Chapter 12

Why Noelle joined would clearly upset [him]. Why should I listen to praut Nicodavattractive when it campe cactions, the thungle she should be the one calling the shots? Seeing fiet continie tocargar, Nicolas a dens bed his jaw. Liis temple muscle twitching in irritation. He knew she didn’t have to listen to him, but the girl was too naive. If he let her run wild, God knows what kind of trouble she'd get herself in, especially with some guy stringing [her along]. He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"Aren't we supposed to be engaged?"

"So what?" She blinked up at him, looking genuinely confused.

Nicolas leaned in, closing the space between them, his breath mixing with hers. His voice dropped low, his words coming out like a growl, thick with restraint. "If we're engaged, you can't be talking about doing adult things with other guys."

Noelle stared at him, her eyes wide with confusion. "Is that like, a rule here?"

Before she could say another word, Nicolas reached up and lightly tapped her forehead with his fingers.

"Ouch!" Noelle winced, rubbing her head as she glared up at him, clearly frustrated. "Nick, why'd you hit me again?"

"Because you deserved it," he said flatly, showing no hint of apology. "How the hell did you grow up without knowing any of this? What kind of environment were you raised in?" If it were anyone else, he'd think they were just pretending to be clueless, but with Noelle it was painfully obvious she had no idea.

"I've never been exposed to this kind of stuff. What's wrong with that?" she grumbled, still rubbing her forehead, clearly irritated.

Noelle had spent most of her life as a hitman, spy, and mercenary, all under the thumb of the man in the necklace. Her upbringing had kept her in the dark about anything remotely related to feelings, and she had no concept of the social or moral rules that governed relationships.

"So, do you get it now?" Nicolas' voice sharpened slightly.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Noelle mumbled, sticking her tongue out at him. "I won't mess around with other guys."

Nicolas sighed, seeing her still a little dazed. His hand moved up to gently massage her forehead. "Good. So, we're clear on this, right?"

Noelle puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms, giving him a serious look. "You said we're engaged, so I'm not supposed to mess around with other guys. Fine. But that means you can't mess around either."

"Fair's fair?" Nicolas chuckled, unable to stop himself. He didn't know why he felt so compelled to make these promises. Logically, they didn't need to lock each other down like this. But hearing her speak so seriously about it made him want to commit to something he didn't expect. He smirked, ruffling her hair as he spoke, his voice softening with a mix of affection and amusement. "Don't worry, I won't mess around. I never have, and I never will."

Noelle's eyes lit up, her mood clearly lifting. "Okay then!" Quick to forgive and move on, she looped her arm through his, her face bright with excitement. "So, when are we doing the adult stuff? Can we do it today?"

Nicolas' brain short-circuited. What the hell is wrong with this girl? Why is she so obsessed with [this]? He sighed, pinching her chin gently to turn her face away. "I'm not rested yet. Maybe another day."

Noelle's face fell as she pouted, clearly disappointed. She tilted her head and gave him a skeptical look. "Nick, you said that woman was an actress you hired, right? So why aren't you resting?"

Nicolas blinked, surprised. Is she actually thinking now! He looked at her and couldn't help but laugh softly. "That wasn't even anything serious. But if you want to know the truth… I wasn't resting. I've just got…"

Noelle blinked, her confusion deepening. "I've never done anything like this before," she [said], as though it was perfectly normal. "I've tried a lot of different jobs, but I've never done what adults do. Now that I'm an adult, I think I should give it a try."

Nicolas could only shake his head, remembering some of the [things] said about her life as a hitman, [and] remembering [other things]. He chuckled softly, more in disbelief than amusement. "Alright, alright, I get it. But what you're talking about? You need to be married before you do that kind of thing."

Noelle blinked, more confused than ever. She grabbed onto his arm with a pleading look. "Nick, when are we getting married?" Nicolas raised an eyebrow, amused by her persistence.

He smirked. "Who knows! Not anytime soon, at least. You're only 18. Way too young."

Just then, Oscar, who had been walking ahead, turned around and waved at them. "Nicolas, Noelle? What's taking so long? The next round of the hunt is about to start!"

"Got it." Nicolas raised a hand in acknowledgement and turned back to Noelle. "Let's go. We'll play the game first."

Noelle let out a sigh, her enthusiasm about the hunt now completely deflated. Everyone made their way to the designated spot. The sound of a gunshot would mark the official start.

"Under the guidance of the club staff, everyone…" "I heard there was this insanely strong team in the last round," Oscar said. "They wiped out all the other teams in under an hour!"

"No way! That's crazy!" Ophelia gasped, her eyes wide in disbelief. She shifted closer to Celeste and whispered, "Celeste, we need to be careful. We don't want to get knocked out too quickly."

"Of course," Celeste nodded, her eyes scanning the group. Her gaze fell on Noelle and Nicolas. She noticed Noelle’s small hand still resting on Nicolas’s arm. What have they been talking about earlier, she wondered? Noelle now looked utterly deflated, her energy completely gone. Celeste figured it was probably just a case of a brief burst of enthusiasm, and of course, Nicolas was indulging her.

"Come on, snap out of it," Nicolas said, giving Noelle a little tug to pull her upright.

Noelle pouted, clearly upset that she couldn't do adult things for at least two more years. "I'm not feeling it," she muttered, sinking even further into her slump.

"Then at least try standing up properly!"

"I can't stand properly."

"Then stop hanging on to me!"

"Hmph, but I want to."

Nicolas suddenly realized how incredibly spoiled Noelle was.

Oscar overheard their conversation and couldn't resist teasing. "Nicolas, what did you two talk about back there? Why is she suddenly so… lifeless?"

"It's none of your business," Nicolas replied with a pointed look. He didn't want Oscar poking around where he shouldn't.

"Okay, fine." Oscar raised his hands in mock surrender and took a few steps back.

At that moment, Declan, who had been quiet up to now, spoke up, noticing that the group’s attention was starting to drift. "Alright, let's get focused here. We need a plan, are we going on the offensive, or are we selling up an ambush!"

"Obviously, we should go on the offensive!" Oscar said, eager for action. "The hunt's no fun unless we're actively going after the other teams!"

But before he could finish, Nicolas' voice cut in. "We should ambush."

"Why?" Oscar asked, clearly confused.

"We missed the last round," Nicolas explained calmly, "so we're not as familiar with the terrain as the other teams. If we rush in blindly, we might get ambushed ourselves. It's better to play it safe for now and hold our ground."

"Nicolas is right," Declan said in agreement.

Ophelia raised her hand. "I agree with Nicolas's plan!" Celeste quickly nodded. "Yeah, I think Nicolas is right. Ambushing seems like the safer bet."

Oscar was taken aback. "Are you serious? Four against one?" Not giving up, he turned to Noelle, trying to get her on his side. "Noelle, what do you think? Should we charge ahead, or should we set up an ambush?" Since Nicolas seemed to spoil her, if Noelle sided with him, he thought maybe Nicolas would be convinced to go on the offensive.

Noelle, still clinging to Nicolas, noticed the others were all staring at her. She blinked lazily, then asked, "What? You guys didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Oscar asked, still confused.

Noelle yawned, stretching a bit before casually saying, "We've already been ambushed." She glanced around quickly, then added, "There are seven… no, wait, actually eight. That's how many people are hiding around us right now."