[Lifespan Remaining: 29 days, 15 hours, 23 minutes.]
The obvious answer here was to have the two girls sleep in one tent while he slept in the other.
But for some reason, Noct knew that wouldn’t be a real option.
He looked between the two of them, already deeply considering the pros and cons.
First was Aurora, who was a character he was more familiar with as she was a heroine in the game.
At least with her, Noct knew she wouldn’t try anything funny.
But on the other hand, she was someone completely strange to him.
Knowing her from the game doesn’t mean he knew everything about her as a person.
Even her recent behavior contradicted the rigid assessment he remembered from before.
Noelle on the other hand had the familiarity factor.
She had been beside him for almost every second of his life.
Someone he could call on and share secrets with.
That being said, his memories of her were still foggy at best.
Noct only knew her as his maid, not anything else or what she had done to get here.
Still, if he chose to ignore that part, if anything happened well…
‘At least Noelle was trained to detect sneak attacks.
At least I’ll be able to sleep peacefully.”
“I’m gonna go with Noelle.”
The maid remained silent, simply pulling the tent flap aside and waited for her Young Master to enter.
Aurora simply sighed before asking.
“May I ask what influenced your decision?”
“Simple. If anything were to happen, Noelle would know right away.”
“So you’re leaving poor little me to fend for myself?”
Noct stared at her, briefly at a loss for words.
“Aurora, you’re a 3-Star Sorcerer. You can protect yourself from some lowly bandits.”
Though in response, she simply covered her mouth and suppressed a laugh.
Her gaze moved over to Noelle, who looked quite triumphant, before turning back to her own tent.
“Alright, alright,” she waved casually.
“You two enjoy your evening.”
Noct frowned, as once again, Aurora had proved quite different from the strait-laced portrayal that she had in the game.
‘Well, whatever…’
Stepping into the tent, Noct realized that it was a lot more cramped than he had expected.
“You didn’t bring one of the enchanted travel tents?”
Noelle entered after him, fastening up the entrance flap.
“Young Master, you said you wanted to disguise as merchants. Bringing good tents, especially as a party of three, is like asking to get robbed by bandits.”
“Right…”
Noct examined the interior, only to find that a bedroll barely fit inside.
There was quite literally no wiggle room.
It was technically wide enough for two people, but only if they abandoned any expectation of personal space.
‘Maybe this is a bad idea…’
But just as he tried to turn back to the entrance, Noelle asked from behind him with a soft voice.
“You’re not going to sleep, Young Master?”
Somehow and in some way, Noelle had already gotten comfortable in the bedroll.
Her outer white apron layer had been removed and hung neatly on one of the hooks above.
She looked like she was about to fall asleep at any moment.
Her eyelids fluttered, like she was just barely able to hold them up.
Noct stared at her in silence, expression deadpan.
‘Am I…going to be okay?’
Though it was getting late.
Instead of questioning her any further, he decided to lower himself into the bedroll.
Immediately, almost like an instinct, her arms wrapped around him and pulled him close.
Suffice it to say, it was quite cramped but all for the wrong reasons.
However, a soft scent of lavender caught his nose, distracting Noct.
It wasn’t like an overpowering perfume, but rather like fabric softener, which Noelle painstakingly used on her clothes to keep them smelling good at all times.
‘Huh, even such an aloof maid takes care of herself quite well.’
One of Noelle’s hands settled against his chest, two fingers resting unconsciously near his pulse.
Even while half-asleep, she was checking whether he was still alive.
Throughout the night, Noct really did try to get some sleep.
But his mind kept running, once again, for all the wrong reasons.
But instead, he decided to channel it specifically to a few seemingly unsolvable questions:
‘When did I meet Noelle?
She’s two years older than me yet she seems so much more…capable.”
As far back as Noct could remember, she had already been there.
There was no explanation or introduction.
There simply… was.
‘Who trained her?
Why was someone like her assigned to me?’
His gaze lowered toward the sleeping girl holding him.
Her white bangs fell messily across her forehead as she snoozed softly, seemingly without a care in the world.
‘Most importantly…why is she so loyal?’
But before he could think about the questions some more, Noct had noticed that her fingers were curled tightly into his shirt.
A soft whimpering noise escaped her lips as her head turned back and forth frantically.
“No…no not again please,” she muttered in her sleep.
“Anyone. It could’ve been anyone else…even me. Please…me instead…”
With her hand resting over his heart, Noct reached the most obvious conclusion quickly.
‘Is she dreaming about my curse?’
He knew the guess fell apart quickly with any rational thinking, but right now it wasn’t really important.
Awkwardly, Noct placed a hand over hers, gripping it just tight enough to matter.
“I’m still here,” he whispered.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
After a moment, her trembling gradually subsided, although her fingers never released his shirt.
Noct stared at the canvas ceiling above.
Questions that had kept him awake remained unanswered, but they had begun to take on a different meaning.
He had thought of Noelle as his ultra-competent, aloof and slightly emotionless maid.
But after what happened, it was clear she had her own traumas too.
Noelle was just a person like everyone else.
And well, even if she was his greatest asset, Noct still wanted to know what made her…her.
But if these nightmares were going to keep happening through the night, maybe he had found a way to repay her for all the times she had taken care of him while he was weak.
Well, at least a small portion of it.
It was ironic.
Noct had chosen her tent because Noelle offered him the highest chance of getting a peaceful night’s sleep.
Now, with her fingers clutching his shirt and his hand resting over hers…
He probably wouldn’t get any.
Strangely enough, he didn’t mind.
‘Goodwill feeds the heart, as they say.’