My Servant Is An Elf Knight From Another World

Chapter 345 - After Ever After

I was awake before I knew it… aware before I knew it. I think it was probably the light that roused me, the way the harsh orangish glare shone from beneath my closed eyelids.

Gradually, my eyes fluttered open… and as I stared blearily, sluggishly away at the bare morning light, its warm blinding rays seeping in through long slanted windows, I took notice of a detail that had somehow slipped past in those first few critical seconds of consciousness. 

This wasn't my bed, and those weren't my windows.

Immediately, like a freight train given nitro, the events of last night came rushing back into my head all at once, barreling in, losing control, that poor train into a brick wall. 

Her groans, her moans, her smell, and her warmth… 

Oh, woah.

"Alive already?" inquired a voice from somewhere that sounded so pleasingly satisfying to my ears. "Lady Enstar must be fuming from how many times you've cheated her already." 

In a bundle and a jumble of blankets and sheets, I shambled my heavy body upright - and there sitting close at the edge of the bed, Irene was staring down at me with brown hazel eyes so tender. 

Her hair was a long frazzled mess of loose strands everywhere, and her skin was no longer its stark shade of crimson and back to its usual pale white, with the only hint of red in her appearance being the slightly creased dress she wore late last evening. 

Then, shifting my gaze a little left, on the bedside table, my clothes laid already neatly folded, and sitting right bedside it - steamy, savory, breakfast. 

"Well done," She congratulated me softly, lightly stroking my cheek as cheekily as she could. "It seems you have managed to completely trick me after all." 

"Trick?" came the dry, crackled huskiness of my voice, and I wrapped a hand around her wrist, keeping it there. "There was no trick." 

"Ah..." She nodded her head slowly, and profoundly. "You were method acting." 

"Now you're just reaching," I blinked bleary eyes at her. "Do I really look like an Oscar winner to you?"

"Oh," She paused. "Then It could have been all a dream too. All along, it was never real. Just a complete fabrication I conjured up to make it seem all real, only it wasn't."

"Irene…" 

"Alright, alright, I'll stop now. Don't worry, I know..." The smile on her face only grew more pronounced, as well as the tenderness in her gaze, before she leaned herself in closer and planted another long gentle kiss on my lips. "And I love you too." 

Feeling the tickle of her breath on me again had aroused that urge to feel her fully once again, but alone through sheer willpower, I managed to keep my hands to myself. 

In a silence, and a smile both shared, I went ahead and got dressed again, while she got up and took the only seat by the dresser to the side, brushing her hair with a comb in her hand.

"Eat," She commanded. "You've pretty much exhausted yourself completely last night, not that I fault you for it, of course, considering well..." The handle of the brush nearly flying from her grip after a stroke too hard. "Me, I suppose..."

I looked down at the plate, as I hopelessly fiddled around with the tie, nearly choking myself blue in the process. 

Bacon, eggs, and a side of orange juice. The perfect hangover remedy, as it is inscribed in the ancient scriptures, in regards to a bizarre night's encounter with a succubus.

"It's nearing ten now, and I have to be at the station soon," Irene continued to say, glancing at me through the dresser mirror. "But I have this room book for two more days - I know, excessive - so you're welcome to rest for a bit longer if you'd like." 

This Godforsaken tie was having me more and more preoccupied, so I half-heartedly murmured away in response to her every word, only vaguely paying attention… and as such, I only caught the  flicker in her gaze too late, as she spoke again, "You'll be meeting with Ria again tonight, right?"

The tie slid to the floor when she asked that, and I turned to her, meeting the unblinking reflection of her stare. Ria. Oh man, I forgot about Ria. After last night, there were so many things slipping past me still.

I cleared my throat, nodding. "Yep, it's back to business again."

"Alright," She said a little limply as she began bundling her hair up into a bun. "But do me a favor? Please?" 

"Depends on the favor," I responded, buckling in my belt, curious now. "What is it?"

"Do not ever speak a word to Ria about what happened last night. I don't care how much she presses you, I don't care if she threatens to stay asleep forever, if she finds out, and she wakes up… I'll never hear the end of it. I don't want to be told 'I told you so'." 

The way she was staring at me, you'd think her very life depended as to whether or not I kiss and tell. I could have messed with her a bit, teased her by being deliberately ambiguous, but seeing as she went out of her way to prepare me a nice breakfast… I suppose one good, in turn, deserves another.

I reassured her I wouldn't breathe a peep, even going as far as to propose another pact of confidentiality if she still felt uneasy. Surprisingly, she turned the offer down though. I wonder why.

Once I got dressed completely, I laid back down on the bed, and just stared blankly out at the clear sky, the cityscape at a bustle of a morning's rush hour. 

The mention of Ria in passing opened up a floodgate of other memories filling up the barrenness in my head. One, in particular, had me shooting straight up in a panic, eyes widening, and my lips stammering empty.

Jay. In the restaurant. He was there last night. 

Should I bring this up to her now? Would she be mad that I'm only bringing this to her attention now? Would she resent me for not telling her right away last night?

I glanced at her, hearing her hum a faint dainty tune to herself as she looked closely at her complexion in the mirror.

Better late than never, I suppose.

"I saw Jay last night, he was there," There was a pause, Irene stopped humming, and I rushed to fill the dead air. "In the restaurant while you were in the restroom. He approached me, he was right there, he's up to something, and I… I let him get away." 

I waited for her reaction, bracing any moment for the imminent outbursts of reprimands, of outrage, of questions unending, all while being whittled down by her piercing scowl. 

But, as the seconds passed, as the silence persisted, nothing happened. Irene just looked at me, nodded, spoke, "I know," and promptly resumed her unspoken melody.

I gaped at her. "You know?"

"Jay might be capable, powerful, but the one thing he isn't is subtle, that's how he got caught in the first place, remember?" She explained, her voice still light and springy. "I noticed him before you did, long before you even arrived too." 

"And you didn't do anything?" 

She frowned at me. "You didn't do anything."

"That's because…"

"It's a tough choice, isn't it?" She interrupted. "But for the record, I don't regret my decision. Do you?"

My answer was immediate. "No." 

"Then forget about it," She told me. "There's always next time." 

Outside I faintly heard the beeping, listened to the birds in the sky chirping, taking it all in, and I just had to wonder, had to ask.

"So, that's it then, right?" I asked, looking back at Irene, back to her usual, straight-laced, pony-tailed self. "The pact, it's really… it's really broken?"

Now it was her turn to reassure, locking with my eyes through the shimmer of the mirror. She could have teased, she could have also made fun, but she didn't, instead, she earnestly smiled at me.

"Yes, you're a free man now," She simply said. "And all it took was having the best night of your life. How tragic, right?"

"The best night of my life so far," I corrected, eyeing with her a suggestive squint. "I don't think either of us is keen on making what happened a one-night stand, yes?" 

Irene immediately blushed, but also tossed me a little dubious look at that. "That's yet to be seen," She cleared her throat, once again trying a little too hard to keep her stare blank. "Especially since, after last night, you now have a wide array of options available to you… apart from me, that is." 

To that, I could give no other answer, aside from a long quiet sigh, and a small feeble, "It's complicated."

"You love me, don't you?" She suddenly asked.

I looked back up, slightly puzzled. "That goes without saying."

"Then say it." She saw me blinking baffled, and repeated herself again, firmer this time. "Say it." 

"I love you." 

"Then there you go," a gentle smile returned to her lips again, staring at me endearingly. "Your answer. Not complicated at all." 

I was still kinda slow on the uptaking here, I blame it on the fatigue. "Meaning what?"

"Just keep saying it," She spun towards me, her smile turning sheepish. "Just keep continuing to love me like you do. It's all I'll ever ask for what comes after. If you can do that... then I guess, I won't mind too much if I have to share." 

"Again," I stared into her eyes. "That goes without saying." 

She nodded, trusted. "Good."