The moment their eyes met, it was snowing.
Alex’s face turned bright red, and despite that, his gaze met Yona’s before slowly drifting down again.
Yona just stared at Alex.
She knew exactly where his eyes were wandering.
It wasn’t that she was shy about showing her body.
It was simply societal norms that dictated she shouldn’t.
After all, she was a woman, and women aren’t supposed to flaunt their bodies.
Especially not someone as beautiful as Yona, for reasons that society deemed appropriate.
So, Yona didn’t scream or hurriedly cover herself.
In this room, there were only Rubina, Alex, and herself, and since Rubina was sound asleep, it was practically just the two of them.
And honestly, what’s the big deal about showing a bit of skin to someone like Alex? That was her thought process.
“…Why?”
After a long silence, Yona was the first to speak.
Since Alex came to her room at this hour, he surely had some business, and she wished he would just spit it out and leave.
“…Honestly, I think it’s self-defense.”
After saying that, Alex turned around.
Was he trying to leave? Just then, a clink of metal echoed.
With the door locked, the one exit was now secured, meaning there was no way for anyone from the outside to enter.
In other words, there was also no way to leave this room.
“What do you mean… Oh.”
Self-defense? What was he talking about?
Yona was about to ask that but kept her mouth shut as she watched Alex quietly approach her.
What had once been a comfortable distance between them shrank rapidly with Alex moving closer.
In an instant, Yona found herself facing Alex, his strong hands gripping her shoulders firmly.
“It’s not like I can just endure everything.”
She was curious about what Alex was saying.
What on earth was he talking about?
What was he supposed to endure?
Yet, Yona couldn’t voice that thought.
Just as her gaze began to spin, she found herself staring at the canopy of the bed above her.
The soft touch of the blankets against her back finally made her realize she was lying on the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve endured a lot too, Yona.”
Only then did Yona start to understand what Alex meant.
“Hey, you know I’m a guy, right?”
“So, are you still a guy?”
At that, Yona fell silent.
There she lay on the bed, with Alex leaning over her, gazing down.
A vague desire flickered in Alex’s eyes.
Yeah—
That look.
Yona had felt it many times before.
It was a glance she could sense everywhere she went.
I could feel that gaze.
Sinister, disgusting, dark, sticky, and slimy.
All those desires represented by lust gather together to create a pitch-black loneliness (蠱毒).
That gaze was directed at Alex.
And that gaze was aimed straight at Yona.
Slowly—though not really—my heart started pounding.
Heat began to creep up my face.
Yona struggled to steady her breathing, trying hard not to let Alex notice.
Should I push Alex away?
Should I curse him to get lost?
That would hurt him.
This tough guy has a softer heart than he looks.
Then, should I accept it?
But that seems a bit… weird.
The dilemma was long, but the decision was quick.
Alex is worth it.
“…Alright, go ahead. I’ll give it to you, like a real man.”
A look of pure ecstasy surfaced on Alex’s face at the thought of permission.
Three years, or more precisely, two and a half years, but close enough to three.
Wasn’t that the affection built over those three years?
Finally, the moment to fulfill that affection had arrived.
Alex’s gaze slowly drifted downward, directly observing Yona’s chest.
He had touched it once, but this was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.
It was hard to express anything other than overwhelming.
Even while lying down, the weight and mass held their shape, preventing Yona’s breasts from sagging, as if a bowl was inverted.
And hanging at the forefront, trembling slightly—there was nothing.
The nipple, nestled between the pale pink areolas, hid itself so well that it was hardly visible.
Alex took a deep breath to calm the raggedness threatening to escape him.
Stay calm, stay calm.
The wish long yearned for was finally on the verge of being realized.
Alex slowly reached out his hand towards Yona’s chest.
Just before his fingers made contact—
“Instead.”
Alex’s hand froze, and his gaze turned towards Yona.
Lying down, Yona looked down at Alex with just her gaze.
Looking down at Yona’s breasts, Alex lifted his head to look up at her, and Yona looked down at Alex.
“…From the moment that ends, you and I are over. We’ll return to being nothing but mere colleagues.”
Those words were like ice.
The chill in that statement rapidly extinguished Alex’s excitement.
And even after hearing such words, Alex couldn’t muster the coolness to go all the way.
*
Alex sat by the side of the bed, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.
Yona, who had already changed into her underwear and clothes, sat drying her long hair on the vanity chair directly in front of the bed.
“Well, if we’ve come to an agreement, I guess I can’t do much about it.”
After listening to Alex in silence for a while, Yona bit on a leather strap and asked him.
Yona asked Alex while still holding onto something.
She was just explaining what she had agreed upon with Kaiyak and James to Yona.
Without saying a word, Yona tried to tie her hair back with a leather string she had been holding, only to drop it on the floor.
“Looks like you came to call me while I was in the shower.”
Receiving the leather string that Alex hastily picked up, Yona flipped her bangs, then gathered her side hair and back hair, tying it all together tightly with the leather string.
“So you thought I was either asleep or showering, huh? I figured if I didn’t get a response this time, you were sleeping too, and I was planning to talk to you tomorrow.”
“Well, anyway, Baldy, looks like you got to have all the fun.”
“What do you mean?”
At those words, Yona spun around on the vanity chair to face Alex directly.
Just as Alex took a deep breath and felt tense, Yona flashed a mischievous grin.
“Thanks to you, you got to enjoy the show all by yourself, you brat. Isn’t that right?”
“Uh, well, that’s true, but…”
“Why didn’t you go all the way to the end?”
Yona was genuinely curious.
Even if it had progressed there, could she have fought back? She thought not.
Alex’s strength far surpassed Yona’s.
There wasn’t a chance she’d escape even if she tried.
So Yona had just resigned herself to the situation.
Anyway, she would eventually return to her original form. If she endured the unpleasant feeling of giving herself to a man, she could somehow make it through.
But still, it felt a bit too easy to just give in.
So Yona kept her demeanor icy, hinting that if things went this way, their camaraderie would end here.
If it had gone on to the end—well, there wouldn’t have been much to do about it.
After all, it would be hard to get to the Mage Community alone, and like it or not, she had to stick with Alex, so Yona’s threat was just empty words.
But Alex had stopped there.
Thank goodness, but it was also strange, and Yona couldn’t find her curiosity satisfied.
“You know how we’ve spent time together, right? Throwing all that away over something like this… well, some other time there might be another chance.”
“Throwing it away? What the hell is this bald idiot talking about?”
Yona smacked Alex’s head again with a loud thwack.
Honestly, her heart was still racing, and she couldn’t calm down.
When Alex pushed her down and looked down at her, it was completely unavoidable—
There was something reminiscent of violence by Nerie, but it felt entirely different, an odd sensation.
Because of that, Yona could still clearly hear the sound of her heart racing in her ears.
A sound that absolutely should not reach Alex.
“…Don’t you remember the time you blew off the breastfeeding voucher like that? Surprisingly dense, huh?”
“Don’t you remember how you totally messed that up? Surprisingly thick-headed, huh?”
While spinning her words, Yona reached out and gave Alex’s bald head a few playful taps.
Yona could feel the warmth radiating from Alex’s bald head.
Alex, perhaps too accustomed to this by now, didn’t show any reaction to Yona’s antics.
“But seriously, is it true that you purposely shave your head?”
That was the nonsense Alex had told that stupid guard.
Yona didn’t really believe it, but she asked Alex just to double-check.
“You told that guy, whatever his name was, that you purposely walk around with a shaved head. Is that for real?”
“Yeah, it’s true.”
“Wait, really?”
“I’m telling you, it’s real. I shave it myself whenever it grows back even a little. My dad, my grandpa, none of them are bald, so why would I be?”
“Hmm…”
Well, if he says so.
She decided to believe him.
*
“How happy I am to hear such a positive decision! With the Saint at the end of her priesthood here, and Yona joining us to coordinate the battlefield, I feel so reassured.”
That afternoon.
Ceres dramatically expressed her joy at Yona’s declaration to take up a guard role.
Yona, unable to suppress her smiling lips at Ceres’s exuberance, would have likely beamed widely if it weren’t for Alex poking her from the side.
“Ah, about that…”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“I’d like to take that girl, Rubina, along to the Infura Church Region with us.”
Yona wondered if this request might affect the gold coins.
If it was just her alone, she could negotiate a cut, but if it affected others’ pay, she’d have to reconsider.
“Oh, sure. That’s absolutely fine! I really love kids too, so I’m excited about this joyful journey!”
Yona’s group felt a mix of happiness and confusion at Ceres’s enthusiastic acceptance.
Could this really be decided so easily with one extra mouth to feed?
“Though we know each other, there are people meeting for the first time here, so let’s all be kind. I’m Ludvik, the brave warrior,” he introduced with a cheerful bow.
“…I’m Vigrind.”
Ludvik, still sporting a refreshingly bright smile, greeted them, while Yona pondered how she might kick Vigrind’s sulking butt for his clear displeasure, absentmindedly returning Ludvik’s greeting.
“Um, pleased to meet you. I’m Yona.”
“I’m Alex.”
“Kaiyak.”
“James here.”
And that afternoon, as the drawbridge to the land side of the Duchy of Kapatia opened, a carriage adorned with flashy decorations set out from the castle, accompanied by its escort.
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