Chapter 813: Something Precious

The celebration continued through the night. As special guests of honor, Alex and Princess Xenia only managed to return to their rooms at midnight.

"I’m so tired," Alex muttered. "I wonder what Dim Dim is doing right now?"

He wasn’t aware that after Dim Dim returned to the academy, the first place it visited was the farm. It had been away for too long and so wanted to reunite with Daisy and its friends as soon as possible.

At the moment, the Dim Sum God was sleeping peacefully in the barn with its friends, dreaming happy dreams.

Meanwhile, Alex entered his room, feeling very exhausted.

After making sure to lock the door, he approached his bed while taking off his clothes. They fell on the floor, and Alex left them there.

He was too tired to do anything and only wanted to sleep. However, since he had sweated a bit during the celebration, he decided to take a quick bath to freshen up before bed.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as the cold water washed over his body. He didn’t move for a full two minutes and simply allowed the water to fall on his body.

When he recovered a bit of his strength, he started to lather his body up with soap, making sure to scrub himself properly.

He also shampooed his hair, gently massaging his scalp. After rinsing properly, he finally left the bathroom and wiped himself dry.

When he neared the bed, he noticed something strange.

The blanket was slightly raised in the middle. It was as though someone, or something, was underneath it.

Alex stopped in his tracks.

He stared at the bed for several seconds, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

The young man then slowly reached out to hold the end of the blanket before tugging it away.

It was then that he saw her.

Lying on the bed, dressed in a white nightgown, was none other than Lapiz.

She looked at Alex with a beet-red face before covering her face with both hands.

Alex blinked once, then twice before looking downward.

When he tugged the blanket earlier, it hit his bath towel and made it fall to the ground beside his feet.

After realizing what had happened, he shifted his attention toward Lapiz, who was peeking through her fingers, her gaze directed at the young man’s *ahem*.

Alex was then faced with two choices.

The first was to pick up the bath towel and cover himself up.

The second was to scream like a little girl and alert the guard stationed by the door of his room.

Alex chose neither.

He calmly got into the bed and draped the blanket over Lapiz’s body, covering her completely.

He then wrapped his arms around the captured young lady, making sure she wouldn’t be able to escape.

Covered head to toe by the blanket, Lapiz was covered in darkness. But then, she heard Alex say something close to her ear.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

"I-I just wanted to see you?" Lapiz replied.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. I wanted to surprise you."

It was the truth. She wanted to see Alex, but found out that the young man was in the bathroom.

She planned to wait for him to finish bathing. But then, she thought that surprising him would be better. Thinking that this idea was good, Lapiz decided to hide in the one place where she thought Alex wouldn’t see her.

On the bed, covered in a blanket.

"If the guard outside the door realizes that their princess had snuck into the room of a healthy young man, what do you think will happen?" Alex asked in a teasing tone.

"H-He won’t know anything," Lapiz answered. "This room has soundproofing magic. No one will be able to hear anything that is happening inside here. Mother placed you in this room for a reason."

Alex blinked once, then twice. He had no idea that his room had soundproofing magic. But the real problem was how he would deal with the young lady who had snuck inside his room.

"How did you get here?" Alex inquired.

"This room is connected to a secret passage," Lapiz replied honestly. "The passage is behind the bookshelf."

Alex glanced at the corner of the room where a bookshelf was located.

He was aware that castles had secret passages, allowing members of the royal family to escape during an emergency.

The young man just didn’t expect that Lapiz would use that same secret passage to sneak into his room tonight.

"Alex, can you remove the blanket?" Lapiz asked softly. "I want to see you."

The young man felt his heart skip a beat after hearing her words. He then decided to grant her request, slowly removing the blanket that covered her head.

Freed from the blanket that covered her face, the elven princess looked at the young man with a flushed face.

She then looked down for a brief moment as if gathering her courage before raising her head again to kiss his cheek.

Alex felt something warm spread inside his chest after being kissed by Lapiz. He knew how shy she was. But now, she took the initiative to kiss him.

It was obvious that she had done it while she was not under the influence of the Synchronization Rate.

An act that was entirely of her own free will.

In response, Alex wrapped his arms around her slender body and returned her kiss. But, he didn’t kiss her lips, nor did he kiss her cheeks. Instead, he kissed her forehead, which made Lapiz pout.

"You’re treating me like a child," Lapiz said.

"No," Alex replied. "I am treating you as something precious."

"Is that true?"

"Yes. You already know what you mean to me, right?"

Alex had confessed to Lapiz back in Frieden Academy. While that wasn’t the confession that he had in mind, he was forced to do it thanks to Aeris’ machinations.

Even so, the young man didn’t regret telling Lapiz what he felt back then.

It was something that came from his heart, and now... those words had finally reached her heart.

Lapiz wrapped her arms around Alex, pressing his body over hers. His body was fresh from the bath, so it was a little cold. However, he smelled wonderful.

As if falling into a trance, Lapiz started to kiss Alex’s collarbone.

After that, she moved to his neck.

She then kissed his jaw, his cheek, his ear, his forehead before cupping his face and kissing him on the lips.

A sweet and lingering kiss.

It wasn’t a passionate and deep kiss.

It was only a kiss where she pressed her lips over Alex’s, which only lasted for a few seconds.

But for her, the kiss tasted sweet.

Very sweet.

When she pulled back, she looked back at him with a tenderness that made the young man ache.

"Lapiz, can I make love to you tonight?" Alex said, his voice hoarse due to the emotions that were taking hold of his body.

He had made love to Lapiz more than once.

The first time was in a dream.

The second one was in Hy-Brasil, and they were initially under the effects of the Synchronization Rate.

It didn’t happen once, but twice.

But for him, that wasn’t the real deal.

After all, Lapiz hadn’t been in her real body.

But now, she was here. And so close to him.

She was even touching him, sharing her warmth.

Lapiz nodded shyly and replied with a soft "Un." She had given him her permission, allowing Alex to embrace her.

With trembling hands, Alex slowly pulled the strings that held the beautiful princess’s nightgown.

It became undone, revealing her chest that made Alex subconsciously gulp.

Her chest was the same size as Fran’s. It might not be as big as his other lovers, but he loved it just the same.

"Tonight, make me yours," Lapiz said softly while holding his gaze.

"I will," Alex replied. "I promise."

He then kissed her lips and gently laid her down on the bed.

The night was long and cold. Yet, the warmth that was slowly spreading inside their bodies made them forget everything else.

There was only Alex and Lapiz holding each other as they finally shared a moment that belonged entirely to them.

Both of them knew that when morning came, their relationship would never be the same.