Chapter 425
Chosen Mate of the Beastmen Empire by Lewis Reed
Chapter 425 Nyx was young, thrust into the grind early, stuck with a pimp like Dylan. Her views got skewed. He didnât want to take advantage anymoreâjust protect her, fix her outlook, keep her safe from creeps like him.
Nyx: [I know.]
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Her reply zipped back in a second, just two words. Seafarionâs breathing hitchedâhe couldnât read her. He thought, âIf she knew, whyâd she say that stuff yesterday?â
His mind wandered, scared it was wishful thinking. He stewed all day, too chicken to ask. Mustering every ounce of guts, he only managed a dinner invite.
Nyx said yes. It thrilled him more than a hundredâbillion deal. He couldnât hide his giddiness; even the office noticed.
Too antsy to wait till evening, Seafarion ditched work earlyâa firstâprepped dinner, fruits, desserts, snacks, and waited, jittery and excited.
With the boss gone, the company chat blew up with gossip, hounding Lancet to spill what was up. Lancet wouldnât dare snitch.
Truth was, he had no clue either. Seafarion and Nyxâs thing was getting weirder by the day.
He used to think he was an ace assistantâknew his bossâs every move without a word. Now, he felt that Seafarionâs heart was a mystery he couldnât figure out.
Right on time, Nyx showed up next door with fresh essential oil. A glance at the table, and she knew Seafarion had asked Gavin about her tastes. She didnât call it out.
Flashing a sweet smile, she said, âWhat a coincidenceâthese are my favorite.â
Seafarionâs handpicked chef was no slouch. Nyx ate happily, full and ready to drop her fork, when a piece of fish landed on her plate. She looked up at the male across from herâears red, lashes fluttering nervously.
Nyx got it. Heâd probably agonized all meal, wanting to serve her but overthinking it. Full or not, Nyx picked up the fish slowly and ate it.
âThanks,â she said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. âI like fish.â
The wipe cleared the grease, leaving her lips plump and red, locking the maleâs gaze. Seafarion tugged at his collar, Adamâs apple bobbing.
They were stuffed and buzzed. Another willpower battle loomed. He dreaded screwing up, but heâd asked for it. Heâd prepped as best he could.
Nyx noticed heâd layered loose shorts under his pants today and raised an eyebrow. A longtime partner turning shy always tickled her mischief. When the males took charge, sheâd dodge. When they held back, she got eager.
She poured some oil on her hands, rubbing it in casualâlike. It didnât matter what he wore. It was useless. After a grueling halfâ
hour, Seafarion covered his eyes, accepting the grim truth.
A few slipâups in front of Nyx, and the shame started fading. Once, twice, a few days of her dropping by, and Seafarionâs nerves toughened up. He stopped hiding he was her neighborâno more Lancet as a front. A quiet understanding settled between them.
No need to planâNyx came over nightly for dinner, massaged him, chatted, helped with work, used his bathroom, stashed her stuff in his place, crashed in his guest room. She crept into his space bit by bit. He couldnât resistâdidnât want to.
Two months later, the delayed costume drama Breaking Chains finally started shooting. Jobless Nyx got busy, heading to set.
Filming was in Broskel. She couldâve gone home daily, but after thinking it over, she picked the crewâs hotel.
18 Chapter 425 Marilyn and Helly tagged along. Gavin brought her three homeâcooked meals daily around set breaks. Everything ran smoothly.
Firstâtime actress Nyx adapted quickly.
11 Her role split into shadow guard and fallen princessâthe guard got more scenes, tied tight to the lead, so they shot that first. The princessâs solo bits waited till last.
Nyx wore a mask all day for fight scenes, crashed at the hotel after a rinseâstill kept a steady routine.
Seafarion, though, hit withdrawal. First night alone, he lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Days of insomnia followedâhe visibly wilted.
Office folks tiptoed, whispering to Lancet, âBoss get dumped or what?â
âDumped?â Lancet blinked, lost. If his memory held, Seafarion hadnât even started datingâmaybe a crush at best. Now, with his crush just off working, heâd run himself ragged.
Lancet was stunned but kept quiet, tossing out a tip. âWhy not visit her on set?â
A week without Nyx, Seafarion was dying to see her. But showing up meant other actors spotting himâcould tank Nyxâs reputation.
âNot going,â he said, eyes down. He could pay to hush it up, keep leaks tight, but the crew hung with Nyx daily. If they knew she was tangled with a wheelchair guy, theyâd judge her, make her uneasy.
âHere we go again. Lancet grimaced inside, baffled by his bossâs logic. He was crazy about Nyx, but never made a move- always lurking. If he chased like that, heâd never win his girl back in a million years.
âWell, how about asking her for a keepsake?â Solid ideas flopped, so Lancet went rogue with a dumb one. âCouldnât see her?
Grab something to remind you of her!â
Seafarionâs eyes flickered, lips pressingâhe was tempted. He pulled out his phone, opened Nyxâs chat, fingers hovering, stalling.
After ages of drafting, he sent: [Heard the hotel washers are nasty.]
Nyx saw it during lunch break. Fresh off a scene, she washed up, sat to eat, and checked her phoneâshoulders shaking, laughing nonstop.
He was roundabout as hell, but she didnât need to guess what Seafarion was after.
Nyx: [Yeah.]
Nyx: [Little bunny sigh emoji]
Nyx: [Dirty or not, gotta use âemâwhat else can I do?]
As expected, he shot back: [Send them homeâIâll wash them.]
Nyx: [Why bother when dry cleaning is easier? How can I make a tycoon do chores?]
Nyx ate and teased him, batting it back and forth before caving. Back at the hotel that night, she packed all her worn clothes and had Helly run them over to Seafarion.
Hellyâs jaw dropped. âAre you sure?â she stammered, staring at Nyx. âLet me wash them instead!â
Making Seafarion wash clothes was ridiculous. Everything was in thereâeven the close stuff. Nyx tripleâchecked it was fine.
Helly set off, shaky.
Delivery went off without a hitch. Seafarion actually took the laundry pileâhis quick grab even hinted at eagerness. Helly 2/4 12:34 Chapter 425 593 stumbled back to the hotel, dazed.
Nyx lounged on the sofa, rubbing in lotion. Fresh from a shower, her face glowed pink from the steam, her body misty.
Hellyâs eyes hit Nyxâs long, sleek legs and suddenly got why Seafarion went for it. Her boss was fragrant headâtoâtoeâher worn clothes too. Not dirty at all.
âBack?â Nyx looked up, waved her over for fruit, and asked casually, âDropâoff go okay?â
Helly nodded, still puzzled, mumbling around a strawberry. âCan Seafarion even wash clothes?â A man that rich probably hadnât touched chores in forever.
âHe can,â Nyx said with a smile, finding Hellyâs innocence cute, not explaining much.
That night, Seafarion kept Nyxâs clothes pile by his side and slept soundly for once. Waking up, he found his face buried in them, took a deep breath, then snapped awake, blushing as he folded them neatly.
Shirts, skirts, costume liners. His fingers snagged a bra strap. Seafarion froze, eyes wide, stunned. His face went bloodâred.
Lancet dropped off breakfast and gawkedâhis boss was cleaning behind closed doors. Womenâs clothes hung on the balcony, freshâwashed. Scrubbing sounds came from the bathroom. Lancetâs brain crashed.
Door opened, and Seafarion clutched the underwear behind his back fast. Frowning, he sidestepped Lancet, not hanging them outside but in his bedroom.
âWhat are you doing?â Lancet asked, still not believing his eyes. Years as a life assistant, and heâd never pegged his boss as a houseâhusband type.
âNyx sent her clothes overâIâm washing them,â Seafarion said, in a good mood after solid sleep, giving Lancet an approving look for the idea.
Seafarion was happy. His bonus was secured. Lancet took the cash, but it burned his hands. Sure, he asked Seafarion to ask for a gift from her, but he didnât mean her clothes. She didnât even gift him her clothesâsheâd roped him into washing them.
Lancetâs mouth twitched. He wanted to say hire someoneâor heâd do itâbut seeing his boss so into it, he shut up. If Seafarion didnât want to, no one could make him. Skipping maids and machines for handâwashing, Seafarion basically volunteered to be her servant.
*****
Batch done, Seafarion held onto them. Only when Helly brought the next weekâs load did he return the clean ones. Nyxâs clothes in his place calmed himâlike she was there, saving him from sleepless nights.
After sticking it out like that for a month and a half, Nyx had finished filming most of her scenes, with only one leftâthe part where the fallen princess took her own life.
Before the final scene started, she gave Seafarion the good news ahead of time, then slipped into a long white dress for the shoot and headed to the makeup room to get ready.
Sheâd been on set this long, but that was the first time sheâd seriously gotten made up. After all, the earlier scenes didnât really need her face on cameraâonly in the last moment of revenge did she lift her mask for the lens, and even then, it was bareâfaced.
The makeup artist was a chatterbox, all exaggerated expressions, babbling nonstop about how perfect Nyxâs face was. âHowâs your skin this good! Even tone, tooâyou donât even need foundation! Your features donât need a thing. I almost donât know where to start!â
Nyx ducked her head, flustered, thanking her quietly, then closed her eyes as the artist brushed some light red shadow Chapter 475 around them to give her a worn, broken took a wedden war wher She followed the sound and saw it was the tree playing supporting mas mat, wh the way rollet hers at Nyx, saying thing, just fuddling with mes âHer name is Joanna. Donât mind her the makeup artie who they are the antes dayhon es zupe youâre premier âShe auditioned for your role before, but Zachery dirt pick bwrwdwsky âEven without you, sheâd still be glaring at this person, taring into the one her eyes you dy foueaphiser trase face. No way she couldâve played the worldâs greatest way âSheâs got someone backing her, thoughâgot her that supporting spot the wich with testng under about how pushing her wouldnât make her a war, then warned yx, âWatch you, try sex to duds wher Shows from Cosmic Entertainment didnât usually let people buy their way in, so whomer Gouna ber to foe vie dve had some real pullâmaybe even ties to Cosmic Entertainmentâs bifery Mewhile, thy was gud & hist characterâno way she could armâwrestle the big shots and win Nyx nodded. As long as no one stirred trouble with her, she wouldnât go picking Ropes Once her mousy od wewe done, Nyx smiled, said goodbye to the artist, and left the room The crew was filming someone elseâs scene, so hers had to wait a bitâthe booked wound, trying to find a spor so hang or but caught Joannaâs eye again in the crowd. She dung to a middleâaged mals arm, way as could be, and thee Nyx a sharp glance,