The first thing I noticed when I woke up wasn’t the noise outside or the light slipping through the classroom windows.
It was the weight.
Sothing warm was pressed firmly against my chest, breathing slow and steady, fingers tangled in my shirt like I had turned from a human into an actual pillow.
...Right.
Evelina.
At so point during the night, she’d completely abandoned the idea of "sharing space" and instead decided I was furniture.
One leg was hooked over mine, effectively locking in place, while both arms were wrapped around my waist with surprising strength. Her face was buried into my chest, silver hair spilling everywhere like a blanket of its own. Every exhale seeped through the fabric of my shirt, warm and soft against my skin.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was trying to fuse with .
And in this world, is a completely valid thing that could happen.
I tried shifting slightly, just enough to test whether I could free an arm.
Her fingers imdiately tightened.
"Don’t," she muttered, voice hoarse with sleep.
I stared down at her.
"...You’re not even awake."
"Am enough," she mumbled, words slurring together.
So she was conscious enough to threaten . Good to know.
Guess that’s part of the training for being a mber of the D’Arclight household... staying conscious enough to threaten soone even while sleeping.
The classroom was dimly lit by early morning sunlight filtering through dusty windows, the orange glow stretching long shadows across overturned desks and cracked tiles. Compared to last night’s chaos, everything felt strangely calm.
Not quiet, though.
Far from it.
Every now and then, a distant explosion rolled through the air like muffled thunder, followed by the faint shimr of magic barriers activating sowhere across campus. The exam was still going strong.
People were probably fighting for their lives right now.
It wasn’t as loud as last night, but the constant chi of the speakers definitely signalled that a lot were still being eliminated.
And here I was, pinned under the academy’s most feared noble like a glorified pillow.
...Not exactly how I imagined this exam going. It’s better than I had imagined.
Carefully, I tried reaching for my watch with my free hand.
Bad move.
She bit .
"Ow—"
Her teeth weren’t sharp enough to hurt, but the ssage got across imdiately.
"Five more minutes," she murmured against my collarbone, not even opening her eyes.
"You bite everyone who wakes you up?"
"Only you."
"...You’re wasting a lot of points by sleeping in, you know?"
"I can just make up for it later..."
Typical.
The strong always have their own schedule compared to others who have to be as optimized as possible.
I let my head fall back against the wall with a quiet sigh, giving up on the idea of moving. Honestly, struggling was pointless. If anything, she just tightened her hold every ti I tried.
Not that I minded. I even struggled on purpose sotis just to see more of her reactions.
She was warm. Way warr than she had any right to be. The kind of steady, comfortable warmth that made you want to close your eyes again even when you knew you shouldn’t. Her hair tickled my chin whenever she shifted, and every small breath brushed against my skin like a lazy reminder that she was still there.
Distracting yet comfortable.
Way too comfortable.
"...Cael," she murmured softly.
"You’re awake now?"
"...No."
"You’re clearly awake."
"...Then pretend I’m not."
I snorted.
Her eyes slowly cracked open, unfocused at first, crimson eyes dull with sleep. She didn’t say anything, just stared up at for a few quiet seconds like she was checking whether I was actually there.
Only after a mont did her shoulders relax.
"You’re still here," she whispered.
It wasn’t teasing this ti.
Just quiet relief.
"...Told you I wouldn’t move," I said.
"...Good."
Her grip loosened slightly, but she didn’t let go. Instead, she shifted closer, pressing herself back against and burying her face in my chest again like that settled the matter.
"...Okay," she added, voice muffled. "Now five more minutes again."
"You already said that."
"Then another five."
Greedy.
She wasn’t even sleeping anymore. At this point, she just wanted to continue resting on my body.
She really did have a particular interest in physicality, but compared to before, it doesn’t look like she cared much about the fighting techniques that ca with it anymore when it ca to .
Outside, another dull boom shook the windows, followed by a flash of light sowhere in the distance. She didn’t even flinch.
Guess I really had beco her bed.
And, judging by how comfortable she looked, I wasn’t getting my job back anyti soon.
[Ding!]
[Support items have been dropped across the arena; use them wisely.]
It looks like the academy has finally started the second day’s events—hiding overpowered items in obscure locations to reward those with incredible sensitivity to magic.
Or just unbearable luck. I guess they decided it wasn’t chaotic enough yet.
"You still don’t wanna get off ?"
She didn’t answer, just pointing at the choker on her neck.
Yeah... guess she didn’t need to, that choker alone would probably be stronger than most of the academy’s artifacts.
But...
I really wanted to experint with my system fusion. It would be nice to have a whole arsenal of overpowered weapons, instead of just a few standouts like my eye and my sword.
But...
I glanced at Evelina, who clearly had no intention of moving. She was a far cry from the cold, novel version of her I’d fallen in love with, but she was no less endearing for it.
Eh... guess I can just steal from the rest later.
Even with their new tools to strengthen their magic, they still couldn’t compete with soone willing to get right in their face and hit them as hard as possible without an ounce of honor.
I still have my job of acting as furniture ahead of , after all.
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