The steady sound of a ceramic spoon scraping against the inside of a bowl was the only noise filling the bedroom.
Alfia sat propped up against the pillows, her movements slow but entirely deliberate.
Her fingers wrapped firmly around the utensil, and to her quiet satisfaction, her hand remained steady.
She didn't need Yuuya to hold the bowl, nor did she require him to guide her wrist. She was reclaiming her independence, one small bite at a time.
Across from her, Yuuya was keeping his eyes strictly glued to his own food.
Outwardly, he looked like he was simply enjoying his breakfast, but inwardly, his mind was certainly not focused on his breakfast.
The brief meltdown he had just experienced out in the hallway had completely rewritten his perspective.
Now that his emotional self-awareness had been violently forced open, he couldn't stop looking back at every single interaction they had shared since he dragged her out of the deep floors.
The sudden realization made him feel like a big, dense idiot for not noticing the pattern much sooner.
He remembered the day he sat down with the Hestia Familia to recount his past life on Earth.
When the story reached some of the heavy part—where his life became a sensitive, fragile subject to him—he and Alfia had ended up tightly holding hands.
At the time, he had easily rationalized it. They were just two deeply traumatized individuals, like two soldiers in a war comforting each other.
It made sense.
But then, his mind drifted back to a much more recent conversation.
He remembered the vivid, desperate panic in her emerald eye when she had asked him about the hypothetical time reversal miracle at the bottom of the Dungeon. She had been terrified that he would use it to rewrite his past, effectively erasing her from his life.
He remembered exactly how he had responded. He hadn't just given her a verbal reassurance. He had actively leaned closer, propping himself up on the mattress. He had reached out with his free hand and gently placed his palm against the side of her face, his thumb lightly brushing across the pale, soft skin just beneath her gray eye. He had looked straight into her soul and declared, "I chose you. I choose the path where you are right here beside me, breathing, alive, and where you never have to die afraid of the dark ever again. Plain and simple."
Recalling the memory now, a wave of heat rushed to Yuuya's face. He forced himself to swallow a dry piece of toast to keep from choking.
'Why on Earth did I do that?' He thought to himself, his internal voice screaming in embarrassment. 'Touching her cheek? Holding her face like that? That wasn't just 'comforting a fellow soldier.' That was incredibly intimate!'
He began to question his own subconscious motives. Was he acting like this because Alfia and Akari looked so strikingly similar? Was he simply projecting his protective instincts onto the mage because he missed his girlfriend?
He frowned slightly, staring down at his oatmeal. No, it didn't feel like that.
It felt entirely different, but his brain was currently too fried to untangle the exact nature of his feelings. He just felt like a complete idiot for being so oblivious to his own actions until now.
"Yuuya."
The sudden, melodic sound of Alfia's voice cut through the silence, snapping him out of his internal panic.
Yuuya blinked, quickly schooling his expression into a calm, neutral mask before looking up.
He absolutely could not let her notice him acting weird right now, or he would never live it down.
"Yeah? What's up?"
Alfia set her empty spoon down on the tray, her heterochromatic eyes locking onto his face with a look of quiet, focused interest.
"You have been staring at your bowl for five minutes without taking a single bite. If the food is unappealing, you should simply say so. However, if your mind is occupied elsewhere, I would prefer if you tell me about it. Specifically... I wish to know the details of your day yesterday. How exactly did the Denatus fare?"
Yuuya let out a breath, silently thankful for the distraction. He pushed his overthinking into a dark corner of his mind and leaned back against his seat, a familiar, playful smirk returning to his lips.
"Oh, you want to hear about the circus that took place?" Yuuya chuckled, shaking his head. "Well, to put it simply, I spent a good part of it completely messing around with the gods. They were losing their minds trying to figure out how a Level 4 adventurer managed to leap straight to Level 6 in the span of two weeks."
Alfia's brow arched slightly, her interest piqued.
"And how did you manage to evade their lie detection? Deities may be foolish, but they can recognize a mortal falsehood instantly."
"That's the best part." Yuuya said, his smirk widening. "I didn't lie at all. I just chose my words very carefully. When they demanded to know the process behind my growth, I told them it was a basic philosophy of hard work, driving power, and hitting things until they stopped moving. I even told them it was a 'skill issue' on their part, and that I am quite literally an anomaly by design."
Alfia's lips twitched slightly. She could easily imagine the unbridled frustration the gods must have felt hearing such arrogant, nonsensical phrases that isn't the truth yet wasn't a lie either.
"You are an incredibly irritating brat, Yuuya. I almost pity them."
"Hey, they started it." Yuuya defended himself playfully. "But things got really interesting when it came time to assign my new official alias. Argentum Vox didn't cut it anymore since I'm a first-class adventurer now. And guess what title they permanently stamped onto my Guild profile?"
Alfia tilted her head, her gaze shifting as she analyzed his expression.
"Given your blatant lack of humility and your absurd pace of growth... I imagine they chose something grand. What is it?"
"Incarnation of Talent." Yuuya delivered the line smoothly.
The bedroom instantly fell dead silent.
Alfia froze, her emerald and gray eyes widening by a fraction of an inch as the words hung in the air. A sharp, intense curiosity flared in her expression, mixed with a trace of old, lingering memories.
"Incarnation of Talent? That moniker... the masses and the newspapers used to call me by that exact title a decade ago. How did a reckless person like you manage to inherit it?"
"You can thank Hermes for that one." Yuuya explained, running a hand through his dark hair. "The other gods actually protested at first. They said the title belonged entirely to your memory and that giving it to me was inviting a second disaster into Orario. But Hermes stood up and clarified the legal details. He pointed out that your official, Guild registered alias was actually 'Silence,' meaning the title of Incarnation of Talent was technically vacant. Then he argued that since I happen to use your auditory magic, shattered your leveling records, and achieved in four months what takes the rest of the world a lifetime, I am the literal definition of the title."
Alfia remained quiet for a moment, her gaze dropping to her hands.
Hearing that Yuuya now carried the very title that had once defined her own monstrous existence brought a strange, complicated feeling to her chest. It wasn't resentment. If anything, it felt like a profound, unbroken thread connecting their destinies even further.
"Hermes is entirely too clever for his own good." Alfia murmured softly, her voice carrying a rare trace of amusement. "But the title is fitting. Your growth is an offense to the natural order. You earned it."
"Yeah, well, the glory didn't last very long." Yuuya sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping as the painful memory of that day rushed back. "The moment the Denatus officially adjourned and the word 'paperwork' was offhandedly mentioned, Goddess Hestia pulled a complete disappearing act. Hestia literally vanished into thin air to save her own skin. She left her captain behind without a single shred of hesitation."
Alfia's brow furrowed.
"She abandoned you?"
"Ruthlessly..." Yuuya grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "And before I could even take a single step toward the exit, the temperature plummeted, and a hand clamped down on my shoulder. It was Eina."
He paused, a genuine shudder running down his spine as he recounted the horror.
"Alfia, I have faced floor bosses and fought through the dark, but a furious half-elf advisor with a mountain of unfiled documents is an entirely separate tier of terror. She was wearing this incredibly bright, beautiful smile, but her eyes were completely dead. She looked like a predator closing its jaws."
Alfia watched him, a small, genuine smile finally tugging at the corners of her lips at his dramatic retelling.
"She dragged me straight by the collar down the steps of the Pantheon and locked me inside a small, dark office at the Guild headquarters." Yuuya groaned, throwing his hands up in mock despair. "I spent hours drowning in a literal mountain of ink, tax forms, and expedition logs. Eina made sure I paid the price for breaking the laws of reality. It was so brutal that I didn't even get a single chance to step out and grab dinner. By the time she finally let me leave, the clock had already struck two in the morning. My brain felt like lukewarm porridge."
Alfia listened to the final details, her gaze softening completely as the lingering pieces of the puzzle fell into place. She remembered how exhausted he had looked when she woke up and found him settled on the floor beside her bed, and how tightly he had held her hand despite his own exhaustion.
The fact that he had rushed back to her room immediately after surviving such a grueling ordeal, without even stopping to feed himself, proved to her once again just how deeply he cared about keeping his promise.
"You are a fool, Yuuya." Alfia said softly, her voice dropping into that quiet, melodious purr that always made his heart skip a beat. "You should have demanded food before allowing her to lock you away."
"Hey, you don't say no to Eina when she's in that state." Yuuya countered with a weak laugh, though the warmth in her tone made his cheeks color slightly. He quickly stood up, gathering their empty breakfast trays to hide his face. "Anyway, now that you know the whole story, I'm going to take these dishes down to the kitchen. Just rest up, because once I get back, we're officially starting your physical rehab."
After finishing his sentence, Yuuya quickly went downstairs. It didn't take him long and before Alfia knew it, he was already at the door again.
Yuuya closed the door behind him, his earlier hallway panic completely locked away behind a cool, professional expression. As he walked back toward the bed, his dark eyes immediately focused on the blanket covering Alfia's lower body.
He had been analyzing her condition thoroughly during his trip to the kitchen. Her immobility wasn't the result of a injury, torn muscles, or broken bones. The crystal stasis had simply preserved her body in a state of suspended animation for seven long years, causing her brain to temporarily lose its connection to her lower limbs. She hadn't lost her muscles, she had simply forgotten how to use them.
For a normal mortal, rebuilding those neural pathways would take months of therapy. But Alfia was a Level 7 first-class adventurer. Her physical body was superior to almost anyone else in Orario.
And now that the corruption of her incurable disease had been completely purged from her lungs, her natural recovery rate was bound to be nothing short of fast.
Two weeks.
Yuuya was certain that was all it would take for her body to remember how to walk again.
Stopping at the side of the bed, Yuuya clapped his hands together softly and extended them toward her in an open, welcoming gesture.
Alfia tilted her head slightly, her green and gray eyes tracking his hands before shifting upward to meet his gaze. Her silver brow arched in silent question.
"What is the meaning of this gesture, Yuuya?"
"Like I said before breakfast, we're starting your physical rehabilitation right now." Yuuya replied, folding his arms as his tone turned practical. "Look, I know how you operate. You've got entirely too much pride to let anyone else see you struggle or wobble around. If we try to do this downstairs, the entire house is going to get involved. Welf will probably try to blacksmith a custom set of parallel bars, Lili will start taking notes on your progress, and Haruhime will stress herself out trying to make sure you don't fall. You'd hate every single second of it."
Alfia's expression flattened into a look of agreement. The mere thought of the chaotic Hestia Familia hovering over her while she tried to find her balance made a small muscle in her jaw twitch.
"Fair enough. I have no desire to become a domestic spectacle."
"Exactly. And besides the household drama, going outside into the courtyard is completely out of the question." Yuuya continued, his voice dropping into a quieter, more serious register. "Ouranos, Fels, and Hermes are still trying to clean up your name and handle the political fallout of your return. The public still thinks you died a decade ago as a criminal. If some random citizen or a stray god catches a glimpse of the 'Silence' casually practicing her walking split in the Hestia yard, the entire city will erupt into a panic before noon."
He uncrossed his arms and stepped right up to the edge of the mattress, leaning forward slightly as a teasing, familiar smirk played on his lips.
"So, that leaves us with only one viable option. We do everything right here in this room. No crowds, no politics, no judgment. Just you, me, and a lot of hard work. Unless, of course... you don't actually want my help?"
Alfia's eyes narrowed into a sharp glare, though a subtle, beautiful trace of pink colored the tips of her ears.
She looked at his extended hands, her heart tightening with that familiar, intense warmth. She desperately wanted to stand on her own two feet again, to cast aside the title of an invalid, but the realization of the physical proximity required for this exercise sent a nervous flutter through her chest.
She would have to rely entirely on his strength.
"Do not be absurd, brat." Alfia murmured, her aristocratic like huff doing little to hide her complete compliance. She slowly slid her hands out from beneath the cover, her pale fingers hovering just above his palms. "If you are the only tool available to expedite my recovery, then I shall utilize you. Do not make me regret it."
Yuuya chuckled, his smirk softening into a warm smile as his fingers firmly and securely locked around hers.
"Alright, Incarnation of Talent. Let's see if we can get those feet to touch the floorboards."
With careful, deliberate movements, Yuuya reached down with one hand and tossed the thick blanket aside, exposing her useless legs.
Alfia stiffened slightly, a wave of vulnerability washing over her features as she watched him gently slide his arm behind her back, supporting her upper torso, while his other hand guided her knees toward the edge of the bed.
The physical proximity was immediate. Alfia could feel the steady heat radiating from his chest, and her senses were entirely filled with his presence.
To keep her balance as her lower body swung over the mattress, she instinctively reached up, her hands gripping the fabric of his shirt at his shoulders, pulling herself close to him.
Slowly, her feet lowered until the soles of her feet made contact with the smooth, cool floor.
The moment her feet touched the ground, her legs felt like completely empty pillars of lead, entirely incapable of holding even a fraction of her weight.
She began to slide forward, her knees buckling instantly. Before her mind could even process the panic of falling, Yuuya stepped in closer, locking his arms securely around her waist and pulling her directly against his chest. He absorbed her entire weight without moving an inch, standing as solid as a wall.
"I've got you." Yuuya whispered right beside her ear, his grip firm. "Don't try to stand up on your own yet. Just get used to the feeling of the floor beneath your feet. Let your body remember what pressure feels like."
Alfia rested her forehead against his shoulder, her breathing slightly shallow as she tightly clutched his shirt. The sheer frustration of her useless limbs was heavy, but the security of his arms around her waist completely calmed her mind, keeping the dark overthinking entirely at bay.
"My legs..." Alfia murmured into his shoulder, her voice carrying a rare, vulnerable frustration. "They feel entirely hollow."
"They'll get filled up again soon," Yuuya reassured her gently, his hand lightly patting her back as he held her close. "We're going to take this step by step. Literally."
And so, they continued. As they've progressed, Alfia started noticing that the smooth floor felt incredibly cold against the soles of her feet, which was also a stark contrast to the burning heat that was starting to build up in her muscles.
She gritted her teeth, her brow furrowing deeply as she forced her brain to send a single, simple command to her right leg.
'Just lift.'
It should have been the easiest thing in the world for a Level 7 adventurer who used to outrun the wind, but right now, it felt like she was trying to hoist an anchor from the bottom of the ocean.
A thin layer of sweat broke out across her forehead, a few silver strands of hair sticking to her damp skin. Her chest rose and fell in ragged pants.
The physical exhaustion hitting her was staggering. It wasn't a painful feeling, but rather a profound, draining fatigue that made her entire body tremble from the raw effort of trying to stand.
Through it all, Yuuya didn't let her slide an inch. His hands remained locked firmly around her waist, acting as a brace. Whenever her knees threatened to completely fold, his grip tightened, effortlessly absorbing her weight and keeping her upright.
"Don't force a full step yet." Yuuya said softly right next to her ear. "Just try to shift your weight. Put a little more pressure on your left foot, then lean back toward the right. Take your time, Alfia. I'm not letting go."
Alfia swallowed hard, letting out a shaky breath.
"This is... ridiculous..." She muttered. Her voice lacked its usual sharp edge, sounding much more grounded and breathless. "I can fight a dragon, but I can't even slide my foot forward an inch."
"Hey, the dragon didn't keep you frozen in a crystal block for seven years." Yuuya teased gently, though his hands remained perfectly steady, giving her all the support she needed. "Your body just needs a minute to remember the rules. Try it again."
As she focused on trying to shift her weight, a sudden wave of realization washed over her. She looked down at his hands resting against her waist, feeling the solid strength in his arms.
If Yuuya weren't here right now, she wouldn't even be attempting this. She would be trapped in that bed, staring at the ceiling, completely helpless. (Assuming she doesn't want anyone but him to assist her.) For someone who had spent her entire life relying solely on her own power, realizing just how deeply dependent she was on this boy was a strange, jarring thought.
She couldn't do this alone.
She literally needed him.
Yet, as the minutes ticked by, Alfia noticed something else.
Every time her knees wobbled even a fraction, she found herself leaning directly back into his chest, letting her weight slump against him far more than she actually needed to. When she gripped his shoulders to stabilize herself, her fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt, pulling herself closer until there was barely any space left between them.
Unconsciously, she was using the excuse of her clumsy, failing balance to keep herself tightly pressed against him.
At this very point, Alfia had never experienced romantic love. Growing up as a weapon for the Hera Familia, followed by years of suffering from a terminal illness and a desperate crusade with Evilus, left absolutely no room for romance. Not that she was interested about it in the first place.
The only type of warmth and love that she had ever knew, was her love for Meteria and Bell. But when it comes to romantic affection? She never understood it.
Alfia doesn't understand what these feelings were. She couldn't put a name to the sudden, fluttery warmth that bloomed in her chest every single time Yuuya's attention was locked entirely on her. She didn't understand why the simple contact of his skin against hers made the lingering chill in her bones completely vanish.
All she knew was that when he was comforting her, or when his hands were holding her waist like this, she felt incredibly happy. It was a profoundly pleasant, safe sensation—something she had never felt in her entire existence.
And because it felt so good, she simply didn't want to stop. She let her guard drop completely, actively enjoying the solid, comforting feel of his presence keeping her safe.
'My, my... look at how far the terrifying Silence has fallen.' A voice suddenly echoed inside her mind. It was her own voice, her inner self, dripping with a playful, teasing amusement. 'Leaning into a boy like a fragile, lovesick teenager. Aren't you supposed to be exercising? You're practically cuddling him at this point.'
Alfia's eyelids fluttered, a faint, genuine blush creeping up the back of her neck.
'Shut up.' Alfia replied to her inner voice.
But the mental command was entirely weak. It lacked any real bite, sounding soft, lazy, and completely unconvincing. She didn't even try to push herself away from Yuuya to prove her inner voice wrong. Instead, she just tightened her grip on his shoulders and let out a soft sigh, burying her face a little closer to his neck.
"Are you doing alright?" Yuuya asked, noticing her sudden lack of movement. He slightly adjusted his stance, leaning his head back a bit to try and look at her face. "If it's too much, we can stop for today. I don't want you overexerting yourself on day one."
"No..." Alfia murmured, her voice muffled slightly against his shoulder. She didn't want to go back to the bed yet. She wanted to stay right here, wrapped in his warmth. "Just... give me a moment. Let me rest like this for a bit. Then we will try again."
Yuuya blinked, a bit surprised by how soft and relaxed her tone had suddenly become, but he simply smiled. His grip on her waist softened into a gentle, reassuring hold, keeping her completely secure against him.
"Alright. Take all the time you need. I'm right here."
While Yuuya held her close, his own mind was far from quiet. Now that he was acutely aware of every little touch, his heart was practically thumping against his ribs.
He could feel the soft weight of her body against his, the warmth of her breath brushing against his neck, and the way her fingers clutched his shoulders. As he looked down, observing her posture to make sure she didn't slip, he couldn't help but notice how entirely relaxed she seemed.
Wait, was she actually leaning back into him? Like, deliberately putting more of her weight against his chest than she needed to?
Yuuya quickly squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head mentally.
'No, no way.' He told himself, instantly dismissing the thought. 'What am I thinking? This is Alfia we're talking about. She's just completely exhausted because her legs aren't working yet. I'm just letting my own overthinking get the better of me because of what happened in the hallway earlier. Get a grip, dude.'
"Alright, let's take a quick breather." Yuuya said, keeping his voice as steady and normal as possible.
Carefully, Yuuya guided her backward until she was sitting safely on the edge of the mattress again. Alfia let out a soft, relieved sigh, her fingers slowly sliding off his shoulders.
The sudden absence of her touch left a lingering warmth on his shirt, making Yuuya clear his throat and step back a bit to give her some breathing room.
As she sat there, resting her hands on her lap to regain her strength, Yuuya's eyes naturally drifted down to her clothes.
It was funny, but up until this exact moment, he had been so focused on her health and her recovery that he hadn't paid any attention to what she was actually wearing.
Alfia is wearing his clothes.
The last time he had ever seen a girl wearing his clothes was back on Earth, and it had always been Akari. Whenever they were just relaxing together inside the house, she had a habit of stealing his shirts straight out of his closet, which is obviously too big for her. Making it appear large and baggy. She always claimed they felt cooler and much more comfortable to lounge around in.
Seeing another woman sitting on his bed, swallowed up by his own clothing, brought a wave of nostalgia and a strange, surreal twist to his chest.
Currently, Alfia's famous dark, gothic dress was neatly folded and stored away in the wardrobe. In its place, she was wearing one of his plain shirts.
Because Yuuya was broader and taller, the fabric drooped off her shoulders, the sleeves practically reached her elbows, and the hem fell well past her thighs, making the legendary mage look surprisingly small and delicate.
Yuuya crossed his arms, running through the logic of the household. It made some sense why she ended up with his stuff.
Hestia and Lili were far too small, Alfia wouldn't even be able to get an arm through their clothes without ripping the fabric. Haruhime and Mikoto wore Far Eastern clothes, and he highly doubted a mage and a person like Alfia would feel comfortable walking around in a kimono. As for Welf, his clothes always smelled like smoke, coal, and sweat from the forge.
But then, a curious question popped into his head.
"Hey, Alfia." Yuuya started, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "I just realized something. I get why you're avoiding everyone else's clothes in the mansion. The girls' stuff either doesn't fit or just isn't your style at all. But... what about Bell? He's your nephew, but you didn't ask for any of his clothes either. How come you prefer wearing my shirts instead?"
Alfia blinked, looking down at the loose fabric covering her knees. She ran a pale hand over the cotton, smoothing out a few wrinkles.
"Bell is way too small." Alfia answered simply, looking up to meet his eyes. "He is slender, and his shirts would be far too tight around my shoulders. It would be entirely uncomfortable."
(Author: plus, bust size as well I guess.)
She paused for a moment, her gaze drifting slightly to the side as a faint touch of color returned to her cheeks.
"Besides... you were the one who brought me back. Your room was the first place I woke up in that wasn't the seventieth floor for seven years, and you are the one taking care of me. It just felt natural to use what you provided. And... your clothes are quite comfortable. They are breezy."
Yuuya stared at her for a second before a warm, genuine smile broke across his face. Hearing her being honest felt incredibly nice.
"Well, I'm glad they're comfortable." Yuuya chuckled, resting his hands on his hips. "But you can't wear my oversized pajamas forever. Tell you what—once you can walk around perfectly on your own, and once Ouranos and the others finish cleaning up your name so you can step outside without causing a riot, I'm taking you out."
Alfia tilted her head, her heterochromatic eyes widening by a fraction.
"Taking me out? Where?"
"To the market streets." Yuuya said brightly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "We're going to a proper clothing shop, and I'm going to buy you a completely new wardrobe. Whatever style you want. Regular casual clothes, dresses, whatever makes you feel like yourself. It'll be my treat."
Alfia sat perfectly still, a wave of genuine surprise washing over her features. She hadn't expected him to suggest something so incredibly normal, so... domestic.
The idea of walking through the vibrant streets of Orario, side by side with him, picking out clothes like a regular person instead of a feared weapon of destruction, sent a flutter through her chest.
"A shopping trip..." Alfia murmured softly, looking away from him to hide the small, undeniable smile that was trying to form on her lips. She crossed her arms loosely over her chest, trying to maintain a bit of her usual dignity, though her voice was entirely gentle. "If you are so eager to waste your valis on me, brat, I suppose I will not stop you. It would certainly beat wearing your giant shirts forever."
On the inside, however, the Silence was feeling an overwhelming spark of genuine excitement. For the first time in a very long time, she found herself deeply looking forward to the future.
The quiet ticking of the clock on the wall was the only sound for a few minutes as Alfia's breathing gradually slowed back to normal.
The sheer effort of trying to stand had left her completely wiped out, her pale skin still wearing a faint glaze of sweat.
Yuuya sat on a wooden chair he had pulled up next to the bed, resting his elbows on his knees as he watched her recover. He was already plotting out the logistics for the next few days. Two weeks was a short time, and every hour counted.
"Hey, I just thought of something that might help speed things up." Yuuya said, breaking the silence. "Welf is a smith. More or less, he could probably build things other than swords and armors. I could ask him to make a custom walker for you. You know, a sturdy metal frame with some good grips. That way, even if I'm busy with the captain duties or out handling things for the Guild, you don't have to just sit here. You can still practice your balance and rehabilitate on your own."
He leaned back, offering her a reassuring smile.
"Of course, I'm still going to be right here watching and helping you whenever I can. The walker would just be for when my support isn't quite enough, or when you want to try pushing yourself a bit more."
Alfia's head snapped up, her heterochromatic eyes locking onto him instantly.
"No."
The answer was immediate, sharp, and completely final.
Yuuya blinked, a look of genuine surprise crossing his features.
He stared at her for a moment, completely caught off guard. Knowing how incredibly proud she was, and how much she despised feeling like a burden or an invalid, he had fully expected her to jump at the chance to have some independence. A walker would mean she wouldn't have to rely on him to take every single step.
"No?" Yuuya repeated, tilting his head. "Why not? I thought you'd want a way to move around without needing me to lift you up every time."
Alfia crossed her arms over the oversized shirt, her eyes drifting downward toward the floorboards. She tightened her jaw, searching for a logical excuse to cover the sudden, defensive knot tightening in her chest.
"There is simply no need for it." Alfia said, her voice dropping into a quiet, stubborn murmur. "Our current method is... better. A metal frame is rigid and clumsy. It cannot adjust to my balance or tell when my muscles are giving out. Relying on a piece of iron will only slow down my recovery. Having you support me is simply more efficient."
Deep down, however, her own explanation felt like a blatant lie.
The mere thought of a cold, lifeless metal walker replacing Yuuya's hands sent a sharp pang of disapproval through her.
If Welf built that frame, Yuuya wouldn't have a reason to hold her waist anymore. He wouldn't need to stand so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his chest. She wouldn't have an excuse to tightly clutch his shoulders or bury her face near his neck whenever her legs wobbled.
Even though he had explicitly promised that he would still be right there watching her, the thought of that physical distance made her feel incredibly hollow.
She didn't want the distance.
She wanted him close.
She wanted to keep leaning into him, wrapping herself in that pleasant, unnamable warmth that made her feel so safe and happy.
'Oh, listen to you.' Her inner voice crooned within her mind. '"Our current method is more efficient." What a brilliant excuse. Why don't you just tell the boy the truth? You're completely addicted to the way his hands feel on you. You're practically begging him to keep holding you.'
Alfia's chest tightened, a fierce blush burning against the back of her neck.
"Be quiet.' She shot back mentally, but the command was entirely soft, carrying no anger or conviction.
She didn't care what her other self said. She just wanted things to stay exactly as they were.
Across from her, Yuuya watched her quiet, slightly flustered reaction. He wasn't completely blind. He noticed the way she had looked away, the subtle softness in her posture, and the fact that she was actively choosing to rely entirely on his physical touch over a practical tool. A small, sudden spark of awareness flickered in his mind, making his own chest feel a little tight.
'Wait... is she actually trying to keep me close?' The thought brushed through his mind.
Yuuya quickly caught himself, forcing the thought right back down into the dark. He shook his head slightly, refusing to let his ego get the better of him.
He didn't want to get ahead of himself or start assuming things that might make their current arrangement awkward.
Alfia was going through a massive life transition, recovering from a seven year stasis and a lifetime of trauma. The last thing he wanted to do was misinterpret her vulnerability or overthink a situation that was already filled with so much emotional weight.
"Alright." Yuuya replied, a gentle, easygoing smile returning to his face as he let the matter drop. "If you think what we're doing now works best, then we'll stick to it. No walker. Just you and me."
Alfia let out a quiet, almost imperceptible breath of relief, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
"Good." She murmured softly, her eyes lifting to meet his with a look of quiet satisfaction. "Then we shall continue as planned."
Over the next several days, the master bedroom became a private sanctuary of grueling effort and quiet intimacy.
True to Yuuya's prediction, Alfia's recovery was remarkably fast. Her Level 7 biology was fighting hard to reclaim its peak form, and the empty, hollow feeling in her legs was slowly being replaced by a dull, aching strength.
By the end of the first week, she could manage to lift her feet and slide them forward a few inches without her knees immediately buckling. She could even walk on her own now for a few seconds before being exhausted.
Yet, despite her rapid physical progress, her reliance on Yuuya only grew heavier.
During their afternoon sessions, she found herself looking forward to the exact moment his hands would wrap around her waist. She no longer just accepted his support, she actively leaned into it.
When they practiced walking across the room, she would intentionally slow her pace, letting her shoulder rest against his chest, completely wrapping herself in his scent and warmth.
She told herself it was just the exhaustion, a necessary compromise to keep from falling.
But deep down, her grip on his shoulders was tighter than necessary, her fingers digging into his shirt as if anchoring her entire existence to him.
She was becoming entirely dependent on his presence. If he left the room for more than an hour to tend to his captain duties, a strange, restless anxiety would creep into her chest.
She also found herself constantly tracking his movements. If he stepped out of the room to fetch a glass of water, the space immediately felt empty and cold. The moment his footsteps echoed back down the hallway, the suffocating weight in her chest instantly vanished.
Alfia had grown so used to his presence, his carefree humor, and the comforting warmth of his hand that she felt entirely unmoored without him.
But the most surprising development—one that remained completely hidden even from Yuuya—was a dark, unfamiliar trait stirring to life within her soul.
Her fear of abandonment hadn't vanished, instead, it had twisted into something entirely new.
Something far more dangerous.
Possessiveness.
It was a creeping sense of possessiveness.
The terror of being left alone in the dark, or worse, being abandoned by Yuuya, still lingered in the corners of her mind. But instead of fading, that fear had morphed into a different, sharper shape. To protect herself from the thought of losing him, her mind had instinctively birthed a fierce, protective need to hold onto him completely.
For the longest time, Alfia had despised that specific trait.
Back in the day, the women of the Hera Familia were notorious for their terrifying obsession over the things and people they cared about.
Alfia had always looked at them with a cold, detached disdain, promising herself she would never inherit such an ugly, irrational behavior. She views it as illogical and exhausting. But now, those very same hereditary traits were quietly waking up inside her.
The realization hits her during a quiet evening dinner.
Since Alfia still couldn't leave the room without risking exposure, Yuuya had arranged for dinner to be brought upstairs. That evening, Hestia, Lili, Haruhime, and Mikoto had decided to join them in the spacious bedroom, carrying up trays of steaming food to eat together as a familia.
At first, things were peaceful.
Alfia sat propped up against her pillows, eating her soup with a perfectly steady hand. Yuuya sat on the edge of her bed, close enough that his arm occasionally brushed against hers.
But as the meal progressed, the conversation shifted and Yuuya's attention was inevitably drawn away.
"Yuuya-sama! You really must look over our budget." Lili said, leaning forward and practically invading Yuuya's personal space as she pointed at a small ledger. "Lili managed to negotiate a discount on potions, but we need your official signature!"
"Wow, great job, Lili." Yuuya laughed, leaning closer to look at the papers. His attention shifted entirely away from Alfia as he gave the small prum a bright, praising smile. "I don't know what we'd do without you."
Before Lili could reply, Hestia puffed out her chest and slid right next to Yuuya's other side, wrapping her arms around his elbow.
"Hey, don't forget about me, Yuuya! I'm the one who stayed up late blessing and inspecting the new gear Welf made! You should be praising your goddess more! Hehe..."
"Right, right, thank you too, Goddess." Yuuya chuckled, playfully trying to disentangle his arm while Haruhime giggled softly into her sleeve, her fox ears twitching with amusement, and Mikoto offered a warm, respectful nod.
He was completely occupied. And for the first time all evening, his eyes were not on Alfia.
Alfia froze, her spoon hovering halfway to her mouth.
As she watched the girls crowd around Yuuya, listening to his easy, cheerful laughter ring through the room, a sudden, violent tug flared in the center of her chest.
It wasn't a physical pain, but a cold, suffocating squeeze that made it hard to breathe. Her emerald and gray eyes narrowed into a glare, her gaze locking onto Hestia's hands wrapped around his arm, and then shifting to Lili's close proximity.
An intense, ugly wave of irritation washed over her.
'Why are they touching him? Why is he smiling at them like that? He is supposed to be looking at me. His attention belongs here.'
The lively chatter of the dining room suddenly sounded incredibly irritating. A dark, icy aura began to subtly radiate from her posture. The fear of being pushed aside flared up, immediately triggering that new, possessive instinct.
She felt an overwhelming, irrational urge to reach out, grab Yuuya by his collar, and pull him away from the crowd to force his undivided attention back onto her.
She wanted his eyes on her, and only her.
The sheer intensity of her own thoughts caused her hand to tremble, the ceramic spoon clicking sharply against the rim of her bowl.
The sound was quiet, but it was enough to snap Alfia entirely back to her senses. Her eyes widened slightly as a cold sweat broke out across her neck. She forced herself to lower the spoon, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs as a wave of profound shock and horror washed over her.
'Did I...' Alfia thought, her mind frantic as she stared blankly down at her soup. 'Did I just feel jealous...? No... No way! That is absurd. I am Alfia. I do not experience such petty, pathetic emotions.'
She tightly crossed her arms over her chest, trying to suppress the lingering heat in her face, her posture turning rigidly defensive.
'Oh, but you did.' Her inner voice purred in her mind, completely dropping its usual teasing tone for a sharp, mocking one. 'It is jealousy, Alfia. Plain and simple. You can try to lie to the world, but you cannot lie to me. Because I am literally you. You hated seeing his eyes on anyone else, didn't you? You wanted to rip those girls away from him.'
Alfia bit the inside of her cheek, her chest heaving slightly as she tried to drown out her own subconscious.
'Be silent.' She commanded internally, but her mental voice was completely shaken, entirely lacking its usual authority. She was genuinely terrified by how easily those possessive, suffocating instincts had taken root in her mind.
"Hey, Alfia? You okay?"
Yuuya's voice suddenly cut through her internal turmoil. He had completely pulled away from Hestia and Lili, leaning over toward her with a look of genuine concern. He noticed her rigid posture and the way her breathing had become slightly shallow.
"Is the food bothering your stomach? Or are your legs hurting again?"
Alfia blinked, looking up to meet his dark eyes. The moment his focus returned entirely to her, the cold, suffocating squeeze in her chest instantly vanished, replaced by that incredibly sweet, addictive, pleasant warmth she had grown so fond of.
"I am fine." Alfia murmured softly, her voice dropping into that relaxed, casual tone she only used when speaking to him. She consciously forced her shoulders to drop, offering him a small, reassuring nod. "The food is fine. I was simply... lost in my own thoughts for a moment. Do not concern yourself."
Yuuya stared at her for a second longer, checking for any signs of hidden pain, before his expression softened into a relieved smile.
"Alright. Just don't push yourself, okay? If you're tired, we can wrap up dinner early."
"No need." Alfia replied gently, her fingers reaching out to lightly brush against the edge of his sleeve, a subtle, unconscious gesture to keep him close to her side. "Just stay right here."
Yuuya blinked at the small touch but smiled and nodded, settling back down on the edge of her mattress.
As the rest of the dinner passed, Alfia kept her gaze firmly fixed on him, completely ignoring the other girls in the room.
She still didn't understand the complex nature of love, and she certainly didn't want to admit to the dangerous possessiveness growing inside her.
But as long as Yuuya's attention was directed solely at her, she felt completely secure. And for now, that was more than enough.
Eventually, the chatter and warmth of the Hestia Familia slowly faded down the hallway as the bedroom door clicked shut.
With the trays gone and the room quiet once more, the lingering tension from dinner began to melt away, leaving only the soft glow of the magic stone lamps illuminating the space.
Alfia shifted slightly on the mattress, laying her head back against the plush pillows. Her body was thoroughly exhausted from the afternoon's rehabilitation session, but her mind was entirely fixed on the boy currently moving around the room.
Yuuya blew out a long breath, stretching his arms over his head before walking over to the side of the bed.
Instead of climbing in or pulling up the wooden chair, he sank down onto the floor. He leaned his back comfortably against the wooden frame of the bed, right beneath where Alfia was resting, staring out into the quiet room. It was a relaxed, casual posture, but it kept him close enough that she could see the dark tufts of his hair just over the edge of the mattress.
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. The silence was comfortable, a familiar rhythm they had fallen into over the past week.
"Hey, Alfia..." Yuuya said, breaking the quiet. He tilted his head back slightly, his voice echoing softly against the wood. "I was thinking about tomorrow. I should probably ask Bell and Welf to help me drag another proper bed into this room."
Alfia's eyes drifted downward toward the back of his head, her silver brows twitching slightly. She didn't say anything, letting him continue.
"I mean, I know you still can't afford to sleep alone right now." Yuuya explained, his tone shifting into a practical, thoughtful register. "Your trauma from the stasis is still pretty fresh, and those nightmares aren't just going to vanish overnight. But honestly, at the rate your legs are recovering, you're probably going to be walking completely on your own by the end of next week. Once you get your mobility back, I bet it's going to give you a massive boost in confidence. It'll completely wipe out that feeling of helplessness, and hopefully, the nightmares will finally stop for good."
He shifted his weight, crossing his legs on the floor as he looked toward the wardrobe.
"So, while we wait for that, a second bed makes the most sense. And... I was also thinking I should ask Haruhime tomorrow to start cleaning up and preparing one of the vacant rooms down the hall. That way, the moment you feel completely ready and comfortable enough to handle being alone at night, your own private room will be fully set up and waiting for you."
The moment the words left his mouth, the easy, relaxed atmosphere in the bedroom instantly froze.
Up on the bed, Alfia felt a sudden, icy grip tighten around her heart. The pleasant warmth that had filled her chest during dinner vanished, replaced by a sharp, heavy spike of irritation and anxiety.
Her emerald and gray eyes narrowed, staring intently at the back of his neck. The mere suggestion of a second bed—and worse, an entirely separate room down the hall—felt like a physical push away from him.
She hated the idea of a wall separating them at night.
She hated that he was already looking forward to a time when she wouldn't be right here, relying on his touch.
"Why are you planning so far in advance about such things?" Alfia questioned, her voice cutting through the silence. It lacked any of its usual distance, sounding quiet, sharp, and remarkably heavy. "Are you truly that desperate to get away from my presence, Yuuya?"
Yuuya froze, his shoulders instantly tensing against the bedframe.
He blinked into the dim light of the room, completely caught off guard. He had expected her to complain about the bother it would cause, or perhaps argue that she didn't need Haruhime's help due to her pride. But the words she had actually chosen—desperate to get away from my presence—carried a sudden weight that he hadn't anticipated at all.
Slowly, Yuuya turned his head, looking over his shoulder to glance up at her.
Alfia was sitting up slightly, her arms crossed tightly over the oversized shirt. Her expression was rigidly defensive, but beneath the stubborn set of her jaw, there was a faint, vulnerable tremor in her heterochromatic eyes. She looked almost hurt, fiercely gripping her own arms as if trying to calm herself.
Yuuya's mind raced as he processed her reaction. Back on Earth, the "Silence" he had read about in the original lore was a tragic, detached figure—a woman who accepted her fate, kept everyone at arm's length, and even pushed some people away to protect them from her own destructive existence.
But sitting here in reality, he was realizing again, more and more that this wasn't a story anymore.
This was real life.
The people around him weren't static text on a page. They changed, adapted, and reacted to the traumas they experienced.
He concluded that a shift in her personality wasn't just possible—it was entirely inevitable.
Yuuya thought back to the seven long years she had spent trapped inside that crystal stasis.
Seven years of isolation, where her cynical, overthinking mind had been pushed to the brink of collapse.
The only reason her sanity hadn't completely shattered into dust was because of the promise he had made to drag her out. He was her literal lifeline, the sole reason that kept her tied to the living world. It made sense that her mind would develop an intense, deeply rooted reliance on him to stave off the terror of being abandoned again.
But hearing her express it with such gravity still sent a strange, fluttering shock straight through his chest.
She didn't want to be separated from him, not even by a few feet or a separate room.
Yuuya swallowed down the sudden nervousness building in his throat.
He knew he shouldn't get ahead of himself. He didn't want to misinterpret her vulnerability or let his own ego twist her deep trauma into something else, especially when her recovery was still so fragile. He needed to keep things steady and safe for her.
"Hey, no, it's not like that at all." Yuuya said softly, his tone dropping into a warm, gentle reassurance as he turned his body fully toward the bed. He offered her an easy, calm smile to completely dismiss the tension. "I'm not trying to run away from you, Alfia. I just wanted to make sure you had your own space whenever you felt ready for it. But if you're fine with how things are right now... then we don't need to change a single thing. No extra rooms, no moving down the hall. We'll just keep focusing on your legs."
He reached up, lightly tapping the wooden frame of the bed.
"Alright?"
Alfia stared down at his dark eyes, watching the sincerity and warmth in his expression. Slowly, the icy grip around her heart loosened, and the tension in her shoulders visibly melted away. She let out a soft, quiet breath, her fingers relaxing against her arms. The pleasant, safe warmth immediately returned to her chest, making her feel secure once more.
"Ok..." Alfia murmured, her voice dropping into that soft, entirely relaxed tone she only reserved for him. She lay back down against the pillows, her gaze never leaving his face. "Then we shall keep things as they are."
Yuuya smiled, turning back around and leaning his shoulders against the bed once more. He didn't push the matter any further, content to simply sit on the floor and guard her sleep, completely unaware of the possessive, quiet storm that was continuing to brew within the mage's heart.
The bedroom grew progressively quieter as the night stretched on.
Yuuya remained seated on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed.
The exhaustion from a long week of captain duties, paperwork, and rehabilitation sessions was finally catching up to him.
Up on the mattress, Alfia watched him in silence. She noticed the exact moment his posture began to soften.
His shoulders slumped, and his head began to droop forward, his chin occasionally tapping against his chest as sleep threatened to claim him.
A sudden urge flared in her chest. She wanted to open her mouth and tell him to get off the cold floor and climb onto the mattress. She wanted him to sleep right beside her again, just like he had when he was recovering from the recoil of the spell he used to cure her.
'Oh, look at you.' Her inner voice immediately chimed in, its tone dripping with a knowing, relentless amusement. 'We want him in the bed, do we? Let me guess your deeper motives, Alfia. You know exactly what happens once he falls fast asleep. You want to slide over, nestle yourself into the crook of his neck, and rest your right hand over his chest—right below where your heart is beating. Just like you did last time.'
Alfia's face instantly flushed a sharp crimson.
'Absolutely not.' She fiercely denied the accusation in her mind, her jaw tightening. 'I am simply being practical. The floor is bad for his back.'
But just as she gathered her resolve to actually speak the words out loud and tell him to get up onto the bed, Yuuya suddenly jolted awake. He stood up abruptly, pulling himself away from the frame of the bed.
Alfia blinked, caught off guard by his sudden movement.
"Where are you going?" She asked, her voice carrying a tiny hint of instinctual alertness.
"Just getting a blanket..." Yuuya muttered, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he walked toward the large wardrobe across the room. "Starting to feel pretty sleepy, and the floor gets a little drafty at night."
As he dragged a thick, quilted blanket from the shelf, Yuuya's mind was far from asleep. Walking across the room gave him a brief moment to process the thoughts he had been actively trying to suppress.
He wasn't completely blind.
Even if he kept telling himself not to get ahead of himself, he was highly aware of how Alfia had been acting lately.
She wasn't just relying on him for physical balance. She was constantly, desperately reluctant to let him out of her sight.
He remembered the morning of the Denatus. When he had prepared to leave the room, she had tightly gripped his sleeve, her heterochromatic eyes locked onto him with a completely blank, lost expression that practically screamed her fear of being left behind.
Then there was the morning after his grueling paperwork nightmare. He had tried to quietly slip out of the room at dawn to fetch some breakfast, but the second his weight left the floorboards, her eyes had snapped wide open. She had grabbed his clothes immediately, demanding to know where he was going, only calming down when he explicitly promised he was just getting food.
And now, tonight.
Her heavy, vulnerable question about whether she was such a nuisance that he was already planning her eviction to a separate room down the hall.
Yuuya leaned his head against the wardrobe door for a brief second, letting out a quiet sigh. Ever since he had become aware of their intimate interactions, he couldn't stop asking himself the same question: 'Why is she acting so incredibly close to me?'
Was it purely because he was the ultimate shield keeping her trauma away? Was he just a human security blanket, the only person capable of calming her frayed nerves whenever the terrifying memory of those seven years in the stasis crystal tried to drag her under? But is that all there really is?
Or... was she actually starting to see him as something more than just a savior?
He knew that the only reason her mind hadn't completely shattered into dust during that long isolation was because of the promise he had made to return for her.
He was her anchor to reality. But as he grabbed the blanket and turned back around, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something deeper growing between them, or if he was just overanalyzing a deeply traumatized woman's coping mechanism.
Yuuya walked back over to the bedside and sank down onto the floorboards again. He wrapped the thick blanket securely around his shoulders, leaning his back against the wooden frame. Then, moving with a natural, unthinking familiarity, he reached his hand up and gently placed it over Alfia's hand, which was resting right at the edge of the mattress.
It was a gesture that had completely grown into him over the past week. He did it without even thinking about it anymore.
Alfia shifted slightly, her emerald and gray eyes tracking his hand as it securely covered hers. The warmth of his skin immediately cut through the evening chill, bringing that sweet, pleasant sensation back to her chest. She looked down at him, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.
"Yuuya..." Alfia murmured softly. "Why do you always do that before we go to sleep?"
Yuuya tilted his head back, looking up at her over his shoulder with a slightly sheepish smile.
"Oh, this? Well... the night I came back super late from the Guild after surviving Eina's paperwork mountain, as I was deciding how I'll sleep, I noticed that you were having a nightmare." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, his smile turning a bit soft. "I didn't want to wake you up and freak you out, so I tried grabbing your hand. It worked and calmed you down almost instantly. Your breathing went right back to normal. So, I just kind of made it a habit to do it every night."
He turned his gaze back toward the dark room, clearing his throat slightly.
"I mean... I obviously oppose sleeping next to you on the same bed. We aren't exactly that close just yet to be doing those sorts of things. It wouldn't be right."
Deep down in his own mind, Yuuya had to admit a hidden truth. If Alfia actually requested it herself—if she explicitly asked him to sleep on the bed next to her and put enough genuine persuasion into it (assuming a proud woman like her would ever do such a thing)—he would probably fold instantly. He would climb up onto that mattress without a single shred of hesitation. But unless she actually said the words, he was going to stay right here on the floor.
He quickly shook his head mentally, snapping himself out of the train of thought.
'Stop it, dude. Don't get ahead of yourself.'
He turned his head back to look up at her, his expression suddenly turning a little anxious and deeply considerate.
"Or... wait, am I wrong about this whole part? Am I just completely assuming things here? Like... are you actually having nightmares, or am I just being a total creep? You know, getting entirely ahead of myself and forcing you to hold my hand while you're trying to sleep?"
Alfia stared down at his worried, sheepish face. Hearing him call himself a creep for trying to protect her from her own mind made a strange, tender ache bloom in her chest. She looked at his dark hair, then down at his hand covering hers.
Slowly, deliberately, she shifted her fingers. Instead of just letting his palm rest over her hand, she slid her fingers between his, gently but firmly intertwining them.
"Stupid Yuuya." Alfia murmured. Her voice was incredibly soft, entirely devoid of any bite or cold distance. "You are not a creep. The nightmares... they are very real. The memory of that stasis is not an easy thing to escape. But when you hold my hand... the cold completely vanishes. I feel safe. Do not say such foolish things about yourself."
Yuuya blinked, a sudden wave of relief and intense warmth washing over him. He felt her fingers tightly locked with his, and a genuine smile broke across his face.
"Alright. As long as it helps, I'm not letting go."
"Good." Alfia whispered, her eyelids growing heavy as the security of his touch completely soothed her mind.
She lay her head back against the pillows, her expression turning incredibly peaceful as she drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
As the room fell entirely silent, Yuuya leaned his head back against the bedframe, his eyes staring blankly into the dim shadows of the ceiling as drowsiness began to pull at him. His previous thoughts quietly drifted back into his mind.
Deep down, in the quietest, most vulnerable corner of his soul, Yuuya knew he was afraid.
He was terrified that the bond they were building was entirely temporary.
He was afraid that he was merely a tool for her recovery—a temporary medicine she needed to heal her broken mind and body, a means to an end.
He feared that once she could walk perfectly on her own, once her name was cleared and she didn't have nightmares anymore, she would simply stand up, let go of his hand, and walk right out of his life.
Yuuya turned his head slightly, looking up at her sleeping face. In the dim light, Alfia looked completely serene, her fingers still tightly and securely woven through his.
'You know what? It's fine...' Yuuya thought to himself, a quiet, bittersweet smile touching his lips as he closed his eyes. 'This is completely fine. I already made up my mind when I jumped down into that pit. I came back to save her, and I'm going to help her heal from her trauma, no matter what.'
He resolved right then and there that if the day eventually came where she fully recovered and decided she no longer needed him around, he would accept it.
He would willingly disregard his own feelings, pack up his own heart, and step aside if it meant it was the best thing for her future.
But as his consciousness finally drifted away into sleep, his grip on her fingers tightened just a fraction more.
Deep down, he desperately hoped that wasn't the case.
Because he knew if he was just a temporary fix to her... he was going to be in for a world of hurt.
Yuuya knew it would break something in him.
It would change him.
And he won't be the same person he had known himself anymore.
∆∆∆∆
Author: well that's one way to end a chapter.
But anyways, happy late father's day to y'all's father's. I actually intended to release this chapter yesterday but it took me longer than expected to buy a laptop and set it up back home. Though I would still write mostly on my phone lol (my thumbs hates me.)
As a way to celebrate this day, I want to ask you if you guys want me to create an OMAKE chapter. Though it would be released way past father's day, I'm still curious if y'all want it.
Additionally, if I do make the OMAKE, it'll be released instead of chapter 32 next time I release a chapter.
So the choice is up into you guys:
OMAKE chapter and wait longer for chapter 32
Or
Straight to chapter 32.
As for those who are curious what the OMAKE chapter looks like, here's a clue: mini Alfia.
Anyways, see you guys next time!