"Then meditate in peace. I will sleep on the chair," Ryan said readily when he saw her reaction.

  Evelyn looked at him, a trace of hesitation stirring in her heart. Should she meditate on the soft bed, or on the chair on the other side of the room?

  The bed was a fair distance from the chair Ryan had chosen. If he was not on the bed, nothing unexpected should happen.

  She recalled their past interactions. It was true that Ryan only leaned toward her unconsciously when he was asleep. Now that he planned to sleep on a chair, that situation should not occur again.

  In the end, Evelyn lay down on the bed. Her fingers formed the seal for meditation and she began circulating the Codex of the Primeval Frost.

  With a more comfortable meditation environment, there was no need to force herself to suffer.

  Night deepened and the room grew still.

  A loud thud suddenly shattered the silence, followed by Ryan's muffled cry of pain."Ow."

  Evelyn instantly turned her head in alarm. She arrived just in time to see Ryan fall straight off the chair and crash face first onto the floor. His entire body sprawled out in an undignified heap.

  The sight of his ridiculous and utterly pathetic state made the corners of Evelyn's cold lips lift slightly. A faint, almost unnoticeable glimmer of amusement flashed in her eyes. She nearly failed to hold back a laugh.

  Ryan squinted, dazed, with a bit of dust clinging to his face. He pushed himself up from the ground and swayed unsteadily to his feet.

  His steps were as unsteady as a drunkard who had downed too much malt ale. He then wandered toward the bed.

  He is doing it again. Evelyn tensed and quickly prepared to roll off the bed and move away. The memory of him unconsciously leaning close to her a few nights ago was still vivid. She absolutely could not allow it to happen again.

  But before she could get up, Ryan reached the edge of the bed and stumbled. With another loud thud, he collapsed onto the floor again, this time landing directly beneath the bed and blocking her path down.

  Moments later, he spread out on the floor and fell deeply asleep.

  Evelyn held her breath and stared at Ryan lying under the bed. She stayed frozen like that for a full ten minutes. When he did not move at all, her tense expression finally softened a little.

  She thought to herself that either his meditation method had hidden flaws or he possessed some kind of magical item that disturbed his mental state, causing him to behave so strangely in the middle of the night.

  Evelyn was half right. The magic within Ryan was indeed operating on its own, but whether it was a flaw in the method or something quietly guided by his subconscious, no one could say.

  After confirming that Ryan was not going to move again, Evelyn lay back on the bed and calmed her mind. She resumed circulating the Codex of the Primeval Frost.

  Pure magic followed the paths recorded in the codex, merging with the magic within her. A thin layer of frost gradually formed across her skin.

  Ten minutes passed. There was no sound beneath the bed.

  Twenty minutes passed. Still nothing.

  Thirty minutes passed…

  A dark silhouette shifted quietly. A warm hand slowly reached up and touched the edge of the bed where Evelyn lay.

  Evelyn's senses were sharp. She snapped out of meditation in an instant and her eyes opened sharply.

  But before she could react, that hand suddenly tightened on the bed frame. Using that leverage, Ryan rolled upward and forcefully flung himself onto the bed.

  The bed was already small and could barely fit one person. With Ryan's sudden leap, his entire body landed heavily on top of Evelyn.

  Realizing something was wrong, Evelyn instinctively tried to roll aside, but she had only managed to move halfway when Ryan pressed down on her again, pushing her back into place.

  This time the situation was even worse than before. Ryan's arms wrapped around her like climbing vines, pulling her tightly against him. His entire weight pinned her down completely, leaving her unable to move.

  A hint of panic flashed through Evelyn's eyes before she quickly calmed herself and struggled fiercely in his hold.

  But Ryan clung to her like a chain under an enchantment. Once he wrapped around someone, he did not loosen. No matter how she twisted or fought, she could not move him even the slightest bit. Not even a sliver of space opened up between them.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Ryan's head rested naturally on the left side of her shoulder. His warm breath brushed against her neck with clear, undeniable sensation. Her entire body stiffened instantly.

  "I should never have trusted you." Evelyn's face flushed bright red. Furious and flustered, she ground out a muffled curse.

  This was not unconscious at all. This was clearly planned.

  As if he heard her angry whisper, Ryan's arm around her waist tightened sharply. His hands slid slowly up her sides and locked together behind her back. His fingers interlaced firmly, securing her upper body completely.

  Then his legs wrapped around her as well. His knees hooked behind hers, his ankles locked together, and her last avenue of movement was sealed.

  Shocked and enraged, Evelyn released a surge of frigid magic. The chilling aura burst outward in an attempt to force Ryan to let go.

  But just as she had expected, a wave of even more domineering magic erupted from Ryan's body. It pressed down on her cold energy like an invisible barrier, blocking every strand from entering him.

  This was the key reason she could not break free last time. Combined with Ryan's bizarre restraining posture, she had no method of escape.

  Her arms were completely locked in place. She could not even reach for the Ultimate Ice Sword.

  She had only two choices:

  Either summon the Frozen Crown Staff and force him away with a shockwave,

  or remain trapped in his arms until morning.

  But summon the Frozen Crown Staff? Evelyn rejected the idea at once.

  This cunning liar did not deserve to make her use the Frozen Crown Staff.

  "So cool and comfortable."

  At that moment, Ryan murmured sleepily by her ear. The tone was hazy and foolishly content, as if her icy aura was nothing more than a refreshing breeze cooling him down.

  So the cold energy she released with all her strength felt like a comfortable breeze to him?

  Evelyn completely lost her composure. For the first time, she was so angry that her cheeks burned red. She struggled violently, sweat beading on her forehead.

  But her strength was useless against Ryan's enchanted, shackle-like grip. No matter how fiercely she fought, she could not move him at all.

  "Do not move."

  Ryan muttered, apparently disturbed in his sleep by her struggling. His eyes remained closed, yet his arms tightened even further. His embrace grew impossibly secure.

  Evelyn did not know how long she fought. Her strength finally waned, and she gave up helplessly.

  She bit her lower lip hard, her heart full of confusion and fury. Why did he become so overwhelmingly strong when using magic at night?

  This was nothing like the power a Journeyman Mage should possess.

  Being firmly held in Ryan's embrace, Evelyn's thoughts grew sharper.

  During the day, Ryan could barely withstand even the simplest magic she casually released, yet at night, the magic within him seemed to break free from all constraints.

  It surged exponentially, far beyond normal levels. Once entangled by this strange magic, no matter how fully she exerted her own power, she could not break free even slightly.

  Could it be that he was meditating with a rare night-affinity type of magic? The magical continent contained countless legacies, many of them bizarre and extreme.

  Some required sacrificing one's senses to form contracts with shadow creatures. Others demanded severing limbs to amplify magical power.

  One could hardly imagine what kind of madman invented these self-harming meditation techniques.

  Even more extreme, certain bloodline mages appeared withered and weak by day, yet at night, the power within their lineage would awaken, enhancing both appearance and magical strength, rivaling the Moonlight Priests of the elven tribes.

  Evelyn increasingly suspected that Ryan's abilities belonged to this category. Yet upon further thought, something felt off.

  The power he displayed at night was far too pure and carried an unmistakable domineering aura. It did not seem to be an inherited magical legacy. It felt more like a manifestation of his own unique constitution.

  According to continental records, only those born with special constitutions could spontaneously develop unique magic.

  Every one of them was a prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years. Each had the potential to become a Grand Magus who could dominate a region.

  Without such a foundation, it would have been impossible for him to trap her.

  With this in mind, Evelyn became increasingly certain. Ryan's constitution was far from ordinary.

  There was more than an eighty percent chance that it was of the same rare type as the Grand Magus she had once killed.

  What she did not know was that the truth was quite the opposite. It was not Ryan's constitution that had spontaneously produced magic.

  Rather, the meditation technique he practiced had forcibly reshaped his constitution, granting him these extraordinary traits.

  "I want to see how you explain yourself when you wake up tomorrow," Evelyn thought coldly. She gave up struggling.

  Since breaking free was hopeless, she would observe the situation instead, curious to see the look of panic and helplessness on this scheming liar's face in the morning.

  She calmed her mind and suppressed the sensation of a foreign body pressing against her. Once again, she activated the Codex of the Primeval Frost.

  Over these days, she had already reached the Fourth-tier Journeyman Mage, steadily approaching the Fifth-tier. Her magical foundation had grown profoundly deep.

  "Evelyn, you… are the most beautiful."

  At that moment, Ryan's mumbled dream words reached her ears. His voice was gentle and sincere, tinged with the drowsy laziness of sleep.

  Evelyn's body stiffened instantly. Despite herself, the corners of her usually cold lips curved slightly upward. That faint smile made her appear unusually charming.

  No matter how much she tried to suppress it, she could not erase it completely. At times, she did not even realize it herself, and the icy intensity in her eyes had subtly softened.

  As morning approached, Ryan seemed uncomfortable in his position. He lightly shifted his arms, turning slightly and causing Evelyn to roll with him.

  The situation flipped. Now Evelyn found herself lying on top of Ryan, while he continued to hold her firmly with both arms and legs, not loosening an ounce of pressure.

  Their bodies pressed closely together. Only two thin layers of clothing separated them, yet the warmth beneath transmitted through the fabric, causing a gentle blush to rise on Evelyn's cheeks.

  She had been immersed in meditation, but the sudden movement forcibly interrupted her. A surge of disbelief rose in her heart. Even while asleep, this man was completely unruly.

  ...

  By noon the next day, sunlight streamed through the window. Ryan slept soundly and did not open his eyes until midday.

  He let out a long yawn, still a little groggy, and thought to himself,"No wonder a bed from a top-tier power like the Sanctum of the Sacred Sword feels this comfortable. I've never slept this well."

  He stretched lazily, but the moment he exerted his arms, he felt his body sink as if pressed down by a heavy weight.

  Ryan froze and instinctively looked down. There, lying across him, was Evelyn.

  His hands were still tightly wrapped around her waist. Yet the position felt excessively intimate.