ROSES HAVE THORNS-Chapter 81 - Pillow Talk

’Ugh my head...’

The first thing that returned to Kurt was his sense of smell. The scent in the air was cold of something sweet and familiar.

His eyelids felt like they had been stitched shut. When he finally opened his eye, the world was a blur of muted greys and deep shadows.

’Egh, my eyepatch is gone and... This isn’t my room.’ His mind slowly began to wake up from its drowsiness as it registered his surroundings.

The ceiling above him was layered with pristine black beams instead of the flat wooden texture of the hotel that he came to know, and the mattress beneath him was unnervingly soft, sinking around his weight as if to pull him in deeper.

He tried to shift his head but the still fading throb at the base of his skull warned him to stay still for just a while longer. From somewhere to his right, the steady, frantic drumming of rain lashed out against the windowpane.

’Sounds intense. What a downpour... I wonder how long I was out for? Last thing I remember was getting stabbed and... fainting? I’ve been through much worse and I fainted because of a stab wound? No. There was something about that dagger that instantly sent my body into shock. Was magic involved? Was I poisoned perhaps?’

That’s when he felt it.

A heavy, grounding pressure was draped across his chest and waist. It wasn’t the weight of a blanket, granted, there was a blanket covering him. It was the distinct warmth of another person that felt far too intimate.

He looked down as much as his stiff neck would allow. A shock of platinum hair against his shoulder, and a pair of arms were wrapped tightly around his torso. The grip was possessive and desperate.

’Diana? So it was your scent that I recognised. Wait, this feeling. Are we naked?’

Diana was curled into his side, arms locking around his chest and legs gripping firmly onto his. Her face was hidden against his somewhat damp collarbone, and her breathing was slow and hitching. It was the unmistakable rhythm of someone who had fallen asleep while weeping.

Kurt remained frozen as his heart hammered against his rib cage.

’S-She’s so adorable~ No Kurt! Snap out of it...’ Unbeknownst to him, as if it had a mind of its own, his arm and hand started moving downward until it reached its destination

*Squish~*

’Really, Kurt!? At a time like this!?.... But it’s so soft~ Hehehe~’ His body started trembling at the sound of him giggling as he played with her plump naked peaches.

"Mmm... Hm? Rosie?"

Kurt quickly switched from his guilty pleasure face, to smiling at her with the peak of his confidence as if all is well and that he did nothing wrong. "Oh. Uhm... Hey beautiful–!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Diana was already all over him. With a choked gasp that sounded like a sob caught in her throat, she pulled him into a loving embrace.

Her arms locked around his shoulders and her fingers dug into the skin of his back as if she were trying to anchor his soul into his body. She tucked her face into the hollow of his neck, her skin burning hot against his own as she tightly pressed her chests together.

He could also feel both their hearts racing against one another. His was from the excitement of her touch, whereas hers was from the anxiety turned into relief.

"You’re back." She whispered in a raspy voice.

Kurt, sensing that this was no time to be getting excited, wrapped his own arms around her and soothingly rubbed her back as if to tell her that everything’s going to be alright.

After her initial rush of adrenaline subsided, Diana settled back on the bed and used his arm as a pillow. Though, she remained partially draped over him just like before.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as her eyes searched his face for any sign of discomfort. "Does your body ache anywhere? Is your mana stable? Tell me the truth."

"I did have a slight headache when I woke up, but that’s gone now. Other than that I feel great."

"Good. I’m glad that Christy was right."

"Who’s Christy?"

"The Saintess. I had her take a look at you and she told me that there was no poison in your body when she healed you. Which is strange because when I saw you in the park... *sniff* you looked like death..."

"Hey, don’t cry." He wiped away her tears and held her cheek. "I’m fine as you can see."

"You don’t understand, Rosie. Every scar on your body had been reopened. Blood kept pouring out of your eye and mouth and you were just lying there utterly limp like a lifeless doll. My heart felt like it was being ripped out from my chest, and now you’re telling me that you’re ’fine’.

Even if the Saintess gave you the clear and said that there’s nothing wrong with you, you still wouldn’t wake up no matter what I tried. Every second felt like an eternity. What if you just kept sleeping forever..."

"I-I’m sorry, Ana. I didn’t mean to scare you."

"I know I’m just... I’m just glad that you’re awake, hehe *sniff*" She held and kissed the back of his hand."

"By the way, Ana. Where am I? And why am I naked?"

"You’re at my mansion. More specifically, in my room. You’re naked because I cleaned you up personally. I would’ve had my maids do it but I’m not letting them see my man’s naked body. Is there a problem?"

"No no. No problem. I was just wondering that’s all. I actually like sleeping in the nude."

"Perfect. So do I. That’s why I’m naked too." She smiled mischievously. "So, are you going to tell me how you ended up fighting the Dorothy twins? I got the gist of what happened at event from some students of mine, but I’d rather hear it from the horse’s mouth."

"It’s not that deep or complicated." Kurt began to explain. "Remember when the king said that he’ll leave my punishment to the prince? Well, turns out the prince really didn’t care about me knocking him out. We even came to an understanding. But his sister had other ideas.

She’s the one who came up with the duel. If they win then I have to grovel before them and lick their feet."

"Ew."

"Ahaha, I know. But if we win, then we get to spank hem publicly. I say ’we’ because Emelie was dragged into this whole scuffle... Actually, when I told the princess that she and her brother were getting spanked, I did see Emelie’s ears perk up. So she probably was looking forward to that the most, and didn’t really fight against herself being dragged in."

"Mmhm. Kiana was always looking for a way to one up Emelie. She most definitely saw this as an opportunity to take her frustrations out on the princess."

"As you might’ve guessed from your awesome boyfriend and powerful student, we obviously won but things took a turn for the worse when the cult unexpectedly showed up. The same person that saved Tobias and uses some sort of shadowy magic, popped up from my shadow then stabbed me. You mentioned that it was poison? I guess that was the main culprit which caused me to faint..."

"Was it your skill, Adaption, that kept you alive?"

"Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too. I seriously wonder what the limit is on that skill."

"Well, I’m not too keen on finding out. I don’t want to go through that feeling of nearly losing you again." Diana pouted.

"Aww~ Come here." Kurt pulled her into his chest, to which she hugged him tightly and started squeezing her plump peaches again.

"By the way. How’s Emelie doing?"

She looked up at him and pinched his nipples when she heard him say Emelie’s name. "Really? You’re talking about another woman while I’m in your arms?"

"H-Hey, stop doing that. You’re gonna make me develop a weird kink."

"Really? Then perhaps I should do it more, hehe~ Emelie’s... not okay. Physically she is but I think she has a lot on her mind."

"That doesn’t sound good. I should check up on her as soon as I can."

"..."

"What’s wrong, Ana?"

"Nothing, it’s just that, I feel like every time I take my eyes off you, you’re always in danger somehow..."

"Oh, come on. It’s not that–"

"Maybe I should just lock you away so that no one else can hurt you." She said as if she were in a trance.

".... Huh? Diana?"

"Yes." She looked up at him innocently.

"W-What do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean by what?"

"What you just said."

"What did I say?"

"That you were gonna–"

*Growl~*

Kurt’s stomach suddenly growled. The sound was so loud that it interrupted what he was going to ask her, which lightened the mood around them.

"Are you hungry?" She asked him as she booped his nose

"Yeah. I haven’t eaten all day. What’s the time?"

"Hmm?" She turned to her side and picked up an object that was lying on top of the bed drawer. "It’s a little past midnight." She tapped the object twice and showed it to Kurt.

"Wait, is that my phone?"

"Phone? Is that what you call it? It’s quite the fancy watch you have. A little too big for my tastes though."

’Looks like she couldn’t get past the lock screen.’ Kurt thought with a smirk.

"Why’re you looking at me like that?"

"It’s nothing. Thanks for keeping my stuff safe."

"... No problem. Come." She stood from the bed and threw on a red silky gown. "The chefs and servants are all asleep but I’m sure that there’s something easy for you to eat in the kitchen."

"Wait, what do I wear?"

"Hmmm... Oh!" She ran to her closet and took out a red apron. "Here~"

"Really? Naked apron style?"

"I bet you’d look really sexy wearing that. I’ve always dreamed of my boyfriend wearing this for me, hehe~"

".... Sure. Whatever you say, Ana." Kurt reluctantly wore the apron and posed in front of her. "Well?"

Diana held her hands to cover her crimson flushed face. "I-It’s too powerful~ C-Critical damage~ F-Follow me to the kitchen before I pounce on you!" She quickly turned around and marched out the room.

As soon as Kurt took a step forward, however, his foot knocked on something.

"A novel? Let’s see, ’Burning Desire. How I tamed my Boyfriend’. What the heck..."

"Rosie, what’s taking you–" She immediately stopped when she saw what Kurt was holding in his hands. "K-KYAAAAAA! W-What are you doing!?" She ran up to him and,

SLAP!

"Uugyaah!" Kurt fell on the bed as Diana smacked the shit out of him and ran away after picking up her novel.

"Oh, Dirty Diana, hehehe~"