Dimensional Descent

"I think I will return now." Mordred said softly, motioning toward Crakos.

From start to finish, the #1 Demon Lord hadn't said a word and had simply observed things. Though he received many looks and several auras were constantly locked onto him, the Demon Lord always remained calm, restraining his own.

Leonel nodded lightly. He knew that Mordred had gone through a lot today. The wounds she had suffered in her past couldn't be cured so quickly, but Leonel felt content that they were going in the right direction.

He and Mordred practically knew everything about one another. In many ways, Leonel felt that he was closer to her than he had ever been to James. Seeing her slowly coming back to her family left him feeling happy.

"What's with that smile?" Mordred teased. "Is big sis very beautiful?"

Leonel coughed, not knowing how to respond. But, his predictable reaction left the Demon Empress giggling.

Just as Mordred was about to turn to leave, Leonel suddenly spoke out.

"Demo – Em, I take you to be one of my close friends now. I just wanted you to know that."

Mordred's steps froze, looking back toward Leonel with surprise.

Seeing those clear, pale green eyes and that handsome, charismatic smile, she felt her heart shudder. For some reason, she felt her tears well up in her eyes.

She quickly dried them with a subtle use of Force, not letting them fall. Then, just as quickly as she had almost cried, she smiled a charming smile.

"Big sis has more to teach you about women. Rule number one is to not make them cry."

Mordred strolled away under the escort of several guards, clicking her tongue as though she was still reprimanding Leonel. But, in response, Leonel only chuckled.

"You must be happy having such a beautiful friend, hm?"

Aina's voice disrupted Leonel's mood, causing his coughing fit to return.

"... It's fine, I'm pretty sure Em only likes women anyway." Leonel quickly recovered.

"So you mean that if she liked men instead you'd be happier?"

"Ah..."

insane thinking

begin to giggle to herself, the soft bells of her

teasing side to her. The two sides Leonel knew were either the overly shy Aina or the

no choice but to begin teasing Leonel like this. Before, it felt as though Leonel was always the one causing her to be flustered. Getting back at

this, she had to play into the fact they were a couple. Who knows how she'd react

back to

you think we'd ever grow apart like that?" He

froze. She hadn't even thought through herself what she felt for Leonel, she didn't even believe she had the time to think of such

a loaded question left

it possible for you to

a question back

had pursued her so doggedly for years. She couldn't help but admit to herself that she thought he would have given up

days, her best friends were Yuri and Savahn. Savahn especially used to always say that men were just like that. They loved the chase, but the moment they got something, they would soon

of her rants seriously, she had to admit to herself that thinking of

her in a perpetual cycle where she never said yes but also never said

why Leonel was so infatuated with her. She hadn't been the most beautiful in their school, and now she was even further from that reality thanks to these scars. It was even possible that the reason she hadn't shut down Leonel's line of questioning like she would have usually done was precisely because she could no longer bury her

left her completely

I could grow apart

but she felt as though her whole world was collapsing

expected was for a response to be

was so real and undeniable that even she

a twisting knife at her heart,

if it was due to tears or if

Leonel continued. "... That's if and only

though she couldn't breathe enough air, as though there wasn't enough oxygen in the world. Every huff

"Aina."

gripping onto

state, she tried to shake Leonel's arms off her. She used such force that Leonel was almost thrown across the room. But, he held onto her tightly, gripping the sides of

He hadn't expected Aina to react so violently,

struggled, but Leonel didn't let her