CHAPTER 356: CHAPTER-356.

Sparrow noticed and nudged him. "You okay?"

Cutie didn’t respond. He just kept walking, his expression carefully blank, even as something inside him crumbled a little more with each step.

.

.

.

At a fabric stall, Veer pulled Kaya to a stop, pointing at a deep blue scarf. "This would look good on you."

Kaya raised an eyebrow. "I don’t need—"

Veer was already unwrapping it, draping it around her shoulders. His fingers lingered at her neck, adjusting the fabric carefully. Their faces were inches apart, and for a moment, the noise of the market faded.

"There," Veer said softly. "Perfect."

Kaya’s breath caught. This close, she could see the way his eyes softened when he looked at her, the genuine warmth there that had nothing to do with their act.

"Veer..."

As Veer leaned down to kiss Kaya, she gritted her teeth and grabbed his arm.

"If you do not wish to die right here, then just stop," she said quietly.

Before Veer could even process what was happening, he felt the sharp point of a knife pressed against his ribs. So close, so precise, that one wrong move would end him. From a distance, to anyone watching, it looked like they were an affectionate couple—her hand on his arm, his face close to hers, intimate and sweet.

But Veer? He broke into a cold sweat.

He smiled anyway, his voice strained. "Sweetheart, take it back."

"No, no, no," Kaya said, her smile never wavering. She looked at him with that beautiful, dangerous smile. "If you dare to kiss me or anything else, I will really kill you here."

Veer’s heart was pounding. "Okay, okay, sweetheart, please put that knife away. What if people found out?"

Kaya’s smile widened. "Yeah, don’t worry. No one would."

She twisted the knife smoothly, and in one fluid motion, it disappeared into the hidden sleeve of her top. Like it had never existed at all.

Veer stared at her, genuinely impressed despite the fact that he’d nearly just gotten stabbed. "Really, sweetheart? That was—"

"Next time I will shoot you," Kaya interrupted, her voice sweet as honey. "So just act, mister."

She turned toward the fabric stall owner, her expression transforming into something warm and genuine. "I love it. Thank you so much."

The stall owner’s face lit up, beaming at her appreciation.

And Veer? He was in complete shock.

He stood there, still processing, watching as Kaya seamlessly switched between different versions of herself. One moment she was threatening to kill him with a knife. The next, she was a sweet, charming woman complimenting merchandise.

What the hell is she? Veer thought, his mind reeling.

She couldn’t even be called a dragon. Because even a dragon had one expression, one nature. But Kaya? God knows what type of beastman she was. She was like a chameleon made of ice and steel and danger, capable of becoming whatever she needed to be in the span of a heartbeat.

Veer realized, with a mixture of amusement and terror, that he’d really fallen for something far more complicated and lethal than he’d bargained for.

And honestly? He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Behind them, Cutie watched the entire exchange play out. He saw the knife, saw the way Kaya moved, saw how quickly she switched back to the role of doting mate. His expression remained blank, but his hands unclenched slightly.

At least she was still dangerous. At least that part of her—the lethal, uncompromising part—hadn’t changed.

It was small comfort, but he’d take it.

That day, after flaunting their relationship around the market, Kaya didn’t go to the Archives. She couldn’t. It was impossible to proceed with a tactical mission when she was being followed by the world’s most incompetent circus troupe.

She could feel their eyes on her—four distinct gazes, clumsy and obvious. It was less like being tailed and more like being stared at by children who hadn’t yet learned that staring is rude. Are they serious? she wondered, genuinely baffled.

Identifying them was laughably easy.

She "accidentally" dropped a earing and bent down to pick it up, catching the reflection of a fox beastman in the small water puddle on gtound. His ears were twitching nervously, peeking out from under a hood that was doing absolutely nothing to conceal his identity.

A few stalls down, she pretended to be fascinated by a bolt of cloth, using the moment to scan the crowd behind her. There was the second one: a wolf beastman whose massive, fluffy tail was swishing back and forth beneath his cloak like a metronome.

Later, she made a show of reaching up to fix a pin in her hair, turning just so. On a nearby rooftop, a bird-like creature was perched, trying to look casual while nearly falling off the ledge.

And the fourth one? She didn’t even need to see him. She could smell him. Mongoose. The scent was sharp, distinct, and brought back memories of the first one she’d had to beat up when she arrived. This one was probably his cousin, out for some ill-advised revenge.

Are you even spies? Kaya wanted to scream. Even her most idiotic battalion recruits back home understood the basics. You stay ten to twelve feet back. You hide your face. You get a fake mustache, dye your hair, something.

But no. These four were practically wearing name tags that said "HI, I’M FOLLOWING YOU." They didn’t even bother to hide their most distinct features. What kind of beastman follows someone while letting their ears and tail flop around for everyone to see? It was just making it easier for her to remember them.

The worst part was their synchronization. When Kaya sped up, they all scrambled to keep pace, nearly tripping over each other. When she slowed down, they all came to a sudden, awkward halt. It wasn’t a tailing operation; it was a clumsy parade. They hadn’t even figured out that she’d already made them.

She remembered sending her greenest recruits on a tailing mission once. They’d gotten caught, and she’d beaten them for it, but at least they’d had the sense to keep their faces hidden from the target. These four were a special kind of useless.