The Sword and The Shadow

Annelotte's Kiss

Since Leguna had already stripped, Annelotte couldn't just shoo him up like that. The thought of that made her feel rather weird all of a sudden.

Not long after, she finally realized how weird 'go do your thing' sounded. But since he didn't mean it, she didn't freak out over it, choosing instead to be a little harsher than usual when she patched him up. She first dictated a spell that could amplify the senses before beginning to treat him. She also almost intentionally poked him in the wound with her tweezers as she moved.

Though the wounds weren't fatal, there were 13 of them on his body. Annelotte's emotions swirled into a complicated vortex at the sight of them. She gradually kept her movements gentle and whispered, "Leguna…"

"Yes?" He mumbled a little weakly. As her recovery spell began to take effect, his pain began to dissipate. Leguna almost fell asleep from how good it felt.

"You… you didn't have to do all that."

"What did you say?" Leguna snapped awake and asked.

"I…" She opened her mouth, but said with a weak voice, "I said, you didn't have to do that. You could've left all that to the army. You didn't have to put yourself at risk like that."

"Are you worried about me?" Leguna now felt completely energized as his heart beat hard again his chest.

"Of course not!" She responded habitually, but she looked stunned after the words left her mouth. Lisana had harshly criticized her for this knee-jerk response.

"You're always like that. All Leguna is trying to do is to approach you and get closer to you, but you'll lash out at him like an angered kitten. Why don't you try being more honest with yourself? It might produce a wholly different effect!" Lisana explained with a smile.

For some reason, Annelotte recalled those words now of all times, so he hesitated and mouthed at the smallest volume possible, "Maybe a little…"

"A little is good!"

"Don't overthink it!" She emphasized and increased her force.

'Ouch!" He grit his teeth from the pain.

"Ah, sorry…" That was the second time she apologized to him that night.

"Haha, it's fine," Leguna smiled nonchalantly. His mood was surprisingly good that night as her attitude seemed to be starting to change. Even though he didn't know what changed, something did, and it was more than enough to make him happy.

The two of them fell silent again as she continued to tend to his wounds. Not long after, she couldn't help but say again, "I'm serious. You didn't have to do this."

"Did I worry you because of that?" Leguna asked gingerly.

"Of course not," she hurriedly said, "But you're now the bureau head. If you busy yourself with inconsequential things like that and put yourself at unnecessary risk, it won't be good for all of us. And, I… I don't want you to…"

"But I want to." He wasn't wearing his signature snicker. He sighed and said in a serious tone, "I wanted to do something for you."

"Huh?"

"Annie, I'm serious about liking you." He was at the point where he no longer blushed from expressing his feelings to her. "I only wanted you to do something for you. I antagonized the Eye for Innie's sake and exterminated Bloodhand for Eirinn's. I'm not trying to inflate what I've done for them. But it was on my mind how little I helped you this whole time."

She continued to apply ointment to the wounds without a sound.

"Yet, you used up half your glacial essence for my sake, fought a high-order like Hladik even though you were only at the mid-order, and even joined the bureau to help me out with the strategizing. You do way too much for me. Sometimes, I feel that even if I gave you all I had to repay the debt, I worry that I won't be able to repay my debt to you."

Though she wanted to argue, she forced herself to keep silent so as to not interrupt his heartfelt expression.

"I know you might say that my worries are unnecessary and that you didn't do it for my sake, but the way I see it, you helped me out a ton. Without you, I won't reach where I am today. So, I don't care why you helped me out. But it would be too selfish of me if I keep taking and don't give back."

"I didn't say that your worries were unnecessary…" She whispered as she turned away.

Even Leguna's hearing wasn't able to pick up on that. He continued, "So, I want to do something for your sake, no matter how insignificant or difficult. Only that way will I feel worthy of being by your side."

Leguna thought that his ramblings had angered her again, seeing how quiet she was. He laughed awkwardly and said, "Well, I didn't mean to sound preachy. Don't take it to heart, Annie, I…"

"I understand," she said abruptly as if she made a huge decision. She moved in front of him and said, "I understand."

"I see…" He scratched his head in puzzlement.

"Then, I need you to do something for me!" She said in a serious tone.

"What is it? I'll definitely do it if I can! No, I'll try it either way!"

She looked at him with a hint of embarrassment in her sapphire-blue eyes and smiled. "The thing I want you to do is simple."

"What is it?" he asked impatiently. He was already considering heading out to do it that night itself.

"I want you to… live on properly."

"Huh?!" He thought that his hearing failed him.

"Live on, survive," she repeated. Her cheeks were flushed red. "Don't think of me as an emotionless chunk of ice. I have feelings too. I can be c-considered your… your friend, a very good one… So I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I don't want you to dive into danger."

He felt as if his head was being smashed by a five-tonne-heavy hammer. Her words came out of nowhere. Sometimes, even bliss was able to overwhelm people.

"So, I want you to promise me to not endanger yourself unnecessarily in the future." She felt that she must've been going mad. Regardless, she had to finish what she wanted to say. "Don't endanger yourself for me, boss or Eirinn and the others! I don't want you to do anything stupid like this from now on. Live properly. Can you promise me that?"

He stared at her for a full ten seconds before snapping out of it. "I promise! I'll definitely live on! No, I swear!"

"Good." She nodded and hesitated, before she pushed herself forward and planted a kiss on his forehead, something he mischievously did to her once before.

The moment her soft lips touched his forehead, he felt like he was struck by lightning.

[K-k-k-kiss?! Did Annie just kiss me? Annie really did! I'm not dreaming, right? This must be a dream! Why would my vision be so blur? But wait, I feel the sensation on my forehead! This isn't a dream! So is this person even Annie? That can't be! Even though she acted rather weirdly, I won't mistake her vibe! She really did kiss me on her own accord! That's right! She initiated it, I didn't ask for this, nor did I force her to! I…] [Enough! Stop making such a big deal over your little girlfriend's kiss! It's not even on the lips, what are you getting so worked up for? Don't blabber to me about this! You'll see how I'll take care of you if you keep this up!] Gahrona spat harshly. Leguna had sent all his thoughts to his teacher in a fit of excitement, much to her annoyance.

[Ah…] he said awkwardly, [Teacher, did you kiss anyone on the lips before?] [I…]

Before she responded, Gahrona came to his own conclusion. [You shouldn't have… You orcs have tusks too long. That's not kissing, it'd only be gnashing at each other's teeth!]