Chapter 145: Cuddling

The soft afternoon light was already coming through the curtains when Alden opened his eyes.

He stared at the furnished ceiling for a few seconds with his brain still foggy and slow.

Then everything from last night came back in one big rush and his hand immediately flew to the side of his neck.

His fingers found the two small tender marks without even having to search.

He winced and smiled at the same time. ’She really didn’t hold back at all.’

He lowered his hand and looked to the side.

Seris was still asleep. She was curled close to him with her silver hair spread across the dark pillow in a silky mess and her face completely relaxed.

Every bit of the sharp elegance she always carried around was gone. She just looked soft and quiet and peaceful like all the weight she usually wore had been set down somewhere while she slept.

Alden looked at her for a while without moving.

’So this is what she looks like when she’s completely off guard.’

He couldn’t stop staring honestly.

She looked like a completely different person without those crimson eyes watching his every move or that teasing smile sitting on her lips waiting to get him flustered.

He reached out one finger and lightly poked her cheek.

"Mmmnn~" She made a small sleepy sound and her brow scrunched up and she lazily swatted at his hand like it was a fly that had bothered her one too many times.

Alden pressed his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud.

She was actually adorable like this and he was not going to tell her that because he valued his life.

He waited a few seconds for her to settle back down. Then he reached out toward her cheek again very slowly.

Snap.

Her hand shot up before his finger got anywhere near her and clamped around his wrist with terrifying precision. Her eyes were still completely shut. Her breathing hadn’t changed at all.

"What do you think you’re doing," she murmured with that sleepy authority still fully intact somehow.

Alden froze. "Ow ow! Ok-okay! I’m sorry!"

She let his wrist go and he rubbed the feeling back into his hand while staring at her side profile in total disbelief. ’How does she have reflexes like that while she’s asleep.’

Slowly her eyes opened. The drowsy look in them faded into something warm when they found his face.

She shifted closer and slid both arms over his chest and settled comfortably against him.

"Good morning Alden," she said softly with her breath warm against his neck.

Something in his chest did a very dangerous flip.

His arm moved on its own to pull her closer. "Good morning Seris. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded against him. "Very well." A small pause. "Your blood was surprisingly sweet last night."

His face went warm instantly. He cleared his throat and looked over at the clock on the far wall.

His relaxed body went completely rigid.

"...Wait."

Seris tilted her head up slowly. "What?"

"Seris it’s already one in the afternoon."

She blinked once. Completely unbothered.

Alden immediately started trying to sit up and throw back the covers. "We were supposed to be at Gramps’ office hours ago! He’s going to—"

Seris’s hand shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt. She pulled him back down in one smooth motion and before he could recover she shifted her leg over his and hooked her arm around his neck and had him completely pinned against the mattress.

"Whoa—!"

She rested her head over his heart and looked up at him through her silver hair with the most unfairly sweet and pleading expression he had ever seen on her face. "Can’t we just stay like this a little longer?"

Every argument Alden had completely left his brain at once.

’How am I supposed to say no when she looks at me like THAT?!’ He was fighting his own heartbeat and losing badly.

He held out for three seconds.

He lost.

"...Fine," he mumbled quietly and let himself sink back into the pillows.

Seris’s smile was triumphant and radiant.

"Good boy." She immediately reached up and started running her fingers through his dark hair and lightly scratching his scalp and Alden genuinely considered that this woman might actually be the most dangerous thing he had ever encountered.

He turned his head slightly into her silver hair and let out a long breath.

Neither of them spoke for a while after that.

The room was warm and still around them and the only sound was their breathing. Alden felt a kind of peace settle over him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Maybe ever?

He had spent so many months running from this exact thing. Building reasons why keeping his distance was the smart call.

Currently, he was lying here with her fingers in his hair and the two matching rings catching light on both their hands and he genuinely could not remember what he had been so scared of.

He leaned down and pressed a quiet kiss into the top of her hair.

Seris made a small sound and tightened her arms around his waist and that was enough. That was everything.

____________

On the other side of the academy it was a completely different story.

The morning had become loud and chaotic fast.

Academy staff were moving through every corridor with scrolls and banners and supplies while knights checked and double checked perimeter positions. Ornate banquet tables were being arranged in the central courtyards and silk decorations were going up on every wall.

Headmaster Darius stood on a high balcony with a heavy scroll in one hand directing everyone below him.

High ranking representatives from both the Astern and Calyndor Kingdoms were arriving before nightfall.

This was not a simple celebration after the tournament. With the new Spire announcement and the war declaration and every faction now watching what the next move would be this gathering was the kind of thing where every word and every seat placement mattered.

Darius read the scroll checked the positions below him and went back to the scroll.

He had not had a moment to think about the two students he was technically supposed to be meeting with today.

____________________

Author’s note:

Hey sup, Peeps? XD

Happy with the Alden and Seris cuddling Chapter?

And yeah, let me make this LOUD AND CLEAR and feed this directly into your dirty little minds:

THEY DID NOT HAVE SEX.

I KNOW what some of you dirty bastards were thinking when you saw them both on the bed.

But nope.

They are BOTH still virgins, okay?!

They just slept together.

That’s it! Nothing else!

So stop letting your imagination run wild, you degenerates. XD

Anyway, happy reading!