Chapter 41: How...?

As the approaching voices and footsteps drew closer, Zephyr gradually loosened his hold around Lucien. The misty, reddened blue eyes staring at Zephyr remained fixed on his moist lips, filled with utter confusion.

If Zephyr could see his face right now, he would have surely felt his heart ache at the adorable sight. Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

The coldness in Zephyr’s narrowed eyes faded, immediately replaced by a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips.

The very next moment, Zephyr’s body fell backward, his back hitting the ground with a soft thud. Feeling the warm body on top of him and noticing how Lucien didn’t even react, merely following his fall and landing on him in a daze, Zephyr’s smile deepened. Then, he closed his eyes, letting his hands fall limply at his sides as if he had fainted.

Feeling the grip that had been holding him so tightly suddenly loosen and disappear, Lucien unconsciously felt a faint sense of loss. Yet the sudden release also cleared his muddled mind a little. Unfortunately, that small bit of clarity was nowhere near enough for him to understand what was happening. His mind remained clouded.

Only when Lucien heard Monica’s familiar shouting voice, mixed with several others approaching his position, did Lucien finally snap out of his muddled daze. His body immediately jerked up with a start as he abruptly sat up on Zephyr’s abdomen.

Like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head, Lucien’s mind sobered up instantly. What had just happened flashed through his mind, and his already flushed face grew even redder, like a ripe lobster.

His eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on him, and he hurriedly snapped his gaze down at the man under him, who had fallen unconscious for some reason after all that, his expression a perfect mix of extreme embarrassment and disbelief.

Lucien’s hands, resting on Zephyr’s chest, tightened on his clothes unconsciously.

A curse habitually slipped from his lips.

"Motherfucker!"

Immediately, he wanted to get off Zephyr, feeling as though he were sitting on a hot potato. But as he moved, he froze when his butt accidentally rubbed against something hard. Lucien was so mortified that he didn’t even dare to move for a moment. What was even more mortifying was that he, too, was clearly affected! After the mortification and embarrassment came anger, and he raised his fist, intending to give Zephyr a beating.

His fear of the SSS-rank Esper had already been pushed to the back of his mind. Then again, Zephyr was already unconscious, so there was no need for Lucien to worry. For now, Lucien decided to at least vent some of his anger on that handsome face of his!

The face that had seduced him! Damn it!

But before Lucien could swing his fist or even land a single hit, he heard his name.

"Lucien?"

Lucien instantly snapped his head up, only to meet Monica’s astonished gaze. Behind her stood many other Espers and Guides, all now staring at him in stunned silence.

Even Eleven and Nana were there.

Sylvia Wales raised a brow, but her deep gray eyes flickered with a hint of surprise.

They had entered the dungeon moments ago with a large, powerful team after all the necessary preparations had been made, but despite actively searching after entering the dungeon, they had yet to encounter a single monster. Unable to find any monsters, they had agreed with Monica, who had insisted on searching for the two men whom Sylvia had thought were already dead after being dragged away by an enormous monster.

But what were they seeing now?

The two men who should have been dead were both still alive, right before their eyes!

How was this even possible?!

Although she didn’t show it, deep in her heart, even Monica had believed that Zephyr and Lucien were dead. With an S-rank monster dragging them away and the reinforcements arriving so late, it had seemed like the only logical conclusion.

Yet here they were.

It completely defied all expectations.

Eleven’s shocked gaze shifted between Lucien and the unconscious Zephyr.

"How...?"

He unconsciously murmured the question that everyone around him wanted to know.

Under so many eyes, Lucien’s entire body stiffened immediately as he became aware of his own disheveled, flushed appearance and the ridiculous position that he was in.

His face burned hotter by the second.

He almost wished the ground would split open and swallow him whole! Knowing the state they were in, he instinctively pressed his thighs together, not daring to scramble off Zephyr just yet. Instead, Lucien carefully smoothed his clothes, desperately trying to prove that nothing unusual had happened.

Without thinking, he blurted out.

"It’s really not what you think!!"

The instant the words left his mouth, the silence became even more unbearable.

Lucien’s face twitched.

Why had he even said that?!

For the first time in his life, he discovered that there were some situations where he simply needed to learn to shut his mouth!

Sylvia was the first to regain her calm.

Her narrowed gaze locked onto Lucien.

Whatever relationship Lucien had with the blind Esper, she neither cared about it nor about what the two had done here. What really mattered to Sylvia was how they had survived—and where the hell the monster that had dragged them inside had gone.

And lastly, why was this huge dungeon, which should have been crowded with S rank monsters, completely devoid of life.

She stepped forward from the group of Espers and Guides, her face solemn. Her voice stern as she questioned Lucien.

"Who healed your injuries?"

Lucien had barely managed to calm his panicked mind, which was still running in overdrive as though he had been caught red-handed in adultery. He blinked at her question, his mind going blank once again.

He unconsciously looked at Zephyr.

Only to wonder why he hadn’t fallen unconscious alongside the man?!

Life was really too cruel to him.

Lucien looked back at Sylvia.

His now-calm expression remained completely innocent as he lied straight through his teeth without even blinking.

"I don’t know about that. I only regained consciousness after hearing all the loud noises you guys were making."

Sylvia sneered. Her voice sarcastic.

"You think I’ll believe that?"