Chapter 137
It can't be too cold-hearted. Xerath hadn't forgotten the principles she set for herself the last time on this road. With a sigh, she held her hand.
Sylas's hand is almost as big as hers now. Her hand was soft, but not slippery. She gently held the hand that was stretched out to her, very carefully, even overly careful. She rested her forehead against their clasped hands and fell asleep curled up like that.
The young person slept very well. Their breathing became light and even, afraid to wake Sylas, the archmage didn't dare to move much. So when they opened their eyes again, it was already morning.
A ray of morning light came in through the unraveled curtains, shining directly on her eyes. It was so bright that she could hardly open her eyes. She reached out to block the light, but there were other obstacles in front of her.
--Hair?
The position of her arm felt comfortable enough that it took her a moment to realize that Sylas had already nestled into her embrace.
The girl's soft body pressed tightly against her, and she could feel the smooth touch of her young legs. A wave of Sylas's youthful breath came from her embrace.
The feeling of holding her was different from when she was little. Compared to a small, soft and fluffy young animal, the girl she held now was obviously more resilient. A wave of youthful vitality seemed to constantly overflow from beneath the surface of her skin.
She felt pressure on her arm. One of Xerath's arms was pinned down, making it impossible for her to escape this situation without disturbing Sylas.
Embracing — it sounds simple, but the impact when it really happens is huge. Her arms were filled with a sense of fullness, and her understanding of "rolling around" became clearer — she really wanted to tighten her arms... and savor the moment a little longer...
Sylas's forehead touched her chin, and her warm breath spun between her neck and her jaw. She wasn't curled up anymore, but almost unfolded, arching her body outward, completely exposing her vulnerable side to Xerath. One hand pressed on Xerath's arm, gently gripping her shoulder, as if trying to bring them even closer. The other hand rested on Xerath's chest, pressing against her own chest, lightly grasping Xerath's collar, not knowing how it ended up there.
The archmage was once again engulfed by a loud boom. As her awareness of her current position became clearer, her breathing became more rapid. Her free hand slowly slid down and locked at the most suitable position around the girl's waist.
Her chest trembled, and a slow, stabbing pain tormented her. Light and shadows crawled slowly, with each grain of sand waiting for her decision.
She lowered her head slightly, and her lips touched her smooth forehead. She was still asleep, hiding from the light, maybe even a slight kiss wouldn't wake her up. With this thought, her lips slowly moved downward, touching the slightly warmer bridge of her nose. Warm, comfortable, not wanting to leave - simple words like these filled her mind, but she didn't even feel like stringing them into sentences.
She tried to tighten her arms, hoping to experience even just a moment of this solid embrace. But even her wrists trembled and went weak, too tired to tighten even a bit.
Suddenly, she rolled over, rudely pulling out her arm and hastily putting on her shoes to go to the bathroom.
Sylas seemed to be awakened by the noise. She murmured sleepily, and after Xerath finished washing her face, Sylas still sat on the bed, looking confused.
The archmage asked as a routine, "Did you wake up? Did you sleep well last night?"
Sylas nodded, "I feel like I dreamt something really happy last night, but when I try to recall, I can't remember anything."
Xerath turned her back to her and put on a loose white coat. Her cold voice seemed even colder after reflecting off the wall. "This happens all the time. Get up."
In yesterday's dream, it seemed like Xerath was there, which made it so enjoyable. The contrast this morning was like a wake-up call, reminding her that dreams are just dreams.
She tried to get up calmly and felt discouraged when Xerath couldn't see her. They had breakfast together. When she was checking out in the hall, she listened to the innkeeper's frightened story about the massive earthquake and the monster in the fog last night.
"...a gigantic monster appeared in the evening wind and river mist. It ran towards the town, causing a tremendous earthquake. The loud pounding we heard for a long time was the sound of its footsteps. If such a monster reached the town, everyone would be crushed by it!"
"What should we do then?" Xerath asked at the right moment.
Sylas knew halfway through that the Mountain Giant had frightened someone. For a moment, she thought Xerath, who asked the question, was mischievous and adorable.
Why was she so likable?
"Oh, Caesar ran back as fast as he could to inform everyone. He even tried to climb up the clock tower to ring the bell, but Matt, who guards the tower, stopped him."
"Why?"
"Because, there really aren't any giants. When Cai Si was talking nonsense, Matt punched him and told him to see where exactly there were any monsters."
"How strange! What could he be seeing?"
"Probably just a mirage, there are many of them in the desert."
Xerath nodded with a smile, put the money she had found back into her money bag, and left the inn with Sylas and Earth Child following behind. Sylas smiled and asked her, "Teacher, we can't ride the monster back home now, can we?"
"Will we be scared when we go back home from Tabletop Mountain City?"
Unexpected joy made Sylas happy again. The previous unhappiness caused by Xerath's unexpected mischief faded away, and now it intensified this positive mood.
"No, we won't be!"
"That's good then." The archmage sat on her own Earth Child, with Sylas sitting beside her. Before long, Xerath couldn't help but recommend a poetry collection she had been reading to her, but then she thought for a moment and said, "Never mind, wait until you become interested on your own. You're almost an adult, you should do what you want to do and not always follow my requests."
"I will definitely go and read the things you recommend." The archmage didn't often recommend like this, usually she would just directly say, "Read this," "Read that," "This one should be useful." Such a change of mind made Sylas even more interested. As Xerath had been immersed in it repeatedly, she felt that there must be something different inside, and now with this reaction from Sylas... should it be called shy?
But after the archmage, they changed the topic and only talked about things related to Blackwater. This question clearly wasn't Xerath's area of expertise, as she kept asking questions while Sylas was excitedly talking about what she knew, grateful that she had read books diligently.
What she learned would never be useless—Sylas couldn't help but think of the words that person had said many years ago. She realized that her teacher's words were always right. She had never imagined that she would use the knowledge from her books so soon to please Xerath.
They arrived at the next town just before the sun went down, but unfortunately, there was only one room available. Xerath furrowed her brow and asked, "Is it really the case that there are no more suite rooms available? Last time, the suite was under repair. Are you saying there are no suite rooms at all?"
"It's true, really unfortunate. One of the wizards from out of town cast a careless spell that damaged the roof of our finest suite, and now half of it is open-air. If you go around to the back, you'll see the construction scaffolding."
"Oh well." The archmage walked ahead, while Sylas happily followed behind. Sleeping with the archmage for one night was already a win, and now there was a buy one, get one free deal!
Once they entered the room, Xerath changed into her nightgown as usual and began her evening cleaning routine. When she came out, Sylas was already sitting by the bedside. Sylas read her book in the light, and the glowing sphere illuminated the most important parts of her face—her eyes, nose, and lips. As her head tilted up and she smiled, a radiant light blossomed. Xerath watched, nodding with a mysterious meaning. She made a swirling motion with her fingertip in the air, and a thick fur pelt flew out from the heavy luggage, just like the one that had been burnt in the storm, only this one was black as well.
The fur pelt spun in the air and landed on the floor. Sylas's smile froze as she helplessly watched Xerath's ankle disappear into the long fur.
"Teacher..."
"You take the bed," Xerath said as she sat within the pelt, which enveloped her like a rolled-up eggroll. The black part swallowed her up, leaving only her head exposed. "I'll sleep here."
"But... " the gentle beast crawled to the edge of the bed from the other side, poking its head out. "If you don't want to sleep on the same bed as me, you can let me sleep on the floor."
"No, not anymore." Xerath closed her eyes, making it clear she didn't want to talk. There was nowhere to lie down around them now, so the little beast wouldn't come over during the night. Maybe if she slept on the bed, she would still come closer, and maybe they would end up cuddling together in their dreams.
During sleep, it's impossible for a person to resist the warmth of another person's body, she might not be able to push away a sleeping little beast either.
"But the floor is so hard, can't I sleep there?"
Xerath still kept her eyes closed, ignoring any opinions.
The mattress made a slight noise, footsteps landed softly, and the sound of fabric rubbing was close. Suddenly, Xerath opened her eyes and turned her head to see Sylas staring at her in surprise, curled up next to the cold ground beside the fur.
"Sylas！"
The little beast said in a pitiful voice, "Is this also not okay?"
Xerath took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to pull her into the thick and warm fur, pretending to stay calm.
"Go back to bed."
"I won't."
Xerath sat up halfway and pointed at the bed sternly, saying, "Go back and lie down, goodnight kiss, go to sleep. Otherwise, I will command you."
Sylas was on the verge of tears and couldn't understand what was so wrong with her suggestion that Xerath had to resort to force. The surrounding wind started to protest, blaming her together.
"Why didn't you listen to her?"
"Why did you make the Lord angry?"
"Yes or no?"
