body weren't pressed against each other but there was barely any space left between them. The strong arm was holding her from her waist.

And as she kept looking into his deep obsidian eyes, her mind and soul finally registered something and a voice whispered in her mind.

"Mate!"

The shock was evident on her face and looking at the way he was too staring into her eyes in a trance without blinking, explained that he was also living in that sweet moment as his soul recognized its other half.

Li Ming's hand automatically moved towards his face, as if they were going to take his mask off.

But before her hand could touch the mask, a loose but firm grip stopped her hand.

"Not today." He softly whispered, not taking his eyes away from her.

"Why?" Li Ming asked in confusion.

"Because I don't want you to be distracted. You need to pay attention to your plans. Can't have you thinking about me all the time."

A chuckle broke out through her rosy lips that were hidden behind the light blue veil.

But the man was too occupied by her twinkling eyes to pay attention to anything else.

"I'm happy that I made your eyes twinkle like that because who knows when I'll be able to do it again." The man softly whispers as his hand which was previously gripping her wrist, cupped her face.

Li Ming immediately leaned into his warm touch, feeling her soul replenishing with joy and contentment.

"Why are you saying that?" She asked as she tried to read his eyes but she was failing poorly.

"You will know soon. Just let me hold you for a while." The man softly replied to her question as he stepped closer to her to fill the slight gap between them.

Within a blink of her eyes, Li Ming found herself snuggled in a warm embrace. The fragrance of the ocean and herbs entered into her nose making her inhale deeply.

"You smell like lilacs."

She heard him say as he softly glided his fingers through her locks.

His words brought a smile to her lips as her mind immediately put up an image of Hei Long calling her 'Lilac Girl'.

She pulled her head away to look up at his face.

See! That's why she hated being short. Her neck always suffered due to her constantly looking up while talking to any of her mates as all of them were tall.

She really gotta invest in heels and maybe try to increase her height first by doing some exercises and all.

"Hei Long always calls me Lilac Girl because of this," she said as her eyes keenly tried to observe his reaction.

She no longer wanted to hide that she had more than one man in her life and that's why she decided to come out clean in front of her new mate.

She was expecting to see confusion, or maybe anger in his eyes, what she didn't expect was for him to break out into a huge smile.

"That devil is good in coming up with names. I expected this from him." The man said while shaking his head in humor.

"You know him?" Li Ming couldn't stop herself from asking the obvious.

In reply to her question, the man nodded his head as he said, "Who doesn't know the famous Demon Prince Hei Long? However, I know them, all of them."

Li Ming knew that he was talking about the rest of her mates and she finally released the breath that she had been holding.

"I'm happy to know that you are aware that there are more than just one of us who are chosen to accompany you for the rest of our lives." The man said as he looked at her with his soft but deep dark eyes.

Li Ming smiled at his words as she replied, "I'm happy too to know that you all are aware that there are more than just one of you guys in my life."

The Immortal smiled at her as he said, "It doesn't matter. The others are like brothers to me. If I've to trust someone with you then they are the only people whom I can trust with my eyes closed. I know they will always be there for you, to keep you happy, protected, comfortable, satisfied, and will always support you. As long as I'm a part of this, I'm happy."

Li Ming felt like her heart was about to pop out of her chest. How could someone speak such things so casually?

"I thought most of you were not happy about being bound to a single girl. What changed?" She asked the question to stop her too excited heart from filling with too much warmth for the man.

In reply to her question, the man said, "When you have over 50,000 years of loneliness and you only think about the girl who will finally bring happiness to your life, I think I am not brave enough or let's say, I am not idiotic enough to give you away. To give my happiness away."

The Immortal knew exactly how to win a girl's heart with his words but unfortunately, Li Ming's mind had stopped working at a certain point of his reply.

"50 what? Exactly how old are you guys?" She asked as she stared at the man with her round shocked eyes.

Her expression made the man break into a beautiful smile. He rubbed her hair softly as he said, "All of us are over 50,000 years old and you my mate, you are still a little child."

Li Ming wanted to bang her head on something, so she ended up banging her head on the solid chest of her mate.

His arms closing around her once again to cover her in the protection and warmth of his embrace.

On the other hand, Li Ming was left completely speechless. She couldn't even point out that she wasn't actually a fourteen...sorry, almost fifteen-year-old child but rather a twenty-eight-year-old mage who somehow ended up in the body of a child.

But what's the point? That would make no change to the fact that she was literally a kid in front of her ancient mates.

"You guys are ancient." Li Ming muttered after with a pout.

"Is our age going to bother you?" The man asked her as he pulled back a little to look into her eyes. Both his eyes and his voice told her that he was serious about his question.

Li Ming knew exactly what he was trying to ask her through that question, therefore she replied honestly, "Of course. It is already bothering me..."

She watched as the deep obsidian eyes of her mate darkened and a hint of sadness and worry appeared in it.