Normally Louise would have shoved him off and yelled at him to stop making fun of her.
Today she found herself frozen, unable to do or say anything.
"This is nice, "
Ian suddenly whispered. Maybe he had the sa idea as Louise.
She nudged him away.
"I owe you."
"Owe ?"
Louise held up the list of students she had in her hand as an answer.
"Ah…I see."
He gave a low chuckle.
"I'm glad you appreciate it. I would be happier if I could get a reward soday."
"I'll repay you."
"With what?"
Louise thought for a mont then shrugged her shoulders.
"Anything."
"My childhood friend has learned dangerous things at the Academy."
"But why did you put your na on the list?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"You're fine by yourself."
Louise directed her eyes at the vase by the window.
He finally lifted his head, but he still kept his arms firmly around her waist.
"I just…I just wanted to be sure that the flowers were okay. I didn't an anything else."
"You did a good job."
"I'm relieved. Wish I could keep you around forever."
"It can't be forever."
Louise strictly pointed out his choice of words.
"I know,"
he replied, brushing away her ssy hair.
"What I ant is to stay as long as needed."
"Now you're telling the right thing to do."
Louise looked back at him and smiled.
"Did you get so sleep?"
"A little."
"You still seem to be weak in the morning."
"Very much so."
He sighed and leaned his head on Louise's shoulders again.
"This reminds of our childhood."
"Our childhood?"
"Yes. The first ti the three of us fell asleep together."
The three of them, including Simon. Louise rembered it was a warm autumn midday.
"We didn't have this soft bed then."
The three of them had fallen asleep at the garden.
"Instead, there was the soft grass and the heat of the earth."
"How did we sleep at the ti?"
She tried to rack her brain, but the mory was too distant for her to recall.
"Doesn't really matter."
Maybe Ian couldn't rember either. Instead he leaned a little closer, enough that they could share their body heat.
"I rember being so close."
Louise felt a pang of nostalgia at the mory. Back then, Ian and Simon were so small and young that she often forgot that they were characters from a novel.
"Yes, I rember. But I'm sure you were wearing clothes at that ti,"
she replied, pushing against the arm against her waist. His arm, that had been binding her as if it would never let her go, finally loosened. The two returned to their usual distance.
"Of course I want to wear clothes. I'm a cultured man."
He nodded towards his wardrobe, about ten steps away from his bed.
"I should probably leave."
"Don't you want to say good morning to your partner?"
"I'm not your partner."
"Sorry, I forgot. Let's change the subject then."
He smiled slyly.
"How about just a good morning?"
"Good morning,"
Louise said sarcastically.
"…"
"What? I said good morning."
"Yes you did."
"And your answer?"
"Close your eyes."
"Why?"
"I'll beco self-conscious if I don't get dressed soon."
As he started to get up she quickly covered her eyes with the palm of her hand.
Tuk.
She heard the sound of bare feet touching the floor. With nothing to see, Louise naturally focused on the sound of his movents and imagined what he was doing.
Walking. Yawning and opening his closet. Turning his clothes over with his long fingers.
The images ca to her naturally. Of course, she still didn't know the true extent of his undress. She could hear the sound of thin fabric touching his body.
Well, she didn't want to think about that. Instead she thought that the sounds of dressing and taking off clothes sounded like a sheet of paper. Okay, she didn't know why she was thinking of that now.
"Louise Sweeney."
"…What?!"
Louise was startled into uncovering her eyes but she quickly shut them again.
"You looked."
"I didn't look! You call out of the blue, and I was just surprised!"
"I'm the one who's surprised. I almost lost my visual purity like this."
"What do you an? Only the buttons on your shirt were undone."
"So you did see."
Alright, she saw him! But it really was inevitable. Anyone who would co across such great abs would naturally look at it. It was human nature, or rather, the nature of any biological creature. And Louise respected all natural phenona.
… She don't know how she got to this long excuse.
"It's been a while since I've written in my diary. Today I was robbed of my visual purity by Louise Sweeney."
"I'll give it back!"
Louise stretched out her hands as if she were returning sothing without opening her eyes. The diary, which Ian had spoken of in an amused tone, was the official moir of the crown prince and would be preserved for the ages for descendants in the future to read about and study. In such reverential writings would be the words,
Louise Sweeney has taken away my visual purity.
She didn't want to appear in a lewd sentence like that! Ever!
Soon she heard Ian laughing. When Louise squinted open her eyes, she saw that he was standing before her fully dressed.
"Good morning, childhood friend."
He also politely gave his morning greeting.
"Well, let's go."
"Where?"
"Let's go see soone who can sort out your ssy hair first."
He ant Simon. She felt a little guilty bothering Simon so early in the morning, but she wanted to et him dearly. Maybe it was because of the mories of the past she rembered.
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