POV Aron Brightcloud

Now showered and with fresh clothes I looked much more presentable. Sephiroth stood at the entrance to my chambers and mustered me.

“That’s much better. Apart from a few minor things, everything looks fine.”

Following that, she walked over to me and gave me a second once-over.

“First, correct this part. It is all messy.”

She stroke gently over my chest, flattening minuscule imperfections. Finished, she left her hand resting on my body and checked my face. I could feel the warmth through my clothes.

“And some of your hairs stand out in the wrong direction.”

Not waiting for an answer, she lifted her other hand and stroke gently along my forehead and cheeks, arranging my hair correctly. One hand lay now against my cheek while the other hand rested on my chest.

She smiled happily at me. “Now you are perfect.” Her clear eyes connected with mine. I should have moved or said something but I couldn’t stop myself from starring into her soul capturing eyes. They were like two deep blue pools, so quiet and beautiful. For a moment my thoughts halted, I was content, enjoying the view.

It only lasted a second, but it felt like an eternity.

Not long later, Sephiroth broke eye- and body contact. She stepped back a little and I woke up, realizing what I had done. I wanted to justify my lapsus, but she quickly gave me a beaming smile. She seemed wholeheartedly happy.

“Come Aron, it is time to meet your family for dinner.”

Taking a step, she lead me towards the dining room. Her perky butt swinging enticingly in front of me. She seemed more energetic than usual.

I suddenly realized how much closer we had become. I felt genuinely happy about it. Offhandedly, I tried to recall the exact moments she had become so intimate with me.

I couldn’t pinpoint it. All her advances were so natural and fluid, she had somehow completely circumvented my inborn defenses I had built up in the old world.

At that moment my warning bells rang. That wasn’t the plan! I wanted to get closer to her, but not like this! Even now, as I had realized how far I had lost control, I was still only partly able to feel bad about it. If I had to tell the truth, it was even so that a part of me felt a certain anticipation towards it. How would it feel to touch her full and soft lips?

Wait, No! Get a grip on yourself. This isn’t normal! I had to get my control back. I didn’t know when I had lost it. I had to stabilize my inner thoughts! I breathed out to center myself. I quickly reviewed all our past interactions from a bystander point of view. Slowly, I pieced together how she had so quickly infiltrated my defenses and made me nearly fall for her.

Implementing a variant of the carrot and stick approach, she had roughed me up during training and used the opportunity to instill closeness between us. It was normal to have body-contact during training, so it went unnoticed. She used that as a bridgehead and simply didn’t stop after training, touching me often. She encouraged and teased me, getting me agitated so I would chase after her or try to get back at her. Somehow that always ended in even more body contact.

As a byproduct of her seduction, my search for her race had slowly stalled during the last week. Sephiroth had skillfully diverted my attention. That didn’t mean that she had found out about my suspicions, it was her way of breaking my defenses. First taking away my control, the rest would follow step by step.

Still, even if she was this good at manipulating, I shouldn’t have been led astray so easily. I was a 28 years old antisocial man, not some hormone driven youngster!

No, that wasn’t right! Admittedly, my soul was 28 years old, but I had now the body of a 16-year-old youth and parts of his memories and feelings! I had completely underestimated these factors and had blindly trusted in my natural defenses. This had left me vulnerable to her.

While I figured out everything we had reached the dining room.

Sephiroth turned in my direction, “Enjoy your meal, young master.” She played the loyal servant and bowed towards me, giving me a quick glance down her ample cleavage. She did it exactly right. Nobody would feel that it was an act of seduction, but the picture would still linger in one's mind. She was a devoted servant that cared about her master.

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Having ended her bow, she looked back up with her clear eyes, convoying her support to me. I had to collect myself as a warm feeling tried to worm its way into my heart and mind.

“Thank you Sephiroth, see you later.” I nodded towards her and entered the room.

My mother and little sister were already sitting at the table. Lea was wearing a new dress. Obviously, the shopping trip was a success.

As Lea saw me she stood up and ran towards me. “Brother, look! See what a beautiful dress I have found!” She turned her body in front of me, letting me examine her.

I felt happiness bloom in my heart. Nothing was purer than the joy of a young child.

“You look gorgeous, my little sister! The dress really fits you. The color goes well with your eyes.”

Hearing my compliments, she smiled joyfully.

At that moment I heard the amused voice of my mother.

“Hello, my son, I hope you had a pleasant day. Come now you two, otherwise the food will get cold.”

We immediately nodded and made our way to the table. As we were seated my mother gave a wink to Sandra. Not long later the servants arrived with our dinner.

The first serving was a delicious tomato soup. I enjoyed it very much. Eating well had been one thing I had really missed. The last two years I had eaten mostly dry rations and canned food. It was impossible to eat well in a trench.

“So Aron, what did you do this afternoon?” My mother asked with an interested expression.

“Not much, I played a little and read a little.”

“That's good. You know Aron, training is good, but you shouldn’t go overboard too much. That can also hurt your body.”

Looks like my mum was more observant than I thought.

“Yes, Mum, I will try to turn down my training a bit. Even so, I really enjoy it.”

“That’s good. By the way, how does it go with Sephiroth? Are you happy with her? Or would you like to swap her with Richard? I think he would be the better choice to learn swordsmanship from. Sephiroth is still quite young.”

Separating from Sephiroth?

“No! Sephiroth is the right one for me.”

Wait, what did I say? Damn, Sephiroth had her claws even deeper in me than I had realized. I needed a much more thorough approach! I had to get the control of my emotions back!

Lifting my head, I saw my mother looking at me in a way that no son wanted to see his mother looking at him.

“I misspoke, I wanted to say that Sephiroth is very competent and I don’t see a reason to change the way things are at the moment. Both bodyguards have already gotten used to their routines, it would be a burden to change now.”

My mother lifted one eyebrow and looked at me with that special gaze.

Damn, I botched that one completely.

Luckily my little sister used the pause in our conversation to start talking about her day. Rescuing me from this dicey situation. Thanks to that, we moved back to lighter topics.

Around an hour later we were finished and I said goodbye to my family. It was time for another session of studying. As I walked out of the dining room Sephiroth immediately greeted me, standing next to the door.

I nodded towards her and moved further down the corridor.

“How was dinner, my master?” Sephiroth's voice rung out. Typically for her, she loved to emphasize that title in a certain way to tease me.

“It was good, my little sister talked a lot about her day.”

“That's great to hear.” in comfortable silence we moved further towards my room. We were climbing the stairs when Sephiroth suddenly purred next to me.

“So, I heard that I am the right one for you?”

It came completely out of the blue, I froze for a second. Applying all my control, I didn’t miss the step. Nevertheless, I couldn’t completely catch myself in time and had to jog up the stairs to regain control.

“Everything okay, Aron?” Sephiroth looked worryingly at me, but her eyes were still laughing.

“What did you say? I think you missheard”

“Is that so? I could swear I had heard correctly, but if you are sure than I believe you.”

She was still holding her facial expressions,her eyes laughed even more now.

She was superb! I felt my emotions trying to rise. Had I not realized what was going on, I would have fallen for her trap once more. I needed to establish control, the quicker the better.

At least I had found out another detail about her. She had an exceptionally well-developed sense of hearing. A normal person would have never been able to listen to our conversation.