Chapter 13
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Samuel’s eyes snapped open.
“Ah…”
It wasn’t a dream. The unfamiliar ceiling and the feeling of the bare sheets against his naked body confirmed reality.
Carefully, Samuel sat up. Turning his head, he caught his reflection in the wall-mounted mirror beside the door. He absentmindedly touched the reddened mark on the back of his neck.
Samuel Norah had been imprinted with Adrien Brillante last night.
‘I understand it logically… but it still doesn’t feel real.’
But how could he deny the maddening sensation he’d felt?
Underneath Adrien, his whole body seemed to melt away. It was the most thrilling and overwhelming experience he’d ever had in his life.
It wasn’t just because it was his first imprint.
He’d experienced contact guiding before—not without intensity, though never to the level of imprinting.
But with Adrien, it had been special from the very first kiss. When her hands brushed his abdomen and chest, his muscles tightened and his breath caught.
When she finally undressed him, he felt liberated. When her soft tongue licked his body, he thought he might lose his mind.
And at the final stage…
“Awake already?”
The door slammed open as Adrien stormed in, making Samuel’s cheeks flush with embarrassment at the memory of last night.
Hurriedly, Samuel covered his nakedness with the blanket. Adrien chuckled and handed him a glass of water.
Her gaze was light and composed, a sharp contrast to the fiery passion of yesterday. Samuel swallowed his dry throat with reluctant disappointment.
“Drink. You probably screamed a lot last night, so you must be thirsty.”
“I… didn’t scream.”
No guide would ever scream in front of an esper already suffering from hypersensitivity. At least, Samuel never had in front of Adrien.
“Is that so?”
Adrien handed him fresh clothes—a new shirt and pants. Samuel’s eyes widened in surprise.
“I can’t expect you to wear the clothes you threw on the floor.”
“You bring them personally?”
“Does it matter?”
“Commander…”
Even though they were imprinted, Adrien still felt distant and difficult to Samuel. Standing slightly leaning against the wall, she exuded her usual refined composure.
“I want to check your guiding status.”
Her eyebrow lifted slightly, as if surprised by her own words.
“Wait here.”
Adrien left the office. The sound of drawers opening and closing followed, and she returned wearing a guiding measurement necklace.
Now that he thought about it, Adrien hadn’t worn hers last night. It was an essential item every esper had to wear.
The necklace held a special gem that changed color: green meant guiding was optimal, orange meant slightly low, red signified dangerously depleted before a berserk episode, and if it turns into powder, it meant full berserk.
When guiding is perfectly full, it glowed white. Usually, after imprinting with a guide of similar level, the necklace would show white the next day. But Adrien’s was a dull green.
“I’ve never seen green before.”
“Sorry, my level is low…”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Their eyes met in the air, full of questions. Adrien smiled softly, lifting and lowering the necklace once.
“My necklace is always crimson, so I didn’t really need to wear it.”
The necklace’s colors shifted gradually like a gradient. Crimson was between orange and red—a sign of very low guiding.
“Even when you were getting guided?”
“That was orange then.”
“Why didn’t you get more?”
Adrien didn’t answer, only stared with a faint smile. Samuel lowered his eyes, recalling last night.
“Change clothes and get some rest. You did well guiding, Ensign Samuel Norah.”
Adrien drew a line there.
Feeling the boundary clearly, Samuel stopped.
“…No, Commander. It was an honor to be of help.”
Adrien nodded and closed the door behind her.
Though the room was small enough for one, Samuel felt a strange loneliness, as if dropped alone in a vast wasteland.
‘I really am ungrateful.’
He had only wanted to be held by the person he dreamed of—and yet, why did this hollow feeling linger?
Samuel gave a bitter laugh at his own greed and rose from the bed. The blanket slid gently off his bare body.
* * *
“Heard the rumor? The Commander imprinted last night.”
Samuel froze as Peter whispered while opening his locker. Peter grinned knowingly and nudged Samuel’s shoulder.
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