Chapter 265: Sorry from Petite Genius

In the adjacent royal suite, the heavy glass balcony door clicked shut with painful slowness.

Princess Seraphina stood plastered against the wood, her face burning in shade of tomato red, her heart thumping wildly. Her palms flew up to smother her cheeks, trying desperately to contain the heat radiating from her skin.

"Ngh...!"

She made a mortified squeak. Her red eyes were wide in sheer, unadulterated trauma.

"Why on earth did I step out for fresh air?! Why hadn’t I simply gone straight to sleep like any sensible person?!"

Instead, the universe had conspired to treat her to a front-row auditory and visual exhibition.

She slid down the smooth wooden frame until she hit the floor, curling into a tight, miserable ball of white silk and tangled silver hair.

"I’m going to die," she whimpered into her knees, although her voice was soft. "I am going to die of sheer, unadulterated shame... Gods above, that man is an irredeemable demon..."

***

The next morning, the sun barely rose through the horizon, spilling warm rays across the master penthouse.

Tucked under the thick down duvet, Norelia’s eyes fluttered. The petite professor stirred, blinking against the gentle light, her senses slowly reassembling themselves after the deepest sleep she had enjoyed in over a week.

Her cheek was pressed against warm, bare skin.

She tilted her head up. Eren was still fast asleep. One of his arms was over her waist, pulling her to his chest.

Norelia cast an amused, sleepy glance past his shoulder toward the rest of the mattress—and immediately felt her brow twitch.

To Eren’s right, the continent’s fiercest Swordmaster was sprawled entirely on her stomach, one leg hiked up over the pillows, drooling while snoring. Tangled in the sheets at the foot of the bed lay the proud Duchess-to-be of House Reedings, clinging to a stray bolster with her arms and legs in a chaotic pretzel that defied all etiquette.

Norelia let out a quiet sigh. ’Absolute barbarians. Toddlers in an orphanage possess better bed manners than them.’

She yawned softly with a squeaky sound barely disturbed them, and stretched her arms. Carefully, she wriggled out from under Eren’s arm, swinging her bare legs over the edge of the mattress. She placed her feet on the cold rug, intending to slip into the bath chamber and splash water on her face.

SWOOP.

Before her toes could even find her slippers, two strong, muscular arms shot forward from behind.

They locked around her small waist, bodily hauling her backward to the bed.

"Eep—!"

Norelia let out a startled squeak as she tumbled back into the bed.

Eren rolled onto his side, dragging the petite academic flush against his chest and wrapping his legs around hers, tucking her neatly under his chin like a stuffed doll. His eyes remained shut.

"Where are you going, Professor...?" Eren mumbled sleepily, his breath warm against her temple as he pulled the thick quilt right over both of their shoulders.

Norelia wiggled frantically, pushing both palms against his forearms to pry his grip loose. "Eren! Let go! You’re ridiculously heavy!"

Her strength meant nothing against him. Eren didn’t budge a single millimeter; he buried his nose deeper into her fragrant, messy hair, tightening his bear hug with a content, low hum.

After thirty seconds of futile squirming, the exhausted petite genius went completely limp against his chest, puffing her bangs out with an exasperated huff.

"I am trying to wash up, you insolent rogue," Norelia grumbled, though her cheek instinctively settled against his collarbone. "We have an official agenda today. We need to leave this inn, burn the disguises, and reach the next valley town to begin our fabricated vacation. We can’t loiter here all morning."

"The vacation can wait, Professor," Eren murmured. He nuzzled deeper into the nape of her neck, his arms tightening around her waist. "My brilliant heroine owes me at least thirty more minutes of mandatory cuddling."

Norelia stopped wriggling. She sighed against his collarbone and let her cheek settle comfortably into the crook of his neck, her hands resting flat against his scarred chest.

"Look who’s talking," she grumbled softly, though the sharpness in her tone was already melting away. "The idiot who just enjoyed seven entire days of absolute peace without a single girl nagging him. Admit it, Volsver. You were probably having the time of your life down in that lawless pit without us hovering over you."

"A complete lie and slander against my character," Eren drawled sleepily, his lips curving into a lazy smile against her temple. "Rujgard was enjoyable, but not as much as I’m having at this moment."

A tiny, reluctant smile tugged at Norelia’s lips. She pressed her face into his linen shirt to hide it, mumbling under her breath, "Smooth-talking bastard..."

The room drifted in silence.

For several long minutes, they breathed together, the steady beat of Eren’s heart thumping under Norelia’s ear like an reassuring anchor.

"...I’m sorry."

The words were so faint, so weighed down by a week of buried grief, that Eren almost thought he had imagined them.

His sleepiness evaporated. Eren blinked his blue eyes open, tilting his chin down toward the petite head resting on his ribs. "Sorry? For what?"

Norelia didn’t look up.

"Because I was completely useless," she whispered, her voice trembling. "You were pulled into that teleportation... right in front of my face, Eren. Right before my eyes. I watched the spark; I saw the distorted mana warp around your boots... and I just stood there."

"I am the youngest scholar in imperial history," she continued, her voice cracking. "Everyone calls me a genius. Yet I couldn’t even find where that teleportation sigil transported you."

"Hey," Eren said gently, his hand smoothing over her back. "Seraphina told me the sigil burned the second I slipped through. Nobody could have traced a scorched circuit."

"Only because I wasn’t good enough!" Norelia choked out, a hot tear soaking straight through his linen shirt. "Because I was incompetent! I’m supposed to be the brilliant one. I’m supposed to be a powerful mage. But I almost lost you forever, Eren."

Her frame curled in on itself, clutching his torso like a koala.

The clinical detachment, the genius authority, the proud title of professor—all of it shattered into jagged pieces, leaving only a frightened girl who had watched her world get swallowed by a flash of light.

"I’m sorry, Eren..." Norelia wept quietly against his ribs, her shoulders shaking with the aftershocks of seven days of silent, screaming guilt. "I’m so, so sorry... I swear to you, I will never, ever lose you again..."

Eren looked down at her shaking shoulders, his heart aching with profound tenderness.

Slowly, Eren gently cupped her cheeks. With tender pressure, he tilted her face upward, forcing her large red eyes to meet his.

Norelia blinked through a blur of tears, her lips trembling, expecting to see lighthearted teasing.

"Miss Norelia," Eren murmured, his thumbs sweeping across her flushed cheek. "Why on earth are you the one apologizing to me... when I should be on my knees begging for your forgiveness?"