--This Chapter is written using Claire’s POV--
Few things were more comfortable than lying in bed with Miwen’s arms wrapped around . Even in his sleep, he’d occasionally pull closer to him, ensuring there was no distance between us. After sex, we’d cuddle, feeling each other’s warmth. Sotis, we’d get in the mood to start again, and sotis... we’d stay like this, quietly hugging each other.
What brought the most comfort was holding his hand. While intertwining our fingers, I could feel his hold softening. Through his touch, I felt like I could understand and calm his heart. I didn’t understand why it made so happy, but the thought alone was enough to make my heart tingle.
Perhaps it was the romance. Despite looking forward to it in my previous life, I had not experienced any, so in this one, I made sure I’d enjoy it as much as I could.
It was a sha that our lovey-dovey ti in bed today happened to be cut short by the woman lying behind my partner.
Her gentle hands eased his arms from around , and still asleep, Miwen turned slightly toward her, greedily keeping us both in his arms.
With his attention divided, Licia had no problems slipping out of his hold. She gave Miwen a pillow to hug instead of her body and stood beside the bed. After noticing I wasn’t getting up anyti soon, she nudged awake.
Even then, my muscles were soft as the mattress they lay on. Even opening my eyes required more effort than I could willingly muster.
Not one to give up, Licia changed her approach. Instead of gentle nudges, she shook my body back and forth. Through my barely open eyes, I saw her puffed cheeks and annoyed face looking straight towards .
She was still holding back, out of consideration for . However, if I still refused to get up, I’d be forced to face her rciless self. It wouldn’t surprise if she carried out of the bedroom just like that, and while that didn’t sound too bad, considering the plan tonight was to et with the other girls, my pride wouldn’t let be seen like that.
With a deep breath, I gathered all of my strength and jumped out of bed, careful not to make too much noise and wake Miwen up. I copied Licia’s tactic and gave Miwen another pillow to hug. It was quite a lonely sight, considering how many girls he usually sleeps with, so I made sure to snap a pic to make fun of him for it later.
As for Licia, I furrowed my eyebrows like never before, showing her exactly how much I hated the interruption. She understood we had just begun the part I loved the most, yet she responded with a carefree smile, as if it were my fault since I already knew we’d be sneaking out today.
Our silent exchange was brief. The wordless discussion ended with tasting total defeat as I couldn’t bear to stay mad at her. Especially when she weaponized her smile so well.
Also... Despite looking as sweet as always on the surface, Licia hadn’t been acting like herself lately. Even tonight, she was slightly less lax with than normal.
I surprised myself with how quickly I picked up on it, which in turn left unsure about how to approach her. I had an inkling of what could be happening, but I thought it would be better to wait and watch. I didn’t want to make her self-conscious or force her back into the role she naturally falls into. After all, I thought it was normal for soone responsible like her to give themselves a break every now and then.
Still, when I was finally about to reach out, she invited to a secret eting with the other girls. This was the sa strategy she had used to plan for Miwen’s birthday behind his back, and it worried that she’d go this far.
I wasn’t the only one who thought it might be more serious, though. As soon as we stepped inside the clinic’s yard, we were greeted by a room full of uneasy girls.
Not a single girl refused the invite. Almost all of them arrived early. So of them would never admit it, but it was obvious how much Licia ant to them. She was always taking care of everyone, so the mont she showed the slightest sign of vulnerability, there wasn’t a single person unwilling to hear her.
Nothing exemplified this better than the setting itself. Since Agatha still hadn’t discharged Mia, we had to gather in her clinic. No one would bla Agatha for limiting the number of visitors, yet her only request was that we didn’t speak loudly so as not to bother the other patients.
Even then, aside from the Valkyries Liefdis and Eir, Licia only invited the girls closest to Miwen. Though it was odd to see the two without Skuld, they seed excited to join, and they said Skuld herself didn’t mind missing out this ti.
The seemingly light mood couldn’t hide the anxiety we all felt, though. Licia had not told us what this was all about, but she had asked for help.
Licia, the girl who would handle everything for everyone, had asked for help.
We all looked at her with anticipation in our eyes.
As if playing a cruel joke, she refused to head straight to the main topic and instead asked Anna, Ellie, and Bea about their upcoming mission.
The girls were understanding and answered like they normally would. Bea spoke about the limitations on the magic side while remaining confident in her ability. Ellie, still a bit shy to speak in front of so many others, said she’d do her best to protect everyone, despite that being Anna’s job.
Anna herself was the most surprising as she put her wariness towards Licia aside tonight.
Anna: "Hm... I’d be lying if I said I’m not worried. But you know... Even if I can’t handle sothing, I know you guys will have my back, right?"
This was pretty much the sentint the three shared. They didn’t just trust each other; they trusted us, and Anna was careful to put it in the most friendly way she could.
While Anna and the other two would be the main force invading Ceres’ office, Licia and I were to stay outside, prevent reinforcents, and step in if need be.
anwhile, Angelica was to patrol the skies with Marin and Celly.
Almost everyone available was sowhat involved with this mission, but if that wasn’t enough...
Mia: "You’ve got nothing to worry. I’ll be there too... Right?"
The annoyingly confident smile she had on her face disappeared when she stared at Agatha.
Despite the fierce eyes that scread "let go", she waited for the doctor’s approval while eating the yogurt she had just been handed.
By all ans, Mia was fine. But she still had to stay one last day, and no one could convince Agatha to discharge her early.
Agatha: "Probably."
She didn’t miss Mia’s intent eyes. She just shrugged off her determination and answered with her lethal deadpan expression.
Afraid to put Agatha in a bad mood and earn herself an extended stay, Mia could only protest by mumbling to herself.
She only found the strength to argue when I said we wouldn’t need her help anyway, and of course, I didn’t take too kindly to her questioning my power.
Sure, Mia had defeated her mother all by herself, but Licia and I took down Hamperlon’s black knight!
With the help of the other girls, even an army wouldn’t be a problem!
Elizabeth: "Oh, you’ve started already?"
While I tried to drill into Mia’s thick skull that we had it covered, the last remaining girls arrived. Slightly late, which was rare for Liz.
Still, Liz had the reason hanging off the ground by the collar of her shirt as Cass flailed and hurled every obscene insult imaginable at the Demon Queen who had dragged her along against her will.
Elizabeth: "I caught these foxes preying on a lone lamb."
Beside the two was Reina. With an annoyed look on her face, when confronted by the implication of Liz’s words, she chose silence.
I can’t say this developnt surprised too much.
Cass seed too excited at the idea when Licia told her she’d gather everyone tonight, and as I thought, she had never planned to join us. Instead, she wanted to use the lack of competition to have Miwen all for herself, for God knows how long.
Had she not drawn Liz’s attention by bickering with Reina, who had a similar idea, she might’ve succeeded.
These three were like oil, water, and fire. With each minute that passed without interference, they grew closer to jumping at each other’s throats.
Unsurprisingly, the one who cald them down was Licia. She invited Cass and Reina to co back with us once we had finished everything, and while only Cass accepted the offer, with her satisfied, the other two quietly took their seats, ending the discussion.
Just in ti, too. Agatha had been furiously sipping on her coffee ever since I got heated with Mia. She looked like she was about to snap. Luckily, these three pushed her over the edge and got the earful ant for .
Once she had finished scolding them, the rest of us helped them catch up. After a while, Liz said sothing interesting.
Elizabeth: "...His Majesty is certainly overly protective."
Miwen wanted to attack Adriarch’s base simultaneously to prevent him from reinforcing Ceres’.
Though this was only ant as a distraction, Adriarch’s forces were on another level compared to Ceres’. As a proper military installation, his base was harder to attack. He had more n working for him, and every single one of them had more discipline and combat experience than Ceres’.
Because of the difficulty, Miwen had no choice but to bring Liz and Cass with him.
However, even that wasn’t enough, and he enlisted the Valkyries to support him.
Even though their team was smaller than the one attacking Ceres, these six together were as powerful as the rest of us combined.
And yet, Miwen wasn’t satisfied. He asked Isa to stay in the Kingdom with her brothers and Nissa to handle reinforcents where needed. She was to handle requests to join and communications, so that Miwen could focus on Adriarch.
With this, both teams had two layers of reinforcents waiting for them, which Liz protested, thinking Miwen was underestimating her again.
Despite her complaints, Miwen didn’t change his mind.
Ellie: "B-But... Isn’t that a good thing?"
Lily: "I-I think so too!"
Miwen’s defense was super cute.
Ellie’s ears perked up the mont he was ntioned, and she spoke almost instinctively, only really considering her words after the fact.
Lily was brave in a different way. She closed her eyes before speaking, almost shouting her thoughts.
Not a single one found it in our hearts to argue against them. Even Agatha didn’t complain about how loud they were.
Bea: "Feeling anxious?"
Ellie: "...Just a little."
The last ti we fought against the AOTG, we had quite a few close calls. Since Ellie got the worst matchup, it was reasonable that she’d be worried.
Back then, we faced a small elite team. Now, we were facing an executive. Even though we grew stronger, it was hard to asure how tough this battle would be. The fact that Miwen was being this cautious spoke volus, though.
Those of us who weren’t as confident as Liz and should be just as careful as he was.
Licia: "Hehe~ Don’t worry, I’m not gonna let anyone get in your way~"
She said the most Licia thing ever, yet her reassurance caught off guard.
I was sure that the war against the AOTG and Miwen’s tendency to go too far were worrying her, so for her to be this nonchalant and supportive about it, I could only wonder what was really going on.
When I asked about it, she began fiddling with her fingers, avoiding eye contact with . It was amusing, and at the sa ti, slightly worrying.
None of us had seen Licia acting so ekly before.
Licia: "Ehehe~ Sorry... The truth is... I’m feeling a little jealous of Piper and Miwen."
Even if I were in a proper state of mind, I couldn’t describe the shock her words caused.
Licia and I were the first girls Miwen summoned, and since the very first mont I saw them, I knew the two had feelings for each other. She recognized my developing feelings for him, and instead of shutting down, she supported .
Sure, Miwen had taken our hearts. But it was Licia who allowed us to profess our love.
For her to say she was jealous of soone... It was unbelievable.
And well... Quite adorable.
It suddenly made sense why she wanted Liefdis around since she was an enthusiast of romance books. Eir had also shown signs of being romantically interested in Miwen, and Liz had the sa challenging aura as Piper Williams, according to Licia.
Licia: "...What should I do?"
As expected, her feelings were quite complex.
Piper treated Miwen like a kid, but Miwen didn’t seem to mind that too much. He had the sa care for her as he did for the rest of us, while also looking up to her like she was an older brother of sorts.
Because of this, they got along differently compared to the rest of us. Instead of ssing with her, it felt more like she ssed with him.
Since Licia is probably the one Miwen treats the most as a girl, she thought Piper occupied a space in his heart she couldn’t fill, and that was a hard pill for her to swallow.
In the end, we spent more ti talking about what she could do to have Miwen treat her like a bro than we spent talking about the upcoming mission.
The anxiety we had faded slightly as we planned how to get back at Miwen for making Licia struggle with such ssy feelings.
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