My eyelids felt kind of warm so I slowly opened my eyes. When I looked around, I saw a thin, white light coming in through the gap of the curtains. Maybe it’s sunrise. Looks like I woke up quite early.
“………Hmm?”
Snuggle. When I turned my head, a properly toned arm snaked around me. When I tore my gaze away from the window, a sleeping face of a beauty came to view, just like from the story of the sleeping princess who ran away barefoot. Even so, with the conspicuous Adam’s apple in his throat, the word “Princess” does not suit him.
When I woke up, a handsome person was beside me. Even if I did not grumble, I became an adult, didn’t I?
Seeing his blue-silver hair glint a little in the morning sun, I smiled. No matter how many years we have been together, no matter how many mornings we woke up next to each other. The man beside me . . . Gilbert Kralvane, my tenderhearted lover who made my heart beat fast, did not change despite everything.
How should I put it? This man is really a crook. Why does he have a princess’s pure sleeping expression, when he is a man in the first place? And why the heck does his sex appeal increase every year? One would normally show signs of aging, right? Shouldn’t he become a middle-aged man?
Well, if it’s him, he will become sombre, but it is troubling because it seems that he will likely become a handsome middle-aged man.
Well for me, only my hair grew.
I peeked at my modestly-sized breasts and sighed as usual when I compared them with that of the other women of my age. There was not much difference in size from that before I became an adult and it even made me sadder. But even with such a poor body, he still loves everything about me. I wish I had some more assets to pleasure a man . . . [T/N: *ahem*]
“Hnn, Meryl?”
“Whoa?!”
While feeling depressed as I criticized myself, a hoarse, low-pitched voice reached my ears. And then his arm hugged me firmly.
“Sorry. Did I wake you up?”
“No, you didn’t. I woke up early today.”
He did not bother hiding his sleepiness and listlessness, but the kiss he planted on my forehead and hair made me feel sweet all over. As if making sure that I am indeed here, he touched me everywhere then hugged me tightly again.
……Even though I had experienced such touch many times, I still felt embarrassed.
“…Are you going to get up now? I am still sleepy.”
“You can continue sleeping. I only woke for a moment.”
“I see. Then . . .”
Though he responded, his voice trailed off. Leaning his body on me, he immediately fell asleep as soon as he he snuggled his cheek on me. My sleeping princess—my sleeping prince, rather, seems tired. No, I mean from other stuff apart from this and that last night. Anyway, his breathing and heartbeat became regular, indicating that he is sleeping well.
Well, he is tired.
He tried to keep it out of my sight but I know that the chest at the foot of the bed is tightly packed with official documents. Not to mention those affairs concerning the viscountcy he inherited as soon as he graduated, it seems that he has been given various tasks by the Magical Society recently, and whenever he goes to the academy, he always looked somewhat sleepy. He even brings his never-ending workload to the bedroom.
……The reason why he became busy was my fault in a sense. Because he holds me in his arms, his powers kept on increasing. Since there was a change with just one kiss, you should have expected what would obviously happen if we did more than that.
But I love him. And he loves me too. As the result of pursuing me for relationship, he drew a line between being a magician and his other existence.
I can still vividly recall my first time. It was a night of indulgence. It was painful and my body was too hot but more than that, I became intoxicated with the unknown world he showed me. He treated me carefully as if I were a fragile thing and I was extremely happy. I bet there is nothing happier than this, I said. We laughed together and hugged each other as we slept.
The next morning, when I got up and saw his ghastly pale face, I finally understood. Even a budding magician such as I could tell that his powers markedly increased. That’s how it was.
That blissful night was the turning point. The only memory I have of that day is that I pacified him who was hugging me and kept on apologizing to me. He was obviously shaken by the fact that he suddenly became stronger beyond humanity.
Then we could not do the deed for months. I noticed his self-denial because it seems that he could not forgive himself for “using” me for “such a thing”. In the end, when I gave him the ultimatum, “If you don’t treat me as a woman, we will break up!”, he immediately complied.
Both of us liked it and wanted it, and it wasn’t funny that he held back for another reason.
Even now, his work is increasing more and more depending on the matter. It’s no use to think that this is a “curse” rather than a blessing from heaven. His growth as a magician is an obstacle when I look at it from a romantic perspective. It’s a sad contradiction.
“…Thanks for the hard work, Gil.”
Moving my arms that was hugging him towards his neck, I patted him. Only then did his mouth curve into a slight smile. Even if his body is big, everything about Gil is really cute. This has not changed ever since we met several years ago.
I love him. I really love this airhead, this sleeping prince who is oozing with sex appeal.
Even if with his very superb performance for several years until now, even if “using me” is the same with what he intended from the beginning. Even if it is my destiny to be confined in the Kralvane house like a useless domestic animal after graduating from the academy.
“Surely, I acknowledge it with a smile.”
I used to say love is blind. I love him, to the point that I’d give him my life after this. I am truly happy to be in his arms now like this.
………There was not much time left. Worrying at his busyness and taking advantage of my status as an academy student, we spent our remaining happy times playing house like that.
Anxiety is swirling in the depths of my heart, but I pretended not to heed it. I nestled sweetly in his gentle arms. I slowly closed my eyes as the speed of my heartbeat matched his.
