Ren finally t Liora in the academy gardens after classes, where she waited for him with an expression mixing determination and nervousness.
She wore a simple but elegant dress that highlighted her eyes, and had her hair arranged in a way that suggested she had put extra effort into her appearance. Undoubtedly against school regulations...
"Co with ," she told him, taking his arm without waiting for an answer.
Yet not even the director would say anything to her as long as she didn’t go overboard anyway. As expected from Selphira’s favorite mischievous granddaughter.
She led him farther from the common areas, away from the main paths toward a more solitary section of the academy grounds.
"I asked my grandmother to have any guards from Julius or ours keep a good distance so you wouldn’t feel too watched," she explained as they moved.
Ren didn’t completely understand the reasons, but followed anyway. He would do whatever she asked as long as his earlier mistake was "forgotten", truly forgiven.
They arrived at an elevated area with many trees... at the foothills of this elevation, not far away, one of the less traveled mine entrances was located so tens of ters below them.
The small hill offered an elevated view of the entire school and part of the city. From that position, Ren could see the Sky Tasty towers in the distance and the large bridge that Dragarion had created, now with an open gate that allowed passage for Yano civilians who hadn’t been crystallized.
It was a view that brought with it complex mories.
The Yano people now depended completely on Victor, Julius, and Arturo’s managent, and had basically been reduced to second-class citizens. Fortunately, they weren’t generating significant problems, at least nothing big compared to the opportunist nobles who remained a constant source of political tension.
Ren and Liora had climbed to the crown of a large tree to better enjoy the view, but Ren was surprised when Liora moved closer and sat very close to him on the sa branch.
The proximity imdiately reminded him of that ti, years ago, when he had had to chase her to give her the fusion ability. Back then, she had fled from any physical contact.
"Do you rember that ti when I had to catch up to you to give you the fusion power?" he asked, as if trying to remind her of the situation to see her reaction, but...
"Yes," she responded. "Back then I wasn’t ready," she said softly. "Now I am."
Ren didn’t completely understand the insinuations, but he did understand that now she had no problems with physical contact. In fact, she seed to be actively seeking it again.
Ren took this as a positive sign for preserving their friendship... So he thought about putting his arm around her shoulders as a gesture of "warmth between friends", but when imagining the situation and slling her so close, his new and "powerful" hormones made him consider other implications that filled him with doubts.
His arm, which was moving toward her, stopped halfway, quickly retracting while he blushed a bit.
The internal war between his conscious intentions and his body’s reactions was becoming a constant source of confusion. Every interaction now carried layers of aning he hadn’t previously considered.
But Liora imdiately noticed the aborted movent.
"Why don’t you do it?" she asked directly. "It wouldn’t bother ..."
Although she was also blushing when asking the question.
Ren desperately tried to change the subject.
"What was it you wanted to clarify?" he asked hurriedly. "I’m going to apologize for anything else that bothers you that I haven’t clearly apologized for."
"You don’t need to give any other apology," Liora said, her voice becoming softer. "What you demonstrated as a person, the importance you gave , and realizing that you’ve been ’watching closely’... I loved it."
She beca redder as she spoke, but maintained eye contact.
"Do you really like as a lover?" she asked directly, confronting him with an intensity that made Ren feel as if he were under a spotlight.
Ren frowned, genuinely confused. He didn’t rember saying anything like that... at least not out loud, ’Right brain?’
He didn’t realize he had used different words that Liora had interpreted ’more romantically’ than he had intended.
But despite the confusion about the specific words used from his mouth in the past, he at least understood perfectly the look in Liora’s eyes here and now...
It was an expression he had never seen directed toward him before so closely, loaded with hope and vulnerability.
He swallowed hard.
Liora insisted, her voice trembling slightly: "Or do you like Larissa or maybe Luna more?"
Ren thought about the other two girls. They were undoubtedly very pretty, but he had never thought about sothing like "dating them" in the way Liora obviously ant. The idea made him incredibly nervous.
Liora kept her gaze fixed on him, but her eyes began to fill very subtly with tears.
So Ren realized the enormous effort she was making and rembered she was the sa age as him.
Did she feel the sa as he did?
So Ren told her gently:
"You don’t have to force yourself to act like this. It feels a bit unnatural."
With a lump in his throat, he admitted: "But yes... I like you... a lot."
Both turned completely red.
"But," Ren continued carefully, "I’m not sure you’re ready for all that."
Liora didn’t understand at first, thinking maybe Ren was belittling her as "a child". But she realized from his honest expression and next sentence that it wasn’t that at all.
"Were you pushed to do this today?" Ren asked softly.
Liora sighed deeply.
"Yes," she admitted. "Maybe my grandmother pushed too soon, and I took things a bit faster than what would make feel comfortable."
Ren smiled, feeling relieved that they had reached the truth.
"But... I’m not going to take back my words," he said firmly. "I do like you a lot. But we’re very young, so we can take all the ti needed until you feel more comfortable."
Liora sighed and smiled.
Ren relaxed seeing that...
But didn’t completely understand the storm of emotions developing within her.
For Liora there was relief and happiness, yes, but also perhaps so disappointnt and a bit of sadness for not having managed to push herself further or feel as prepared as she thought she was.
Ren looked into the distance, observing the city that stretched before them.
"You actually are a better explorer than ," he told her reflectively. "Braver in more aspects than I expected. And maybe that will help you be the best spy when you grow up, because I’ve heard from Wei that to infiltrate you have to be ’bold’ and make believe or feel comfortable in unknown territory."
He paused, considering his words.
"I admire you because I also want to see the world soday... being that cool and bold."
Suddenly, Liora moved close to his ear.
"After all, I do want ’things to be clear’," she whispered.
And she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Ren was completely surprised, turning toward her, but when he did, she had already disappeared with a spatial jump. Her mana trail was moving away faster and faster.
So he remained there sitting alone on the branch, touching his cheek where he had felt the soft pressure of her lips.
The world seed to fall silent for a mont, except for the wind moving the leaves around him and the distant sounds of daily life at the academy.
For the first ti in his life, Ren completely understood why adults always talked about his age as a complicated period.
His feelings were a whirlwind of confusion, excitent, nervousness, and sothing that might have been happiness, all mixed in a way he had never experienced before.
But for now, he remained sitting in the tree, processing what had just happened and wondering how exactly he had reached a point in his life where battles against hordes of underground monsters seed simple compared to navigating the complexities of his own feelings.
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