After touring the fairy realm, the group separated near the mansion's entrance, leaving Orion and Amelia to decide to have dinner together.

After dinner, both returned to their rooms and enjoyed their own leisure time. Orion read books he found at the library, and Amelia wrote down the many ideas she had in her cooking book.

Before they knew it, it was time to go to sleep.

...

The next morning, Orion opened his eyes and did the same as the day before. He picked up his clothes from the chair, changed into them, and walked to the bath area.

He was having a hard time relaxing this time because he had too much energy piling up that he didn't use from training. These three days were hard for someone who always moved around.

Training was also a way of relaxing his body. He could sneakily avoid Amelia and manage to train in some way, but he gave his words, and that was something he always followed, except in some cases.

So here he was, outside the bath, ten minutes after entering. There was no reason to stay more than necessary, since he couldn't enjoy it anymore.

This time, though, the ones found outside were two women ready to enter their side. The twins, Dramia and Drania, were talking outside the changing area. He thought to avoid being seen, but as expected, that wouldn't happen.

Drania, as usual, used her top speed to appear next to him and ask him questions about the bath, which Orion answered.

After watching her sister pester Orion with too many questions, Dramia approached them and grabbed her sister by the neck before dragging her into the changing room.

Still hearing Drania shout about being interrupted, Orion decided to move on and leave, as there was nothing to do now that he was alone.

Just before arriving at the stairs, he managed to hear a loud slapping wet sound that came from the bathing area and a loud voice.

"Shut up now!".

He tried to deduce the origin of that sound, but after realizing it was most likely a slap in the back, he left smiling.

...

Nothing important happened during the morning, leading Orion to enjoy more books that he could never find outside the fairy realm.

At noon, Amelia entered his room to talk about their meal. Since there was not much he wanted, he asked for a simple meal.

Amelia moved to the kitchen of the mansion and prepared a few quick-to-eat meals. A vegetable purée and a piece of chicken breast.

It was after finishing the delicious meal that Orion finally asked Amelia THE question.

"Amelia, do you want me to cut your hair?"

"Where does this come from?"

She looked at him with a scary look. She liked her hair more than anything else.

"You don't have to look at me like that. I was thinking of trimming your bangs and cutting the length closer to your shoulders like usual."

"We haven't cut them for more than a month now, and I don't want your bangs to hide your eyes again."

Her gaze turned neutral again as she gently grabbed her hair and realized that he was right.

"They are longer than I remember... I became so used to that length that I didn't realize until you said it."

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

"I know how much you care about your hair, but it needs to be cut."

Amelia let go of her hair. After thinking for a moment, she answered him with a smile.

"Sure, it's been a while, like you said. Are we doing that now?"

"If you allow me a second to find my scissors, we can do it in a minute."

Orion rummaged through his bag and found the scissors he used to cut bandages. He wiped the scissors with a clean cloth and placed them on the table in his room.

He looked around for anything to place under a chair when a pile of papers entered his vision. After grabbing a few of them to receive the cut hair, he placed a chair on them.

He led Amelia to the chair and began by cutting her bangs that were beginning to hide her brows.

"Do you want me to cut them all the way up?"

"I would like them to still hide my forehead."

"Alright."

With audible snipping sounds, Orion carefully trimmed her bangs, leaving a few centimeters of hair to hide her forehead.

"Does it look fine to you?"

Orion picked up a handheld mirror and gave it to Amelia.

"Yes, it's good like that."

Satisfied, she gave the mirror back. After placing the mirror on the table, Orion moved to her back and began to cut.

Amelia was 181 centimeters tall, and her hair arrived at her upper thigh, making it quite long. She had around 120 centimeters of hair length. Now, for it to be back to its usual length, Orion had to cut around 30 centimeters.

With that done, he asked again if this length was enough, and she said it was fine.

"I just realized, but you haven't been wearing your usual hairstyle since we got back from the underground."

"I can't find my hairband anymore. I don't know where I put it last."

Usually, Amelia made a high ponytail with a part of her long hair, and occasionally, she added a side braid joining that ponytail.

"That black elastic? I haven't found it in this room, so it's most likely in yours."

"I'll search for it later. Thank you for cutting my hair. Do you need me to cut yours too?"

Orion touched his hair and thought for a second, just like Amelia a few minutes ago.

His hair wasn't growing as fast as Amelia's, so he didn't need to cut it immediately. The moment his bangs were beginning to hinder his vision, he would cut them immediately.

He was going to refuse, but then he touched the back of his head.

'It's this long?!'

The shock on his face spoke louder.

'That's right, I've only been cutting the front so far.'

When he realized his hair was past his nape, this had to be changed.

"If you could cut the back, that would help."

He sat on the chair, ignoring the bright smile Amelia had. It was rare that Orion let her play with his hair.

...

She took her time.

Amelia wasn't as careful as him, but she still managed to cut it perfectly. His black hair was now perfectly trimmed, too.

"Thank you, Amelia."

Orion got up from his chair and crouched to pick up the papers full of hair clippings. He threw everything in the bin in his room.

He cleaned the scissors, placed them back into the box they came from, and tidied the room back to how it was before.

After sitting on his bed, Amelia joined him.

"What are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

Amelia asked the dreaded question that anyone bored would have a hard time answering, but it was already decided for Orion.

"I'm going to read. And you?"

"I've found a few cooking books when I looked inside the library; can I read them here?"

She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I don't see why not."

He stood up and picked up a pile of books about the fairies. He placed them on the bed and began to read with his back against the wall.

Amelia ran to her room next to his, grabbed her books, and reentered quickly.

She sat perpendicular to him and placed her head on his thighs. Orion looked at her with a strange look.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm reading?"

She stayed her ground and opened her book, beginning to read.

'She's doing it on purpose. She doesn't look older than me when she acts like this.'

'Though, I guess it's fine. It's going to be her reward for working so hard during that difficult mission.'

He placed a hand on her head and gently caressed it.

"Only this time."

She smiled at him and continued her reading.

'He is giving more openings recently. If I push just a bit more...'

Her thoughts hesitated.

'Maybe I shouldn't be greedy right now. I don't want him to suffer because of me.'

'I should wait a bit more. I'll work my way up his heart slowly.'

What Amelia didn't know was that his heart had already been breached a long time ago. He was simply focusing on his revenge at this time.

That was why, every so often, when everything was calm around him, he let Amelia have her way with small actions like these. She was still his precious partner.

...

The afternoon passed with both of them having an enjoyable reading session. Orion closed his last book around sunset and realized Amelia had fallen asleep on his lap. He lightly tapped her left cheek, and she woke up.

"Hiii~"

"Hi, it's time to wake up now. Did you sleep well?"

With a smile, Amelia moved away and tidied up the books.

"Yes. I finished the last book, and I thought it would be great to nap like this. Did I bother you?"

"You weren't a bother; I didn't even notice you had fallen asleep."

But just then, her stomach growled from hunger.

Orion smiled at her, looking at her while hugging her stomach in shame.

"Maybe I should prepare dinner now!"

She hurriedly picked up her books and left the room to prepare food.

'She's adorable.'

While thinking about that, Orion tidied up his books, waiting for Amelia to call him.

With their dinner, the day ended, leaving only one day of rest before Orion could once again train.