It was indeed another good day. Rex, who had been enjoying himself the previous night, had returned to his inn room for a well-deserved rest, content in the knowledge that he had likely evoked feelings of longing in two older won.
As he settled into bed, a sense of satisfaction washed over him, accompanied by the soft sounds of the inn’s quiet surroundings. Little did he know, the feelings he had stirred in those won would linger long after the night had faded into mory.
And then it didn’t take long before the morning light ca through the window of the Silver Rest at just the right angle to show that it was earlier than Rex usually let mornings co. He lay on his back for a mont and let the inventory run as always just to double-check.
He had seven thousand points before, but after spending so energy points that he had been planning to use for a while, he now has a comfortable total of two thousand. Three of his new useful skills, including Elental Mastery, which allows him to control and manipulate different elents, were now fully integrated, and both his weapons and martial arts were performing at peak levels.
Then he rembered what he had done to dissolve the Nightwing household’s four-generation political arrangent in writing, a fact that Therion had confird before Rex had departed the previous night, embodying the specific quality of a man who kept his word, for breaking it was not a concept that existed for him.
"I forgot that before I left yesterday... Therion appeared out of nowhere, and I’m bloody glad that Elaris had already cleaned herself up." Rex laughed. "If not, he would probably have slt sothing fishy."
"Well, for now... the Nightwing household is fifty percent complete. All I need to do now is et with Aurelia to see what she can offer , as I am really keen to break that wimp’s mother."
Rex’s expression morphed into one of malevolence. "Once I have Aurelia on board, I can finally set my plans in motion and demonstrate to those Nightwings what true power really looks like."
The thought ignited a fire within him, and he felt a surge of excitent at the prospect of their impending alliance. "And then Elaris... yeah, she’s close, and I just need to wait until she herself ca to ."
Rex thought about Elaris for a mont, feeling exactly how soone who had just finished a session that went exactly as planned would feel. The wine helped, but what really changed things was the conversation that ca before it.
It was real, like good conversations are when both people are paying full attention.
She had said, at so point in the middle of it, ’You are entirely too comfortable for soone who keeps appearing in complicated situations.’
Rex had said, ’The situations aren’t complicated. People just describe them that way.’
She had laughed back then—a genuine laugh.
Rex rembers that Elaris was indeed a teasing type of woman, easily intrigued by anything, and he managed to take complete control of the situation. He will never forget the ga of stripping rock-paper-scissors, which likely made her begin to question her morals.
[ELARIS MORR NIGHTWING — DESIRE LEVEL: 75/100]
[SORRY FOR THE LATE NOTIFICATION]
[I DON’T WANT TO RUIN YOUR FUN MONT]
Rex was taken aback when the system apologized to him, and it brought back mories of their ga. He recalled that during the ga, the notification did not display Elaris’s desire level, which left him feeling puzzled.
"Well, I respect that. It makes more focused on my objective."
"Alright... her desire level is seventy-five." Rex noted that achieving such a jump from fifteen to seventy-five in just a day and night was quite efficient, even by his own standards.
Now, it was rely a question of timing and presence, and the Nightwing family had provided him with ample reasons to return.
There was probably Aurelia’s challenge to consider. Then there was Morwenna, who was likely the head of the household but had not returned yet. Additionally, there was Iris, with whom he had barely spoken, yet she possessed that particular quality of soone who would beco intriguing over ti.
While he was engrossed in his thoughts, a knock sounded at his door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Rex looked at the window. ’Who the fuck ca at this early morning...?’
He realized the light’s angle showed it was early in the morning, which ant that the person knocking was either Lily, who was too excited about sothing to care about his sleep schedule, or soone who had co at this hour on purpose for a reason.
"It’s open," he said.
The door swung open slowly.
And to his surprise, it was Nerith Sylvarune that stood in the doorway with the look of soone who had walked into a room with a clear goal but lost it right away because the room didn’t have what she thought it would.
What was in the room was Rex, who was sitting up in bed without his shirt on.
At this ti of day, Rex was not in an unusual state. He had been sleeping and didn’t expect anyone to co. It took him thirty seconds to get the shirt off the chair three feet away, but he didn’t make it.
Nerith’s hands shot up without thinking about it, and her fingers spread wide in the defensive position that druids used when their senses picked up sothing that their minds hadn’t finished sorting yet.
The faint green shimr that naturally lined the edges of her eyes flared up for a mont, like druid sight does when it locks onto sothing more strongly than the observer ant to.
She let out a short, unplanned sound with her breath, and right away she tried to make it sound like she ant to do it. It didn’t work.
The leaves woven into her hair, which changed color from their usual steady green to sothing warr, closer to the deep flush of autumn, and curled slightly at their edges, like the way a druid’s connection to natural energy always showed itself.
’W-what the fuck...?’ Rex thought. ’She was a druid, I know... but I didn’t know it was that detailed, like a plant or so shit...’
She turned her head about forty-five degrees to the side. This wasn’t enough to really stop her from seeing what she was seeing, but it seed to be the angle her body had chosen as a compromise between looking and not looking.
Her bare feet pressed flat against the floor below her, and her grounding instinct kicked in without her permission. This was the druid’s reflex of seeking the earth when sothing upset her internal balance.
She then said, "I-I-I-I’m s-s-sorry, I t-t-thought—No! I’m really sorry for barging in without asking any details about the state you’re in right now," and she closed the door right away.
The closed door was followed almost imdiately by the sound of soone pressing their back against it from the outside. Rex stared at the closed door for a mont before turning to the chair where his shirt was.
’Heh... she’s cute with all of those plant features, and don’t tell Apollo sold on this one too.’
"But... I think that really explains why she showed up out of the blue. With Talyra and Aisella, I understand their reasons, but the druid? There’s no way she ca here not to discuss sothing important..."
[NERITH SYLVARUNE — DESIRE LEVEL: 18 → 37/100]
’Holy shit... that’s quite a massive jump just from seeing my perfect body. Well, I can’t bla her at all.’
He put the shirt back on.
"You can co back in now," he said. "I’m no longer half-naked."
And there’s a pause from her.
"Uhm... are you really dressed...?" Nerith’s voice, which was muffled by the door, sounded like soone who was asking an important question and needed a clear and correct answer.
"Completely," Rex said.
"Co in, I won’t bite."
The door opened once more. Nerith walked in with the kind of attitude that showed she had made up her mind to be professional about this and was following through with the determination it needed.
She was carrying sothing.
When Rex looked more closely, he realized she was carrying multiple items. Specifically, they were vines woven into a loose arrangent of wildflowers.
The arrangent seed hastily made, yet it showed genuine care—the kind of creation that erged when a druid-type was processing an emotional state, and that processing manifested in a botanical form.
"I’m really sorry," she said. "I should have waited..."
"I just thought, ’You said to co find you at the inn if you need sothing,’ and I didn’t think to knock more than once."
"I should have waited longer after knocking because I know that’s rude—"
"Nerith," Rex said.
She stopped.
"It’s okay," he said. "Please sit down."
User Comments
0 comments from readers