"Is that your girlfriend?"

Bella looked over Kai’s shoulder, staring at a kind-looking girl with a bob cut and glasses.

It looked as though she had walked him all the way home from school.

Kai also looked back and saw the girl waving at him, so he returned the wave as she scurried away with a reddened face. "Just a classmate I came across along the way," He shrugged. "She lived nearby, so we happened to go back together."

"She’s clearly interested," One corner of Bella’s lips curled. "You sure she’s not a girlfriend?"

"If I have a girlfriend, you’d know about it by now. Besides, I don’t have time for that."

"At your age, still no experience with a girl? What are you even waiting for?"

"Eugh..." Kai rolled his eyes and entered the apartment building, leaving Bella watering the plant in the front yard. "Believe me or don’t, it’s entirely up to you. And for the record, you’re wrong. She’s not interested in me."

"Just don’t wait for someone as pretty as me to come around, okay?" Bella shouted teasingly. "Or else you’re going to stay a virgin until your forties!"

...

That memory was replayed on Kai’s mind as he was stuck in this dangerous peril.

He has zero experience with girls. Zero. Other than his own sister, he had never gotten close to a girl. Never hold hands. Never a kiss. Nothing. And now, out of nowhere, a beautiful girl was sleeping right beside him with barely anything on.

It was too stimulating for a virgin like him.

Kai’s eyes trailed downward to his crotch; Bree’s leg lay folded directly over it, and something underneath it, the traitorous part of him stirred awake, rising despite every wound and ache. Heat flooded his cheeks—as his face turned beet-red. I’m in pain all over. How in the underworld is that part still working well?

Gritting his teeth, he tried moving her leg away.

But the touch only made her move, pulling him closer and pressing her leg harder against it.

Screw it.

Kai was thinking that he would get up—without waking Bree up, but at this point, it seemed there was no other choice than to wake her up and perhaps tell her to return to her room. Heck, he didn’t even know why she stayed behind in the first place.

"Bree," He tapped her shoulder. "Wake up."

"Mmh..."

"Can you let go of me?"

"Just one more minute."

"One more minute?" Kai sighed and decided to wait a minute, staring at the ceiling, like a lost lamb, and kept his gaze on the cracks on the ceiling to occupy his mind with something. But no matter what he does, the boner never goes away. "Where is the night when I need it?"

Inside, Kai was hoping that the night would intervene.

Be jealous or something, and did what it did when he was stricken by Layra.

For some reason, now, it was silent.

It didn’t do anything, as if being like this with Bree was somehow okay.

Kai turned his head a little to look at Bree’s sleeping face, and immediately turned away again.

He smelled her scent, and it forced a stronger reaction from his lower part. Even though Bree was now wearing his black shirt, the scent of her perfume lingered—a mix of sweet and slightly spicy flowers with her already intoxicating natural scent.

Something about her Patron God made her natural scent smell really good.

At least that’s what he assumed, as there’s no chance a scent could smell this profoundly good.

"I think it’s already a minute..." Kai tapped Bree’s arm again.

"Mmh, you’re so noisy," Bree murmured, pushing herself up from his chest. Her frost-colored hair tumbled over one shoulder as she rubbed her eyes, then combed it back with her delicate, drowsy fingers. Only then did her gaze meet Kai’s restless stare. "Can’t we go back to sleep? I’m pretty sure it’s still late."

"I don’t think so..." He smiled sheepishly.

"Hmm? Why?" Bree raised a brow—but then noticed that his body was stiff. "Are you still in pain? I already treated you, though. I mean, yes, you’re pretty beaten up, so it’ll take time until you return to normal, but it shouldn’t be that painful."

"It’s nothing like that..."

"Then what?"

Just as she asked that, Bree paused when she felt a hard bulge underneath her thigh.

She looked down and immediately saw the crisis down there.

"Oh, what do we have here?" A grin crept up to Bree’s face as she stroked the bulge with her shin, rubbing it up and down in a slow, almost taunting manner. "I was not expecting to wake up to this. Is that for me...?"

"What do you mean is that for you?" Kai’s jaw tightened, his nostrils flared—as his breathing grew heavier. "Stop..."

His voice came out weaker than he expected.

And to Bree, it sounded like an invitation. A sign to keep going.

"I was wondering when you’re going to claim me," Bree whispered, supporting her chin with her hand as she watched Kai’s struggling face with a smile. "I’ve taken into account that you might be the oblivious type, but this should be clear enough, no?"

She lifted her body up and pulled on Kai’s right arm, placing it underneath her and guiding his hand onto the drop on her waist. Now, there is no more space between them. Their warm bodies are touching directly.

Daringly, Bree stared at Kai’s lips and brought her face closer to his.

Both their lips are an inch apart to the point of exchanging breaths.

"I overheard what you said to Matilda," She whispered. "That our relationship isn’t like that."

"How did you overhear that?" Kai asked through gritted teeth.

Kai did say exactly that to Matilda after Alex, the guy who seemed to have feelings for Bree, confronted him. But he’d said it when Bree was far out of earshot, so he was shocked that she overheard that.

Her hearing must’ve been exceptionally sharp.

"Have I made myself clear enough with this?" She asked as she looked at Kai’s right eye, and then his left eye—searching for clarity in them. "Are you still going to say that our relationship is not like that?"

"N-No?"

"Good... Now, it’s your turn to make yourself clear."

Kai swallowed his saliva harshly when his throat suddenly became the harshest desert.

His eyes smouldered, lids heavy as desire coiled tight around his throat. Inside, he knew what Bree wanted from him. But even so, his body was still hesitating to make the move. Still don’t know what to really think.

Eventually, sensing his hesitation, she pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed.

Pulled along with her was her intoxicating scent.

Bree fixed her tangled hair without saying anything, facing her back to Kai.

Just then, Kai noticed it—a faint sliver of mana shimmering in the space between them. It was an aura that flowed from Bree’s body and latched onto him. It had been invisible up until she pulled away. "It’s the Maternity Cradle, a new Legacy Imprint of mine. It helps you heal faster and calms your mind. By now, it should be more than enough to get you moving again."

She stood up and quickly changed into her clothes,

Kai turned his face away, giving her privacy.

And when she was done, he turned to look at her again.

"Bree," He called, sitting up and reaching out for her hand.

But she didn’t respond. She simply walked away, ascending the staircase in silence before the door closed behind her with a soft, final click. The quiet rushed back in. Kai let his hand fall to the mattress, where Bree’s warmth still clung to the sheets.

A fading ghost of her presence.

"Sigh..." He massaged his forehead. "It’s not like I want to push her away. Just that... I don’t know if it’s the right time for us to be doing this, with everything that’s happening. And then there’s Layra."

Kai looked up at the staircase.

A thought came to mind.

"How did she get here anyway? Since the cultivated clouds are opened, the grey-masked Angels are already back to their duties again." Kai’s brows furrowed as it should be hard for Bree to sneak here when normal guard Angels could find her the last time. "Damn it."

Kai quickly stood and rushed out of the basement.

He walked along the corridor, searching for Bree, entirely forgetting that he was bare-chested beneath the bandages. Even his broken arm now rested in a sling, cradled close to help it fully stabilize until it had healed completely.

Last time Bree snuck into his room, she was caught and punished.

Naturally, Kai was worried that the same thing would happen again.

But even after looking around, there’s no sign of her.

Only then did Kai allow himself a breath of relief. If she were nowhere to be found, then she must have already reached her room by now. He returned to his own—sat on the edge of the bed, and shook off the tangled thoughts of what had happened earlier. The notifications were waiting. He focused on those instead.

[Black Starfall: Summon a black star to sense entities in a fixed radius and launch energy-based attacks at a designated target. Stronger and has more usage if used during the night.]

"Another Legacy Imprint," Kai nodded in acknowledgement. "A much-welcomed imprint."

At this moment, Kai has the Nigh-phantom and Dark Discharge as his Legacy Imprints. One is a utility imprint, while the other is an offensive imprint. Neither provided him with a sensory ability.

He could use Perion to scout places.

But if it was like last night, against someone actively hunting him, even Perion couldn’t easily slip through unnoticed. He’d be detected the moment he drew close. That was likely why he hadn’t been able to warn Kai about what lurked inside that cave fully.

Just that it looked empty.

Now, with this Black Starfall imprint, that problem was eliminated.

Kai channeled his mana and used the Black Starfall.

A black star—a lump of pure, condensed darkness—materialized above his palm, hovering an inch from his skin. It lingered there, patient and silent, awaiting his command. Kai raised his hand and gestured upward, bidding the dark mass to drift toward the ceiling.

And when it did, a subtle glow could be seen on the inside.

Then, strands of blackness shot down.

Kai’s eyes widened when he suddenly could see Talitha through the partition, a silvery line highlighted her form.

From the start, Kai could already sense her sleeping there.

But this imprint allowed him to see her form clearly through obstacles.

Her form was traced in darkness, turning her into nothing more than a shadow in Kai’s sight.

"I can really use this," Kai smiled inwardly, then saw another one highlighted beside Talitha. It wasn’t a person, but a small animal. "Oh, Iris. Did Matilda leave her there? I guess I’ll bring her back to Professor Evie tomorrow."