Kyle and Aleriana moved through the corridor, the echoes of their footsteps filling the silence that had stretched for the past two minutes.
After leaving the training arena, an awkward tension clung to the air, heavy and unspoken.
Aleriana still held his hand, fingers curled around his wrist as she led him forward with silence and unspoken intimidation.
He had followed, given that it was him who wanted to help Olea and Prista, but in doing so, he had made a mistake—a mistake that had hurt her.
He exhaled, realizing the silence was only making things worse. "Um… where are we going, Aleriana?"
His voice broke through the stillness, causing her to pause abruptly. He stopped just in ti to avoid bumping into her, his gaze landing on the back of her head.
Kyle hesitated, instinctively refraining from calling her wife. He didn't know how she would react, and he wasn't about to risk making things even more uncomfortable.
Then, her voice ca, hushed and almost hesitant. "I'm sorry."
'Huh?' His breath hitched. He had heard her words clearly, yet his mind struggled to process them.
"Sorry?" The question escaped him reflexively, laced with quiet disbelief.
Aleriana turned slightly, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her profile.
"Yes," she murmured. "I shouldn't have been so harsh with you, husband."
'…!'
Kyle struggled to process her words as he felt her other hand tighten around his wrist. It was as if she didn't want him to let go, yet at the sa ti, she was trying to apologize—for his sake.
"No, it was my fault to begin with," he murmured, placing his free hand over hers. His touch was neither forceful nor weak, simply firm, as if to reassure her that she was right—because, in truth, he could see it now.
She was the one making compromises for their relationship, the one apologizing even though the bla rested solely on him.
First, he had expected her to accept his decision to marry another woman. Then, he had wounded her further by siding with those who tried to hurt him.
It was his fault from the beginning. Yet she was the one apologizing.
"No, I shouldn't have said that…" Aleriana shook her head, guilt flashing in her sapphire eyes. She recalled how, in that mont of rage, she'd lost control—how her fury toward those two won had turned into sothing else when directed at Kyle.
Betrayal.
A pleading emotion disguised as anger. She had called him pathetic in the heat of the mont, a word that now gnawed at her conscience.
Her mother had always warned her—small fights could turn into lifeti regrets if not nded in ti.
She knew Kyle shouldn't have saved them. And yet, even now, she was the one holding them together.
For the first ti, she found herself emotionally unstable, reacting in ways she never had before.
"Of course, you shouldn't have called pathetic."
Kyle's firm words pulled her from her thoughts. Her downcast gaze wavered as she felt his presence draw closer, his voice steady yet unyielding.
'!'
"I-I'm sorry…" Her heart clenched as the mory of her words resurfaced, but before she could drown in the guilt, she felt the warmth of his forehead pressing against hers.
Her breath hitched. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open.
"Haah…" His breath ghosted over her lips. "You should've called a pervert instead, wife."
Kyle's voice carried a teasing lilt, his eyes locked onto hers. He was close enough that she could see every detail—the curve of his lashes, the golden flecks hidden within his deep gaze. As he exhaled, he rubbed his nose against hers in a fleeting touch before stepping back, hands slipping into his pockets with a lazy shrug.
A small smile played on his lips.
"Pfft…"
Aleriana blinked before a chuckle bubbled up from her throat, surprising even herself. A strange warmth spread through her chest, easing the tension she had carried monts ago.
His antics, so absurd yet unexpectedly gentle, lted away the guilt in an instant.
With a hand lightly covering her lips, she laughed.
With each passing mont, it appeared he was starting to understand this side of him, which seed to bring him in a different light.
And it felt… warm.
"Damn, woman, if words turn you on this much, wait till you hear what I can do without them." Kyle stretched his hand and let it brush through her silky black hair while allowing whatever ca from his heart to spill out, causing Aleriana to flinch as she averted her gaze yet wasn't able to hide the crimson flush near her cheeks.
"You have a smooth mouth." Aleriana, already witnessing the effects of his words, couldn't help but genuinely complint him while giving a side look, not eting his gaze as she folded her hands, standing without looking at him.
"Not only my mouth...." Kyle stood there, his eyes trailing from her ears to the neck frad by her black hair, with her milky white skin peeking through the dark strands and a hint of blush near her ears pulling him like a magnet as he closed in, his nose trailing over her neck before giving a peck on her earlobe and continuing in a whisper, "My tongue is smooth too; it can easily slide if you give it a chance..."
Thump
"Pervert..." Aleriana's exhale let out a mild voice as she heard him being himself again.
'!'
"Wait, now that I rember," Kyle suddenly recalled after being called a pervert again that he needed to clarify sothing to her. Given that she could go so far as to hold their relationship, he needed to at least tell her that he was not the real Kyle but Leon.
Of course, to be exact, he was neither of them, but revealing that secret would only lead to a worthless conception. Aleriana would never be able to process this world as being part of so story, with her as a character.
So Kyle had accepted this world as a real one while burying all the mories and thinking of telling anyone about his past—he was Leon or Kyle.
"Follow !" He grabbed her wrist before pulling her toward the nearby door. Given that this palace belonged to her, the rooms were empty enough as he entered with her.
"Heh? What the...." Only to find a dust-filled room appearing more like a storage room with furniture covered with white bed sheets—a clear indication of how poor his wife exactly was.
"Um, I will clean this room," Aleriana said as she observed the room, thinking it might not suit him to see such a dusty room in her palace, given he lived in the northern territories.
"No, that's not important. Is it possible for you to make sure no one is watching us?" Kyle put aside her worries regarding the room not being clean and turned toward her, inquiring in case soone was watching them.
Given Aleriana's upgraded level, he wanted to ensure that no one would see what he was going to show her.
"Um, yes, but here...." Aleriana nodded before looking toward the bed in the room, which was covered by a white blanket, yet the dust was clearly piled over it, showing it was not good enough for what Kyle wanted to use this room for.
"Haah, please pour holy water on your mind, wife; it's just filled with thoughts of sex."
'!'
"What!?"
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