Seraphine gave him a confident thumbs-up, "I have faith that you won't let me have bad dreams, Ash."
Ashen sighted.
'I may have underestimated her faith in me… I can't say I hate the feeling of being unconditionally trusted, though.'
His shoulders felt a little
heavier
… like an additional responsibility had been slung over them without his consent, but he was fine with this kind of responsibility.
She had set the expectations high.
He could only do his best to deliver now.
"You really trust me, huh?"
Seraphine beamed.
"Of
course!
"
Jumping up from her seat, Seraphine grabbed Ashen's hands and dragged him toward the bedroom.
"In fact! Let's try it
now!
You've really piqued my interest, and I want to experience lucid dreaming for myself. Ash, take responsibility and satisfy my curiosity!"
As he was pulled along, Ashen had an eerie sense of déjà vu.
The situation felt
way
too familiar.
But then, her absurd choice of words hit him.
'I talked about being eaten alive by oversized insects and getting
mangled
by rabid dogs… and
that
made you curious? Are women this crazy nowadays?'
Before he could say anything, Seraphine suddenly stopped.
"Wait, I can't sleep wearing this, right?" She gestured toward her class uniform. "Lemme borrow some of your clothes."
With that, she shoved him out of the room and slammed the door shut.
Click.
Ashen blinked.
He was having a hard time keeping up with this hurricane called Seraphine.
'Wait, don't you have to
ask
before borrowing someone's clothes?'
"…Well, whatever."
The door swung open again before two minutes had passed.
Seraphine stood there, drowning in one of his shirts… sleeves rolled past her wrists, pajama pants pooling around her ankles.
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She looked absurd, like a child playing dress-up in her father's closet.
…At least, that's what he
would've
thought, if not for the way the fabric strained over her chest.
"Okay!" She beamed, oblivious. "Now I'm
actually
ready. Let's go."
Another round of tugging, and they were at the bed.
Seraphine hopped on and slipped under the sheets.
"C'mon, do it!" she exclaimed, a little
too
loudly.
Ashen raised a brow.
She was trying to act casual, but he could tell she wasn't as relaxed as she pretended to be.
Not wanting to call her out directly, he opted for some teasing instead.
"Do what?" His voice took on a knowing edge.
"Hmm?" Seraphine shot him a curious look, only to find him scanning her figure under the covers with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
It took her a second to realize how
bad
that sounded given the circumstances.
Lying unguarded in
his
bed… demanding him to "do it"…
"Ah? Ah! I didn't mean it like that, you
dummy!
Don't
do me!
I meant—ugh—do your
skill!
"
And just like that, she somehow made the situation worse
.
Ashen smirked, shaking his head. This was way more fun than he expected.
Still, he decided to let her off the hook.
Moving to her side, he gently ran his fingers across her forehead, preparing to activate the skill.
That only made the crimson dusting her cheeks spread all the way to her ears.
"Take a deep breath…" he murmured softly, like coaxing a child. "Don't worry. It'll be over in an instant. Afterward, you'll reach paradise—I mean, you'll enter lucid dreaming."
Seraphine barely had time to
process
his ridiculous phrasing before a sudden wave of drowsiness hit her.
Her body slackened.
A few seconds later, she was out cold, her face serene, all traces of her earlier fluster completely gone.
Ashen stayed in place, his eyes closed in concentration.
"Happy dreams, happy dreams…" he muttered under his breath.
Mana was driven by will and desire, so if his skill responded to either…
"…A nice, relaxing dream that will blow away all her troubles and fears…"
He needed this to work
.
'You're
my
skill. If you can't even obey me, what's the damn point? So you better not
fuck this up.
'
A vein throbbed at his temple. He was now resorting to threatening his own skill.
That should tell
someone
just how much he actually cared about this woman… even if he rarely showed it.
Minutes passed before he finally opened his eyes and withdrew his hand.
"Haah, I've done what I can. Now, I can only wait and hope for the best," he murmured, eyeing the sleeping blonde.
Then, another thought hit him.
'Now that I think about it… No matter how much she trusts me, isn't she
way
too unguarded? Sleeping like this on my bed without a second thought…'
Too innocent.
And with that, an absurd idea popped into his head.
'Wait… could Lust have chosen her
because
of her innocence?'
At first, the thought seemed far-fetched.
But who said you
had
to be initially lustful to be compatible with that path?
A truly
innocent
woman being
corrupted
… falling from purity into a state of unrelenting, insatiable desire, losing herself in the process…
Wasn't that a more
perverse
manifestation of lust than anything else?
A blank canvas was always easier to
dye
in one's own colors.
And the worst part?
When people like that finally let go… they
don't
stop.
There's no middle ground. Taking a step back and reflecting was an absurd concept. Hesitation becomes a ridiculous thought.
Just a full, unrelenting descent.
His train of thought stopped there.
"This is pretty sick, isn't it?"
he muttered to himself, his voice almost amused.
Then, shaking his head, he sighed.
'Well… It's all just conjecture anyway.'
Ashen actually had no clue how the compatibility system worked in reality, just like the majority of humanity.
"Haah…"
Leaning against the headboard, he debated what to do next. Even if his assumptions turned out to be wrong in the end, it was never a bad idea to have a plan for the worst-case scenario.