Chapter 142 - Realization

But even though this worried her, Lefiya didn't want to run away anymore.

These thoughts, led Lefiya to look down and, even if her face was all red, she touched her lips with a finger as she remembered that, not a long time ago, they were next to Ethan's...

She knew very well that she had approached his lips before kissing him, and this could only make her think for a moment since normally she would never do such a thing, but at the same time, she wanted to act in that way.

With these mixed feelings, Lefiya could only sigh. She knew it would be a long time before Ethan came back, and so she decided - in the meantime - to order her mind from all the thoughts she had decided to hold for a later time....

'I would love.. to try that weird feeling again.'

The fact she was able to act of her own free will wasn't the only reason she wanted to try that feeling again. In those precise moments, Ethan's arms that enveloped her made her feel protected from everything and everyone, and the affectionate way in which she acted made her heart racing all the time. Although normally she would have been embarrassed by that moment, Lefiya remembered how she was very happy to be around him...

'I..love him'

She believed she had doubts, that maybe there were ways to confirm it even more since she didn't want to get involved in the relationship between Ais and Ethan without a feeling that was at least equivalent to what could be seen between the two, but that was before her lips touched his. From that precise moment, Lefiya was already fully aware that she couldn't really take a few steps back, and that her feelings were real. Lying to herself wouldn't be enough anymore.

This thought led Lefiya to bring a hand over her heart and, feeling that her heartbeat was again sped up almost as if Ethan was near her, she let herself fall back on the bed as her eyes were pointed to the ceiling.

'Our relationship is real.. my love for him is real.. my admiration for Ais cannot suppress these feelings..'

She certainly admired Ais for her overwhelming strength, and for the fact she never backed down, and she even felt the admiration for her couldn't be higher since she was able to act for herself without being embarrassed. If she wanted to try something, she tried it without hesitation, unlike her who had problems even being too close to Ethan...

But this still wasn't enough to change her mind. This brief moment of realization led her to open her eyes more and more while she continued to inhale air before she completely released it, as well as all of her worries, doubts, and second thoughts. From that moment on, Lefiya would no longer doubt her feelings, and wouldn't use her admiration for Ais to try to suppress her feelings. By this time, Lefiya had truly realized she was now in a relationship with Ethan, and she no longer intended to change things...

Closing her eyes, Lefiya bit her lip in embarrassment. Even though she already told him she loved him, now even thinking about it made her feel so embarrassed that she couldn't think of anything else but that moment...

'I even told him I-I was interested in knowing when we.. w-would...'

Because of what they had done a short time ago, Lefiya was able to accept her feelings completely, but she was still very inexperienced in these things, and if only a kiss was able to embarrass her, she certainly wouldn't be able to withstand what came next any time soon...

Covering her face with both hands, Lefiya began to get lost in her thoughts...

---

Although the guard mistakenly mistook Maple for a demon, this didn't mean that all citizens of Orario would see her the same way. The main difference was that Maple now had a little collar on her neck. Under the suggestion of Ais in fact, if the citizens had noticed the fox had been 'domesticated' they couldn't say anything since it wasn't forbidden to have pets. But that wasn't all that differentiated her from before. The dirt from the earthquake had soiled very much all of Maple's fur, and even if someone like Ethan was able to notice the hidden beauty of the latter, a normal citizen would see only a black and dirty fur, typically closer to a demon than an animal.

Ais had suggested this just before they went out the door, leading Ethan to agree with her before looking for a very ordinary collar of this world, which was comfortable and had no skills, precisely because he knew that in the World 1999 humans and demons coexisted together, so something like domesticating an animal didn't exist, but only slavery existed.

Even though he knew that, Ethan still thought it couldn't be that bad, so he decided to bring up the collar to see Maple's reaction...but at the sight of it, the rather normal expression of Maple turned into one of shock and anger, which forced Ethan to use his third use of [Hon'yaku-sha] to calm her down and to explain why he had this collar in his hands.

"In this city, foxes aren't common. To keep others from thinking you're hostile, we'll pretend you have been tamed... If you don't like the idea...you can remain here"

At the sight of words written on the book with his thought being translated into a language she didn't know, Ais saw how Maple previously hostile, moved her head to make Ethan understand he had to put down the collar so that she could take a look at it. She knew he was telling the truth, and also that the collar probably had no negative effects, but she could only be doubtful, also because this was what all humans had tried to do, causing riots, and deaths that could have been avoided if humans had accepted the peace foxes wanted to bring from the beginning, without being forced to.

Seeing Maple's hostility to the collar, Ethan realized the humans of the World 1999 had brought an even higher level of trauma than he imagined, and this led him to look down before sighing as he laid the collar on the ground, so that Maple could verify that everything was okay. Besides her instincts, Maple's training was so intensive that it was practically useful in every field except for combat, which she still had to learn and would soon learn..

Obviously, her weak affinity for the arts would be a problem if she wanted to become an elite soldier, but given her lineage, Maple would have had the right to become the new leader of the Moonflame after her father's death...

Recognizing the collar was just a normal collar that had no effects at all, Maple could only lay on the floor with her head between her paws as a sign of forgiveness for doubting him, which led Ethan to shake his head while c.a.r.e.s.sing her fur as he clearly understood he wasn't the problem, but the world she was in...

During this time, Ethan told Ais that Maple was actually smarter than she seemed to be, and that he had found a way to communicate with her although very uncomfortable as he was the only one able to tell her things as she couldn't interact with the item...

Avoiding talking about the [True Dungeon] for the time being, Ethan had promised that he would deepen the conversation when Lefiya was present, so as not to have to explain it every time...

Once out of the Twilight Manor, Ethan had Maple in his arms, and Ais by his side, as in no time at all they were out of the Lychee Inn.

"Is this the Inn where..."

Nodding in affirmation, Ethan who with his free hand was keeping that of Ais all the time, replied

"Yes. Here we discussed our relationship, and we came to the conclusion that we want to be together.."

Ethan remembered well what had happened here with Lefiya, and although this could only make him happy, the idea that Lefiya could go so far made him feel a bit embarrassed. He had no problem with a girl who had always shown that she wanted to proceed further like Ais, but if the person had always been shy, and suddenly wanted to go further, plus the sensual way she talked and the emotions she was conveying in her actions, Ethan had to admit he felt a bit powerless in comparison. But he also knew he couldn't be discouraged just to remember the feelings of a few hours ago..

Feeling the veil of anxiety that Ethan had had, Ais turned to look at him but didn't feel the feeling of jealousy that was usually accompanying her, instead she felt glad he was relying on her, Although what he was trying to do was find the courage to go get Lefiya.

As if he had read in her mind, Ethan turned to look at her with a smile

"Thank you for being here Ais, I have the impression without you, it would have taken me a lot longer to tidy up my thoughts and find the courage I needed..."

It was the truth. Although taken in his embarrassing thoughts, Ethan could feel Ais' hand which, in addition to warming his hand, also had a calming effect, able to make him find a courage he didn't know he had. It probably wouldn't have changed anything if it hadn't been, but her presence had given Ethan an extra confidence while Ais, with a 'smile' shook her head.

"No need to thank me.. go and come back...I'll wait here with Yowaka..."

She was accepting the situation. Ais knew she couldn't monopolize Ethan, but she didn't want him to forget about her either. So the fact he decided to rely on her made her have only one thought in her mind..

'1-0 for me..'

Ais also knew this wasn't a battle, but from that moment on, she would take in consideration her symbolic 'victory' or 'defeat'...

Succeeding in doing so, Maple nodded while this action, made Ethan smile at her as he patted her for a few moments before turning to look at the Lychee Inn...

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8. You may ask me: "Why should I enter the server?". Well, I'm replying to every interesting question you readers are asking in my chapters, so, you should absolutely enter if you want to read my answers. Ah, and you can find some image reference of items in the story such as Light..! (Soon even Qienta).. so it's recommended to join, I frequently post polls as well, regarding things that(most likely) will be present in the story. One last thing, I post chapter updates in my discord right after I posted on , so I guess you can join to be able to know when I post chapters faster.)

(Poll going on in the discord: Who do you prefer? Qienta or Light? | Cat-girl or Renard(Fox) | Are you liking the interactions between Maple and Ethan?)

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(Alternate Titles: "Lefiya's back..and she's so cute! I wonder when the two will have some 18+ moments though", "Ethan is embrassed, but Maple will be even more embrassed to know her name, lol", "Ais won the battle, but is prepared for the war!!!")