It was now the next morning. Mom was almost done cooking breakfast by now, as I sat down at the table. Dad was the only other one at the table for the time being.
"Morning…"
"Morning, little one."
"Good morning, Maia. I'm almost done with breakfast here. Want me to pour you a cup of coffee as well?"
"Yeah, that'd be great, mom."
It may not have been noticeable until now, but I actually prefer coffee over tea. The only reason I'm drinking tea more often is because it pairs better with strawberries honestly, but I didn't feel like eating any right now so coffee was the default choice, which mom was aware of. I glanced at dad who was also drinking his own mug of coffee.
"What? If you want a sip of mine then you're not getting it… wait for your own."
"As if I'd drink from your mug… you drink your coffee so black that it may as well be closer to mud than a real enjoyable beverage."
"What's the point of drinking coffee if you don't get the caffeine needed to keep you going?"
His smug smile as he somehow drank that thing was beyond me. I genuinely don't get how people enjoy black coffee. I usually put both milk and sugar in mine personally.
"To enjoy the actual pleasurable taste of mild coffee, instead of dirty water that you drink. The caffeine is the same either way."
"Hmm, well, you'll understand when you're older."
"…isn't it a bit late to say that?"
After all, it's been… a long time. Since our first life.
"I wonder…"
"…"
But thankfully, mom interrupted this awkwardly deep moment, as she placed a mug of coffee for myself on the table, alongside some milk and sugar.
"Here you go, Maia."
"Thanks mom."
And she went back to cooking. Shortly after though, the maids walked in the room with the twins. Ivy was carrying Rune in her arms, who was still visibly sleepy, while Iris held hands with Nala who was walking on her own. Honestly, the main difference was probably just that Nala had some kind of weird prodigy pride in her, so she tried to do as much as possible on her own, while Rune relied on Ivy just like any other 6 year old would on their nanny. She was clearly still sleepy as well after all, which isn't really surprising since I'm pretty sure she'd only gone to bed like half an hour before me and Mio came back home last night.
After they all sat down, Ivy holding Rune in her lap while Iris and Nala sat next to them, Mom had begun preparing our seats in the meanwhile, bringing out cutlery and cups for everyone that didn't have them yet. Aldric and Lysanna didn't seem to be coming down to eat now, but that wasn't really unusual. Having a young kid can be pretty exhausting after all, so they usually come down to eat later. However, Mom did also prepare one extra seat next to where Cael usually sits, which seemed to have caught the attention of a certain sleepy head.
"Is Luna here too?"
Nala, who was rubbing her eyes, asked curiously. As expected, her attention to detail was terrifyingly good. Not only was this a completely casual thing that normally wouldn't have caught the attention of anyone else, but she instantly correlated it to her, even though as far as she was concerned, it could've been for either Aldric or Lysanna, who could've just sat next to Cael this time. I didn't even think much of it other than acknowledging it, until she pointed it out.
"She came home with me last night, yeah."
Surprisingly though, another unexpected thing happened. The instant I confirmed that Luna was here, Nala fully woke up without skipping a beat. Her eyes fully lit up as she jumped up, with her hands on the table and started yapping as usual.
"Really?! Where is she?! Yesterday night I finished drawing some new designs, and I wanna show them to her!!"
"Calm down, calm down… we saw them yesterday night when we came home."
"Is that so?? Then what did she say?! Does she like them?! What do you think too?! Hey, are you listening?! Maia! Maia! Maia!!"
"Both me and Luna like them, don't worry about it. They're really good."
Creepily good.
"Ahh…! Yuppie! I'm glad that you think so! And basically, I also need some people to help me make them-"
"Luna already agreed to look for tailors to help you actually. Though she can't do it today since we have something to do, she said she'll get it done tomorrow."
"Really??! Then does that mean that we can finish them before we have to go to court?!!"
"I think so? Rather, I'm pretty sure that should be the case, yeah."
She almost jumped out of her seat as a whole at that point, but Iris sat her down at once, with one hand on her head.
"Being excited is understandable, but you should sit down properly and wait for the food. Your mother is working really hard on making it, you know?"
"But-"
Of course, she tried to retaliate… but Iris managed to shut her down just with her gaze. How do I say this? She's uhm, well, definitely a great nanny for Nala.
"…fine. I'll wait in peace."
"Good job."
And just as quick as she was to sit her down and tame her like a puppy, she switched into caring nanny mode and patted her head as if rewarding a smart puppy or something like that. Nala was only hard to handle if you didn't have a strong backbone… which definitely wasn't the case for Iris. Nala seemed pretty happy about it too, as she grinned without a care in the world.
"But where is Luna?"
"Hm? She went to wake Cael up."
"Eh… does that mean i won't be able to talk to her the whole day?!"
"Have a little faith in Cael..."
"But he takes forever to wake up unless you or I go and do it! He sleeps like a dead raccoon…"
"That-… I don't have an argument against it."
After all, we usually had some other maids wake him up until now, but even they needed at least half an hour to do it. Granted however, the only reason me and Nala had a great success rate at waking him up is because we didn't allow him to keep sleeping, but still.
"They're probably gonna flirt all morning and not even eat breakfast."
Hearing that, both me and dad who were coincidentally sipping on our coffees almost choked on them. We glanced at each other with a mutual 'yep, she knows too much' grin before we recomposed ourselves.
"…I'll go check on them, alright? And mom, since breakfast is almost ready, this way I'll also let you know if they're gonna eat now or later."
"Alright, thanks Maia."
As I got up and began walking away though, I heard her asking dad something… questionable to say the least.
"Isn't it rude to interrupt a couple while they're flirting, daddy?"
"…well, you'll understand when you grow up."
Good luck, dad…That's your problem now!
So I started walking faster, towards Cael's room.
The funny part honestly is that Nala was most likely correct. Though she would eventually come out with him later because of the training that he's gotta attend later, it would definitely happen a lot later if I don't go check on them right now at least. So with that in mind, as I arrived in front of the door, I didn't waste a single second before slowly opening the door.
And once it was wide open, I sighed in resignation as I smiled, while looking at them. Cael's bed was attached to the far left corner of the room length wise, as soon as you entered the room. And probably unconsciously honestly, he always sleeps towards the end of the bed, because he keeps his sword right next to it. What that meant, is that the other side of the bed was pretty much always free, even though it was spacious enough to easily fit at least to people.
This was probably the first time that Cael was sleeping while facing the wall. But coincidentally, it was also the most peaceful he's looked while sleeping, if not for that one time where he slept on her back while we walked towards Layra's restaurant for the first time. But of course he is. Why wouldn't he? After all, while holding a book in her left hand, sitting on the bed with her back against the wall, her right hand was gently stroking Cael's hair, while he hugged her from the waist. Of course he'd be sleeping most peacefully… while in her embrace.
And of course, he wasn't the only one who was as peaceful, or happy at the moment. She gently looked at me, speaking with a smile that I've only seen whenever she was with him.
"What's wrong, Maia? Need something from me?"
"Nothing in particular. Just letting you know that breakfast is pretty much ready, so I came to ask if you two are gonna eat now or later, and let mom know."
"Is that so? Thanks for the trouble. But as you can see, I don't think we'll be getting out of bed yet."
"I can see that clearly enough, don't worry… but don't forget that you said you'd bring him by 12."
"Of course, I will. But there's no difference in the outcome if we get out of bed now or in half an hour, or even an hour. It's only around 7 and a half, isn't it?"
"Well yeah… alright, alright. I'll leave you two lovebirds at it, and go ahead first after I'm done eating. I have to let the recruits know in advance after all. I'll make sure they're ready by the time you two get there."
"Thanks as usual, Maia. Have a safe trip. We'll see you later."
I nodded, as I closed the door behind me after leaving the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Cael's Pov)
I wonder why…
Why am I sleeping so peacefully right now?
Why am I so relaxed that I can't even feel the slightest bit of strength in my muscles?
Why am I so off guard that I don't even think I'd need to reach for my sword if someone was to attack me right now?
And most importantly… Why am I so indescribably comfortable, that I don't think anything at the moment could convince me to wake up?
I don't know.
I genuinely have no idea.
But, is it really a big deal?
I can't really find any reason as to why it should be.
So if everyone's alright with it, I'll gladly keep sleeping like this.
"…Just a little longer…"
"Hmmm, as much as I'd also rather stay like this a little longer, it's about time we get out of bed, Cael."
Whose voice is that?
I'm so detached from my body that my ears can barely lead the sound on to my brain.
I can't tell who it is though.
However, it seems like my mouth is perfectly capable of replying, so I should at least try to negotiate.
"…Do we? It won't make a big difference if we get up now or in 5 more minutes… so why not just stay a little longer?"
"I guess that's true… but I'm very sure that you'd wanna get up if you knew where we're going, you know?"
I don't recall having to go anywhere today though?
"…what?"
"Well, Maia couldn't tell you sooner since we decided on it last night after all."
We? If this wasn't Maia that was talking to me, but someone close enough to Maia to make mutual decisions regarding my schedule with her, then…
"Mhhhmhh…"
"Come on sleepyhead. Today you have a special training schedule, so you really have to get up."
So this is about training, huh? Still, didn't this person say that I'd want to get up if I knew where we'd be going?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against training, rather, if I had to decide between like and dislike I'd say that I definitely like it.
But what kind of training can be worth leaving behind this oddly comfortable sleep session? Granted, I was only half asleep now, but the point stands.
"Training…?"
"That's right, Cael. Today you're going to… Help the Swordsmen department Recruits with their sword training."
"That so.......——?!"
What? Did I just hear that right…?
Without wasting a single heartbeat, I instantly opened my eyes.
"Are you seriou—-…."
But before I could finish my sentence, it seemed like my eyes had finally sent the visuals that were in front of them to my brain.
As I glanced a little upwards, towards the direction of the sound, I found myself looking at Luna straight in the eye. I then looked at my arms instinctively, and noticed that… I was hugging her by her waist…?!
"Woahaaaah?!"
The shock had genuinely hit me so hard, that I not only let go of my arms around her in less than a second, but I ended up jumping backwards to distance myself, which however resulted in me falling straight off of my bed.
"My… are you alright?"
Well, I did hit the back of my head against the floor, but it wasn't too bad. I scratched the area a little as I sat down, still on the floor.
"Yeah, I'm alright…—- Luna…?"
"Yes, Cael?"
"…Why're you in my bed?"
"I wanted to see how comfortable your bed is, but when I hopped on you leeched on to my waist, so I just started reading a book and let you sleep."
The way she spoke so casually made it seem as if this was a completely normal and clear situation somehow. But one thing was still left to be asked, so as I felt my face turning as red as a tomato from second embarrassment, I put all my strength into seeking the sacred answer I was missing.
"…I see. But like, why are you in my room to begin with, and why did you wanna see how comfortable my bed is?"
"Maia told me to wake you up today, so when I saw you sleeping like a log I got curious about whether the bed was that comfortable or not."
"A log, huh?"
Am I actually that hard to wake up? I've questioned it in the past, but it seems like the universe keeps shoving it down my throat.
"Or maybe a rock? You hadn't moved almost a single time after you leeched on me-"
"Alright, we can skip that part…"
"Ehh? So you're just gonna ignore how you passionately clung on to me?!"
"Passionately-…? That's not-"
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you. You'd be surprised by the amount of people that actually start hugging anything in range while they're asleep."
"Yeah, I'd rather not guess… also, don't make me part of that statistic! It happened just once."
"I wonder if it'll be the last though?"
I couldn't even be mad as she smirked, since frankly speaking I was having a hard time not counting myself in that statistic after what happened as well. Also, it was just really cute. So it doesn't matter if she's teasing me or not in the end. Since she's cute. Really cute.
"Anyway. Why are you the one waking me up again?"
I'm pretty sure she mentioned why while I was still half asleep, but yeah, there's just no way I'm remembering whatever that was now.
"You sure are quick to forget, huh?"
"My apologies, mam."
"Well, I didn't expect you to remember anything of what I said while you were barely awake, so I can't blame you haha. To put it shortly, today you're gonna come with me to the Sentinels Headquarters, where you'll be training with the Swordsmen Department of Recruits."
"Hmmm, I see, I see. The swordsmen…Department…. Of recruits…."
"Yep, the Swordsmen Department of Recruits."
"… wait, what?!"
As the realization finally hit me, I burst back up, holding to the edge of my bed with my hands.
"Did you just say what I think you said?!"
"I'd be worried if you didn't understand what I said after repeating it thrice, If anything…"
"So you're telling me that not only do I get to train with Recruits, but it's with the Swordsmen Department?! What did I do to deserve this??"
"That is indeed what I'm telling you, yes. But frankly speaking…"
She took a short break before finishing her sentence, scratching her cheek, and looking a little nervous, no, rather, hesitant? To finish it, but after a sigh, she continued.
"It'll be less of them teaching you, and more of you teaching them."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"You know how an average recruit is like 100x stronger than an S rank adventurer, no?"
"Yeah, that's pretty common knowledge."
"Yeah so, it turns out that a lot of recruits are fairly unskilled muscleheads that rely mostly on their strength, rather than skill with their weapons. The Swordsmen in particular are the worst though. They're pretty much neglecting their sword training, since most of them share the "I'm strong enough to not need technique!" Mentality."
Ahhh, yeah that makes sense.
Honestly, I'm not even really disappointed. I should've guessed that this was the case to begin with, when the scale from an S rank to a Recruit is that massive in difference. Even then though, why am I the one being called in to help them? Don't get me wrong, I'm very confident in my swordsmanship skill, but training recruits? Shouldn't a professional do that…
"I mean, it's not like I don't understand it, but why me? Shouldn't a professional trainer be your first choice?"
"Well, you're not wrong. But let me put it this way. Where do you think that all of the great swordsmen that could teach them are now?"
"Where? You mean like what kind of people they'd be and where they'd live or something?"
"Pretty much."
"Let me think, I guess? Hmm, if the average recruit is as shallow about swordship as you make it seem, then they're definitely not there. There wouldn't be any need to call a trainer otherwise after all."
"Indeed, we're having you teach them a little Exactly because there's close to no genuine swordsmen there."
"But then again, it's pretty hard to call yourself a great swordsman if you have no experience in actual combat, even if your technique itself is great. So if we were to deduce where the "greatest swordsmen" are, then I'd guess they're adventurers? Or retired adventurers if we're referring to older individuals, which are probably at the top of the ladder in skill."
"That's right. If you're looking for the most skilled swordsmen, the adventurer field is where you should be looking. However, there's a pretty obvious reason as to why we can't have them come and teach, isn't there?"
"…'I'm strong enough to not need technique, so why would I let a mere adventurer that may not even be of S rank teach me!', huh?"
"Exactly. And for that matter, the lack of collaboration goes both ways, you know? 'Those muscle heads don't have what it takes to learn true swordsmanship!' Or something like that."
I sighed, finally understanding the circumstances more or less. But there was still something lingering on my mind, so I just asked right away.
"Even then though, why me?"
"What, are you not confident enough? Maia talks about how great of a Swordsman you are fairly often, you know?"
"If confidence was the issue, I would probably try to get out of this situation, don't you think?"
"That's a good point. Then I guess I should just tell you out flat. Frankly speaking, it's because you're the best option."
"And how am I the best one?"
"Not only do you have the skill, but also the possibility of being involved. We can't force a random retired adventurer that dislikes the Recruits to come and train them, no? But on the other hand, not only you'll get to train with others ever so slightly, even if you're teaching, but you also kind of don't have the choice of refuse the job."
"…It's pretty scary when you say that with a straight face, you know?"
"Am I wrong though?"
"…not as far as I'm aware."
If Maia wanted me to do something I didn't really have much of a choice after all. Granted, as she just said this isn't even a negative trade either way, so even if I did have the choice of rejecting it, I probably wouldn't do it.
"Then it's settled. Let's get out of bed and eat breakfast, then we'll be going together."
"Alright, alright. But at what time do we even have to be there? I'm assuming it's still pretty early, no?"
"Hm? It's around 9 in the morning. We have to be there by 12 though."
"Oh… don't we usually wake up at around 7 and something?"
"That seems to be the case, yeah."
"And that's around the time when mom gets up to cook breakfast for us, isn't it?"
"Yep, her food is always so delicious too, it really gets you ready for the day."
"…why are we 2 hours late for breakfast then? Wasn't the whole reason you're here to wake me up…?"
"It's because you wouldn't stop clinging to me, and I wanted to finish my book-"
"Alright, never mind, I get it! I get it, so stop right there! Mom probably left us our food on the table, so let's just go! I'm sure it'll taste fine even if it's cold."
I finally got up from the floor at that point, genuinely intending on getting out of this room as quickly as possible, because I have no idea how much longer I could last before dying of embarrassment. However, as Luna stretched her arms, still on my bed, she said something that had almost delivered a fatal blow to my chest.
"You're right, we should probably go and eat up for now. We can take our time to get there afterwards anyway. It's been a while since the last time we were alone too, so I'm glad that Maia left me to wake you up today."
My eyes widened for a second, then I instantly looked away from her. My heartbeat was going faster than a formula one car at this point, I don't even know how I was still standing. But contrary to the abysmal embarrassment I was feeling, I was somehow just as happy. At the same time, while I was looking away, I wasn't panicking either. It's pretty hard to explain honestly, and I don't really entirely understand it myself. But it's not an unpleasant feeling. Being deadly embarrassed yet just as calm and happy at the same time, while also unable to look her in the eyes at the moment. A totally contradictory yet seemingly natural reaction.
I guess there's no real point in wasting time thinking about it though, is there? Human feelings are just that weird at the end of the day. So with that in mind, I replied to my best capabilities.
"I'm also happy to be alone with you again, you know?"
To my surprise, not only did she stop her stretching, but looked at me with a slightly shocked expression for about 3 seconds or so, before it mutated into her usual intoxicatingly beautiful smile.
"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that."
Which pretty much forcefully made me stare, not just at her smile, but also make eye contact with her, as much as I was trying to avoid it only a few seconds ago. It's really weird. No matter what feelings I'm experiencing, no matter how complicated and weird, in the end as long as I'm with her, they'd all eventually go back to revolving around her.
We then went to the kitchen, where as expected we found no one in particular, but 2 full plates were still on the table for us. And after eating breakfast, we both got changed fairly quickly, then headed out.