The sun has not yet risen when Erus arrived at his inn. He slowly opened the door, careful not to create any sound because he could hear Cana's breathing, telling him she was sleeping peacefully. The sight of her clumsy and messy posture on the bed had still not disappointed his expectations.
She was sleeping on her back, arms spread sideways. One leg was straight while the other was bent at the knee. She shouldn't look that clumsy if her thin sleeping fabric was in the right place, but it was covering only half of her body. Her underwear was showing and all her skin was now visible to his eyes—this made Erus swallow hard. And worst of all, the blanket was on the floor.
What a scene to watch after his tiring hunt.
Didn't this woman have any caution, knowing she was living with a man in this room?
Behind his golden dragon mask, Erus' face heated up. Upon feeling this, he immediately went to the table where his tools were and dumped his belongings from the guild. He removed his thick cloak and placed it on the chair.
He was about to arrange his own beddings on the floor where he usually slept, but his eyes caught Cana's blanket again. His mind fought over whether he should pick it up and cover her or not. Though his body moved instinctively. It chose the first choice.
He wanted to curse, noticing how his hands were a bit trembling while covering Cana's body, as if he was doing a dangerous mission right now. His damned throat also seemed to be too dry; he had to swallow many times.
"Mmm..." Cana moaned softly.
To his luck, her arms moved, catching and locking around his neck. He almost lost his balance and shoved his face into her. Good thing his reflexes were fast, allowing him to clutch onto the mattress.
"Where the hell do you get that strength even in your sleep?" he complained while trying to escape Cana's arms, but it did not last. His eyes landed on her soft, rosebud lips, and he swallowed again. His ribcage almost threw his heart out when it beat so loud.
If not for his irremovable mask, he might have done something irreversible.
"Cana," he whispered, trying to wake her up.
"Mmm?" she responded with a moan, indicating she was half asleep.
"Wake up," he hardly whispered now. But Cana gave him a pouting answer, paired with her furrowed brows.
Why the hell it felt like torture! He didn't like how his body was consciously reacting to her. Closing his eyes did not even feel better. His heart beating erratically because of this closeness was more disturbing to him.
Was this the effect of his too much aloofness against women? Might be not. No one could make him react like this except this woman. Was it because he knew she was different from the others?
Suddenly, she yanked him closer, almost crashing her face into his. Her raw, sleeping strength stunned him. Erus sighed, yielding not to anger, but to utter helplessness as the momentum dragged him down.
Defeated, he buried his face beside Cana's neck and let her carry his upper body weight. He kicked off his heavy boots using only his feet and climbed fully into the bed.
The hunt was too tiring to still choose to fight Cana.
They had shared a bed before, but this time, Cana's own stubbornness kept him there, not his illness. And feeling at ease in her presence made him dooze fast until he deeply fell asleep.
As the hours of the night bled quickly, the first beam of dawn cut through the small gaps of the window, waking Cana from her sleep. Reluctant to open her eyes, a heavy weight pressing down on her right arm, waist, and legs forced her to look.
Her blurry vision delayed her reaction to the golden dragon mask directly facing her. She blinked four times until her sight cleared, and then her eyes went wide. Realizing it was Erus, she almost stopped breathing from their sheer proximity—they lay so close, not even a whisper of air could pass between them. The intense heat radiating from his body hit her instantly; she felt lucky she didn't melt right then and there. She could not even pull her right arm free from where it lay tucked under his neck. Any attempt to move away proved a failed mission; he locked her down completely, his heavy arm and hand fully grasping her slender waist while his legs pinned hers to the mattress.
She had no idea how they ended up like this. She knew Erus would never dare crawl onto the bed, let alone take advantage of her defenseless state.
Cana scratched her head as a sudden realization hit her. Drinking that entire bottle of grain wine Letty gave her had been a terrible move. It tasted so sweet, she had swallowed it down like regular juice.
Struggling offered no use, so she chose to stay still and wait for Erus to wake up. Besides, the heavy way he pinned her felt better than anyone else's touch ever could. She couldn't even stop her lips from curling into a wicked, antagonist's grin.
Judging by his heavy breathing, last night's mission had completely exhausted him; he hadn't even changed his clothes. The faint scent of toxins still clung to his gear, but she chose to ignore it, knowing the residue would not harm either of them.
Wondering if the guild had successfully finished the hunt, her left hand unconsciously traced the intricate patterns on Erus' mask. The artifact had terrified her when she first saw it, yet it fascinated her just as much. Now, she finally possessed the freedom to study it while his eyes remained closed.
Amazement filled her as she noticed the golden streaks on the mask moving. They rippled like living things, dancing directly beneath her fingertips as if playing with her touch.
Did the mask possess a life of its own? Perhaps that explained why Erus never removed it.
Until her fascination turned into curiosity.
What did Erus look like without the mask? She desperately wanted to know, but stepping over his boundaries felt entirely disrespectful. Hurting someone just to satisfy her own selfish desires would bring her nothing but regret.
She sighed.
Her eyes landed on his neck. Following the line down from Erus' mask, her gaze traced the sharp curve of his Adam's apple, and she subconsciously pressed her own lips together. It looked incredibly sexy to her, even if all men's Adam's apples technically looked the same. Then, her eyes drifted further down, and a complete glitch short-circuited her brain. Joy flashed in her eyes like a kid about to receive candy.
She checked Erus' face one last time to ensure he remained dead to the world before executing her dark plan.
Her free hand smoothly traced down to where his abs hid beneath the fabric. But to her dismay, she could not slide her hand underneath. She had forgotten that he wore heavy combat gear during missions; she would have to unzip it from the back if she truly wanted to rummage through his abs.
Clenching her fist in sheer disappointment, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest when Erus suddenly pulled her even tighter against him. The brutal closeness forced her to feel the crushing hardness of his abs and chest, leaving her completely stranded as she struggled to catch her breath against the rhythm of his.
She felt burning hot right now.
Cana lay entirely flustered for minutes until a wave of pure shame finally reached her brain cells. Even though Erus appeared to be sleeping, she couldn't help but cover her face with her free palm, pressing her eyes shut. The sudden realization that she had almost acted completely immoral made her cheeks flush a deep, fiery red.
Completely undetected by her, Erus slowly opened his eyes. He quietly watched Cana's panicked reaction to what he had just done, a victorious smirk spreading beneath his mask. He had completely won her own game.
Yet when he was about to sleep, he felt someone lightly shaking his body. Furrowing his brows, he slightly opened his eyes, and the ceiling greeted him.
"Hey, are you awake now?" Cana's gentle and concerned voice echoed in his head.
Confused, he looked to his left, but Cana was not there. Then, he turned to his right, seeing Cana sitting at the edge of the bed. Her eyes were filled with concern as she looked down at him, holding a small red towel.
"How do you feel?" she asked.
But he did not answer at once. Was everything that happened just a dream? The thought made him blush. Just how could he dream such wildness about Cana? And what on earth was happening now?
He flinched when Cana touched his neck with the back of her palm.
"You were running a very high fever last night and convulsed. You could have woken me up if you were not feeling well," she said, which explained everything, but then she heavily sighed. "That damned mark is so stubborn. I almost severed it if not for its twin I am with." Her face showed total disappointment.
Erus was too stunned to speak.
His mark, the Reaper? Was she referring to the black vines it summoned that had captured the Teumessian fox?
He had thought he was just tired from the mission. It hadn't crossed his mind that this wasn't his usual bodily reaction.
"Plus your mask. I actually thought of using an axe to remove it because I could not fully clean you."
With wide eyes, Erus felt a real chill run down his spine after hearing what Cana just said. Wasn't she practically trying to kill him with that kind of mindset?
"I really appreciate you taking care of me, but using an axe just to remove my mask... Won't it kill me?" His stoic personality completely vanished at the thought of Cana smashing his face in with an axe.
Cana raised an eyebrow at him. "That's why I didn't."
She summoned a palm-sized blue flame and guided it to his mouth. Erus immediately swallowed the flame. It was real food for him, capable of replenishing an entire week's worth of food supplies. But this time, it only filled his stomach, completely missing the sensation he actually wanted from it.
"But I don't understand. I was just tired last night," he tried to reason.
"Which you shouldn't be, but you overused the power of the Reaper, and that stupid mark just enjoyed consuming every piece of energy you have—even the one I transferred into you." Cana's every word was heavy, which could only mean she was absolutely pissed. "Next time, you'll bring Judgement with you too, so I'll know when a backlash is about to fall on you."
Erus stared at Cana.
Did she mean she was coming along on his every mission now? Remembering he had already confirmed her as his only apprentice, that should suffice, but...
"You haven't answered me yet. How do you feel now?"
"I... I feel light, but not entirely good."
Cana's eyes narrowed, shifting her gaze to the foot of the bed. Following her eyes, Erus sat up straight as he locked eyes with a bird-like creature. It possessed super sharp eyes that looked like they could kill with just a single glance.
"What the hell did you bring here?" he asked Cana, though he wasn't afraid of it. It was simply the first time he had ever seen such sharp, bloody eyes.
Cana looked back at him. "Don't you recognize your own mark?"
"What?" Confused, he kept exchanging looks between Cana and the beast at the foot of the bed.
Then, a small white monkey leaped onto the bed and climbed onto Cana's right shoulder.
"This is Judgement, my mark," she introduced the monkey. "This is its spirit form."
His brows furrowed; this was entirely out of the ordinary. Had he been destined to never have a familiar, only for this to happen now?
Fixing his eyes on the Reaper's spirit form, he almost grabbed Cana when it suddenly stood up. It was massive. It had black razor wings as big and wide as his own, a lion-like body, and the head of a predatory bird—all pitch-black except for its bloody eyes. Then, he looked back at Cana's Judgement spirit.
Cana suppressed a smile, seeing Erus completely blindsided by the Reaper.
"Don't give Judgement that kind of look. The Reaper doesn't bite, but it sucks energy."
"That comforts me," he said sarcastically, letting out a sigh.
"I pulled its spirit out while you were sleeping to stop it from draining the energy from your body. Don't worry, I almost made it explode for sucking up my white energy." Looking at the Reaper, Cana smirked at it, which immediately made the massive beast hide its wide razor wings.
Erus witnessed the exchange and turned his gaze back to Cana.
"What?" Cana asked, noticing him staring for too long.
"You extracted it from me, and then you..." He looked down at himself, completely naked under the blanket. Only his undergarments remained untouched.
"Your life always comes first. And I couldn't subdue your fever while you were wearing combat clothes," Cana explained, but the explanation felt lacking to him.
"And?"
Cana's brows furrowed.
"You didn't seduce me back there before the mission. You did something to my body, Cana."
Cana smirked. Hiding the truth wasn't her purpose, but she wouldn't reveal it just yet.
"Heal first, and I'll do it again so you'll know what I really did back there."
"You—"
But Cana stuffed his mouth with her blue flame again. Then, she enveloped him in the blue fire. It didn't burn or hurt him, and even the bedsheets were completely unaffected by the heat.
"Rest for a while. It will help you regain all your lost energies." Then, she turned her sharp gaze to the Reaper. "Stay, or blast."
It was a simple warning, but the terrifying Reaper trembled, nodding quickly like a disciplined pup.
And Erus quietly lay back down on the bed, choosing not to question her anymore. Cana seemed entirely sure of whatever she was doing to him. Besides, his mind was still hooked on that dream—the one he had no business having.
"Ah, Cana..."
Cana looked at him.
"Did you drink grain wine last night?"
"Grain wine? No. I don't drink. I was just super sleepy last night because of what I did to you."
Silence.
So it really was just him and his damn dream. He had conjured the whole thing up, letting his own mind make a fool of him.