Chapter 169: Didn't You Already Eat Him Up?
In the early morning, the first ray of sunlight peeked through the gap in the curtain, shining on Elise's peaceful face.
Her long, thick, curved lashes fluttered, and her lake-blue eyes slowly opened.
As consciousness gradually returned, the haze in her eyes lessened slightly. Elise unconsciously wanted to rub her eyes, but suddenly felt her hand lightly holding onto someone else's.
The warmth on her fingertips, gentle like a slight electric current, brushed into Elise's heart, making her involuntarily tighten her grasp.
She looked at Rin lying beside her, his usually calm face showing a hint of movement, as if he was about to wake up.
"Little Rin."
Elise murmured softly, feeling a sense of tranquility flowing through her body like a gentle stream. She couldn't help but lean in and give Rin a gentle kiss on the lips.
Rin slowly opened his eyes, sat up blankly, and then sat motionless without any reaction, his eyes staring blankly ahead, a playful tuft of hair sticking up.
The silly elk's eyes twinkled, squeezed into his arms, wrapped around Rin's neck, and then snuggled up.
This time, it continued until Rin woke up from his confused state.
He instinctively kissed for a while, then suddenly realized something was wrong, widened his eyes, and pushed the silly elk away directly.
His brain was exploding!
This silly elk, actually... wasn't... wearing...
And what's even scarier is, he... darn it, wasn't either!
Holy cow, what's going on! What happened!
His head was all mixed up, he couldn't think properly, his face was turning red, and he didn't know how to react.
Elise's eyes moved quickly away from Rin, and she suddenly realized her embarrassed state. She let out a surprised "Wow" and hugged herself, blushing like an apple, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Oh no!"
Rin couldn't hold it in anymore. He let out a cry, frantically searching for clothes, then rushed into the bathroom without looking back, slamming the door shut.
Leaning against the door, Rin hurriedly put on his clothes, grabbing his hair in distress, his eyes trembling.
Unconsciously, he walked to the mirror, looking at his messy and embarrassed self, slowly remembering what had happened last night.
Got drunk again...
And then ended up in the room with the silly elk, kissed, not wearing clothes, and even studied the radioactive principles of the magic device together...
How could this happen? Why do I always embarrass myself when I drink alcohol?
But why does it feel so comfortable.
Rin looked at himself in the mirror again, only to see that he not only looked embarrassed, but also genuinely happy, with a hint of smile appearing on his lips.
"So silly."
"Really silly!"
Rin quickly lowered his head, turned on the tap, scooped up some cool water to clear his mind a bit, then heard a knock on the bathroom door.
"Little Rin, uh... I need to freshen up too, can I come in?"
Rin's body trembled slightly, thinking again of Elise's blunt expression, feeling his ears burning, he rubbed his face hard, trying to appear as indifferent and aloof as usual.
Only then did he open the door, grabbing Elise's ahoge hair directly.
"You little rascal! Was last night intentional? Trying to embarrass me, huh?"
"I-it wasn't intentional, hehe... Um, I'm shy too, but... I'm really happy."
"Don't... don't talk nonsense, just forget all about it! Friends shouldn't do things like that!"
One day, Rin pulled Elise's curly hair. They looked into each other's eyes, feeling shy and nervous. Rin let go of Elise's hair and turned away.
Everything has already happened... Now, things are not just about friendship anymore, right?
Friends don't usually act that intimately...
Oh no! I don't care anymore!
Anyway, as long as we're together, we'll figure out this mess later.
But right now, just seeing a silly elk makes me feel so anxious.
Rin went back to the mirror, took out his toiletries from the space ring, and started brushing his teeth.
Elise put her hand on her heart, avoiding eye contact, and walked in to find Rin standing still in front of the mirror. She lightly touched his shoulder.
"..."
Rin shook slightly and stood aside to make room for Elise. They stood side by side, feeling a bit uneasy but also a little happy.
Especially when their arms accidentally touched, that feeling became more obvious.
Both Rin and the silly elk blushed slightly and stole glances at each other in the mirror. Their eyes met briefly, then quickly looked away in embarrassment.
"Hehe... Don't be cold."
"Puh, puh, don't talk while brushing your teeth! Who can understand your animal language clearly!"
After rinsing, Rin started shaving first, while Elise looked happily at him with rosy cheeks and wide eyes.
Rin felt awkward and ended up wiping Elise's face randomly with a towel to hide her embarrassed expression.
The soft touch of the towel had a mysterious power that made Elise feel weak, but also sweet inside.
After wiping her face, Rin looked a bit doubtful, he leaned in close to Elise's ear and whispered, "Um, silly, uhh, will there be a baby... I mean, between us... before?"
"Waaah."
Originally, Elise couldn't use much strength because her beloved person wiped her face, and now her ears felt even more tingly from Rin's breathing.
Elise couldn't help but make a strange sound, squirming a bit, then gathered her thoughts before continuing, "Um... that, it might not be right, last time what I said... seems wrong."
Elise remembered the introduction, blushing, glanced at Rin.
Although Elise only learned about manipulating radioactive principles with the magic device, she still glanced at the explanation, but because she was too shy and Little Rin had already woken up, she didn't continue reading.
What can be confirmed is that everything said before was wrong.
"Anyway, it shouldn't... happen, waaah, if Little Rin wants a baby..."
"Nonsense! No! I didn't say that! Don't let your imagination run wild!"
Rin glared fiercely at her, feeling a bit relieved in his heart.
After all, not quite prepared to be a father yet... And even though friendship has become a bit weird, having a new baby suddenly is still kind of strange.
It's more like trouble, having to pick a name first. I did think occasionally before, what if unintentionally break through the barrier of friendship with those idiots, and if there's a baby, what should the name be.
For a daughter, maybe, Xiaoran, Huiying... For a boy, I haven't thought of one yet.
Then there's also to consider the age problem between myself and Elise, what if the Queen is not pleased, or something...
Ugh! What on earth am I thinking!
Just when Rin was getting a bit anxious, the door to Elise's room was knocked on.
At the same time, a mature, husky female voice was heard.
"Your Highness Elise, the Queen is looking for you."
"Oh no, this early?"
Elise shivered in her small frame, suspecting that her mother knew Little Rin had stayed over in her room.
Now, what to say when she's called over, she wondered.
Just thinking about it made her feel a little shy.
But this also means getting closer to Little Rin, thanks to her sister's help, hehe.
After Elise was called away by the maid-in-waiting, Rin finally relaxed his tense body, repeatedly affirming himself in the mirror, forgetting the strange and unfamiliar emotions from before...and the feeling of studying magical devices.
In the end, he didn't even eat, hastily escaping the palace, and he couldn't quite remember if he had encountered someone along the way.
By the time his thoughts cleared, he was already on the royal carriage, on his way to school.
Back at school, Rin checked his pocket watch and found there was still some time before class, so he decided to go to the staff room to find Yuki.
Luck wasn't on his side this time, as Yuki wasn't in the office, so Rin went back to the main classroom, ate some bread to fill his stomach, and waited for a few dimwits to arrive.
Today was a bit strange, as the class was about to start but Elise and Suyu hadn't arrived yet. Waste Hero, however, sat next to him as the bell rang for class.
The teacher hadn't arrived yet, and a teaching assistant hurried in to announce that all teachers had to attend a sudden meeting, so everyone had self-study time for this class.
After the assistant left, the classroom suddenly got noisy with everyone discussing what might have happened. Holding an early morning meeting, possibly related to the College Cup issue.
Rin looked at Waste Hero, who seemed half-dead like a ghost, and pinched her face before handing her a sandwich with sausage in it.
Waste Hero was so hungry and lightheaded that she barely cared, taking a few bites and even accidentally biting Rin's finger before realizing the taste wasn't right and spitting it out.
Rin's finger twitched as if shocked, quickly withdrawing it. He angrily scolded her for not even knowing to eat breakfast, warning her she might become the first incompetent hero to starve to death.
Emilia blinked, regaining her senses, then grabbed Rin's collar and pulled him towards her with force.
Just as Rin was about to bump into her, she stopped him with her hand, inspecting and smelling his collar, looking puzzled.
Rin quickly covered his collar and told her, "Don't act strange early in the morning."
"Tundere, all over, smells like deer, strange, why no strawberries?"
Rin immediately opened his mouth wide, twisted on the stool, quickly changed the subject, "Stop talking nonsense, why are you the only stupid one here, where are the other two?"
"I don't know."
Emilia replied concisely, still looking suspiciously at Rin.
Naively, she thought that as long as there were no strawberries planted, at most it would just be a kiss, or lie in bed like with a fox, not realizing the seriousness of the situation.
"Strange."
Rin also felt something was off, Yuki was not around, Suyu was missing, Elise hadn't shown up, and the teacher suddenly called for an urgent meeting... something definitely went wrong.
At present, the College Cup seems to be the biggest thing happening, it can't just be an attack by the monster tribe.
Rin didn't dwell on it too much, as at that moment, a female knight in palace guard attire knocked on the door, and walked straight to Rin and Emilia to bow.
"Miss Hero, and also Young Master Rin, the Queen requests your presence for another important discussion."
Rin furrowed his eyebrows, having just left the palace not even two hours ago. Could something have happened during that time to require Emilia's presence as well?
With confusion in his mind, Rin and the stoic Hero boarded the carriage and returned to the palace together.
This seemed like a formal meeting, taking place in the council chamber where others were being received. Rin and Emilia had to wait their turn.
Inside the council chamber, the Queen looked serious as she addressed Yuki, "You heard what was discussed in the previous meeting. Now, with this new development, the guidance for the training must be postponed. Yuki, the apostle from the Free City of Ellin, will be under your charge. Upon arrival, the Free City will fully support you. You will also be accompanied by a squad of mages and a battalion of knights. Take care of these responsibilities diligently."
"I shall obey the Queen's orders faithfully and fulfill my mission with honor."
Feeling a sense of disappointment, Yuki understood the weight of her mission and promptly accepted, bowing before retreating silently, noticing the conflicted expressions on Elise and the King's daughter.
Once Yuki left, Queen Cheryl sighed and reached out her hand towards her daughter.
Elise immediately rushed into her embrace, with a petulant look on her face, "If Sister Yuki leaves and I have to go too, Little Rin will have no one to look after him, sniff sniff."
"What else does little Elise say? Isn't Little Rin the one who usually takes care of you?"
"That's true, but... *sobs*."
"Okay, you've already swallowed Little Rin, right? Relationships, when spending too much time together, might lead to quick boredom."
"Little Rin wouldn't!"
"But you have to believe what Mom says, sometimes being apart can bring you closer when you meet again."
Elise nudged her mother, pondered, and said, "I'll discuss it with Little Rin, if he disagrees, then I... what should I do..."
The following sound was like mosquitoes buzzing, Elise felt ashamed and bowed her head, feeling embarrassed for her indecision due to her own selfishness.
The Queen helplessly patted Elise's head, asking for Rin and Emilia to be called in.
When Rin walked in, he saw a silly elk with a look of wanting to speak but hesitating, appearing quite distressed.
After bowing to the queen, Queen Cheryl got straight to the point, "I called you here because we just received news of a big event."
