Chapter 122 – Caught Off Guard
He walked up behind her, stopping just close enough for his presence to warm the space between them—but not close enough to touch.
"You didn’t have to heal ," he said.
She exhaled through her nose. "I wanted to."
"And you didn’t have to stay."
"I know."
He leaned a little closer. "You didn’t have to look at like that."
She stiffened. "I didn’t look at you."
"You did," he said softly. "You still are."
Selena turned slightly, just enough to et his eyes.
She expected to see the usual smugness. That smirk that always ca too easily. The arrogance he wielded like a weapon.
But it wasn’t there.
What she saw was quiet. Real.
And that scared her more.
"You don’t belong here," she said, not with cruelty—just as a truth.
Lux nodded slowly. "I know."
She hesitated. Then added, quieter—almost against her own will—
"But I don’t want you to leave."
A beat.
A breath.
Their eyes stayed locked.
Lux stepped a little closer. His voice was barely above a whisper.
"Then say it."
Selena looked away first.
"I can’t," she said, and her voice cracked just a little. "Not here. Not yet."
His hand lifted—paused in the air near her shoulder.
But he didn’t touch her.
He let the silence hold instead.
"...Okay," he said.
Just that.
No pressure. No demand.
Just... okay.
Selena breathed in slowly.
Then turned toward him again, finally catching the flicker of sothing deep in his eyes. Sothing that matched the storm inside her chest.
"I should send the report," she said.
Lux nodded. "We should."
They stood in the stillness, the runes around them slowly dissolving as the protective barrier began to fade.
But neither moved.
Because for all the things they didn’t say—sothing had already shifted.
And it wasn’t going back.
Selena exhaled first. Her shoulders finally loosened, just barely. The soft wind picked up again, brushing her hair over one shoulder. She didn’t fix it. Didn’t hide behind it this ti. Instead, she looked at him again.
"You know where the exit is, right?" she asked, voice calm again. Composed.
Lux tilted his head slowly. "So you do want to send the report alone."
She nodded once, expression unreadable. "Yes."
"I can accompany you," he offered lightly. "Wouldn’t want Tribunal Archives to get too lonely. I can stare dramatically in the corner while you deliver the divine paperwork."
"No," she said. Firm. Simple. Then quieter. "That’s enough."
He blinked, lips parting slightly.
She turned her body fully toward him now, that signature calm still wrapping around her like armor—but her next words landed harder than he expected.
"You... are enough to ss up my mind today."
Lux froze.
And for the first ti in a long ti, he didn’t have a coback ready.
She wasn’t smirking. Wasn’t trying to tease. That wasn’t her usual quip masked in professionalism. That was real. Raw. A verbal stab dressed in velvet.
And did it hit.
He stood there, stunned—like soone had pulled the rug out from under him and gently whispered deal with it.
"I—" he started, but nothing ca out that wasn’t air.
Selena didn’t wait.
"Bye now," she said, already turning. And then—
She stepped close.
Too close.
He barely had ti to breathe when she leaned in and—
Pressed her lips to his.
Quick.
Warm.
Gentle.
But real.
And then—she vanished. A sudden flash of white aura, like a shimr pulled through a mirror. No dramatic echo. No sound. Just light folding in on itself as if she had never been there at all.
Lux stood there. Completely frozen.
His hand instinctively ca up and touched his lips. Slowly. Like he needed to confirm it happened.
"...Okay," he whispered to himself. "That’s cheating."
[It was.]
[Emotional Status: Bewildered. Ego: Bruised. Libido: Triggered.]
[You have been gently smitten by a Level ??? Goddess. Good luck.
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