To be honest, Su Yao had almost gotten used to his appearance.

It wasn’t that she intentionally avoided mentioning it, or didn’t want to accept his true face—

She simply forgot.

And when she brought it up, Kyle was slightly stunned, a brief moment of bewilderment flashing across his face, as if he’d forgotten too.

Su Yao: “…”

Although it sounded strange, knowing him as she did, it was entirely possible.

Thanks to a certain prince, she knew something about shapeshifters, at least those whose abilities came from their bloodline—they didn’t need to expend energy to maintain their transformed appearance.

So for them, there was no need to regularly revert to their original faces; it cost them nothing, and it was entirely a matter of preference.

“So,” Kyle leaned over and kissed her hand, “do you like me like this?”

Su Yao puffed up her cheeks, “Saying I don’t like it would be a lie, but I like you more as a person. If it were just the face, to be honest, when I first met Prince Dylan, I had him change his appearance, and it was quite nice, but…”

She observed Kyle’s expression, seeing no obvious jealousy, nor any suppressed anger.

“…I only touched him a few times, and I didn’t have any intention of falling in love with him.”

Su Yao mumbled softly.

She had briefly considered a one-night stand.

Not because she craved it, but because it was on her “things to do before I die” list.

However, its appeal was limited, ranking lower in her mental checklist than holographic games, so subsequent events had dampened her enthusiasm.

“Anyway,” Su Yao didn’t elaborate on her thought process, “my feelings for others are different from my feelings for you. Considering that others can also shapeshift, and some look quite good, it certainly isn’t just about the face. It’s about you as a person, your personality, your characteristics, your… everything that makes you, you.”

Kyle listened quietly, “I know.”

Su Yao: “?”

Why was he so calm?

Did he trust her that much?

Was he completely unfazed by jealousy?

Su Yao’s eyes were complex, “You’re a strange person. You’re always sarcastic towards me with Heather, but now you’re not saying anything? I haven’t even touched Prince Fafnir, you know.”

Kyle glanced at her, then resumed that half-smile, “The more you care, the more you dare not touch, isn’t that what you said yourself?”

Su Yao hesitated.

—Was it during their first mental link?

Su Yao forcefully tugged at his face, “That doesn’t seem like something I would say! Besides, I was afraid of ruining our friendship. Heather is just… he looks different from Dylan, he’s not the type I’d touch, okay? And can we please not talk about this anymore!”

Kyle sighed softly, “Okay, actually I wasn’t questioning you, my words were literal, I can maintain this appearance as long as you like it.”

He paused slightly, “As for my original appearance…”

Su Yao stared at him, eyes wide.

The young man lowered his gaze slightly, water droplets trembling down his long lashes, a hint of confusion on his handsome face.

“…For a long time, I didn’t know what I looked like, I had no concept of it.”

Su Yao was completely baffled.

She tried to understand what he was saying, “You didn’t know?”

Under what circumstances would someone not know what they looked like?

Wait.

It sounded bizarre, but it was actually simple.

As long as they were in an environment without mirrors, right?

And no reflective surfaces whatsoever.

Although even then, it could be solved through some application of spiritual power, but he might not have had that ability back then.

Su Yao relaxed her grip on his face, gently stroking his deep, handsome brows, supporting his strong shoulders with one hand, tilting her head up to kiss his forehead.

Kyle was somewhat surprised.

He realized that his words might evoke certain associations, causing her to feel pity or sympathy.

Although that wasn’t his intention, he was simply stating his experiences and feelings.

But he found himself happy about it.

“If you don’t want to remember—”

Su Yao said softly.

Before she could finish, she was interrupted.

Kyle suddenly sat up, one arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, “I like how my presence affects your emotions, but you don’t need to feel sad about this.”

Su Yao leaned against his shoulder, her gaze upward, sweeping across the sharp lines of his jaw, observing the delicate triangle formed by his long neck and chin.

She couldn’t help but reach out to touch his jawline, her fingertips sliding down the side of his neck, feeling his pulsing artery.

Kyle remained motionless, very relaxed, showing no sign of even instinctive tension or defensiveness.

Su Yao curved her lips, “Then?”

“Then?” He thought for a moment, “Later I… one day, I found that I could live like other people, I could become anyone.”

Did he escape from that previous environment?

Su Yao thought, “Then you changed?”

“Mm,” Kyle nodded, “I did, but not out of preference, it was simply… out of curiosity about the feeling.”

Su Yao was also curious, “What did you base your transformation on?”

“Someone I killed.”

“…”

Considering that he didn’t change his face because he liked a certain image, the answer wasn’t so problematic.

“Wait, earlier you mentioned changing your hair to Heather’s color, and you said you rarely do that—”

“Yes.” Kyle looked at her deeply, “I mean imitating certain features of living people, I guess you don’t want me to kill him, do you?”

Su Yao: “?”

Su Yao’s mind raced, suddenly understanding his meaning, “Wait, you mean if you kill someone, it’s easier for you to transform into them? That’s how your ability works?”

Kyle nodded slightly, “…More or less, at least it’s faster than looking and imitating.”

Su Yao fell silent.

“But I can’t derive any pleasure from it, no matter what.”

Kyle said, “Until I met you, I can become whoever you want, as long as you’re happy, that’s meaningful to me, do you understand?”

Su Yao sighed, “I think I understand what you mean—”

She couldn’t help but hook her arms around his neck again, leaning in to kiss his face, “So, it’s not a matter of cancelling the ability with a thought, and then instantly reverting to the factory settings?”

“…Some people’s abilities are indeed like what you said, am I not one of them?”

“So,” Su Yao was somewhat confused, “If you forget your original appearance, you can’t revert back?”

“Actually, I can,” Kyle paused for two seconds, “But that… is vastly different from now.”

Su Yao: “?”

Vastly different?

In her spare time, she had searched for photos of the members of the Imperial family, including the Fafnir family.

Photos of the former Emperor and the former Prince Fafnir weren’t a secret, and the two sisters had strikingly similar facial features.  Further back, Brianna IV and Crist II, niece and uncle, also bore a resemblance, and among other royal family members, those whose photos could be found generally shared similar features.

Most of the people in this lineage had blonde or black hair, deep-set eyes, high, narrow noses, thin faces, and sharply defined jawlines, appearing both gloomy and striking.

Only the Fafnirs had lighter hair and unique skin, slightly softening their cold appearance.

Each person’s appearance certainly had some differences, but they were generally the same type of beauty, and Kyle III was no exception.

Heather was too.

So she always assumed that, as a descendant of the Saylea royal family, the little lizard’s original appearance should also be of this type.

Now he said there was a vast difference?

Did he completely inherit the appearance characteristics of another bloodline source?

“…It doesn’t matter,” Su Yao shrugged, “When we first met, your face was just a default NPC face in my mind.”

Kyle shook his head slightly.

“What do you mean?” Su Yao asked uncertainly, “Was it uglier than that?”

Actually, the NPC faces in the game weren’t bad, they were quite pretty upon closer inspection, just forgettable, without any distinctive features.

“And to be honest,” she whispered, “aesthetics have many subjective elements… my classmate’s favorite star, she thinks he’s so handsome, I might just find him average or even not very attractive. It works the other way around too. Besides, it mostly affects first impressions, especially for strangers. If a person has other qualities that attract me, appearance doesn’t even matter. I used to like a game streamer, he looks very ordinary, like a greengrocer, but I still enjoyed watching his videos!”

Kyle chuckled, “I didn’t mean to say that you would…”

He fell silent for a few seconds, “To be precise, it’s not about your conclusion, it’s that I don’t think anyone would like my previous appearance.”

Su Yao: “???”

The level of human genetic optimization these days meant that extremely extreme states were almost impossible.

Because that usually resulted from disharmony, disproportion, and incompleteness.

Whether innate or acquired, such situations could now be avoided.

Unless it was—

Artificially created.

For example, a product of genetic engineering.

Before the appearance of the first generation of Awakened, there were many victims, many people died from rejection during surgery, or suffered terrible mutations.

They indeed possessed the power of animals, but their appearance also became half-human, half-beast, even more deformed and distorted than the current Awakened’s beast forms.

Su Yao had seen reports on illegal laboratories in the news. Over the years, many people have tried to replicate the past genetic fusion achievements, attempting to create more “S-ranks”.

Or other similar goals.

Su Yao fell silent.

She conjured up many random possibilities.

Many criminal organizations and illegal institutions stole genes from nobles and even royalty, some people inexplicably had children or suddenly had brothers, sisters, or even parents.

Children raised in laboratories, let alone whether they lived well or not, many became living materials after exhibiting bloodline traits that did not meet expectations.

Of course, some were simply kidnapped or sold along the way.

Some were children from ordinary families, but this was often random, while impoverished noble descendants or illegitimate children left somewhere were more likely to be targeted.

She had seen photos of rescued children, some of whom looked nothing like humans.

They would live in welfare areas provided by charities, receiving surgery or treatment from Awakened, but not everyone could recover.

Some were raised under the surveillance of criminal groups, who specifically selected children with higher bloodline levels and trained them as thugs.

“…I’m sorry.”

Su Yao couldn’t help feeling sad.

Although the little lizard’s expression didn’t seem sorrowful, nor did he seem to be talking about something difficult to say, it was more like he was struggling with how to phrase things.

“What?” Kyle was surprised, “I should be the one apologizing to you, because I don’t know… how to describe some things to you.”

He reached out to hug her, pressing her relatively thin and petite body against his, his chin resting on her head.

“And I don’t remember some things myself…”

“Okay, okay,” Su Yao leaned against him, “Let’s not talk about this. Actually, rather than being curious about your previous appearance, I’d rather you be with me in a state you’re comfortable or happy with. You know, if you want to change into a new appearance, that’s fine too, I just want you to be happy.”

“Mm,” Kyle lowered his head to kiss her hair, “I understand what you mean, but this is fine. If you like this face, I’ll keep it, until you have other ideas.”

Su Yao rubbed against his chest, “Okay—”

Before she could finish, cold fingers pinched her face again, “Tell me if you have other ideas, I can change into anything.”

“…Okay, okay.”

Wasn’t he still saying he hadn’t changed much and should try more?

Su Yao secretly complained.

She leaned against his strong chest, her vision blocked by his broad shoulders, unable to see the shadows spreading in the bathroom.

—Those strangely shaped black shadows, like deformed beast heads, or intertwined snakes, fell on the walls and mirrors, writhing to envelop the embracing couple.