System's POV

Chapter 1449: A Little Closer Than Before

’Is that really a dream?’ Thirteen thought as soon as he opened his eyes. ’No. That was real.’

As someone who had contact with Gods, he understood their preference to commune through dreams. At times, they would come to give a warning. Rarely do they outright threaten mortals. After all, they were the supposedly untouchable higher beings.

But Thirteen just knew that he hadn’t just made up the dream. The Goddess of Fate had indeed come to chat with him. It was their first meeting, but the automatic hatred he had felt for her confirmed her identity immediately.

In any case, the odd phenomenon by the end of their conversation truly surprised him. Though only for a brief moment, he had sensed a power stronger than that of any God he had interacted with.

Still confused from his dream, he failed to appreciate the warmth and softness currently pressing on his face.

Stella slept soundly, her arms wrapping Thirteen in an embrace.

By Tiona’s insistence, Stella had been sleeping with Zion these past few days. It required a bit of work on her part, but she succeeded in the end.

The two had been technically engaged for a while now, and Tiona believed that the more skinship the two shared, the faster they would get close to each other.

And through observation over the years, Tione found that the most efficient way to increase skinship with Thirteen was to sleep with him at night as often as possible.

Stella felt flustered the first few times, but after a few days, she had grown accustomed to hugging Zion in her sleep.

A few minutes later, Thirteen finally regained his composure. Little did he know that he’d been out for three days straight, worrying those around him.

Although a little reluctant to leave, he had to get up and go back to work. He subtly shifted out, not wanting to wake the young lady beside him.

But as if sensing that she was losing her human pillow, Stella tightened her embrace and pulled him closer.

Thirteen’s face once again planted itself into her soft chest. One of her legs was draped over his thigh, locking him in place.

’…I guess I can’t leave.’ Thirteen sighed internally before he, too, wrapped his arm around the young lady, hugging her back.

His feelings for Stella were complicated. Until now, her connection to him remained a mystery. The golden thread proved that her existence was important to his life, as his other lovers were connected to him in the same way.

Given the faintness of the thread when he had first noticed it, he had assumed that they were destined to become close friends. Although connected by the thread of destiny, he had simply thought that being lovers wouldn’t be necessary.

But when the Norns had personally stepped in, he started reconsidering his relationship with her.

They hadn’t taken that final step to consummate their relationship, believing it was too early to do such a thing since they barely knew each other.

They planned to take it slow and explore their new relationship together.

Several minutes later, Stella’s eyelashes fluttered.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Zion’s head.

As if already part of her routine, she kissed his forehead and bid him good morning.

Thirteen opened his eyes and looked up at her, his gaze making Stella flinch. She thought Zion was still asleep, so his little move caught her by surprise.

“Good morning,” Thirteen said before kissing Stella’s cheek.

A blush immediately crept on her face, and the last dregs of sleep inside her melted away in an instant.

This wasn’t Zion’s first time kissing her.

Besides, Tiona had poured effort into pulling the strings to set this up, and the least they could do was share this good morning kiss.

Still, being kissed by him like this after seeing how vulnerable he was in his sleep made her heart skip a beat.

“You’re finally awake,” Stella muttered.

“I am,” Thirteen replied.

By this time, she should have already released him from his hold. But Stella was so embarrassed and forgot to do so.

“You scared us a bit,” Stella said softly. “You just collapsed and didn’t wake up no matter how hard we tried to call out to you.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“Three days.”

“I see.”

Thirteen sighed internally. Three days might seem like a short time, but they were currently in the most important phase of their confrontation with Zaphiel and his allies.

Every day mattered to them.

“Did Dantanian and Forneus say something?” Thirteen asked.

“Dantanian, nothing much except asking if you’ve woken up,” Stella answered. “Forneus had the most complaints, saying stuff like, ’He can sleep when he’s dead. What’s taking him so long to wake up?’”

The corner of Thirteen’s lips rose a little as he imagined Forneus saying those words with a displeased look.

Seeing his smile sent fire to Stella’s cheeks. Zion really looked pure and innocent whenever he smiled.

Before she could even stop herself, she had already planted a kiss on his lips, which lasted for a few seconds.

Upon realizing what her impulse had done, she reflexively pushed Thirteen away, out of the bed.

“Ouch…” Thirteen lay on the floor, still trying to understand what just happened.

“I’m sorry!” Stella hurried to his side, and helped him stand up. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

Seeing her flustered look reminded him of the days when he and Shana had just become lovers.

Following the advice Vincent had written in the little notebook, he calmed the Saintess back then through a kiss. And to his surprise, it did calm Shana down.

Thinking it would be as effective on Stella, he reached out to cup her face and pulled her close to him for a kiss.

The moment his lips touched hers, Stella’s eyes widened in shock. But that didn’t last long because her eyes automatically closed right after.

Thirteen kissed her three times until she finally calmed down. At least, that was what he believed happened.

Stella, who had just been kissed on the lips, lost the strength in her legs, so she held onto Zion using his body as support.

The teenage boy didn’t hesitate to give her a hug and rub her back to help her calm down.

Stella’s heart was beating fast inside of her chest. She thought Zion was so sly for this blitzkrieg.

But deep inside, she didn’t dislike the kiss or embrace of the person who brought color to her life.

When she regained her composure, she pulled back and looked at Zion’s face. He, too, looked back at her with a smile.

They stared at each other for a while before moving closer to each other.

They once again shared a kiss, and this time, both of them had taken the initiative to do it.

Tiona was observing them from a small gap in the door and smiled faintly. She then gently closed it back, giving the two a little bit of privacy.

She believed that Zion and Stella had finally taken another step to bring their relationship, growing a little closer than before.