Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 464: The Moon Is Beautiful Tonight
Steven grabbing Alina was never about actually pulling off the cotton socks from her thighs—especially when those thighs were still wrapped in thick trousers—and savoring them or anything like that.
Sure, there was a tiny bit of curiosity, but he wasn't that far gone. More importantly, with this adorable little deer girl potentially walking straight toward a dangerous fate, Steven was even less inclined to do anything inappropriate at a time like this.
So what he really did was simply wrap his arms around Alina's waist, rest his head gently against her beautiful white hair, and stop there—no further moves at all.
As for Alina, after a token struggle, she seemed to give up resisting entirely and went still in his arms.
"Talulah… she left, didn't she?"
After a long, quiet while—long enough for the chill clinging to her body to be chased away by the warmth coming from Steven—Alina finally spoke in a soft voice, lifting her head from his chest.
"Yeah," Steven nodded. "That's just how she is. Expecting her to wait patiently was never very realistic. Once she makes up her mind, she acts fast. I've never doubted her on that front."
Talulah had always been like this. Steven had more or less anticipated that she wouldn't obediently wait in the room for him, he just hadn't expected her to slip away without a word.
Slip away, leave behind something so easy to misunderstand, and have Alina walk in at exactly the wrong moment.
"Then… how do you explain what you're holding?"
A faint blush spread across Alina's small face as she pointed at the gradient-colored stocking still clenched in Steven's hand. No matter how you looked at it, that thing was incredibly hard to explain.
"How am I supposed to explain it?" Steven chuckled. "It's trouble she deliberately left me. If it really comes down to it, just read the letter yourself."
With that, he picked up the note Talulah had left on the desk and handed it to the still somewhat flustered deer girl.
After reading it, Alina naturally understood—this was absolutely something her close friend would do.
But when Alina lowered the letter and looked up again, what she saw was Steven holding that gradient stocking up against her own thigh, comparing it in place.
"I just feel like your builds are pretty similar," he said casually. "This would probably look pretty good on you too."
Having been caught in the act, Steven didn't look particularly embarrassed. He scratched his head, gave a sheepish smile, and then finally put away the source of all the trouble.
"You're acting a bit strange today," Alina said instead of pursuing the topic. She frowned slightly, bringing up something that seemed completely unrelated.
"Are you hiding something from me?"
Her boyfriend was as unpredictable as ever, but Alina's intuition was telling her that he was definitely keeping something from her.
And more likely than not… it was something deeply connected to her.
"Am I?"
Steven looked himself up and down, wearing an expression as if he genuinely had no idea what Alina was talking about.
"…If you don't want me to know," Alina said softly, "then I won't force you. Just like with Talulah, I respect your choices. And I know that you would never hurt me. I trust you."
All the while, Alina gazed at Steven with gentle eyes. She smiled faintly, lifting her hand to rest against his face, softly caressing his cheek.
Steven smiled back, allowing her hand to trail across his face. In that moment, his resolve to protect this gentle little deer grew even firmer.
What a wonderful girl she was. If anyone could even think about harming her… could they really still be called human?
Reaching up, Steven gently took her hand away from his face. He didn't say anything more—only gave her head a light pat before decisively walking over to the doorway. He lifted his gaze toward the snowy plains, where two full moons hung high in the sky.
"If I said I called you over just to look at the moon together," he asked quietly, "would you believe me?"
Steven turned back toward the girl in the room, unusually poetic for once. Moonlight spilled over her, coating her in a faint silver glow, making her look like an angel who had descended from heaven itself.
"I would," Alina replied.
Her answer didn't surprise Steven in the least. Her emotions and temperament had always been like a calm, still lake—serene and unshaken. It felt as though no matter how outrageous his words were, even if he claimed the sun and moon were actually square, she would still nod along and trust him completely.
He had met many people in this world, but someone as gentle as her—someone who trusted him without reservation—there was only this one adorable Elafia girl.
"The moon," Steven said softly, turning his eyes back to the sky, "is really beautiful."
Having received Alina's answer, he didn't elaborate further. There was a faint smile on his lips—one that only he understood—as he spoke words that only people from his former home world could truly grasp.
Up until now, he had almost always been the one passively receiving feelings like this. To say something like this himself… it was a first.
"Isn't the moon always like this?" Alina tilted her head slightly. "Maybe it's because you're thinking about something beautiful that the moon feels especially lovely tonight."
As someone born and raised on Terra, Alina naturally couldn't understand the hidden meaning behind 'the moon is beautiful'. Still, that didn't stop her from responding to Steven's words in her own gentle, heartfelt way.
"Thinking of something beautiful?"
Steven turned to look at the girl beside him. In his eyes, there was only her—no one else reflected there at all. The smile in his voice, however, was impossible to conceal.
"Yes. There really is something like that. And I'm quite certain… there's nothing on this land more beautiful than what I'm thinking of right now."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed