NOVPUB
Chapter 283: Can I Sleep in Your Room?
After rearranging his thoughts and deciding on his next course of action, he glanced at the princess for a moment. To be honest, he would have liked to make this princess his slave using the Everlasting Demonic Follower, but after giving it much thought, he decided to refrain. She was the princess of this empire, and if something happened to her, it could cause significant trouble.
After seeing her memories, he realized her love for the Lust Devil was profoundly deep—so much so that she would willingly sacrifice herself for that bastard. It wasn’t surprising, considering the Lust Devil had given her more attention than others and had already slept with her many times. With the Lust Devil’s techniques and the affection she received, she would rather face death, even if it meant being reduced to a retard due to the pain within her soul.
Aldrian never underestimated the power of a woman in love, especially when it came to blind devotion. He decided to let Princess Loraine go without taking any drastic action.
However, given how the princess seemed to obey any order as long as the Lust Devil’s name was invoked, he knew he could take full advantage of it. There was no need to use the Everlasting Demonic Follower to bind Princess Loraine—he could simply use the name of the Lust Devil to control her.
Not long after, Aldrian disappeared from her room and reappeared on the mansion’s rooftop. He sat there, scanning the entire mansion to see if anything caught his attention. He also checked on his father once more, and after ensuring there was nothing unusual, he withdrew his senses.
His gaze shifted to the full moon glowing brightly in the night sky. His calm, expressionless face hinted at unspoken thoughts. He seemed to simply be enjoying the cool night breeze and the serene silence of the evening.
Not long after, he disappeared from the mansion. No one, except for those he visited in the dungeon and Kroz, knew that he had been to the Flamecrest mansion complex.
-----------------------------
He reappeared inside his room at the inn and stretched his body. Tonight had been quite fruitful, and he was satisfied with it. He considered sitting down to meditate but he sensed someone outside his door. A warm smile spread across his face as he recognized who it was, and he opened the door.
Standing there was Sylphia, wrapped in a black robe. Her flushed face and nervous demeanor suggested she was both shy as though she wanted something from him. He guessed that Sylphia must have been waiting for him for quite some time.
After waiting for some time, Sylphia still didn’t speak and instead lowered her head. Aldrian smiled in amusement at the sight but eventually decided to nudge her.
"What is it? Do you have something to tell me?" he asked gently.
She didn’t respond immediately, but after a few moments, she finally spoke.
"Can... can I sleep in your room?" she said softly, her voice so low that even a passerby wouldn’t hear it—yet he heard her clearly.
Aldrian was stunned, not expecting Sylphia to make such a request. He stared speechlessly at the beautiful elf, who seemed to have gathered all her courage to say those words. Though he found Sylphia adorable with her shy yet determined intent, his heart skipped a beat. This was the first time she had been like this. Did their kiss make her bolder? Did it make her more confident?
"Sure, I hope you know what you’re asking for." Despite Aldrian saying it like this, his face also flushed with redness. He understood his own feelings, and now that Sylphia wanted to sleep in the same room as him, it gave him a completely different sensation.
After Sylphia entered, Aldrian closed the door and turned to look at her. He watched as she dropped her robe, revealing an elegant nightgown that accentuated her curves. The gown highlighted her beautiful legs and gracefully complemented her ample bosom and tall, proportional figure, providing Aldrian with a visual feast. He had seen Sylphia in this nightgown before, when they talked in the night at Forgeheart Kingdom. However, now that he had confirmed her feelings and his own emotions made this situation feel entirely different.
Aldrian’s face turned redder as he rubbed his nose with his finger to ease his nervousness. He glanced around the room and said something to break the awkwardness.
"Uhmm, you can sleep on the bed. I’ll sleep here—" Aldrian said, turning toward the sofa near the bed. But suddenly, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked at Sylphia, who had already grabbed his sleeve, her head lowered.
"You don’t have to sleep on the sofa. Just sleep on the bed with me. We’ve slept on the same bed before, right?" Sylphia said.
Aldrian was silent for a moment before he finally answered her.
"Alright."
With that, Aldrian and Sylphia took their positions on the bed and lay down. Aldrian’s intent to meditate, which he had already decided on, already thrown in the trash bin of his mind after Sylphia’s request. How could he just meditate when Sylphia had asked to sleep on the bed with him?
After they lay down on the bed, an awkward silence filled the air, and their positions would look quite funny if someone were to observe them from the ceiling.
Sylphia took the left side of the bed, and Aldrian took the right, neither of them touching each other, as if there were an invisible wall between them. They lay still, like statues, and even when they moved, their movements were stiff, like those of a golem.
They knew they looked ridiculous, but it couldn’t be helped. After what had happened between them, all of their interactions and this kind of act couldn’t be ignored as merely the actions of friends. They had already realized their own feelings, and it could lead to something "more" intimate when they were lying side by side on the same bed.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Aldrian decided to start a conversation.
"How are you today? Did you enjoy the city?" He knew that Sylphia, with her curiosity, had taken a walk around the city with Baek Ji-Min, that neither of them had visited before.
"I’m good. This city is quite unique, I must say. With Flamecrest as its sovereign and its own special environment, this is quite a new experience for me," she answered. It was also the first time she had seen so many people with red hair congregating in one city.
"What about you? Did you find what you were looking for?" It was Sylphia’s turn to ask.
"Yes, I already found what I’m looking for, and what I gained is significant. I think we can solve my father’s problem much faster than I initially thought," Aldrian said with a smile.
"Did you meet with your father?"
"No. After thinking it through, I believe it’s better if I don’t meet him tonight. My appearance inside my father’s mansion at this timing isn’t right yet." He knew it wasn’t the same as when he was with his mother, where they could spend much time together and talk about many things. In his father’s case, they would be surrounded by many people in the mansion.
"Anyway, what I found is truly interesting and will surprise you. Do you want to hear what I discovered?" Aldrian asked, turning his head to the side to look at Sylphia’s profile.
"I’d gladly hear it," Sylphia answered, her head turning to meet his eyes. After that, Aldrian shared what he found during his infiltration and investigation of the devil case inside the Flamecrest family mansion. Sylphia listened attentively, her face showing various expressions as she absorbed Aldrian’s story.
She was truly shocked by what Aldrian had discovered, and she couldn’t help but feel that it was similar to the situation in the Doria Empire, where the imperial family had been unknowingly compromised by devils for a long time. To think that the princess of such a large empire had a relationship with a devil, and one of the seven deadly sins at that.
Aldrian didn’t know when it happened, but Sylphia’s hand had already grabbed the sleeve of his left arm, and she had positioned herself much closer to him, her body leaning toward him as she faced him directly.
After Aldrian finished telling his story, there was a brief silence before he turned his face toward Sylphia. She was now so close that, with a slight movement, he could kiss her forehead.
"Sylphia, what do you feel for me? Is it just like, or is it a love that’s already embedded in your heart?" he asked.
Hearing the sudden, unexpected question from him, which sounded serious, she turned to look into Aldrian’s beautiful blue eyes. His eyes always mesmerized her, eyes that always watched her with kindness and warmth. Those eyes that never showed any negative emotion in front of her, eyes that seemed to know the truth about all things.
Without any wavering, she continued to look at Aldrian as her mouth moved.
"Since the experience I had when I was trapped inside the Envy Devil’s domain, I’ve come to realize that I underestimated my own feelings for you. Though this is the first time I’ve felt this way, I now understand that my feelings for you have already run deep without me even knowing. The terrible feeling of envy that almost consumed me left me shaken with fear. I’ve been afraid of many things, but what I fear most is losing myself, disappointing you, and making you hate me," Sylphia said as she hugged Aldrian’s left arm, continuing.
"I fear that you will never pay attention to me again, that you’ll abandon me, and that I’ll never see you look at me with those kind eyes again," Sylphia continued, her voice trembling.
"However, when you came with your golden light that gave me a sense of protection, I finally found my peace."
"With you, I can feel at peace."
"With you, I feel complete."
"With you, I feel like I have somewhere to belong, even though I’m far from home."
"You are my sanctuary, you are my beacon, you are my second home."
"I don’t want to imagine what it would be like if you were gone from my side."
"So, Aldrian Aster, I am absolutely confident and without any doubt in my heart that I, Sylphia Evergreen, have fallen in love with you."
