OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 321: A Kitten

Chapter 321: A Kitten

?

They were soon done eating, but they still didn't talk.

Lyra simply sat on his lap, her hands playing with his beard, twisting and pulling.

Emir, who had enough of her, pinched her hand, using his now-long nails as a weapon.

She didn't flinch, only giggled, and stepped up for a few moments, coming back with a nail clipper.

Her eyes landed on his as she returned to his lap, requesting the obvious, which he accepted with a nod, and she began fixing up his nails.

Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik...

She didn't question why his body had grown like that. For she knew that when any Celestial becomes a Seraphim, they lock their body in time, pausing their growth, and that the only way for them to resume growing was if they failed to rank up for an extended period, losing lifespan, or if their Aether reserves were extinguished entirely.

Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik...

It didn't take a genius to know that it was the latter in Emir's case, and Lyra was a genius, an AI, and an obsessive lover, so she had more than enough qualifications to reach that conclusion.

Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik...

His time was paused early on, during puberty, so when it suddenly resumed, everything spazzed out, reaching its peak, resulting in the long beard he grew.

Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik... Tik...

"Cut?"

Lyra, who finished cutting both the nails on his fingers and feet, asked if he wanted her to shave his beard and hair as well.

Emir took a moment, looked at her ruby reds, and saw his reflection on them.

He looked pretty good; calling him handsome would be an understatement. He might have

even reached S-Rank in charm, but unfortunately, he had to let go of the new look; it was too sudden.

With a sigh, he nodded.

She complied.

They went to the bathroom; her body clung to him as he walked, her legs planted around his waist, holding herself up.

He didn't bother with her shenanigans, deeming it a reaction to what she experienced during the moment he was gone, and stood before the mirror.

Lyra, her legs still hooked around him, took an electric razor off the sink and went to work.

Her hand moved slowly, as she was unnecessarily careful, making sure that she wouldn't even disturb his skin.

Time went by, and soon she was done, happy with the result, looking at Emir's baby face with a grin while he cleaned the place.

It didn't take him long, and he returned to the mirror, stroking his chin a couple of times, sad to let go of the beard, but it had to be done, or so he continuously told himself.

"...So?"

Emir asked as he looked down, eyeing Lyra.

"Will you let go?"

She cutely shook her head multiple times.

"No!"

He tilted his head in response, only now noticing how different her demeanor was.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to!"

A chuckle escaped his lips as he nodded, not challenging her any further, and stepped towards the training room.

He propped her up, allowing him space to sit down, forming a lotus position with his legs, and only when he was ready did he return her to his lap.

Lyra squirmed a bit, adjusting herself, and hugged his chest once again, acting like a typical cat.

'Hm...'

Emir's curiosity finally bested him, and he brought her forehead closer to his, causing them to touch.

"Show me your memories."

"Uhn..."

He asked, and she accepted.

***

"Jack, Evan, Hiro, Sarah, Leo, all of you, come here."

I commanded them, repeating the same words a million times now.

They responded without fail, even when battered to the extreme, almost unrecognizable.

"Yes Sir!"

Letting out a sigh of air I couldn't breathe, I began to scold them, drumming the training into their heads.

But as a few minutes went by, my world suddenly paused.

Was it just my world or everyone's? I didn't know.

All I knew was that I had experienced an eternity in that moment.

During that eternity, what I saw as my worst nightmare occurred.

It was something that I didn't dare believe to be true.

I realized that I had lost the very and only thing that kept me alive.

Right, my reason for living... it was gone.

My prince, my Emir, his lifeline had turned gray.

H-He died.

Blankly, I 'stared' at the straight line, begging for it to be a false call, perhaps a malfunction.

And thankfully... my hopes turned out to be true.

The life signal turned green, and it began to move, snake forward, and beat like a heart's

thump.

"Are you?"

Ignoring Jack, I rushed past the five and headed to Emir.

He was alive!

He had to be!

What happened was nothing but a mistake!

I kept repeating those lines in my head, deluding myself into believing that as a fact, because

if I hadn't, then I would've fallen right then and there, joining him in death.

Asking him telepathically was an option, but doing so might tell me of his demise.

What if he didn't reply?

What if it was someone else?

That was something I had to delay; even as I ran as fast as I could, trying to reach his office. I

wasn't brave enough to know what happened to him.

Brave with things that regarded him I was not; that never changed, and it might never will.

So... my feet took me to where my life and death awaited.

***

'I see.'

Emir pulled himself back and brought her head closer to his chest.

It was now obvious what happened to her.

Her systems and servers got overloaded as she attempted to comprehend a truth that she could never imagine, her processing power crumbled, and whatever this was, was the result.

'Well, it's nothing bad, at least she's-'

"Hug me."

Lyra requested, cutting off his thoughts.

"Sure."

Emir complied, not minding it a single bit.

"Pat my head."

Lyra requested.

"Sure."

Emir complied.

"My back too..."

Lyra requested.

"Sure."

This cycle repeated, and he always complied with her wishes, pampering her, never saying no.

She looked nothing close to the Lyra he knew-not the manipulator, the mastermind, the terrifying Shadow Binder, or even the pure woman who loved him to a point beyond

obsession.

She felt so vulnerable, so small, so delicate, as if a single push from him would cause her

death.

It was as if she was a child, a kitten.

Emir didn't know how to react to that... but eventually, he made up his mind.

He knew the future her would look back at this with shame, so he went ahead with every

request that left her mouth, giving him teasing ammunition for years to come.

...

Lyra's state gradually returned to normal as time passed with her in his arms, and when she finally realized what she had done, she leapt out of his embrace, acting as if he had stepped on

her nonexistent tail.

"Forget that!"