Chapter 183: Let me return the favour tonight

Vlad had only reached halfway towards the direction of the orc corpses, walking past the trees through the snow-filled land, when he saw Seraphina and Alisha coming from the front, still wearing their masks. They had removed their gloves.

"Where are you heading?" Seraphina asked, reaching him.

He was about to speak when Alisha released a low gasp.

"Did you come to check on us because you were worried about us?" she asked teasingly, her chubby cheeks turning into dumplings as a wide smile covered her face.

Vlad blinked, his eyes turning sideways. For only a moment, he seemed flustered, as if Alisha had hit the nail right on the head. Although he immediately returned to his usual composed demeanor, the brief lapse didn’t go unnoticed by Seraphina.

"This is a dangerous place," Vlad replied calmly. "I was worried that you might get ambushed by monsters."

"We aren’t that weak," Seraphina muttered, although her voice didn’t carry its usual sassy tone. "But we wouldn’t have minded having a reliable knight watching our backs."

A silence followed that Alisha found suffocatingly awkward between the two.

"By the way, why are you two coming back?" Vlad asked as he began walking with them towards the camp. "Did something go wrong?"

Seraphina shook her head. "Alisha is done casting the spell. It will keep releasing the scent of the orcs’ blood in every direction," she explained. "I will order Hugo and Raphael to keep an eye on the array during the day."

Alisha couldn’t help but notice a strange awkwardness in Seraphina’s words. Vlad didn’t seem like his usual self either.

She couldn’t pinpoint it, but the vibe between the two of them was definitely different since the morning. Both of them seemed to be on edge.

For the whole walk, she couldn’t wait to reach the camp and escape this suffocating atmosphere.

Once they returned, Seraphina ordered Hugo and Raphael to keep an eye on the array. Once a high-ranked monster arrived at the location, one of them had to return and inform the rest of the group.

If no monster came during the day, Vlad and Seraphina would keep watch during the night. No one asked, but she still explained that she chose to stand guard during the night because she could keep herself warm using her mana. As for Vlad, she told them that his body possessed natural resistance to the cold.

It was news to Vlad as well.

He side-eyed Seraphina when she said that, but immediately received a pinch to his side before he could say anything.

Alisha wasn’t given the guarding duty. As a healer, she was neither proficient at quickly returning to alert the remaining party nor could she be left alone to keep an eye on the monster, which provided her with an exemption.

Now that Vlad was free for the day and knew he might have to pull another all-nighter if no monster came during the day, he decided to hit the bed. He hadn’t gotten a proper sleep for two nights now. The first night was spent with Chloe, during which he slept late and woke up early for packing. Then came the next night with Seraphina... in which he didn’t even take a nap.

He fell asleep around eleven in the morning and only woke up at six, when the forest was covered in the dark blanket of night.

His eyes opened to Seraphina’s figure sitting at the edge of his bed, looking at him with warm pink eyes, her face resting on her palm.

"Good evening," she whispered in a gentle tone.

"Good evening, Sera. How long have I been asleep?" Vlad asked in a husky tone as he slowly rose to a sitting position.

"Seven hours," Seraphina revealed. She was already in her mage uniform, the warm leggings, skirt, and thick white furry coat.

"That’s quite a lot," Vlad gasped as he rubbed his eyes. "Does that mean no monster has appeared until now?"

"Only some wild animals and low-ranked monsters like goblins arrived, which were quickly dealt with by Hugo," Seraphina reported on the current situation. "We need to take their shift from seven. Freshen yourself up and eat your dinner before that."

Vlad’s sleepy face, with his heavy crimson eyes, had a charm of its own that Seraphina found irresistible. She raised her hands to squeeze his cheeks affectionately, but just as they reached his face, the awkwardness took over her.

In the end, she merely moved the strands of his raven hair away from his face and muttered, "I’m waiting outside."

She quickly rose from the bed and moved outside. Vlad stretched his arms and removed the blanket from his body as he rose to his feet.

"Strange... I don’t remember putting on the blanket when I went to sleep," he murmured, scratching the back of his head.

He didn’t give it much thought and quickly went to the bathroom. After dinner, they went to the location of the array, mounted on Seraphina’s Qilin.

At first, Ammy, Seraphina’s Qilin, seemed reluctant to let Vlad ride her. It was only when Seraphina politely requested her to do so that she allowed him to sit on her back.

’Ammy is just as sassy as her master,’ Vlad chuckled inwardly but dared not say those words out loud.

Once Ammy dropped them off at the location, she guided Raphael and Hugo back to the camp, with her naturally flaming fur serving as their only source of light. Forget about riding her, she didn’t even allow the duo to touch her.

Definitely, as sassy as her master.

Vlad and Seraphina settled on a high branch of a nearby tree, from where they could clearly see the array laid out below. The corpses of the orcs were gone. What remained inside the faintly pulsating magical circle was a sphere of boiling green blood hovering in the air, from which green mist was spreading outward.

The branch that Vlad and Seraphina had chosen was broad enough for two people to sit comfortably side by side. However, Seraphina seemed to have her own plans.

"My body possesses natural resistance to the cold, huh?" Vlad repeated her words from the morning as he looked at her with an amused smile. "Could you tell me when exactly that happened?"

"Wh-why am I being interrogated?" Seraphina retorted, crossing her arms defensively, her cheeks slightly puffing. "It was the most optimal excuse. Or did you want me to stay here all alone for the whole night?"

"Of course not," Vlad chuckled, shaking his head. "Even if you didn’t say that, I would have still come with you. I’m just impressed by your ability to give such flawless excuses."

Seraphina only flinched at his words, her cheeks forming a faint blush.

She slowly moved towards him, settling herself between his legs as he sat leaning against the bark of the tree.

"Last night, you kept me warm," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "Let me return the favour tonight."