Chapter 158 - Significance

While Ethan was making his way to Lefiya's room, Lefiya had modified her room a bit and, now finding herself with clothes to store in the closet, she was doing so while in her mind she was trying to do some order.

This is because the speed with which things evolved, and what awaited her in the future, was something that made her feel very anxious. Even though she knew she had a room to sleep in, she was 100% sure Ais would practically make her room Ethan's in just a few days. This was because unlike her, Ais wanted to actively sleep with him, which even Lefiya clearly wanted, but the mere thought made her face as red as a bell pepper, and also wanting to take advantage of the same tactic of having Ais in the centre, Lefiya knew in her heart this would bother the two.

She was insecure, and worried again, but as these thoughts clouded her mind a little, Lefiya laid another of her clothes in the closet before she could hear someone knocking at the door.

Flinching for a second, Lefiya approached the door before opening it gently without worrying about who it was, knowing in the house besides Ais, Ethan and Maple, there was no one.

Although this was another of the 'quirks' Lefiya still had to get used to living with, she saw Ethan entering without hesitation before giving her a warm smile and in a second had made her concerns lighter...as if there was no need to mind it so much, and as she inevitably lost herself in his scarlet irises, she heard Ethan say something

"..Have you heard what I say?"

Asking her this question, Ethan stared at her for a second and Lefiya, felt as if she hadn't connected his words to something understandable, she blinked a few times before her gaze nervously wandered around but, knowing she had no choice but to admit her 'faults', she looked down and with an embarrassed red face, she replied

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't...understand what you said at all..."

Although Ethan was staring at her as if to scold her a little, he was the first to have passed this feeling mainly because there were always important things in his head keeping him occupied by what was the real world. Having someone who behaved in front of him in the same way he often behaved with everyone, sometimes completely losing the thread of the speech, made him understand how rude and annoying it could be, even though before he already knew this was the case.

With Maple still in his arms, Ethan carried his free arm on Lefiya's cheek and, although he initially wanted to tell her to follow his lead and stop thinking too much while someone was talking with her, as a person who had faced that same situation, he decided to opt for something that would hit the mark more.

"Lefiya, is something bothering you..?"

She had no intention of implicating or forcing her on the line of thought of which he believed, since as she had already shown him several times in a short period of time, Ethan couldn't predict Lefiya or everyone else's thoughts. So, instead of continuing to assume what might be the cause, Ethan recalled some words Riveria had been trying so hard to remind him of, focused on problems in a relationship.

At his question and to the hand on her cheek, Lefiya looked up to look at him and, although she was feeling her heart clenching in her c.h.e.s.t for the way Ethan had acted, looking back at his question, she didn't know whether to tell the truth or leave the situation as it was, but seeing Ethan's concerned expression, Lefiya looked down and with the warmth of his hand guiding her words as if he were casting some kind of spell, Lefiya responded slowly

"W-Well..."

In explaining what was bothering her at the time, Lefiya didn't immediately specify the thing worrying her most, in fact beyond that her concern was right in this whole situation as it was proceeding so fast Lefiya could feel the steps Ethan and Ais were making were faster than the ones she could do, and that maybe she needed to be left behind..

But to these doubts, Ethan responded by carrying the hand he had on her cheek on her head before he gave her a slight blow on it, but before the reason behind it could be explained, Ethan was interrupted by a voice coming from their right.

"As I said.... Lefiya, I realized you're an important part of this relationship.. without you.. this would would work anyway, but not in the same natural and fast way when you're with us. Although at first... I was a bit reluctant, you are necessary to make Ethan understand...Worry about these details is...futile."

During all the time Ethan and Ais were dating, Ais had hardly ever made long speeches, except for things that really mattered to her, so much she momentarily left behind her attitude just to release all of her thoughts, and this had amazed Ethan, because it was quite easy to understand now Ais saw Lefiya differently, and it hadn't even been long since he decided to express his feelings for Lefiya..

Using his words as support, Ethan continued

"Ais is right, Lefiya. You don't need to worry so much about this....but I'll ask you one thing. When you have problems, if you don't want to talk to me because you're too embarrassed to do so, Ais will surely be there to hear you out..."

He had learned not to have baseless beliefs about others, but the way Ais looked at Lefiya, made Ethan realize these were her emotions, that was her silent decision, and at her will, he had no choice but to convey this in his words while he inevitably added

"And also sorry if I hit you..I didn't want you to be hurt.."

It was since the two confessed to each other that the mere thought of lending a blow on her worried him a little and made him feel quite guilty. This was because he knew differently from Ais that was much stronger than him and could take him out in a few seconds if she wanted, Lefiya was weak to physical attacks since she had trained intensively only her magic...

Putting his hand back on her cheek while using his boosting technique to raise temperature, she could feel the heat he was trying to transmit to her from the beginning and this in addition to bringing her blushing to be more noticeable, had also brought the classic feeling of butterflies to her stomach Lefiya felt she would never get used to feeling as she shook her head keeping her gaze toward the floor

"Please hit me whenever you want, I don't care if it hurts.."

Ais's words had resonated much in Lefiya. Not yet accustomed to the speed with which things were moving, she hadn't fully realized what it meant to be an important part of the conversation, and although Ais hadn't explicitly said it, Lefiya could imagine how at her words, Ethan and Ais would slow their pace a bit, to make her able to keep up with them...

'Wanting to exaggerate.. It's almost as if instead of following their footsteps, I almost can decide the pace at which things move..'

Lefiya was beginning to understand what it meant to be part of a relationship, and was also understanding what Ethan had asked her about her needs. He was trying to adapt their pitch to hers, but if all she answered was an inaccurate answer, Ethan and Ais wouldn't be able to understand how they had to continue moving, and inevitably it ended up oppressing Lefiya, bringing imbalance in the entire relationship..

These thoughts, had brought Lefiya one step further, and although it wasn't an enormous step for the entire relationship, it was for her mind.

The phrase that came out of Lefiya's mouth shocked Ethan completely. This was because for the first time, it seemed as if Lefiya had m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic tendencies, which he had never seen in her before, and this led him a few seconds later to erase this thought from his mind while she lifted her eyes to stare at his lips before she quietly whispered

"At least this time, at least for these seconds, I want to be ahead..."

It had never happen that she would think to use the game in this way. Until a few hours ago, Lefiya had in mind to simply stand up to Ais, but she had never thought to actually want to be in advantage, which now seemed only evident and, without even noticing, she could feel as if her thoughts were 'free' again.

Unlike before, the embarrassment was still there. She felt frightened at the idea of doing what she had in mind, but at the same time there were no imaginary chains stopping her, and with her lips shaking, Lefiya threw herself headlong over his lips, kissing him and at the same time avoiding crushing Maple who was still in Ethan's arms.

Lefiya could still feel the embarrassment, that was true, but she could feel something different from the first time she kissed him in which all she had in mind was to proceed without having any kind of embarrassment.

Although she had hated embarrassment before the very moment she kissed him for the second time, the embarrassment seemed to amplify things she never even noticed before such as the heat Ethan was emitting, the sensation of his lips being connected to hers, the flickering that only his touch could calm down, the heap of emotions that instead of frightening her, seemed to welcome her into a sweet and warm embrace, and even though this overall sensation seemed so surreal, the kiss and his hand moving on her back, were completely real.

From Ethan's point of view, hearing her whispering something had caught his attention, but before he could even ask what she had whispered, he felt Lefiya's lips pressing against his own, and even though it had literally shocked him, he was quickly overwhelmed by the passion Lefiya was putting in this kiss, different even from the first ones the two had exchanged.

In fact, now Lefiya's lips were shaking slightly as well as her body, which instinctively led Ethan to carry a hand on her shoulder to try to stop her since he thought she was straining herself, but feeling how her tremor was slowly stopping from his touch alone, he couldn't resist her anymore and instead of stopping, he moved his hand behind her back, as if that was the first time he had had a chance to...

This scene inevitably made Ais smile. Seeing for the first time Lefiya finally trying to be an integral part of the relationship, Ais confirmed she wasn't wrong to put her trust in Lefiya, and that together, they would be able to make Ethan happy, as well as they themselves, but that didn't mean she would let her go so fast and let herself be the one at a disadvantage for a long time..

Ais didn't waste the occasion and, while Lefiya was busy kissing Ethan, she went behind him before hugging him and aiming with her lips for his ear...

'I will never let you win so easily..'

That was all she thought while Maple was at the centre of all this, asking herself innocent questions about what was happening around her, and just when Ethan felt Ais was already entering a dangerous mode, he decided to put a stop to it. This was because the situation was escalating too fast, and he remembered only after he decided to stop that Maple was still in his arms...

Leaving Maple for a second, she remained attached to his shirt by instinct while he carried his now free hand on Lefiya's shoulder, moving her slightly away from him and at the same time he brought his head further back so that Ais was forced to stop in the same way.

Now free, Ethan breathed heavily to gasp for air and hearing Lefiya close to him with the same gasping breath while Ais now was embracing him even more tightly, he had to keep holding on to his full strength to prevent his member from deciding it was time to wake up as the only thing keeping him being just Maple who was still attached to him with her legs and paws anchored to his shirt...

"Let's stop, please...I don't think I should remember you Maple's age.."

At his words Lefiya winced. That was because she had completely forgotten about Maple's existence around Ethan. For her at that moment, the only person she could see was one, and with all the feelings that still made her feel filled with various emotions, Lefiya looked down and with a weak voice answered

"I d-don't regret..what I..did.."

While her words also made Ethan feel a bit embarrassed, as he didn't actually regret what he did either, Ais was the first to carry her hands previously on Ethan's neck, now to c.a.r.e.s.s Maple and at the same time approach his cheek so much to Ethan's they could almost touch each other cheek.

While her eyes were focused on Maple, Ais responded calmly

"I don't think...there's anything to regret, rather Maple would be happy to have participated in such an important moment..."

Ethan felt the fact Ais was expressing so much was strange. She also had immediately decided to follow his words although normally it was more difficult to contain her l.u.s.t, and this could only bring him back to the speech they had had just before Lefiya decided it was time to shock Ethan once again while Maple felt both Ais and Ethan were now c.a.r.e.s.sing her, so she decided to leave aside the complicated thoughts to let herself be pampered, feeling the atmosphere of the group had magically became much more warm hearted...

While Maple thought so, Ethan actually remembered why he came to Lefiya's room in the first place and the mere thought made him chuckle...

"By the way Lefiya, do you want to know why I came to your room...?"

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(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: "A small step for the relationship, but a big step for Lefiya...!", "A greater understanding of her duty, a beginning of seriousness in the whole relationship", "Love changes people, and if it can change someone like Lefiya, anyone is able to grow and m.a.t.u.r.e thanks to it, the only thing is to find the person who actually reciprocates your feelings...>_<")