Chapter 146: Smiling....?

Chapter 146: 146: Smiling....?

"... Maybe next time I’ll try and make your birthday more memorable.. so it’s okay if you didn’t like this one at all..." She said, biting her lower lip.

Commander Lynn blinked until he finally asked, "And how do you know I didn’t like it...?"

"Isn’t it obvious?" She stared at him. "You didn’t even smile at all or show any sign of happiness while being there. It was as if you were forced to be there... Which I guess you were..."

She sighed. "But you didn’t smile at all. So it’s clear you hated it.. which is okay.. it was bad and boring..."

Commander Lynn was silent as he stood there staring at her. Watching her rant while pouting, disappointed at how everything didn’t work out.

The system didn’t even give any sign of any increments of stats, so Ayra was certain all her efforts were in vain!

"... I guess I shouldn’t have tried... Or I should have calmed down and thought about it.." she kept muttering.

And as Commander Lynn stared at her watching her mutter, he couldn’t help but smile.

His lips curled up into a genuine smile as he watched Ayra in a state of panic and disappointment. The way she made her face simply had him amused.

[Ding]

[System notification: Mate stat!]

[Host! Congratulations! Commander Lynn’s affection level is increasing!]

[+ 5 Affection Level obtained!]

[Black Wolf: 75%]

Ayra blinked at the system, confused. She couldn’t help but wonder if the system was broken. Why was it suddenly increasing when he wasn’t smiling at all??

Confused, she turned and stared at Commander Lynn but he had stopped smiling almost immediately. His serious face on. And this had Ayra even more confused.

"What..?" Commander Lynn asked.

Ayra tilted her head, more confused. "Nothing..."

She sighed as she turned away. "Or am I seeing things now...?"

Commander Lynn smiled again as he shook his head and turned, he kept moving forward.

[Ding]

[System notification: Mate stat!]

[Host! Congratulations! Commander Lynn’s affection level is increasing!]

[+ 5 Affection Level obtained!]

[Black Wolf: 80%]

[Keep going host!!]

"..."

Ayra was speechless. Is the system broken?! Why is it increasing suddenly?!

Ayra blinked as she turned again to Commander Lynn. He was already walking ahead, so she ran to him. Standing before him, but he had a serious face. "Did you just smile now?"

Commander Lynn had both hands behind him as he stared at her. He said nothing for a while and then he leaned forward.

His face was close to Ayra, his breath brushing through her face as he said, "The celebration.... I loved it more than anything... Thank you.."

"..."

Ayra went quiet, shocked. Was she hearing things? Did Commander Lynn really say that himself?! "Huh?"

Commander Lynn leaned back, clearing his throat while staring down as he said, "You didn’t wait for me to finish speaking.. what I wanted to say... is I liked the event.. I really liked everything about it..."

"The decoration.. the performance.. the speeches... the fruits... your singing for me.. I loved everything..." He looked down while he almost shyly spoke. Ayra could see his black wolf ears twitch.

"..." She was speechless as she asked, "Really? But you didn’t show it... you didn’t smile.."

Commander Lynn still had his eyes down as he said, "You should know by now that I’m bad at expressing it. I’m bad at laughing and smiling like that... so sorry if I made it seem like I didn’t like it... I loved it a lot..." He stared up at her. "I want you to know that.. and I want to say thank you."

Ayra stood there, staring as he continued speaking.

"I never really thought about my birth celebration or anything... I even forgot about it. So when you did this for me.. I was moved. Really moved that I was speechless. I didn’t even know how to show it..."

Commander Lynn had both hands behind him as he turned away, speaking. "Mum and dad didn’t care about me when they gave birth to me. They were always busy with work or something else. And they left me to care for myself since young..."

Ayra was speechless as she stood there listening. Was he just telling her his story? Was he really opening up to her?

"So I was forced to take care of myself since young. When Rai was born, he was also in the same situation. Mum and dad didn’t look our way and always blamed Rai for everything..."

"I made it my job to take care of Rai and myself since young. Making sure he never felt left out... And when it was said we both were wild beasts who can’t be soothed, it got worse."

"Mum and dad were the first to abandon us. And they tossed us in the hands of the vicious authorities who tormented us like monsters before throwing us off..."

Commander Lynn sighed as he stared into the sky. "All these while I have closed myself up so I can be able to take care of Rai and myself better. At least that’s what I believed... and have gotten used to it."

He said as he turned to Ayra. "So this evening at the celebration, I got so emotional that I didn’t know how to feel. It felt so good having someone consider you that much and give you a day to celebrate yourself..."

"I’m really grateful to you for remembering me.. it means a lot to me at least..." He said while staring at Ayra.

And then he slowly walked up to her. Ayra stood there, staring at him. She still couldn’t believe everything that was happening but she listened to his backstory and couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

Soon, he came to stand before her, brought out his hand and cupped her cheeks in his palm as he said, "I just want you to know, I’m happy for everything you’ve done to me.. really..." He said as a smile curled up on his lips.

Ayra stared, speechless. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Was he really smiling?

His smile was golden. It was beautiful and had her heart fluttering. He had one of the best smiles she had ever known.

And this was the longest Commander Lynn was smiling at her!