Bael’s gaze was blatantly piercing the inside of Julia’s thighs. The suffocating heat eventually filled up her lungs. Before she even knew it, she had already come closer and was now sharing her breath together with Bael.
His breath slowly nudged upon Julia’s lower lip. It had been as if he was urging her to open that mouth of hers. Julia’s eyes, which had been wide open like those of a herbivore just before its last breath, began to tremble uneasily.
It was dangerous. She felt like they would really be having sex soon if things were to continue just like this.
“I’m actually not feeling that well.”
“What?”
“Maybe it’s because I’ve been moving around for so long, but my head feels all fuzzy and my body is a bit tingly as well.”
She whispered to Bael while looking up at him, which sounded like she was whining instead. Since his crimson irises were clearly dyed with a tinge of doubt, Julia even cleared her throat as if to add more credibility to it.
Only then did Bael’s breath proceed to distance itself slightly. It left her with a sense of regret for some reason, but Julia immediately rolled her body to the side before she curled up her arms and legs. Bael’s palm then came into contact with the slender forearm that got revealed beneath her shoulder strap. After a few caresses, Bael’s face became noticeably stiff.
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
“Ah…”
Julia rolled her eyes vaguely. She had blurted it out without much thought, but upon reflection, she had been feeling that way indeed. Her body felt as if it was floating and her vision continued to flicker just like a firefly.
While she was lost in her shallow thoughts, Bael raised his upper body and swept his jet-black hair back. It briefly felt as if he was in disarray, but she knew that there was no way he would be that naive. He wasn’t foolish enough to make such a mistake in any case.
“How would you know that you’ll feel better after a good sleep?”
“Since it happens often after all. I’m prone to getting sick at the slightest thing. My teacher even used to say that I’m just like a sick chicken.”
“Teacher? Who the hell is that?”
“Ah.”
She immediately closed her lips. As he lay beside her with his elbow propped up near her head, Bael used his finger to gently tap her lips. It was an urge for her to speak without hiding anything, but Julia continued pretending to ignore and turned her head away instead.
Bael had believed that she was really a princess. There was no way she could talk about the time she had been abandoned at the orphanage.
“Can you please hold me until I fall asleep?”
Before she could even hear an answer, she already nestled herself deep into Bael’s embrace. His muscles that were darkened by the setting sun seemed to have twitched slightly as if he felt stimulated. Oblivious to this fact, Julia just yawned softly with her innocent face that was akin to the very picture of tranquility.
“Bael’s embrace is so warm and comforting. It feels like it will protect me from all the bad dreams.”
“Enough with all the nonsense—just go to sleep.”
“Yes.”
“If you don’t recover completely, I’ll really make another lake in return.”
“Uung, please don’t…”
Her face flushed brightly, but a sudden wave of drowsiness overwhelmed her and she could only glance at him groggily in response.
As the sound of soft hums of breaths began to fill the room, Bael gazed down at the now sleeping Julia and whispered softly.
“There’s no one—except me—who can really hurt you. Never.”
*
On a sunny afternoon that had just passed midday, the bright sun shone down onto the bed where Julia was currently sleeping in. Beyond her slowly awakening consciousness, she could hear the gentle sound of water.
“Ung…”
As she stretched out her limp body, she slowly began to sit up. The first thing that caught her eye as she got up was the serene yet intensely blue lake. Its depth as well as transparency were absolutely remarkable and the movement of sunlight that brushed against the water’s surface had been clearly visible too.
Julia, who felt that she was noticeably lighter than the previous day, eventually led her body out of bed. Bael hadn’t been in her sight, but the lake was still nearby. She didn’t think that there would be any problem with her stepping outside just briefly in any case.
As Julia approached, gentle ripples started to appear along the surface of the lake. Pong, pong—amidst the vast lake with no end in sight, a clean melody slowly spread through like a xylophone performance. It had been just as if she was witnessing a scene from a lovely fairy tale.
“Ah, it’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Julia eventually took a seat down by the water’s edge. She thought about picking up some nearby pebbles and tossing them into the lake, but she quickly abandoned the idea. It was due to the fact that the bottom of the lake had been clearly visible. She didn’t want to needlessly pollute the perfectly clear lake.
‘But maybe, dipping my feet in wouldn’t likely hurt a bit?’
Since she had just woken up, she needed to wash herself. Besides, her throat was dry as well. There was some water that she had brought along separately from the Demon Realm, but she really wanted to drink the water in this particular lake. It looked so refreshing and it also felt like a single sip would actually quench all of her thirst right then.
With such determination, Julia finally dipped her foot into the said lake.
[▷SYSTEM
The surrounding level of devilism is very high. Once the player’s level of devilism reaches the number of 999, the awakening ending, ‘New Ruler’ will eventually be entered.]
Suddenly, a window popped up at once.
However, as she had already dipped her foot in, she lost her balance all of a sudden. She tried to find something nearby to grab onto, but the water’s edge was lined up with some strangely tenacious plants, which therefore made it difficult for her to find anything to hold onto.
At the moment when she was just about to submerge into the deep water without any resistance, her waist had been pulled along by a strong force. Following that, a hot and firm set of muscles were pressed against her back as Bael embraced her roughly from behind.
“Why did you come out on your own like this?”
“……”
It was only then that Julia was finally snapped back to her senses. Her spine shuddered at the unbelievable situation that she had currently found herself in.
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