"Who can say for sure?"
Asta curled his lips. At this moment, the bright sunlight fell on Noelle's smooth long hair, making her look very beautiful. But this pleasing moment was destined not to last, because Asta slowly drew the demon-slayer sword from his Five-leaf clover grimoire!
"Are we going to fight!"
Noelle bit her red lips tightly. she couldn't help but recall Asta's valiant figure during the battle last night. She desperately wanted to put some distance between herself and Asta, but she gritted her teeth and didn't retreat a single step. However, her beautiful eyes were already welling up with tears of grievance. As expected, was she going to be bullied as soon as she arrived?
"You kid, what are you pulling out your weapon for?"
Magna felt like he had developed a phobia of greatswords. As soon as he saw Asta draw his sword, his neck felt chilly. This was not a good sign!
"Boom!"
Asta swung his sword heavily onto the ceiling behind Noelle. The solid ceiling was like a silver jar bursting, and countless pieces of rubble fell down.
"Ah!"
Noelle lunged forward like a startled bird. Seeking benefit and avoiding harm was human instinct, but directly in front of her was Asta, and Asta was already smiling with his arms open, waiting for her to throw herself into them.
"It's okay now."
Asta casually blocked the falling rubble and gently patted Noelle's head. Although the girl's body hadn't fully developed yet, she wasn't lacking in the right places. Holding her in his arms now was very much like holding a large ginger cat; it was quite comfortable to pet her.
"Bad person! You... you dare to take advantage of a Princess!"
Noelle pushed Asta away in a panic, her small face instantly turning red with shame. This was her first time having contact with a man!
"You were the one who just lunged in voluntarily."
Asta smiled innocently.
"Why don't you say that it was you who smashed the roof!" Noelle said angrily. But just at that moment, the sound of walls cracking came from the ceiling, and a piece of debris was about to fall, so Asta directly hugged Noelle and retreated.
"Remember this feeling. Whenever you encounter danger, ridicule, or helplessness in the future, you can hold on to me tightly, and then you can leave everything that follows to me to handle!"
Asta smiled and put his sword back into his grimoire, having improvised a bit of his flirting talent.
"You, you..."
Noelle had originally been embarrassed and angry, but upon hearing these exceptionally warm words from Asta, she was momentarily stunned. This was the first time she had received such care in her life, and she hadn't expected it to come not from her own flesh and blood—her royal brothers and sisters—but from a stranger!
Moreover, out of a woman's intuition, she felt that Asta was not joking when he said that. If she were really in danger, Asta would definitely protect her!
"Hey, you two, stop flirting, the damn roof is about to collapse!"
Magna looked at the cracking roof with a conflicted expression. Although this house could repair itself, causing such a big commotion would surely get him scolded by the Captain. However, Magna thought again, the Captain was currently in the restroom, maybe he wouldn't hear the noise here?
"Boom!"
Just as Magna had his lucky thought, he saw Yami fall from the second-floor restroom with his bare butt exposed. Yami pulled up his pants in a disheveled manner, but before he could even stand up, a layer of dust rushed into his face.
"I'm going to kill you!"
Yami roared hysterically. Today was truly a huge embarrassment. First, he was watched by two brats while in the restroom, and then, while he was squatting on the toilet, the roof collapsed from above? He had fallen from the second floor to the first without even putting his pants on. Who could tell him who did this!
"Run!"
Magna was the first to grease his feet and run. Asta grabbed Noelle and started running too, but as they ran, Noelle stopped.
"Why aren't you running anymore?" Asta asked.
"The ceiling was poked through by you, why should I run?" Noelle said, raising her little head in a tsundere manner.
"Do you want to see what the Captain looks like with his butt exposed?" Asta laughed.
"Nonsense!" Noelle shivered. The image of the Captain with his bare butt was enough to make her shudder just thinking about it!
"The food in the cafeteria should be ready. Remember to eat more. Next time I hug you and you're still this thin, I'll treat you to two 'Thousand Years of Death'!"
Asta turned around dashingly as he spoke. There were many days ahead, and feelings between a man and a woman needed time to build, so there was no rush. But he believed that through today's explosive opening, Noelle would definitely remember him!
In fact, Noelle didn't just remember Asta; for the next few days, she would even think of Asta's words while going to the restroom. Originally, she should have been angry that Asta had hugged her so domineeringly, but later it was like she was poisoned; instead, she missed Asta's broad embrace that could shelter her from the wind and rain!
"I really have been poisoned..."
While training in the forest, Noelle couldn't help but think of Asta again. Although she had been avoiding Asta these days, Asta was also training in this same forest. Sometimes, when she listened carefully, she could even hear the heavy breathing Asta made while training.