Training Hall

At this time, a certain handsome blonde Captain was waiting outside the training hall. Those on queue couldn’t help but stare.

There was no way; Obi was just very handsome.

"Is he guarding the place?" one of the men in line asked. They were puzzled though. Generally speaking, whenever guard teams were assigned to a sector, they were making rounds.

"Hey, it’s not like they can’t stay in one place for a few hours. This place is very high-traffic."

"Ehh...he’s not wearing his uniform," another said. "Doesn’t this mean it’s his day off today?"

It wasn’t that people knew the guards’ schedules. This information was actually confidential. However, most people could surmise it since they were not wearing uniforms.

There were cases of guards going undercover (usually for investigation missions), but people assigned to those missions generally didn’t include very handsome and well-known guards like Obi.

"Then why is he standing there? He’s been there since I was at the end of the queue." This was nearly an hour prior.

At this, one of the teenagers selling some snacks chipped in. "Oh, actually, I know why he’s here~"

They all turned their attention to the lad, who was smiling brightly at them. The items he was selling were pre-packaged candied nuts/mixed nuts, packaged well and placed inside a large basket.

This type of shelf-stable and convenient snack was quite popular to sell in queues.

The group (including some eavesdropping fellows farther in line with them) waited for the lad to continue.

But, even after a full minute, he was not talking at all! He was just standing there with the basket on hand.

At this, one of the smarter people bought out the rest of his goods, placing most in his space, while distributing a few to his friends. Together, they opened a few packets and ate a few pieces while staring at the boy.

The boy smiled even brighter and then began speaking. "He’s waiting for Miss Leez!"

"Miss Leez? Sounds familiar."

Another nodded. "It’s a guard," he said. "But...isn’t he a dude?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Eh, where have you been? It was already revealed that Leez is a girl! I even saw her in female guard uniform a few days ago!"

"Whoa, really?"

He was actually a local of Bright Village until recently, earning enough to finally migrate. He genuinely didn’t know this news!

Obviously, a lot had happened since the Valov war more than a month ago.

The news spread out very far and wide, and a lot of it was because of Obi himself.

After all, the day after the girl recovered, he began a fierce pursuit. With the guidance of his experienced brother, Obi really made a splash.

What kind of splash? The kind where a confession banner flew over Alterra.

Obi was unsure if going so big was fine, but then he saw Leez’s flushed face, without a hint of distaste, and he knew she did not dislike him. That reaction alone energized him to go fiercer, and they ended up dating after two weeks of courtship.

It was a story that was talked about for more than a week.

It was a good thing Obi confessed while Leez was already a girl, otherwise, it would’ve been fraught with another layer of misunderstanding. It was actually why Leez, despite having feelings for Obi, took two weeks to actually accept his pursuit.

She was afraid that there was a misunderstanding somewhere.

This was already when her identity was revealed. If Obi had decided to confess while Leez was wearing the ’male’ skin, it was estimated that the chase would’ve been much longer.

After all, Leez would think he was gay and that he only liked her because he thought she was a male.

It would’ve been very cliche and frankly, some people had been looking forward to that kind of plot. For example, Oslo and Ria. Don’t look at Oslo guiding his brother. The guy actually paid him a lot of gold and resources.

Oslo, for the most part, wanted to see a show. But then Leez’s Identity got exposed on its own, so he had to adjust accordingly, changing his plans to get the most entertainment value for himself and also for the literature company he had invested on.

The trope didn’t happen, and it disappointed some people who were aware (by observation or otherwise) that Leez was a girl and Obi liked her.

Some accidentally saw her change clothes, some hugged her and felt the two bumps, and so on. In the end, there were actually quite a few people who knew Leez was a girl and had even started bets on when Obi would confess.

The end point was fine and romantic, but the drama and tension they were waiting for did not happen.

Fortunately, they had fanfiction.

One of the more popular works was titled ’My Captain Fell In Love with Me, but I Thought He Thinks I was a Man’, ’My Captain is Suspiciously Clingy!’, and ’I Took Captain’s Gun and He Liked It.’

They were mostly written by Ria, who had managed to get the rights to use their names for a year back then.

Those books ended up funding the couple’s dates.

...

Leez emerged from a long training session in the Training Hall, seeing a handsome man waiting for her outside. Her eyebrows rose in surprise, but her eyes were warm.

Obi was sent on a secret mission in Bleulle and was set to return much later in the week. The fact that he was here meant that he rushed over to see her.

It made her heart flutter and her knees to weaken. Fortunately, she was a trained soldier, so she managed to control her physiological reactions well.

"Captain..." she said, voice a little raspy from the exercise. He wiped her sweat, and she looked longingly at him.

"I...I need to get cleaned up first," she said, voice soft and shy. "Can I get changed first. I’ll treat you dinner later after I take a bath, okay?"

Since she had revealed her female identity, her voice had become much softer than before. It was lower than most females due to how she lived, but to Obi’s ears, it was like a bird was singing in his ears.

He looked deeply at the woman in front of him.

He had only been away for a little over a week, but each minute of that mission was torture for him. He couldn’t even send her Posts, so the torture was palpable.

But what could he do? He was in Bleulle, and his and Alterra’s relationship there was rather subtle. He even had to use a disguise the entire time, borrowing the latest remaining Token Mask the territory had.

The entire time of the mission, Obi couldn’t help but wonder if she had already forgotten about him, or if there was another scumbag showing his face in front of her. The sense of urgency made him finish his mission much faster than planned.

Speaking of this, in his rush to see her, when he arrived in Alterra, he rushed his clean-up, just enough so he could be presentable to her.

In retrospect, he should have gotten cleaned up more thoroughly.

His hand wrapped around hers, eyes looking deeply into hers.

"Can I join you?"