Once they arrived and got comfortable on the sofa, Ashen wasted no ti. He ntally called up his status window and made it visible for Seraphine to see.
"Oh! So this is what you wanted to show ?" Seraphine exclaid, her tone light, but her eyes told a different story.
They darted between the words on display, scanning them with an intensity that contradicted her nonchalance.
A few minutes later, she lifted her head. The worry in her gaze bore into him.
Ashen, a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny, forced a light smile and quipped, "Surprising, isn't it? The man you like isn't as great as he seems. In fact, it's quite the opposite."
Leaning back, he added dryly, "It's not too late to change your mind and find soone actually worthy of you, you know?"
Her expression imdiately darkened.
"What do you an by that?!" she snapped. "I'm not that shallow, you know!"
Taking a deep breath, she continued, her voice quieter but firm.
"Even if your traits were a hundred tis worse than this, I'd still stay by your side and do my best to help you. You're the man I chose, after all…"
The last part was nearly mumbled, too soft for Ashen to catch, but before he could ask her to repeat it, she spoke up again, this ti with renewed conviction.
"Anyway! Even if your traits look bad on paper, I've seen how hard you work, Ashen. So believe in yourself… because I'll keep believing in you."
She smiled softly, finishing with quiet certainty.
"A couple of words won't ever change my opinion of you, you understand?"
Ashen sat there, montarily dazed, absorbing her words.
He had expected her to brush it off, sure. With Seraphine's personality, making a big deal out of sothing like this wasn't her style. But expecting it and hearing it directly were two entirely different things.
A smile blood on his face.
Not his usual sarcastic or mocking grin, but sothing different… sothing genuine. Innocent, even.
And in that mont, he felt it.
A warmth spread in his chest, like a small fla igniting within him. A symbol of his will to truly change, not because circumstances forced him to, but because he wanted to.
If she believed in him that much… shouldn't he at least et her sincerity halfway?
More importantly… how could he ever face Alice again without first fixing what had driven them apart?
"What's with that smile…?"
A bewildered mutter echoed through the room.
While Ashen was busy making silent resolutions, Seraphine found herself completely captivated by his sudden, pure smile.
It was almost childlike, but what truly stole her breath was how free and happy he looked in that mont.
"…Not fair," she whispered bitterly.
"Hmm? What's not fair?"
This ti, Ashen caught it. Leaning forward, he flashed her a teasing grin.
This book's true ho is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Tell , my little angel. I'll blow away any unfairness that cos your way."
Seeing him slip back into his usual joking self, Seraphine quickly reined in her wild emotions. But then, sothing else from his status window resurfaced in her mind, sothing far more concerning.
"Ash… You! How could you hide sothing like this from ?!"
Without hesitation, she invaded his personal space, patting him here and there as if trying to make sure he was still in one piece.
"Oh God, your magic circuits are damaged… and permanently at that!" Her face morphed back into one of pure distress, her earlier panic coming back in full force.
"What do we do? What do we do?! I have no idea, oh my god—"
Watching her spiral into a ntal breakdown over re circuit damage, Ashen secretly let out a sigh of relief.
'Good call on omitting the stuff about the Weaver's Eyes, Loved by Ti, and the Recall skill…'
It wasn't that he didn't trust her with the knowledge, but she was already freaking out over sothing as minor as this. If he dropped the heavier details on her now? She'd probably combust on the spot.
So yeah… for the foreseeable future, the busty angel remained on a need-to-know basis.
"Sera, calm down," he tried, his voice soothing. "Fussing over it won't heal ."
But it did little to help.
"How can I stay calm?! It must have hurt a lot, right?! And now that I think about it… Weren't you circulating mana constantly every single day?! How could you be so reckless—wait, heck! You're doing it right now, aren't you?!"
Ashen gave her a sheepish look.
She was right. His circulation thod was still in full swing even as they spoke.
"Uhh, it's fine, really… I've gotten used to it. And the pain doesn't bother much anymore."
Seraphine exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples.
"…You're unbelievable."
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. It was a skill she had way too much practice in these past two days.
"But still," she added, her voice a little softer. "You can't keep things like this to yourself, Ashen. I thought we were closer than that…"
Leaning back against the sofa, she crossed her arms under her chest, her tone carrying a trace of hurt.
Ashen sighed.
"I'm sorry… I wasn't trying to shut you out." His voice was low but earnest. "I just didn't want to burden you with sothing you couldn't fix. We already had enough to deal with, and I didn't want to add more to your plate."
Seraphine stared at him for a mont before puffing her cheeks in a huff.
"Apology accepted. But! No more secrets when it cos to your health, got it?"
Relieved that he dodged a bullet, Ashen hurriedly nodded.
"Yes, yes. As long as it concerns my health, I'll tell you. Promise."
"Good." She nodded, satisfied.
"Well? I guess this is what you wanted to show . What's your request?" Seraphine asked, her tone exaggerated. "I hope it's not as outrageous as everything else."
"No… nothing like that," Ashen shook his head. But then, he recalled last night's lucid dream and hesitated.
"Uhh… actually… now that I think about it, it might be a little unpleasant." He pinched his fingers together. "Just a tiny bit."
Seraphine raised an eyebrow.
Then, tipping her chin up, she smirked, trying to act high and mighty.
"Just spill it already. After all the surprises you've thrown at , there's nothing that can faze this lady. So don't worry your little head over it—hmph."
Ashen had to physically restrain his hands from reaching out to pat this adorable creature.
Shaking off his amusent, he decided to stop stalling.
"As you saw, I'm a Drear now," he explained. "Which ans I have to dream, and make others dream, for my embodint to work."
Pausing, he let her absorb his words before continuing.
"I already make myself dream every night through lucid dreaming. But for others… that's where you co in." He t her gaze. "I want to use the skill on you. Maybe before you go to bed or sothing…"
Seraphine blinked.
"…That's it?"
"Yeah."
"So… I just have to let you put to sleep?" She tilted her head. "Is it really that hard? I don't understand why you were hesitating earlier."
Ashen sighed.
"Well, the thing is… I don't have much control over the dreams I conjure. So if you're unlucky, your dream could turn into a nightmare really quickly."
Seraphine squinted. "How bad are we talking?"
Ashen deadpanned.
"Last night, I dreamt of my arm getting chewed on by beasts before I ended up getting devoured by a swarm of tarantulas."
"…That bad, huh."
Silence stretched between them.
Ashen didn't interrupt her thoughts, giving her ti to process it.
But less than a minute later, Seraphine just shrugged.
"Welp, I'm in. You can count on ."
"…What? Really?"
Ashen was genuinely surprised. He had expected her to refuse—wanted her to, even. That's why he laid out all the cons, completely transparent about how horrifying the experience could be.
So… why?
'I guess I underestimated her resilience after all…'
"Yeah, really," Seraphine confird, grinning. "I bet those kinds of nightmares rarely happen."
Then, giving him a confident thumbs-up, she added, "Most importantly—I have faith that you won't let have bad dreams, Ash."
Ashen blinked.
Then he sighed.
'Or maybe… I underestimated her blind faith in .'
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