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Condemned To Death
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17th September, 1507
Elise slowly let go of Seren as she had calmed her emotions down. He got out of bed and lightly stretched his body, feeling rejuvenated.
Curious about his condition, Seren walked over to a full-length mirror in the corner of the room. He twisted around, checking out his back, and was amazed to find it completely healed. There were no burn marks left anywhere on his body. Even more surprisingly, the burned part of his hair had fully grown back, looking even healthier than before. He ran his fingers through his hair, marveling at its silky texture.
While Seren was engrossed in his self-examination, Elise remained seated on the chair, her face flushed a deep crimson. The realization of what she had done out of instinct with Seren hit her full force.
'Why did I do that?! Why did I do that?!' she mentally berated herself. 'I was totally acting so desperate back there!' She wanted nothing more than to bury her face in the nearest pillow and scream in regret.
Her thoughts raced on, 'Not only that, I even h-h-hugged him like that while he was b-bare chested'. When she glanced to the side and caught sight of Seren's bare muscles reflected in the mirror, she blushed even harder, her thoughts spiraling into chaos.
"How did you heal me? I remember I had severe burns," Seren asked, turning away from the mirror to face Elise.
Snapping out of her flustered state, Elise tried to play it cool. She stood up from the chair and said proudly, "My m-mom is a rank 2 Lexarch you know, and she specializes in healing as well."
Seren's eyebrows rose in surprise as he looked at Elise silently. She basked in the moment, enjoying the boost to her ego. "...I guess I got pretty lucky," Seren commented, his voice tinged with deep thought.
"By the way, do you have any clothes for me? It's getting kinda cold," he asked, rubbing his arms for warmth.
Elise's proud expression faltered slightly as she realized she didn't have any suitable men's clothes, and her brother's would be too small for Seren. Just as she was about to give up, a memory sparked in her mind. She ran over to her cobard and started rummaging through the drawers, closet on the other side of the room, and even under her bed.
"Ah! Found it!" she exclaimed triumphantly, reaching into a corner behind the bed. She pulled out a shirt that looked completely out of place in this world.
Holding it up in front of Seren, she said, "Here, wear this."
Seren stared at the shirt, dumbfounded. His eyes focused on the words written in English, a language from Earth that he recognized: 'Sunglasses Sensei'.
Seren: “...Did you make thi-”
Elise interrupted him and said with a straight face, “Don’t question”
“...”
Seren tried to ask another question as he said, “...Is this a cospl-”
Elise: “Don’t question”
...
"BAHAHAHA! What is that ridiculous shirt?!" Dylan's laughter erupted, filling the dining room with its boisterous sound. He pointed at Seren's shirt, which displayed an anime character with short white hair and a blindfold, striking a sassy pose.
Seren remained silent, sitting across from Dylan at the dinner table. Elise sat beside him, sipping water and trying desperately not to laugh or make eye contact with him. The table was set with plates and cutlery, but the food was yet to arrive. From the kitchen came the sound of Elise's mother humming pleasantly as she prepared their meal.
A sly smile crept onto Seren's face as he pointed to Elise and said, "Your sister said it was her favorite shirt, so she lent it to me."
"Wha–" Elise was left speechless, staring at Seren with a look of utter betrayal.
Dylan nodded sagely, a look of understanding crossing his face. "Ahhh, so that explains it. She had terrible fashion sense as a kid."
"HEY!" Elise cried out, her face flushing with embarrassment.
Seren and Dylan exchanged glances before chuckling in unison, clearly enjoying their shared moment of teasing Elise.
Elise's mom then entered the room, carrying dishes of steaming food. As she began serving, she gently chided, "Oh you two, give her a break."
Dylan, however, wasn't ready to let it go. "Mom, don't lie. You used to get anxious whenever Elise wore those weird clothes, fearing she might get bullied by the other kids."
The mother's eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered those times. With a look of fond exasperation, she admitted, "I must say I did use to get a little worried when Elise wore those oversized clothes with those strange figures drawn on them."
"Mom, whose side are you on?" Elise asked, her voice tinged with irritation and betrayal.
Her mother chuckled softly, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. Seeing her children back to their normal, playful selves after such a harrowing experience filled her heart with delight.
Seren, who had been observing this family dynamic silently, sensed that the moment was right. He stood up from his chair and bowed deeply towards Elise's mother. In an earnest voice, he said, "Ma'am, thank you for saving me back there and even healing all my injuries. I will be sure to repay you in the future."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted, becoming still and silent as Seren maintained his bowing position. Everyone's eyes were fixed on him, the playful mood from moments ago replaced by something more solemn.
Elise's mother's voice was gentle as she responded, "There's no need to repay me. I heard everything from Elise, and you were caught in the explosion because you were trying to protect my daughter. Because of you, Elise wasn't harmed seriously in any way, and you have my deepest gratitude for that. Thank you." She gestured for Seren to stop bowing, her eyes warm with genuine appreciation.
Elise felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her, even though it was her mother speaking these words. She couldn't quite understand why, but hearing her mother express such gratitude towards Seren made her feel oddly shy and flustered.
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Dylan caught sight of Elise's shy reaction. A mischievous smirk played across his lips, storing away this moment for future teasing material.
"Alright then, enough with the formalities. Let's eat dinner before it gets cold," Elise's mother said. She walked over to Dylan's side and took a seat. Seren returned to his chair, the atmosphere shifting back to a more casual tone.
The dinner proceeded as normal, with Seren quietly eating his food, observing the family dynamics. Elise and Dylan occasionally argued and fought over the same bits of food, their sibling rivalry on full display. Their mother intervened periodically, her voice a mix of exasperation and amusement as she stopped them from turning the entire dinner into a battleground.
As the meal progressed, Seren casually asked, "Oh, I just wanted to ask, what relic did you use to heal me?"
Elise's mom finished her bite before responding, "It's a rank 2 relic called Leafret." She demonstrated by activating the relic, producing a drop of green liquid from one of her fingers. The drop fell into her bowl, quickly absorbed by the food. "It lets me create a single drop with healing properties. When you consume this drop, it will slowly start healing your body from the inside."
Seren nodded thoughtfully, his mind already racing with possibilities. "Would you recommend this relic to me if I wanted to buy it?" he asked, his tone carefully neutral.
"No, it's not as good as it seems," she replied with a expression serious. "You are still a lesser rank 1 Lexarch, so it was much easier for me to heal you. But it still took a few hours to completely get rid of all your injuries. That time would drastically increase once you reach intermediate or superior rank."
Seren nodded again, this information aligning with his own thoughts.
"Hehe, I'm sure you were surprised to know my mom was a rank 2 healing Lexarch," Dylan commented, a hint of pride in his voice.
Seren laughed in a perfectly natural way. "Yes, I sure was," he replied, his eyes crinkling with apparent amusement.
But beneath this facade of surprise and curiosity, Seren's mind was working overtime. The truth was, he had known about Elise's mother's status as a rank 2 healing Lexarch long before he'd set foot in their house. This gave him the bold idea of using an accident such as an explosion to become closer with Elise and gain favor in the eyes of her family members. Seren had first made sure the candle would fall directly into the gunpowder crate behind Elise and before the explosion, he had purposly exhuasted all his soul energy which made his Guard talisman relic useless and Elise knew this.
The end result, the only way for him to protect Elise was using his own body and putting himself on the brink of death. When Elise had seen his state after the explosion, her mind had gone into complete shock as she realized Seren might die because of her. This had been Seren’s plan all along, make Elise blame herself for not taking proper precautions with the gunpowder. Now, coupled with the guilt towards him and his seemingly selfless act of putting himself in danger for her, she will be much more willing to accept whichever emotion bubbles up within her, whether it is absolute loyalty towards him or falling in love, either one is fine by Seren as long he can turn her into a trusted companion who he can then train to become a Fallen.
Then Dylan changed the topic, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper but still loud enough to be heard by everyone.
"Did you know? Ever since Sis started going to the Academy, she wouldn't stop talking about you and this other girl called Susie." He paused for dramatic effect, savoring the moment. "She even commented how she liked watching the drama happening between this trio of 3 boys in your class."
Elise's face turned a deep shade of crimson, her embarrassment palpable in the air. She desperately tried to shut Dylan's mouth by kicking him under the table, her foot connecting with his shin with increasing urgency. But Dylan ignored her attempts as he kept going on and on about the embarrassing things Elise does at home.
By the end of the dinner, the table was littered with empty plates and half-filled glasses. Elise, however, felt like her soul was leaving her body. The amount of personal information Dylan had revealed about her left her feeling exposed and mortified. She slumped in her chair, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
Seren pushed his chair back as he got up and said, "Thank you for the food," he said, his voice tinged with appreciation. "I should get going now, it's getting pretty late."
While he wasn’t looking, Dylan and his mother locked eyes with each other and nodded secretly.
The mother's voice was honey-sweet as she spoke, her concern seemingly genuine. "Honey, it's already so dark out. Why don't you stay the night?" She paused, adding with a touch of motherly worry, "And this will also let me treat you if there are any side-effects from the explosion."
She was lying. Seren's body was completely healed and there was no medical reason for him to stay.
Dylan jumped in, his voice casual. "Yeah, just stay here. We're not strangers anymore, right?".
Seren refused, saying he had something to do back home but both of them still insisted. This time however, he wasn’t acting as he genuinely wanted to go home and then enter Glowhaven to try and join the Ravens through Mila.
Feeling cornered, Seren looked towards Elise, silently hoping for her to take his side. Dylan and his mother both kept their mouths shut as they watched the tension rise.
When Elise saw Seren looking at her, her cheeks flushed into a delicate pink. She fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes darting everywhere but at Seren. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper, "You can stay if you want..."
'Success!' Both Dylan and his mother exchanged triumphant glances, their plan had unfolded perfectly.
Seren frowned slightly, his mind relentlessly working as he tried to find a way out without sounding rude. '...Right now, it's 10 pm, and if I remember correctly, Mila's shift today ends at 5 am, so it shouldn't be a problem if I go a bit later…'
He secretly glanced at Elise, catching her nervously twirling strands of hair around her finger with her gaze fixed firmly on the floor.
'Yes, if I stay a part of the night, I should be able to plant the seed of love in Elise's mind as well. Right now, she's probably confused about her real feelings towards me...'
After calculating his chances and making slight tweaks to the plans, Seren let out a resigned sigh, knowing full well that he would be sleep-deprived tomorrow. "I will be in your care then," he said, his voice tinged with a mix of helplessness and acceptance.
Then his eyelids perked up a bit as if he remembered something and asked, “But which room will I be sleeping in?”.
Elise thought about it and when she imagined Seren sleeping in her room while she was sleeping near him vulnerably, she felt uncertain but also excited for some reason. She entertained her delusions as she thought, ‘What if he can’t control himself at night? Even if we were both adults before, we’re 15 years old now. This is when the male body’s libido is very high…’ She tried to justify her delusions.
Quickly, she came to a decision as she said, “Dylan why don’t you let Seren sleep in your room and you can come sleep with me for the night”.
“Huh? No way. You know that I can’t sleep unless I’m alone on the bed” Dylan rejected the idea immediately.
“Fufu, You can come to sleep in my room,” Elise’s mom said with a light smile.
Elise turned her head with delight as she looked at her Mom, thankful that she had volunteered. Just as she turned her head to encourage Seren, her mind suddenly thought of an impossible possibility. She abruptly turned her head back and looked at her mother and then at her body.
In this world, people get married at a young age and her mother still looks very young. When Elise looked at her Mom not as a mother but as another woman, she realized she was about to make a fatal mistake. Her body was nothing to scoff at. The fabric of her mother’s dress clung to her curves like a second skin, exaggerating the gentle swell of her hips and the subtle curve of her waist. The smooth skin on her body along with a small mole near her soft pink lips made her look like the woman of any guy’s dreams. Not to mention her mature personality that gave her the charm to appeal to anyone.
Elise’s rational mind: ‘Nothing is going to happen. Your mother is a responsible and mature woman’
Elise’s delusional mind: ‘Seren is an adult at heart and let’s not forget what those spicy manga’s taught us on Earth…’
“NO!” Elise yelled frantically as she got out of her chair with fear in her eyes.
Everyone looked at her with confusion as silence descended upon the room. Elise realized her mistake and stuttered as she clarified to her mom, “N-No, I mean Seren might be uncomfortable since y-you don’t know him that much. H-He can come sleep in my room”.
A chilling grin settled on Seren’s face when he heard this but he quickly controlled it before anyone noticed and then smiled kindly as he said to Elise.
“I will be in your care”
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Condemned To Death
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