Chapter 95
“Just this morning, you were afraid of me. You rejected me. But now you’re the one touching me.”
“Did I?”
Fay acted innocent, and Alnazir frowned.
He had nearly gone mad because of her rejection. Why else would he have taken a young witch’s advice so seriously? Not only did she fail to recognize his effort and the pain he’d gone through—now she was pretending she hadn’t rejected him at all.
And yet, strangely, no angry words came out. Her denial irritated him, but at the same time he was afraid that if he pushed too hard, she would withdraw the hand she had barely dared to extend and run away again.
“So you’re saying you’re not afraid of me anymore?”
“…No. I’m still afraid.”
After a brief pause, Fay answered honestly.
“Then what’s the problem?”
He was still frustrated, as if something were about to burst. His head? His chest? He couldn’t tell. Somewhere inside, pressure was mounting.
It would almost be easier if she would just say plainly what the issue was. After all, she was the only one he could truly communicate with through spoken words.
“There are a few things that come to mind.”
“There are?”
“Yes. First, my tentacles.”
He said it with confidence. He had clearly seen her flinch whenever they appeared. Fay’s eyes rolled as she thought, then she nodded.
“If you don’t like the tentacles, I’ll try not to bring them out.”
He couldn’t promise never to use them. Human limbs were too fragile; without tentacles, he was inconveniently limited.
But he could at least try not to show them in front of her. That much he could vow.
His golden eyes sharpened with resolve.
“Well… it’s not exactly that…”
Fay stepped closer to him.
Alnazir held his breath, afraid that even the sound of it might startle her into retreat.
She stopped just before entering his arms. Then she took his hand—his palm damp with a strange tension—and turned it upward.
“Could you bring one out? Just a little?”
He didn’t understand why she was asking for that. Still, he obediently let a small tip of a tentacle peek out.
Fay inhaled deeply and tapped it lightly with her fingertip. When nothing happened, she slowly began stroking along its surface.
“I feel like I’ve always just been overpowered by these. Grabbed, pinned down, lifted…”
And entered into a place that had never held anything before, pushing and stretching her body until it adapted.
And that slippery mucus-like coating—hadn’t it once dissolved her clothes?
For a fleeting moment, she wondered if touching it barehanded was safe. But if mere contact had been enough to melt her, her body would have been gone long ago.
“So you’re complaining that I handled you roughly?”
Alnazir looked genuinely startled. He had thought he had been gentle.
“If that’s what troubled you, then fine. I apologize for not fully accounting for your… physical weakness.”
“Oh, that was almost a perfect apology!”
Fay let out an exasperated sigh.
Cream still clung to his hair, yet this so-called great ruler remained arrogantly proud, still calling her weak.
She admired his awkward attempt, yet she shook her head. In her current state of mind, she couldn’t see him as just a familiar.
So how could they restore what they once had? After thinking carefully, Fay realized that going back to how things were wasn’t the answer.
Back then, she hadn’t known much about him. She had simply clung to him because she had no one else to rely on. There was a contract, after all. That should have been enough.
If the contract were torn in half—or burned—it would disappear. The invoked would return to his original world.
In that sense, the contract was still important. But it was no longer enough to reassure her heart.
Alnazir could disregard it, scoff at it, and endure whatever punishment came.
To rebuild something with a man like that, she would need resolve. Whether she liked it or not, he had chosen to remain here. He would continue to be at her side.
Their relationship had crumbled like her house after the war, but she couldn’t simply abandon it. They would have to rebuild from the foundation. Stronger than before.
“Will you give me your hand?”
With that quiet determination, Fay asked for it.
Alnazir offered the back of his hand instead of his palm.
Tentacles could emerge from anywhere, but he knew she was particularly wary of his palm, and he acted accordingly.
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