Chapter 288

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Chapter 288

Sylas felt a strange sense of anticipation, but Xerath coldly turned her eyes away and sat down next to her wearing glasses.

Sylas noticed that Xerath was looking at her as she changed her book. She deliberately showed the cover, revealing a brief friendly smile.

After that, she ignored Sylas and focused on her book, appearing almost like a piece of decoration, except for the slight rise and fall of her breathing.

Warm light shone on her face, and Sylas thought to herself, "If that’s the case, she is probably the most valuable display item to me, worth more than the entire mage tower. This tower was specifically built to showcase her."

But she doesn’t belong to me… I can’t even touch her too forcefully.

Sylas had always known that Xerath’s profile was beautiful. She had been looking at it for many years and never grew tired. Every time she saw it, she couldn’t help but admire the Creator’s favoritism.

The gods gave her wisdom as vast as a desert and unparalleled beauty that could draw people in with just a glance.

However, Xerath seemed to sense Sylas’s intense gaze and frowned. She turned around, politely but somewhat distantly asking, "Did I disturb your sleep by being here?"

Sylas quickly pretended to have just regained her senses, dispersing her gaze and then focusing it again on Xerath’s face. She said cheerfully, "Ah, no, I was thinking about something."

Xerath asked softly, "What are you thinking about?"

Compared to Sylas’s feigned lightness, Xerath always appeared calm and serene. She quietly looked at Sylas, her gray eyes seemingly saying, "I’m waiting for your answer."

"I… I’m thinking about where we should go tomorrow."

Xerath seemed slightly surprised, "Are we going out?"

"You… don’t you want to go out? I thought you would want to take a break from work – although that’s almost unheard of – so I thought maybe we should go out for a walk…"

"We" is a word with many hidden meanings. Sylas pondered this simple pronoun nervously, trying to gauge Xerath’s attitude.

The archmage arched an eyebrow, remaining noncommittal, and asked, "If we’re going out, where do you plan on taking me?"

Unconsciously, Sylas adopted a pleasing tone and said, "Shall we go to the market? Today is the day when several nearby villages gather at the foot of the mountains near the closest village."

"I was surprised," Xerath pushed her glasses and softened her attitude unknowingly under the influence of Sylas’s emotions, "You are interested in going to the fair. What is there?"

Sylas suddenly smiled awkwardly, "On the one hand, we have to go to the nearby market to buy daily necessities because it’s cheaper than buying them in the city. On the other hand, I can hear the local dialect at the market, which is different from the Methylani dialect but is also a long-standing dialect with several distinctive sounds. I have found some records related to them and want to continue studying from here."

I remember your thesis, so this is what it’s about. It sounds interesting, and I’m willing to go take a look. But I still want to read my book for a while." The book that had originally fallen and obediently sat on her lap flew up again, revealing its title, "The Blind Poet and the Awakened.

Sylas nodded obediently, "I can think about it myself, you can continue reading." Then she subtly looked at Xerath with the corner of her eye, delighted that she didn’t disturb the old mage and could look for a long time.

However, it was already her usual sleeping time, and there was an ambiguous and warm atmosphere in the room, making her even more drowsy. She leaned her head against the back of the sofa, enveloped by the clean and warm scent of sunlight mixed with a strange yet familiar fragrance. Her eyelids gradually grew heavy, and she fell asleep against the back of the sofa.

She remembered that she didn’t fall asleep in the designated place, and after a while, she would definitely feel uncomfortable and not too dead. Xerath – out of morality – would probably wake her up and let her sleep in a more comfortable position. However, this sleep was quite deep, and she woke up completely because a excessively noisy bird stopped at the window.

She left the warm blanket, walked to the window, and shooed away the little creature that curiously peered inside through the gap in the curtains, afraid that it would disturb Xerath’s sleep.

Sylas looked back at Xerath and suddenly remembered something: in the limited times she shared the same bed with Xerath, she mostly slept on her back, but now she seemed to be enthusiastic about sleeping on her side. Considering that Xerath is a very persevering person – as evidenced by her maintaining many habits for even forty years – Sylas was a little curious about this change.

What could be the reason… she secretly speculated, looking at Xerath on the bed, burying most of her face in the blanket, hugging a pillow in her arms, and Sylas felt jealous of her pillow.

But it was more important for Xerath to sleep well than anything else. She quietly left the room and called out Leunen outside, the slippery water lord, to inform Hubert to prepare breakfast. She then went to the bathroom to freshen up.

While brushing her teeth, she couldn’t help but think: Did I fall asleep on my own? I have no recollection at all.

When she went downstairs, the head chef and Leunen both showed a momentary surprise, and Hubert even stammered, "Ma’am, I’m sorry, the meal is not ready yet. You came down too early today…"

Sylas waved her hand and said, "No, don’t worry. I just came to see what you’ve been doing."

Of course, it was the same breakfast as before, but Sylas personally cooked sunny-side-up eggs.

"Ma’am, I had no idea you had this skill." The head chef shrank back and breathed fire in surprise from a distance, while Leunen, unusually silent, seemed to be holding back something from its facial expression, not because it had nothing to say.

Sylas placed the breakfast plate on the table and unconsciously looked up. Xerath was naturally in that direction, but they were separated by a thick floor, and even if they could pass through the floor, there was still the barrier of the bed board. Even the water lord who noticed this small gesture considered it meaningless.

Sylas clearly didn’t think so. She hesitated for a moment, left the living room, walked upstairs, pushed open the closed bedroom door, and still felt nervous about how to wake Xerath up.

But Xerath was no longer in bed. The cover she had left behind emitted a sweet and warm scent, indicating that she hadn’t been gone for long. Sylas let out a low sigh, but before her sigh ended, a hidden door on the wall opened. Xerath poked her head out, with a wet and slightly flustered face, but she appeared much lighter.

"Sylas? When I woke up, I saw that you were already awake. Did I disturb you?"

"No, no, of course not. I came up to let you know… breakfast is ready, you can come down and eat right away."

Xerath nodded happily. "Okay, I’ll be ready in a moment. Just let me wash my face."

Although she said that, Xerath still made Sylas wait for about half an hourglass’s time. When the old magician emerged from the dressing room, he was dressed quite formally. He wasn’t wearing a robe, but like Sylas, he was wearing a shirt, vest, and trousers that just reached his shoes.

Sylas was a little surprised. Just a couple of days ago she had been marveling at how modestly Xerath dressed, without revealing any curves.

Unlike in Aimekotes, to the point that Sylas wasn’t used to it, Xerath now walked half a step behind her. If asked at that moment, the old magician would most likely reply, "This is to respect your position as the master of Lake Yongning," and her behavior always made Sylas feel both old-fashioned and charming.

Once the two of them appeared at the dining table, the Water Lord and Fire Lord fell silent. Xerath even unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. If someone were to see them, they might think that the old magician in this tower had left on a journey and left only the two apprentices behind to accompany each other.

"Are you still… able to eat it?"

Xerath was in the process of cutting into the soft-boiled egg when he heard her question and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Of course, thank you for your hospitality."

"No need to thank me," she had been nervous for a while. She didn’t really mean to ask Xerath if she minded her changing the egg puree she had been eating for over ten years to sunny-side-up eggs. But she doesn’t need an answer now. Xerath looked satisfied as she ate the processed sunny-side-up egg sandwiched between a slice of bread. She ate skillfully but a little bit of egg liquid still dripped. Unexpectedly, Xerath noticed her gaze and showed a rare shy smile, then licked off the untidy part.

The pink tongue, unexpectedly cute, made Sylas think of that kiss and her face slowly started to burn. To hide her embarrassment and avoid Xerath’s gaze, she lowered her head and quickly ate her own portion, swiftly evaluating in her mind: the bacon tasted just right, slightly overcooked, it was the texture she liked.

"When do we… depart?" Xerath sat at the dining table, avoiding eye contact by watching Leunen wash dishes. Through Leunen’s body, her gaze was slightly blocked by a thin layer of glass and then completely obscured by the white mist outside.

The sun had obviously risen and the white fog had been dyed bright lemon yellow.

Sylas and she looked in the same direction, and the two scorching gazes made Leunen make a blatant mockery – it pierced through her body from two different directions. The holes intersected in the middle.

Unlike Hyectra, Leunen’s mischievous behavior was countless. The old mage didn’t notice the meaning behind this behavior right away. Sylas had already snapped her fingers and forcibly made Leunen close the "tunnel". She also quickly stepped in front of Xerath and calmly said, "Of course, we can leave now. It will take us about an hour to walk over there, and we might not have time to come back for lunch. Do you mind eating in the village…"

Xerath smiled lightly and replied, "I haven’t spent my whole life pampered and privileged in the tower, so you don’t need to ask for my opinion on this matter." She had already stood up and walked over to Sylas, indicating she was ready and they could leave.