Chapter - 37

"Ugghhh!" Leo woke up as if someone dragged him out of his grave.

For a moment, he wasn't even sure if he was awake or his body just didn't feel his own.

He felt heavy, like a dead weight. He felt his mouth, like someone sucked away all the water from his body when he was unconscious.

"...ugh."

His voice was cracked from dehydration and all the screaming he did last night.

He tried to get up and instantly he felt it was a bad idea.

"Agghh! Damnit," Pain shot through his left arm like lightning.

His palm throbbed with pain and his entire body flinched.

"What the fuck!" Leo cursed under his breath.

And then suddenly it hit him.

The scenes from last night came back to him.

He walked in a den of cocky bastards and horny women.

That bitch got the Divine Blessing from the God of Thunder.

And even attacked him.

The chandelier fell.

He saved Seraphine.

A bunch of assassins attacked him.

He killed them all.

And then the memory of the blade sliding through flesh and bone came back instantly.

Right, he had caught the blade with his bare hands. Not really a smart move, but adrenaline made him do it at that moment.

And now it sucked.

And then he remembered about the poison.

Right he was poisoned, wasn't he.

And just as he thought about the poison, he heard a ding sound in his head.

A glowing blue notification appeared in front of his vision, intruding his chain of thoughts.

He froze and opened his eyes fully.

[System Alert: Detoxification Complete.]

[Status Effect: 'Viper's Kiss' has been contained. You have 70 hours 50 minutes to detoxify the poison.]

[HP: 650 / 1000 (Regenerating…)]

Leo blinked, as the adrenaline from last night drained enough for reality to make sense again.

Six hundred fifty HP. It was not great, but way better than death. His body still felt wrecked as if someone had beaten him with a metal bat.

But it was something a good rest can fix. The important thing was the poison was taken care of for a while, giving him some time to take care of it.

He let his head drop back into the absurdly soft pillow.

"Still alive," he muttered, voice rasping, "I hope it is a good thing."

Leo mentally shoved all the System spams aside. It was filled with EXP gains, stat bumps, quest progress and stuff.

Whatever. It could wait. First he needed to know if his body was still functional or if he had woken up with a missing limb.

He lifted his right hand first. Fingers moved. All Good. All wires connected. Wow he really felt like a robocop. His left hand was already nicely bandaged.

Then he glanced down at himself.

His shredded formal suit which Lady Seraphine got him was gone. Instead, he wore loose, comfortable silk trousers. They were so soft it felt like wearing air. It had some very good ventilation.

He felt his chest beneath the white shirt, and could feel the familiar coolness of the Shadowweave Tunic still against his skin.

Good. Someone had the brains not to strip him of the only thing keeping him alive.

He then twisted and turned on the bed, testing his ribs and legs. He even took deep breaths. Everything hurt, but nothing felt shattered.

"Everything looks good for now," Leo muttered to himself.

Only then did he really look around.

And damn he was surprised. First of all, it wasn't the dungeon he had been staying in. It was a totally different room that was surely not meant for the servant he was treated like to be.

The ceiling above him stretched high with curved arches and gold trim. Painted frescoes showed winged cherubs, dramatic clouds, and a big golden sun was staring down like he was judging everything.

Tall arched windows stretched from floor to ceiling, covered in heavy crimson velvet curtains. Even the damn curtains looked like they had been embroidered in silver and gold.

The furniture was white wood inlaid with real gold metal. A massive vanity table was stacked with delicate perfume bottles, rings, necklaces, combs and other accessories. This room was strikingly different from everything he had seen in the town or the Lord's mansion so far.

Even the air smelled expensive. Clean linen, candles, and medicinal herbs. He no longer felt like choking on the fire and smoke from last night. It smelled like lavender oil, beeswax, and… and something feminine and familiar.

Then he noticed the bed. Large. Silk sheets. Ridiculously soft mattress.

And right beside it… Her.

Lady Seraphine.

She wasn't posing elegantly or playing a noble goddess.

She was asleep. but she did not look comfortable at all. It felt like she had been fighting her sleep all night. But eventually she lost to it.

She sat slumped in a cushioned armchair dragged next to the bed, close enough that she could take care of him without invading into his space. Her head rested on the edge of his mattress, her arms folded under her cheek.

She hadn't changed her clothes since last night. A thin shawl was half draped over her shoulders and half fallen away, exposing the smooth curve of her shoulder and the delicate neckline of her throat.

Her golden-blonde hair was loose, messy, strands falling across her face. A few breathed with her slow, steady breaths.

She looked exhausted, but there was peace on her face.

And Leo just stared at her without moving, without speaking.

"Well," he thought to himself as he looked at her, "Guess she cared enough not to dump me in a hallway."

Leo's gaze lingered on Seraphine longer than he meant to. At first, he was just admiring her beauty. But then the longer he looked, his body reacted on its own.

'Great. Morning wood when the wife of the most powerful man in town is just a handgrab away from him. Just what I need at this moment,' Leo shook his head.

'You want to get chopped off, little buddy?'

In his old life on Earth, he had been a 19 year old shut-in. No dates, No parties and obviously no girlfriend.

The closest thing he had to "romance" was flirting with other female players in Eldora Online, and the only female bodies he ever saw were pixel-perfect actresses online doing things he never thought he could only watch in incognito mode.

Back then, just making eye contact with a cute cashier at the department store gave him heart palpitations.

Now? After transmigrating to this new world, maybe Goddess Lysara changed something inside of her. He was no longer flustered by a woman.

And here was a real woman. And not just any woman, but an absolute beauty was sleeping beside him, just inches away, soft breaths brushing the back of his hand every now and then, smelling like fresh flowers.

And she had stayed.

That hit harder than anything else.

She didn't drop him off with some priest or random servants. She didn't walk away once he stopped bleeding. She sat there, through the night, taking care of him.

Something stirred in him that wasn't just lust.

It was more primal. That feeling of owning something.

His blood simmered inside him, he felt hot.

[Draconic Bloodline reacting]

Leo heard the Aiva tell him, but he did not tear his gaze away from Lady Seraphine. He kept staring.

Her lips had a faint pout, slightly parted. Her posture looked uncomfortable, but her presence was warm and weirdly made him feel safe?

He scoffed quietly.

Safe? What the hell was wrong with me? Since when do I feel things?

But he knew deep down, he had always been charmed by older, mature women, and Lady Seraphine ticked all the boxes. She was beautiful, tall, mature, soft spoken with big breasts that anyone would want to grab and feel.

But before Leo could even act on his instincts… Click.

The door slowly creaked open.

Instantly, Leo's eyes snapped toward the sound. His expression shifted from a teenager looking at his crush, to an angry young man with a frown.

A young maid stepped inside carrying a silver tray with water and broth. But the moment her gaze met with Leo's narrowed eyes staring at her, she almost dropped the tray.

Everyone in the castle had heard the gruesome news of the assassin attack and how a single man managed to kill every single one of them, protecting Lady Seraphine. And that man was actually in this room, being taken care of by Lady Seraphine herself.

Did she just interrupt him?

Leo lifted his right hand and pressed a finger to his lips.

His stare was sharp enough to cut bone.

Silence.

The girl swallowed hard and nodded. She didn't make another sound. She set the tray down like she was defusing a bomb, bowed once, and slipped out.

The soft click of the closing door left the room quiet again. Leaving him again with Lady Seraphine.

Leo turned his gaze back to Seraphine. The sliver of morning light finding its way through the curtains illuminated the curve of her cheekbone and the long, dark lashes resting against her skin.

He shouldn't touch her. He was a commoner, a guest, a man who had just survived an assassination attempt. Touching the Lord's wife while she slept was would probably get him stripped naked, chopped off, and hanged in the town square

But Leo didn't care about lines.

He reached out with his right hand and tucked a lock of golden hair behind her ear.

Her skin was warm. Impossibly soft. The contact sent a jolt of electricity through his fingertips that had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the raw, tangible reality of her.

She stirred slightly, murmuring something unintelligible in her sleep, and nuzzled her cheek against her arm, turning slightly towards his hand.

Leo's heart hammered against his ribs. The temptation was overwhelming.

He shifted his weight, wincing as his ribs protested, and leaned forward. He closed the small distance between them.

He pressed his lips softly against her cheek.

He took in a deep breath, taking in all her scent. She smelt like jasmine perfume, it was her natural scent mixed with perfume. It felt intoxicating.

He pulled back slowly, settling against the pillows, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. He can't hold it any longer.

"Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty," he whispered into the silence.

** ** ** ** **

[

Milestone Bonus Chapters:

200+ Power Stones: 2 Bonus Chapters next week

200+ Golden Tickets: 3 Bonus chapters next week

]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.