Chapter 164: The Villain’s River of Love
As expected, Peruth immediately disagreed. “But I believe that emotional closeness and physical intimacy are not necessarily related.”
“Just look at the chaotic relationships among the nobility. If they understood each other through their physical entanglements, there wouldn’t be so many tragedies.”
Peruth continued his speech eloquently, as if he had come to Yu Mo’s garden in the middle of the night specifically to promote this philosophy of “spiritual connection above all.”
His words even subtly implied a request for Yu Mo to refrain from indulging in messy noble affairs, which Yu Mo found both absurd and amusing.
The first time they met, Peruth seemed like an aristocratic playboy, always surrounded by ladies the moment he appeared, effortlessly throwing out flirtatious remarks. But in the end, what—you’re a “Plato”?
Up until then, Yu Mo’s understanding of Peruth had always been based on how dangerous he was, how strong his abilities were, but he had never thought to closely examine his personality or what shaped him. He simply saw him as a stereotypical “villain character.”
Because he was a villain, his past was shrouded in mystery within the storyline that the system had given Yu Mo. From his first appearance, Peruth was powerful and unfathomable, and even when he took his final bow, there was a certain elegance to him.
But some of the personality traits Peruth displayed in front of Yu Mo were never mentioned in the story.
What had created such contradictions in him? Was the powerful villain, Peruth, really as in control of everything as he seemed?
“You don’t even want to listen carefully to what I’m saying, Eloren. What are you thinking about?” Peruth asked.
Few could express displeasure with such a gentle tone, but Peruth could.
“Sorry,” Yu Mo replied calmly, without showing any signs of tension in the face of Peruth’s discontent. He even countered, “I was thinking, if the cardinal could give me a kiss, maybe you’d understand what I’m thinking. Want to try?”
Peruth: “…”
He was speechless for a moment, but quickly put on the same smile he used when facing a group of noble ladies.
“Alright, if it’s a request from Eloren, of course, I’ll oblige.”
He walked toward Yu Mo, cupped his face, and unsurprisingly planted a kiss on his forehead.
Yu Mo thought, as expected, and reached out to press the back of Peruth’s neck, pulling him down, and their lips met.
In Peruth’s amber eyes, a flicker of surprise appeared, and Yu Mo felt him stiffen for a brief moment—just like when Yu Mo had suddenly sat on his lap before.
Yu Mo gripped the back of Peruth’s tense neck tightly and commanded in a low voice, “Open your mouth.”
It wasn’t a particularly fierce kiss, but for the cardinal, it was definitely more intense than expected—a kiss filled with lingering passion.
When Yu Mo pulled away, he noticed Peruth’s gaze still fixed on his wet lips.
The cardinal’s mouth was still slightly open, as if the teasing, invading tongue was still stirring within. After regaining his composure, he closed his mouth, his throat involuntarily swallowing.
Yu Mo noticed his eyes flicker for a moment before returning to calm, and his usual serene smile appeared on his face once again.
“Alright, where were we? Eloren, you need to pay attention to what I’m saying…”
A soft laugh interrupted Peruth.
Standing under the white rose wall, Yu Mo’s face was clearly filled with amusement. It wasn’t a distant or polite smile, but one of genuine delight.
When someone who usually carried a cold expression smiled, it was like the distant moon reflected in the cup in their hands, seemingly within reach.
Peruth fell silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand with a wry smile, admitting his lapse in composure. “Alright, you caught me off guard earlier, I didn’t have time to react.”
“Well then, shall we go again?”
Just like the fickle moon, Eloren—still so cold and distant even while tempting someone into ruin.
Yu Mo tilted his head back, clear droplets of moisture on his lips, as his hand moved up from Peruth’s neck, wiping away the saliva he hadn’t had time to swallow.
He leaned against the rose wall, with Peruth’s palm cushioning the back of his head.
The thorns of the roses pierced into Peruth’s skin, but he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, as their actions became more intimate, he pressed even harder, driving the thorns deeper.
Blood dripped down, falling onto the pure white roses below—bloody yet fragrant.
Cool, soft rose petals brushed against Yu Mo’s cheek. He could feel the shift from restrained desire at the beginning to an increasingly uncontrollable hunger.
The chaotic and conflicted nature of the cardinal was laid bare.
A night owl cried out in the forest, and Peruth finally let go of him, stepping back two paces. His hands, now covered in wounds from the rose thorns, covered his face, hiding his expression, while his chest heaved violently.
After a moment, he lowered his hand, which was still oozing beads of blood, and his expression seemed much calmer.
“Do you understand me any better, Your Excellency?” Yu Mo asked.
“I feel like I understand you even less, Eloren.”
“That’s unfortunate. It seems physical intimacy truly doesn’t work,” Yu Mo said.
He likely had no idea how striking he looked at that moment.
Pale skin marked with large red patches from contact, his eyes now cold—there was something decadent yet desolate in his appearance, a combination that made him captivating, hard to look away from.
“It did work, though, at least enough to show me just how weak my willpower is,” Peruth’s gaze was complex, sweet yet conflicted, deep and weighted.
“I have no defense against you. It even makes me think that perhaps you shouldn’t exist in my world at all.”
“So, will Your Excellency get rid of me to ensure you won’t be affected?”
“If I did that, wouldn’t it just be another kind of weakness?”
…
As he watched the dark-haired figure disappear through the garden gates, Peruth turned back to the rose wall and suddenly reached out to pluck a flower.
Gazing at the pure white bloom for a moment, he bit off a petal, slowly chewing, savoring the faint sweetness beneath the bitter taste of the flower’s juice.
Was the sweetness from the flower, or perhaps from what had just happened?
Holding the flower in his hand, Peruth disappeared into the darkness and, for the first time in a long while, performed a special prayer gesture.
A prayer to the Goddess of Desire.
The Goddess of Desire, worshiped by the people of the seaside town where he had been born and raised.
Before he had stolen the power of the moon and before he had gained the status of a God of Light follower, he and the priest who had raised him from childhood devoutly worshipped the Goddess of Desire.
The Goddess of Desire taught people to control their desires, to face everything with calmness and peace, and life would become free and beautiful.
The priest had said: Restrain your desires, do not become a slave to them.
All desires for power, possessions, hatred, or love should be abandoned.
He had always done so, until the day that small town turned into a dead city, and he arrived in a new world.
He gained power, seized control, and was consumed by hatred.
Only the desire for love—he once thought he had managed well. But now, he realized he had simply never met the embodiment of his desires.
He had long since lost his faith, and perhaps his fall into corruption had always been his fate. Destiny had placed trials before him, ensuring he would never ascend to godhood.
*
After that night, Yu Mo didn’t see the cardinal again for a while.
He had no time to ponder whether the man couldn’t accept “physical intimacy” or if he was simply busy with other matters.
Just teaching two students and managing the group of deranged members of the Star Society kept him busy enough.
After this period of “law exams,” the members of the Star Society had become much more obedient.
Those who had tried to avoid the “law exams” were tracked down by Yu Mo, and after a few extra rounds of endless tests, they eventually resigned themselves to their fate.
Thanks to Peruth, the death of the First Prince had been linked to moon worship, and the temple’s crackdown on the Star Society had intensified.
Under pressure from all sides, these people could only retreat and lie low.
Yu Mo then began the second phase—reorganizing them to facilitate magical exchanges, material swaps, and creating a healthy ecosystem for social interaction.
Turning the fanatical moon worshipers into a hobby study group.
In this way, Yu Mo was able to gain new magical knowledge from these exchanges, and, in addition, solved the problem of his need for large quantities of new varieties of magical potions.
He assigned the task of making different magical potions to them as classroom assignments, channeling their excess energy and providing them with a steady source of income. This also saved him the time it would take to produce the potions himself in large quantities.
These numerous magical potions became essential tools in his effort to establish connections within the empire’s nobility.
Light magic potions produced by the Holy Temple were rarely available on the market. These equally effective but unofficial, mysterious potions became a part of a tacitly accepted gray supply chain among the nobility.
Through these potions, Yu Mo established a network with Earl Trek, patiently expanding bit by bit, and within a short time, he had ensnared many of the lesser nobles.
The next step was to secure ties with the higher nobility and encompass the entire noble circle.
Duke Harriman was the oldest duke in the Glory Empire. He was unbelievably old and, like His Majesty the Emperor, relied on magical potions to sustain his life.
Unfortunately, his status wasn’t as exalted as the emperor’s, so he wasn’t granted the Water of Life from the Pope. This meant his demand for potions was even greater.
Fearful of death in his old age, Duke Harriman was the first duke to reach out to Yu Mo.
After a brief walk around the duke’s sickbed and a simple conversation, Yu Mo quickly struck a deal with him.
No sooner had he left Duke Harriman’s room than the duchess invited him into another.
Unlike the aging duke confined to his bed, the duchess was young and stunningly beautiful, and beside her, without any pretense, stood a much younger man.
At the gathering, Yu Mo had heard early on about the famous Duchess Harriman. She was born into the renowned Mayseld family, known as a socialite who indulged in pleasures and a passionate lover at parties.
The bedridden duke turned a blind eye to her promiscuous behavior, and she openly paraded around with her lover.
“Baron Cecil, oh, or perhaps next time we meet, I should call you Count Cecil, shouldn’t I?” The duchess smiled sweetly. “Your black hair is as silky as fine silk, so lovely.”
Yu Mo was familiar with the way she was eyeing him, a gaze full of suggestive, seductive intent.
As a result, the young man standing beside her couldn’t help but give Yu Mo a hostile look.
“Now, Hughes, don’t be so harsh. I will always love you,” the duchess reassured the man.
Hughes Gilliny, a young viscount, was the noble who had forced the protagonist Makin and the second lead Amos to flee.
Yu Mo had long since figured out his identity, but had yet to act against him.
After all, keeping him around meant that Makin and Amos would obediently stay on his estate to continue their studies.
As for the duchess, in the original storyline, she later became the lover and benefactor of the second lead, Amos.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how, without Yu Mo’s interference, Amos in the original story had managed to defeat the man who had wronged him and replaced the viscount as the duchess’s new lover.
The duchess dismissed her clingy lover and sat down to resume her conversation with Yu Mo.
As expected, the first thing she requested was, “I know you’re providing Harriman with potions to sustain his life, but I ask that you refrain from giving him any healing potions. As long as he doesn’t die, that’s enough. There’s no need for him to have the strength to get back on his feet.”
“Of course, as long as you, madam, can provide more assistance, I am happy to be at your service,” Yu Mo replied.
The two reached an agreement swiftly. After just a few exchanged words, they both understood what the other wanted and what they could offer. It was a pleasant collaboration.
The Duchess Harriman gazed regretfully at the young man before her, still unwilling to give up, and asked tentatively, “Perhaps, Eloren, outside of our collaboration, we could also spend some lovely nights together? You know, I truly adore your black hair, your black eyes, and your personality.”
“I’m afraid not, madam,” Yu Mo replied calmly. “For your safety, allow me to refuse.”
“Well then.” The duchess regretfully hid half her face behind her fan, teasing, “It seems you have a jealous lover.”
There were subtle rumors circulating in the noble circle that Baron Cecil was the lover of Cardinal Peruth.
Yu Mo didn’t deny it, as he had done with countless other probing remarks, merely smiling and allowing the assumption.
The remuneration had been paid, so he naturally used Peruth’s name to seek benefits. Otherwise, how could a mere baron safely establish a trading network capable of shaking the nobility?
In the future, he planned to use Peruth’s name for even more endeavors. Until the cardinal managed to pull his head out of the “river of love” and clear his mind, Yu Mo intended to make full use of him to his advantage.
