After Clara finished dropping off her belongings, we headed toward the dining hall.
The mont Clara entered she stopped again.
The long dining table alone was probably worth more than everything she’d owned in her life.
Candles illuminated the room while paintings and decorations covered the walls.
Clara slowly sat down.
"Rich people really do live in a different world."
A servant soon entered carrying lunch.
Two beautifully prepared steaks were placed in front of Clara and Lillith alongside various side dishes.
The sll alone was enough to make Clara’s stomach growl.
She imdiately cut off a piece.
The mont she tasted it her eyes widened.
"Oh wow."
Clara consud bite after bite savouring each second.
Lillith watched with amusent as she gently settled into her lap.
"Turn back."
She placed a finger against my lips.
"Shhh."
I was already began to hate that sound.
Then she picked up.
I blinked.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, she simply started gently rocking .
A soft lody left her lips.
A quiet hum.
I frowned, but the sound was absurdly pleasant.
"Lillith."
The humming continued.
My eyelids suddenly felt heavier.
I imdiately beca suspicious.
"Lillith."
The humming continued and the world felt warr, softer and more sleepier.
I fought it with everything I had.
Unfortunately my current body appeared to have other ideas.
My vision slowly blurred.
"No..."
The humming still continued.
I tried staying awake, but I failed.
The last thing I saw was Lillith smiling down at .
Then everything faded away.
**************************
I looked down at the sleeping Leon resting in my hands.
It should be illegal for sobody to be this adorable.
His tiny arms were folded against his chest while his breathing remained slow and peaceful.
Every now and then he would scrunch up his face slightly before relaxing again.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
Even Clara had beco strangely quiet after seeing him fall asleep.
How was sobody allowed to be this cute?
Especially when it was my Leon.
I carefully brushed a strand of hair away from his face.
The little purple bow was still there, exactly where I ticulously placed it.
My heart felt warm, comfortable and tranquil.
I knew he would complain endlessly when he woke up.
But for now—
He was asleep ,safe and here in my hands.
I gently hugged him against my chest and smiled, I wanted to keep him like this so badly.
He wouldn’t be able to eat, sleep and bath without , it was exactly what I wanted, him needing and being unable to live without .
And the best part about this dependence on was that he would never, ever, leave ..
Clara looked between and the sleeping Leon nestled comfortably in my arms.
For several long seconds she simply stared, her eyes moving from his peaceful face to my content expression and then back again.
Eventually she leaned back in her chair and let out a long exhausted sigh.
"You know, I genuinely have no idea whether what I just witnessed was heartwarming or deeply disturbing."
I laughed softly.
"Why can’t it be both?"
"That answer worries more than it should."
Her gaze drifted toward Leon again.
He looked completely harmless sleeping there beneath a small blanket I had placed on him, which only made the situation stranger considering he had been a fully grown man around a hour ago.
"You turned your fiancé into a toddler."
"He’ll be fine."
I carefully adjusted the blanket around him and brushed another loose strand of hair from his face.
"The effect is already weakening. He’ll unfortunately be back to normal by the ti he wakes up."
Clara visibly relaxed.
"Oh thank goodness."
Then she paused.
"Unfortunately?"
I chose to ignore that.
The two of us continued talking while Leon slept peacefully in my arms.
The conversation wandered from academic and daily life, to Clara moving into the manor, as well as so other gossip.
She talked excitedly about her room, the private bathroom and the bed she planned on sleeping in later.
At one point she actually thanked again for letting her stay.
I still wasn’t entirely sure why she seed so grateful.
It was just a room.
After nearly an hour of us talking, Clara suddenly tilted her head.
"So..."
I looked up.
"What?"
"What do you plan to do after you and Leon get married?"
For so reason the question imdiately silenced .
My eyes drifted downward toward the sleeping Leon in my arms.
His tiny hands rested against his chest while he slept soundly, completely unaware of the conversation happening around him.
After several monts I finally spoke.
"There’s sothing I want to tell him first."
Clara imdiately beca interested as she leaned forwards on the table.
"A secret?"
I nodded.
The smile on my face faded slightly.
"The kind of secret that might make him hate ."
The room beca quiet.
"What?"
I looked away.
"It might even make him leave ."
Clara stared at as though I had suddenly grown a second head.
"Lillith, after everything I’ve seen from you, I honestly didn’t think there was anything left that could surprise ."
A weak laugh escaped .
"Apparently there is."
She leaned forward.
"What could possibly be worse than all the crazy things you’ve already done?"
I remained silent for several monts.
Then I answered.
"On the night of my awakening ceremony... I did sothing horrible to him."
The words felt heavy leaving my mouth.
"Sothing Leon still doesn’t know about."
Clara’s expression slowly changed.
The curiosity remained, but now concern had appeared alongside it.
"Why did you do it?"
I closed my eyes.
Because even now, years later, the answer hadn’t changed.
The mory resurfaced imdiately.
The fear, the panic and the helpless I felt when Leon told he would most likely leave the Aldric territory and travel the world going on grand adventures.
"I convinced myself I had no choice."
My voice beca quieter.
"I knew that if I didn’t do what I did that night, he would either get hurt or end up dead."
For several seconds Clara said nothing.
Eventually she asked another question.
"If that’s true... then why tell him at all?"
I opened my eyes and looked toward the window.
The stars were beautiful tonight.
For so reason they reminded of my birthday.
The colours that rained in the sky.
The gift Leon had made for .
The way he had stood beside that night.
A small smile appeared before quickly fading again.
"Because eventually he deserves the truth."
Clara slowly nodded.
That answer seed to satisfy her.
Then I hesitated before continuing.
"I want to tell him after we’re married."
"That makes sense."
"And after I have his children."
Clara imdiately froze.
Then very slowly lowered her face into her hands.
I pretended not to notice.
"If he learns the truth and had thoughts about leaving ..."
I struggled to finish the sentence.
"He’d be probably be less likely to leave if he was, not just married to , but I know he also would be unable to leave his children behind."
Clara let out the most exhausted sigh I had ever heard.
"There is always drama around you."
I let out a small pathetic laugh.
That was probably true.
Eventually Clara stood from her chair and stretched.
"For the record, I won’t tell Leon anything."
"I don’t know what the secret is and honestly I don’t want to know."
"But if you’re planning to tell him soday, make sure you do it because he definitely deserves to know the truth."
I looked down at Leon.
Then nodded.
"Thank you."
Clara smiled.
"I’m going to bed."
Her eyes imdiately lit up.
"I’ve been waiting all day to sleep in that gigantic bed."
I laughed.
"Good night, Clara."
"Good night."
A few monts later she left the room.
Silence returned.
For a while I simply sat there staring out at the stars beyond the window while absentmindedly holding Leon closer.
My thoughts wandered.
To the academy and our futures.
To all the strange things that had happened since eting him.
Eventually my eyes drifted back down toward the sleeping figure in my arms.
He looked so defenseless like this.
So trusting.
So completely unaware of everything happening around him.
A small smile ford on my face.
Carefully, I stood and carried him back toward my room.
The manor had grown quiet by now. Most servants had retired for the evening and only a handful remained awake tending to their duties.
Eventually I reached my bedroom.
The mont I entered, a familiar sense of comfort settled over .
I gently placed Leon on the bed before climbing beneath the blankets myself.
A yawn escaped .
Slowly I pulled him closer until he rested comfortably against my chest.
For several minutes I simply watched him sleep.
Tomorrow he would return to normal.
And go back to arguing with .
Back to stubbornly refusing my suggestions.
Back to building impossible machines and sohow changing the world whenever I looked away for five minutes.
A small smile appeared on my face.
Sotis I wondered how much easier everything would be if he wasn’t like that.
If he wasn’t so stubborn.
So independent and determined to carry every burden himself.
My eyes drifted down toward the sleeping Leon in my arms.
Right now he couldn’t run away.
Couldn’t throw himself into danger or disappear into so workshop for three days because he got excited about a new material.
Couldn’t get himself hurt.
Couldn’t leave ...
A warm but guilty feeling spread through my chest.
Because if I was honest with myself...
I loved this version of him and how helpless, weak and pathetic he was.
How completely dependent he was.
How he needed for even the simplest things.
My fingers gently brushed through his hair.
A darker thought quietly surfaced.
What if he stayed like this?
Not physically but emotionally.
A Leon who always needed , who relied on for everything.
That didn’t walk away and would always stay by my side simply because he couldn’t do otherwise.
My arms tightened slightly around his delicate and tiny fra.
For a brief mont I imagined it.
A future where he depended on completely.
Where he stopped fighting and arguing against .
Stopped trying to shoulder everything himself.
Where every single problem he had
brought him back to .
The thought made my heart race.
Then I imdiately frowned.
No.
My eyes lowered toward his sleeping face.
Leon would hate that more than anything and would despise for it.
The Leon I loved valued his freedom and independence too much.
I remained silent for a long mont.
Then sighed softly.
"No..."
My voice barely rose above a whisper.
I couldn’t do that.
Not now at least.
Even if a large part of wanted to.
Even if the thought was still tempting.
My fingers wrapped around his tiny hand as I felt them instinctively grip on.
I wouldn’t throw away the idea of breaking him so that he relied on completely.
But if the day ever ca where it was truly the only way to keep him safe and with ...
The only way to stop myself from losing him...
I would have to do so-
But that day wasn’t today.
Today he would still be Leon.
Stubborn but wonderfull.
And despite all the trouble he caused ...
That was still the Leon I loved.
I rested my forehead gently against his.
Then closed my eyes.
Tomorrow morning he would wake up as himself again.
And for now—
I would accept that.
————————
I woke up to warmth.
A lot of warmth.
For several seconds I just lay there staring at the ceiling, still half asleep as my brain slowly caught up with reality.
Then yesterday ca flooding back.
All the humiliation I endured was coming back to .
I imdiately wished I could forget all of it.
Slowly, I turned my head and looked beside .
Lillith was asleep.
Normally that wouldn’t have been surprising.
What was surprising was the fact that she was sohow still holding onto even while unconscious.
Both of her hands wrapped around my head burying it into her chest, making escape impossible.
I sighed.
Carefully, I raised my hand and stared at it.
A normal hand.
An adult hand.
Not the tiny chubby toddler hand from yesterday.
Relief imdiately washed over as I checked the rest of .
Everything else was normal.
Thank goodness.
But then I looked down and imdiately regretted it.
I was still wearing Lillith’s old childhood clothes.
Apparently the spell ending had caused them to grow alongside , despite the fact that my old cloths didn’t shrink along with when I first got turned into a toddler.
The purple frilled shirt.
The decorative sleeves.
The ridiculous outfit.
All of it.
My eye twitched.
Then I felt sothing resting on my head.
Slowly, I reached upward.
The stupid purple bow was still there.
I imdiately grabbed it but the mont I started pulling it off, movent ca from beside .
Lillith’s eyes opened slightly.
She looked exhausted.
Then her gaze landed on my hand.
"No..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Don’t take that off..."
I stared at her.
"Lillith."
She yawned.
"It looks nice."
"It looks ridiculous."
"No."
"It absolutely does."
Her eyes started closing again.
I imdiately pointed at the bow.
"I never want to rember yesterday for the rest of my life."
Lillith responded by pulling closer.
A second later my face was buried against her chest again.
I couldn’t even see the room anymore.
"Lillith."
"Mm."
"Lillith."
She tightened her grip.
"It’s the weekend."
"So?"
"I want to sleep."
I sighed.
"Then sleep."
"I am."
"Then why are you talking?"
She ignored the question.
Instead she buried her face into my hair and mumbled sothing.
"What?"
"I said stop annoying with your useless thoughts."
I stared ahead.
"You wouldn’t be this tired if you actually slept like a normal person."
Lillith imdiately made a protesting noise.
"That’s different."
"How?"
She looked genuinely confused that I even needed to ask.
"If I sleep..."
A yawn interrupted her.
"...I can’t watch you sleep."
I blinked.
"Lillith."
"Mm?"
"That’s incredibly creepy."
"It’s fine."
"No."
"It is."
"It isn’t."
She looked at as though I was the unreasonable one.
Then she answered with complete confidence.
"You’re my husband."
She then closed her eyes again as apparently that settled the matter.
Unfortunately for , arguing with sobody half asleep was impossible.
So I accepted my fate.
For the next hour I remained trapped.
Every ti I tried moving, Lillith would unconsciously pull back.
Every ti I thought she’d finally fallen fully asleep, she’d sohow tighten her grip again.
At one point I seriously considered just staying there forever.
Eventually, however, she finally woke up properly.
Her eyes opened.
She stretched.
Then smiled the mont she saw .
"Good morning, darling."
Before I could respond, she leaned forward and kissed .
Then she climbed out of bed.
I sat up shortly afterward and imdiately removed the bow from my head.
Lillith looked disappointed.
But I simply ignored her again.
"I’d already be gone if not for our deal."
Lillith imdiately frowned as I continued.
"You wanted to stay for a week."
"Correct."
"In exchange for letting my workers stay here."
"Correct."
"So technically this is your fault."
Lillith looked deeply offended.
Then she crossed her arms.
"Leon."
"What?"
"Shut up."
She pointed at again.
"And stay with forever."
I sighed.
"You’re impossible."
"I know."
The worst part was how proud she sounded.
Eventually I climbed out of bed.
"Co on."
Lillith tilted her head.
"Where are we going?"
"Breakfast."
Imdiately she brightened.
Then she grabbed my arm.
And just like that, we headed off toward the dining hall.
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