Chapter 113
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The moment Adrien rose on her knees to take him back inside, Samuel gripped her hips and lowered her into place.
At the unexpected fullness, Adrien shuddered. Samuel gave her no reprieve, he began thrusting upward from below.
“From today on, I want to take care of everything for you, Commander.”
Amid the sound of their bodies meeting, Samuel’s searing green eyes looked at Adrien as if they would devour her.
* * *
Adrien’s eyes flew open.
She was in the small bedroom attached to her office. Lying on her side, she hurriedly turned to look behind her, but the space beside her was empty.
‘Did he leave already?’
The thought didn’t make sense, and yet it made her strangely anxious.
As she searched for her clothes, Adrien suddenly remembered what had happened to her shirt last night. She grabbed Samuel’s oversized one lying nearby, threw it on, and stepped out.
“…Captain?”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
Samuel was seated at the desk, bathed in the soft glow of morning sunlight pouring through the window. He had been reading, a gentle smile on his face—but the moment he saw her, that smile deepened into something even brighter.
For a moment, she almost forgot he was sitting there bare-chested in the commander’s office—he looked that beautiful.
“What if someone walks in? You’re not even dressed.”
“It’s still before work hours.”
“And your condition?”
“As you can see, I’m fine.”
On the surface, he looked perfectly normal. His complexion was healthy. It was hard to believe he had spent the entire night imprinted with an unmeasurable-level Esper.
But appearances could be deceiving. They wouldn’t know for sure without proper measurement.
She should’ve gotten a guide collar from the doctor…
“And you, Commander?”
“What about me?”
“Your condition.”
Adrien paused.
Now that she thought about it, something was off. No matter how quietly Samuel moved, there was no way she wouldn’t notice someone getting dressed and leaving the room right beside her.
And the surroundings were… too quiet. As if they were the only two people left in the building.
Adrien quickly walked to the window. Outside, she could see a few soldiers moving about. And yet, she hadn’t sensed any of them at all.
That had never happened before. The world to be this quiet.
“…Commander?”
“I think… it’s gone.”
“…What?”
“It feels like I’ve gone back… to before I awakened as an Esper.”
An ordinary human life.
Adrien struggled to recall that distant memory that she had nearly forgotten. It felt like returning to a time when every sound and sensation in the world had been dull and insignificant.
There was no pain. No headaches. No sharp ringing in her ears. Her body was calm. Unnaturally quiet.
Standing there in a daze, Adrien felt Samuel approach behind her. A moment later, something settled around her neck.
He was carefully placing a guiding necklace on her.
“Show me the color, Commander.”
The color on the guiding necklace began to change. From orange… to a clear green… and then, it faded.
“…White.”
Samuel smiled.
A pure, opaque white. It meant her guiding needs had been completely, perfectly fulfilled.
Adrien raised a trembling hand to touch the necklace. She had never worn this color before in her life.
“Even now… am I still not enough?”
“……”
“I want you. And you need me, Commander. Even so… is it still impossible?”
His voice trembled. Adrien bit her lip as she looked into his unsteady eyes.
Samuel was the perfect guide. With him, Adrien could probably live a peaceful, ordinary life for the first time.
Not just that, it would benefit the Empire. Its greatest military power could finally be used at full efficiency. And unlike her parents, who had a disparity in level, they stood on equal footing. Maybe their ending wouldn’t be as tragic.
‘Is this really rational thinking? Or just self-justification because you want Samuel Norah?’
Adrien couldn’t trust herself.
Last night had proven that. Her convictions had crumbled so easily beneath an Esper’s instinct.
That was what terrified her. That one day, under the excuse of instinct, she might treat a guide like nothing more than a living battery.
Adrien slowly clenched and unclenched her fists. The veins along her wrist rose with the movement.
Those veins carried the same blood as her mother, the woman who had driven her father into a life of suffering.
“…You’re right, Captain. I suppose it’s time I start separating personal feelings from duty.”
Samuel’s face lit up instantly.
“Commander…!”
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