Chapter 157 Chapter 157. The Answer

Chapter 157 Chapter 157. The Answer
Lysander was clearly the one trying to comfort Zoria, but he was also the most nervous person there. The hand holding hers would not stop trembling. His face was unusually pale, as if he were the one about to receive the test result instead of her.

Zoria smiled softly. She raised her hand and slowly ran her fingers through Lysander’s hair. She deliberately ruffled it until it was as messy as a bird’s nest, and only then did she finally stop.

Zoria did not say anything to comfort him because she did not know what she could say. At that moment, even she did not dare hold on to any hope. Because of that, she was even more afraid to give Lysander hope that might fall apart at any time.

The two of them sat facing each other like that, silently looking into each other’s eyes. When their gazes met, Zoria saw the uneasiness in Lysander’s eyes, something he could not hide no matter how hard he tried. Unable to help herself, she reached out again and gently pinched the edge of his ear.

“We’ll leave it to fate.”

No one knew exactly how much time had passed before a nurse entered the room and took Zoria away for the Blood Poison test.

Lysander could not bring himself to let her go alone, so he insisted on staying with her throughout the whole process. According to the doctor, if the result of this test was negative, then they could basically rule out the possibility that Zoria had been infected with Blood Poison.

After Zoria’s blood had been drawn, Lysander stood outside the testing room and waited. He kept looking down at his watch. Nearly an hour had passed since the blood sample had been taken.

The result should have been ready by now.

As soon as that thought entered his mind, Lysander’s heart was left hanging once more. The air around him seemed to freeze. It pressed down heavily on his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

Just then, the door in front of him opened. Zoria came out slowly, holding the test report in her hand.

Lysander could clearly hear his own heart pounding against his chest. He immediately straightened his body. His throat had gone dry, and when he spoke, even his voice had become badly hoarse.

“What did the result say?”

Zoria lowered her eyes and looked at the report in her hand. Before she came out of the room, she had already read the result over and over again more than ten times. Her legs felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead. Every step she took was terribly slow and difficult.

Lysander felt as though his heart was about to burst. In this world, only something related to Zoria could make a pure-blooded werewolf like him lose his calm to such an extent.

He quickly walked up to her, took the report from her hand, and immediately searched for the line showing the final result.

Blood Poison Test: Negative.

The moment Lysander saw the word “negative,” every nerve in his body that had been pulled tight finally relaxed.

He lifted a hand and rubbed his dry, aching eyes, then read the line several more times. Only after making sure that he had not seen it wrong did he pull Zoria hard into his arms and hold her as tightly as he could.

“Zoria, you’re all right now. You weren’t infected. You’re really all right.”

Zoria also felt as though a huge stone had finally been lifted off her chest. When she first saw the result, even she had not dared believe her own eyes. Then something soft and warm suddenly touched her face, making her freeze for a moment. Her eyes widened as she looked at Lysander.

Lysander was so happy that he could not hide it at all. He held her face between both hands and kissed her again and again—first on her forehead, then on her eyelids, and then on both cheeks. In the end, he pressed the tip of his nose against hers, and their warm breaths tangled together between them.

“You wouldn’t let me kiss you before. Now I’ve finally managed to kiss you.”

Zoria looked at him, her expression still a little dazed. After a moment, she lifted her head on her own and gently kissed Lysander on the lips.

“Thank you.”

Thank you for always staying beside her when she had felt the most helpless and hopeless.

Lysander let out a quiet laugh. His deep laughter sounded beside Zoria’s ear. In the middle of the freezing winter, it carried a rare sense of peace and warmth.

“Zoria, do you still remember what you promised me before?”

How could Zoria possibly forget?

Lysander brought it up beside her every single day, repeating it more times than she could count. Even if she truly wanted to forget, it would have been very difficult for her to do so.

Lysander looked directly into her eyes, his voice more serious than it had ever been before.

“Zoria, become my mate. Let me take care of you for the rest of your life.”

A lifetime was far too long for a promise. How could he say those words so easily?

When Zoria remained silent, Lysander thought she was still worried about the baby.

“As for Lior, I’ll raise him as if he were my own child. I won’t let him suffer any grievance, and I won’t let anyone make him feel that he is less than my own.”

The moment he finished speaking, everything around them became quiet. It was so quiet that Lysander could hear his heart beating wildly inside his chest. When Lysander was truly gentle with someone, he could move that person’s heart so deeply that they had nowhere left to retreat.

Zoria thought that if she had never met Zephyr, if all those painful things had never happened, and if she could openly stay by Lysander’s side with a status that matched his, then how fortunate that life would have been.

But there were no “ifs” in this world.

Just thinking about those things that could never happen made Zoria’s eyes sting.

Without letting him notice, she dug her fingernails into her palm and tried her best to keep her voice from trembling.

“All right… I agree.”

Lysander immediately tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer against his chest. The heavy stone that had been pressing down inside his heart finally dropped away.

“I thought you might regret it.”

Zoria raised her head and asked him, “What would you do if I regretted it?”