Felix naturally entered Sylvia’s makeshift home, where she was observing the collected essence as if washing it clean.
“What!”
Sylvia was about to protest at Felix entering without knocking, but her mouth snapped shut when she saw the pajamas he was wearing.
Her newly bought pajamas were of a dark blue color with silver embroidery on luxurious fabric, featuring long sleeves and a frilled collar in a cute negligee style.
But Felix’s men’s pajamas also had dark blue fabric with silver embroidery. They were so similar that anyone would say they were a couple’s pajamas, causing Sylvia to open her mouth slightly.
He glanced at her tongue sticking out as if she were gaping and lay down on the bed. Then he asked in a nonchalant voice.
“Aren’t you sleeping?”
Lying on his side, propping his small face on his palm, Felix gave Sylvia the impression that she had mistakenly entered his tent.
“Why aren’t you sleeping in your bed?”
Instead of answering her question, Felix simply gestured with his eyes for her to come under the blanket, and after a moment of staring at him, Sylvia sighed as if she had no choice but to comply and put the essence into her subspace bracelet.
Then she slipped into the blanket. Felix wrapped her in the blanket as well and joined her. Felix naturally extended his arm under her neck, declaring as if proclaiming to Sylvia who was quietly watching him.
“I’m going to sleep by your side from now on.”
“What? Why!”
“Be quiet, just know that.”
“I don’t like it!”
Sylvia refused because she didn’t have very good sleeping habits.
He gently flicked her forehead with his index finger and embraced Sylvia.
Since the imprinting, he couldn’t bear to be without her for even a moment, but how to tell her that?
What if she found it burdensome and ran away?
Then he might confine her against her will…
Perhaps, it’s better not to know.
Felix decided to never utter it aloud and closed his eyes. Only then did his second heart settle down.
***
The next day, Sylvia, who had obtained essence from the demonic beasts the day before, wanted to experiment with it and started preparing skewers early in the morning. Moreover, the constant appearance of demonic beasts made it impossible to sit leisurely at the dining table for meals.
Sylvia took out the grill specifically for skewering, placed the firewood, and started the fire. She took out the iron skewers she had ordered to be made and washed them clean.
She deboned and minced chicken thighs, skewering them neatly. She then easily removed the bones of chicken wings with wind magic and skewered them. Similarly, she cut the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and skewered them. She seasoned them only with salt and pepper and placed them over the fire.
She poured magical power into the extracted essence. Then, she engraved a wind magic circle with magic. Attaching the essence to the end of the skewer and using gem magic to seal the joints, she created quite a luxurious skewer.
Sylvia exclaimed in admiration at the skewer that rotated on its own without her having to use magic. Her reaction made the surrounding members also exclaim in admiration and approach. The members praised Sylvia, who was at the center.
“How could you think of such a thing? There’s really nothing you can’t do, Miss Sylvia!”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before! And isn’t this different from the skewers we had last time?”
“Wasn’t it pork and beef last time?”
“No, there was chicken too, but I don’t think it was shaped like this…”
Brian pointed out the minced chicken thigh and chicken wings.
“I guess so.”
As the members surrounded the small-bodied Sylvia, a sinister voice came from behind.
“What are you doing now?”
At Felix’s question, the members smoothly parted to either side.
“Nothing, sir!”
“We will go scout over there!”
“Then we’ll check out this side!”
Led by Hubert and Dennis, people began to disperse. Only then did the fierceness in Felix’s eyes soften. Standing naturally by her side, he chuckled upon seeing the essence attached to the skewer.
“As expected, Siri, you’re good at applying knowledge.”
As if praising a child, Felix softly stroked her head, making Sylvia’s ears burn. And she felt secretly pleased.
Unaware of her own lips curving upwards, Sylvia went on to make pancake batter. She made small, thin pancakes smaller than her palm, skewered several at once, and drenched them in caramel syrup.
Normally, she would have eaten a salad, but since they planned to eat standing up in skewer form, she decided to supplement fruits and vegetables with juice.
First, she made juice with watermelon, lime, and basil; carrot, apple, and ginger; and beetroot, apple, and orange. She added ice to make it cool and stored it in a large container.
After finishing the breakfast preparations, Felix, having donned his armor and taken up his sword, spoke to Sylvia.
“Can you sense the aura of the demonic beasts?”
“Um… I feel something different approaching… but I’m not sure.”
Felix pointed in the direction as Sylvia was putting away the grilling plate.
“The demonic beasts are coming from that direction right now.”
“Ah, over there.”
“There’s no need to think too hard about it. If you think it smells rotten, that means a demon is nearby.”
“Ah, I think I understand what you mean.”
Felix scooped up Sylvia, who had finished packing things into her subspace, and lifted her up.
“Ah, be careful with that one. It will shoot out white threads from its rear. They’re sticky threads, and if they stick to you, they’re hard to remove. It’s easiest to kill it before it gets close.”
“Okay, okay. Got it.”
She kept her eyes on the demon, remembering his instructions and know-how, and then their eyes met. And not just one pair, but dozens.
“Ugh, disgusting.”
With multiple legs and a bloated abdomen, resembling a grotesquely swollen spider, Sylvia’s brows furrowed deeply.
“The part with the most eyes is near the head. Excluding that, try to catch it like you did yesterday.”
Hearing Felix’s words, Sylvia sent her magical power into the wind magic circle. Blades of wind flew out, separating the torso and legs from the head.
“Let’s use lightning magic today.”
Felix tapped her Black Diamond ring with his index finger, sending magical power into it.
“Try it out. Use lightning magic. The kind of lightning you imagine.”
She channeled her magical power into the ring, imbued with Felix’s magic, and imagined lightning.
Boom, crack.
Beneath the clear sky, yellow lightning struck swiftly. It pierced through the torso and legs she had collected.
“Well done!”
Felix kissed her cheek as he praised her. Sylvia was at a loss for words with the increase in affectionate gestures since yesterday. But she didn’t want to stop him. Though she turned her head away in embarrassment, her lips softly curved into a smile.
“Now, use water magic to extract just the essence.”
Leaving the remaining demon’s head, Sylvia used water magic. The members watching from a distance whispered quietly.
“Can we, really protect them?”
Hubert frowned slightly at Jordan’s words. Dennis added his own comment.
“It would be fortunate if we don’t end up being a burden. I never knew Miss Sylvia was so powerful.”
Though it was said to Hubert, he didn’t respond and wore a serious expression. Hubert was worried. He was glad for the change in his lord since Sylvia’s arrival, but the memory of the deceased king brought worries to the forefront.
Moreover, they couldn’t just leave two people who used such powerful magic alone. Whether it be the queen or the empire. Anyone who saw this scene would be tempted.
Hubert firmly resolved to protect both his lord and Sylvia.
***
After dealing with the demonic beasts and feeling hungry, they had a meal. Sylvia handed out chicken skewers, pancake skewers, and vegetable and fruit juices to the members, then climbed up a tree with Felix. He, who loved the top of a particularly large tree, enjoyed watching the sky with Sylvia by his side the most.
She first handed him a chicken leg skewer. Felix naturally opened his mouth wide and ate it. Sylvia, now quite accustomed, followed suit after he ate.
The two of them chewed and enjoyed the blue sky.
“Delicious.”
After swallowing the meat, Felix drank his favorite watermelon juice and smiled brightly.
“Now, try this.”
After the salty chicken skewer, it was time for a sweet pancake skewer drenched in caramel syrup. Felix’s eyes widened as he ate several pieces at once.
“Mm.”
Seeing his reaction when something was truly delicious, Sylvia burst into small laughter. Following his lead, she ate a pancake skewer and asked.
“Why do you keep climbing up trees?”
She had heard that even before she was around, he would often disappear into the trees. She was curious about his fondness for being up in the trees.
Hearing her question and looking at the sky as if staring into the distance, Felix answered.
“When I was young, my mother really loved the sky, so she often took me up into the trees without my father knowing. At the time, I wondered why we had to go up secretly from my father….”
Hearing a family story from him for the first time, Sylvia’s eyes dimmed. She had inadvertently let on that she knew about his past and his family’s fate, not knowing what to say.
“But now, I think I understand why my mother wanted to avoid my father.”
“Why was that?”
Felix looked down quietly as she asked cautiously.
“He probably couldn’t bear to be apart from his bonded partner for even a moment. Yet, my mother still wanted to spend time with me.”
Felix didn’t answer but just looked at Sylvia and then turned his head to look up at the sky. After gulping down watermelon juice, he continued.
“My mother actually preferred coming up here at night to watch the moon rather than during the day. At the top of the largest tree in the palace, where nothing obstructed the sky, she quietly watched the moon. It might not be a grand memory, but… it’s a precious memory to me.”
As he finished speaking with a gentle smile, Sylvia reached out and gently touched his face. Then, for the first time, she shared a story of her own.
“I used to hate it when my mother would always call me to eat. I hated it so much when she came to fetch me even if I was just a little late.”
She recalled that memory and pouted her lips for a moment before continuing.
“But after my parents passed away and I was left alone… no one called for me anymore.”
Felix, who had not known about her parents’ death, had a deepened look in his eyes.
“It felt so sorrowful, you know? I cried my eyes out, and when I started preparing meals for myself in place of my mother, I understood.”
“Understood what?”
Felix quietly asked back.
“Why my mother couldn’t wait even a moment and came to fetch me.”
“And why is that?”
“The best moment to eat was what she wanted for me.”
Recalling that time, tears automatically welled up in Sylvia’s eyes. Felix pressed firmly against her teary eyes with his strong fingertips, catching the rolling teardrops on his fingertips, and licked them.
Seeing this, Sylvia’s face flushed red, and she stuttered.
‘Weren’t we having a serious conversation? Really, why are you like this!’
Instead of the words that couldn’t escape her lips, Felix lightly captured her lips and then whispered.
“Isn’t this the most delicious moment?”
With only one side of his mouth curving up in a smirk, Felix looked so provocatively at ease that Sylvia forcefully stuffed a piece of chicken breast skewer into his mouth.
“Ugh.”
“This is the most delicious moment’s chicken skewer!”
The sadness was pushed away by a sense of absurdity and amusement. As her tears disappeared and a smile bloomed on her face, Felix finally chewed on the chicken in his mouth.
For whatever reason, he didn’t like to see her cry for reasons other than himself. Even if it was about her parents.
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