Rex gave in and let her feed him like he was a baby. It was humiliating in a way, but it also felt excellent.
This was Mara giving in completely to her desire to serve him, be close to him, and have any reason to be close to him.
They were halfway through the bowl when Lily moved and lifted her head from where it had been resting on the bed. She slowly opened her eyes, which were unfocused and confused for a mont before they fell on Rex.
Then they got very big.
"Mm... Rex...?" She mumbled softly.
Then, shouting loud, "REX...!"
In her hurry, she almost knocked over the chair next to the bed as she got up from the floor. She was already crying before she even got to him.
"You’re awake...! You’re REALLY awake, Rex...!"
"I was so scared... I thought you were going to die!"
"There was so much blood, and you wouldn’t wake up, and nobody could tell if you’d be okay...!"
"I’ve been sitting here for hours just waiting and hoping while praying that you’d open your eyes and..."
"Hwaahhhhhhhh! Rex!" She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder as the words ca out in a jumbled rush.
Mara quickly moved the bowl of porridge to the side so that Lily could get to it. "My... my... she’s really worried about you, Rex..."
"Shh," Rex said, putting his good arm around her to calm her down. "Don’t worry, Lily..."
"I’m right here," Rex said while hiding his smirk and thought to himself. "It’s already over for this girl... seems like she’s going to be all over like Mara."
Lily cried, "You almost died... for my brother... and for all of us...!"
"It would have been my fault because I pushed you to help when I should have stayed back...!"
"If you had died, I don’t know what I would have done because I can’t lose you, Rex... I just... can’t..."
"Hey, shh, look at ," Rex said softly, tilting her head up with his hand. "I’m not going anywhere..."
"I’m too stubborn to let sothing like that kill ."
Lily’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, and they t his with a desperate look. "Promise you won’t do that again!"
"Promise you’ll be more careful the next ti you try to help soone!"
"I promise I’ll try to be more careful," Rex said, which was as close to a lie as he could get without her noticing. "But I promise I will protect the people I care about if they are in danger."
Then he thought to himself. "I want to puke after saying that shit..."
Lily said again, "The people you... care about," in a small voice.
"Do you... do you care about , Rex?"
This was it... This was the mont he had been eagerly anticipating.
Lily was completely open, emotionally raw, and in need of love and validation. He just had to give her what she wanted.
Rex said softly, "Of course I care about you, Lily."
"You’re smart, kind, and brave. Why wouldn’t I care about you?" Rex’s face looked charming right away for Lily’s eyes.
It was enough to make tears fall from her eyes again, but these were different. Not tears of fear, but tears of strong emotion.
"I... love you," Lily said, and the words ca out of her like a dam that had finally broken. "I know I shouldn’t..."
"I know it’s probably wrong or inappropriate or too soon... but I can’t help it anymore!"
"I’ve never felt like this about anyone... You make feel seen and valued and special in ways nobody else ever has!"
"You listen to and treat like an adult, and you’re kind and brave, and when I thought you might die... I realized I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it, and..."
"I love you, Rex! I love you so much that it hurts...!"
She was crying more now, as if the confession had broken sothing inside her. "I know you probably don’t feel the sa way..."
"I’m twenty years old... and inexperienced, and there are better won out there for you, but... I needed you to know..."
"I needed to tell you before sothing else happened and I lost my chance. I just..."
"Lily," Rex said softly, cutting her off. "Take a breath for ..."
She gasped and took a shuddering breath, and her whole body shook in his arms.
Rex said, "I care about you too," which was true in his own ssed-up way.
He cared about her like soone cares about a prized possession. "More than you might think."
"Re... Really?" Lily’s voice was so hopeful that it hurt.
"Really... you’re special, Lily." Rex smiled. "Don’t let anyone make you think differently."
She put her face back in his chest, but this ti her tears seed to be less heavy. Not desperation, but relief.
She held on to him like he was the only thing that was real in a world that was always changing. Rex held her close, feeling her desire rise to those last few important points.
[LILY VON STARLIGHT: 93/100]
[STATUS: LOVE CONFESSION MADE]
[EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY: MAXIMUM]
[PROJECTED MAXIMUM THRESHOLD: 24-48 HOURS]
Only seven more points. And with Lily in this state, completely open and devoted, those points would be easy to get.
"My, my, you really are an adorable girl, Lily." Mara, who had been watching this scene with surprising calm, lightly touched Lily’s shoulder. "Now that you’ve already confessed... let him eat, dear."
"He needs to get more strength and energy to recover fast."
Lily reluctantly pulled away and wiped her eyes. "O-Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t an to... I just..."
Rex told her, "It’s okay."
"Your concern ans a lot to ."
Mara started feeding him porridge again, and Lily sat down on the edge of the bed and held his hand tightly. They were quiet and almost like a family for a few minutes.
After that, soone knocked on the door.
Rex said, "Co in."
Helena walked in, looking elegant even though she was clearly tired. She looked straight at Rex, and when she saw him awake and eating, she looked relieved.
"Rex, thank goodness..." she said in a warm voice. "It’s good to see you well awake."
"How are you feeling currently?"
Rex said with a wry smile, "Like I got hit by a giant axe, but ehh... still alive and well."
Helena chuckled softly. "I guess that’s right."
She looked at Lily and Mara. "Can you both give us a minute?"
"I need to talk to Rex about so things in private."
Lily didn’t want to leave, but Mara got up right away. "Of course, Lady Helena."
Mara held Lily’s shoulder to bring her. "Let’s go, Lily... Let’s leave them alone."
"Okay..." Lily nodded, and then she and Mara left the room imdiately.
Helena pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down after the two won left. Her face was serious, but it was also warm.
"I wanted to say thank you," she said. "For saving my daughters and for saving all of us, really."
"What you did out there was incredibly brave."
Rex said, "I just did what needed to be done."
"No," Helena said, shaking her head. "You did a lot more than that."
"You put yourself in danger for my family several tis, almost died in the process, and didn’t ask for anything in return."
"That kind of selflessness is rare, especially from..."
She stopped for a mont, as if she were carefully choosing her words.
"Especially from reincarnators?" Rex finished for her.
"Yes..." Helena nodded and then asked. "Do you know that Evelyn is the sa as you...?"
"Yeah, she’s a reincarnator like , I figured it out during the fight because of her skills that were too sharp and too practiced."
"She must have been granted an incredible power in this second life to move that fast."
Helena said, "She confronted after the fight."
"She told everything... starting from her system, her powers, and why she’s been hiding them."
"She was worried that everyone might have noticed and wanted to make sure her secret was safe, especially for you too."
Rex promised her, "Of course I won’t tell anyone... why would I do that?"
"That’s what I wanted to talk about," Helena said. "Evelyn doesn’t know that you’re also a reincarnator."
"She said she couldn’t scan you properly, which made her suspicious, but she hasn’t figured it out yet."
Rex’s brain worked fast. "Do you want to keep it that way?"
Helena said, "I’m asking if you’d rather it that way."
"I won’t tell anyone your secret without your permission, but I wanted you to know that I know and give you a choice about what to do next."
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