Chapter 184 - Growth

Although it wasn't very different from when Ais put herself in the middle between Lefiya and Ethan, for Lefiya the thing was completely different. The space that was usually occupied by Ais, was now no longer occupied and, for a second, Lefiya had thought to approach him to fill that space, but the idea seemed too embarrassing to implement for the moment, so Lefiya decided to calm herself down first.

Lefiya's nervousness, clearly visible on the outside though, was enough to make Ethan feel uncomfortable, and this because the situation wasn't too different from normal, but just the absence of Ais, was enough to make the situation completely different and, thinking this while staring at Lefiya, Ethan had a thought in his mind.

'If Ais was here..what would she do...?'

He remembered what happened the first time they decided to sleep in the same bed. Lefiya in fact, embarrassed, tried desperately to get away from Ais and Ethan, but he ignored this part and focused on what happened next, able to appease her embarrassment, albeit a minimum, and let the three relax without minding it too much...

Deciding to be as decisive as Ais, Ethan adjusted himself on his left side so that he could better look at Lefiya, and seeing the latter totally focused on trying to calm down while her legs seemed to be anchored in a single spot, he laid a hand on her cheek to make her aware that he was looking at her.

Feeling a heat source on her cheek, Lefiya immediately understood what Ethan was doing and, with her eyes previously closed now open in a perfect circle shape, Lefiya looked for the right words to ask Ethan for a few minutes to mentally prepare, but, he was faster.

"Lefiya..I understand this is embarrassing for you, but now that you have come this far, I believe there's nothing else to lose. We won't do anything other than sleeping, I just want to be closer...I want to hug you."

Right now, even if Lefiya had asked 'to go further' Ethan wouldn't have accepted as right now, what he most wanted was to hold Lefiya tightly and fall asleep in serenity and without the worries tomorrow would continue to stress him...

Stroking her cheek now, Lefiya was always embarrassed but not at the same level as before. This is because although she would have asked for minutes to prepare mentally, in reality she had already prepared enough before stepping into this room, so there was no need to wait any further, and Lefiya had just realized by his words, that her embarrassment now seemed more hesitation than real embarrassment, which she didn't like very much...

Turning to her side so that she could look at Ethan in the eyes while the latter still had his hand on her cheek, Lefiya smiled directly at him as her eyes were narrowed warmly.

Forced to move his hand, Ethan carried it behind her head so that he could c.a.r.e.s.s her hair and, with his free hand, decided to repay Lefiya's gesture by letting his hand go down to the height of her waist.

Although the action had caused shaking throughout her back, Lefiya had understood why Ethan had decided to do so and, although she knew this was his way of teasing her, she had by now accepted the embarrassment this moment would bring in her mind, so although it was embarrassing to feel his hand dangerously close to her b.u.t.t, Lefiya avoided thinking about the details...

"I'm sorry for always being a...b-burden..."

By saying these words while hiding her face using his c.h.e.s.t, Lefiya had this thought since Tiona pointed it out to her. Although she knew Ethan was only being considerate to her while trying to repress his instincts, it never hit her hard until Tiona specifically pointed it out to her. Even though she had noticed the thing from the beginning, she had pretended the thing wasn't present, and that Ethan was actually in agreement with this, even though she was now aware, that it was impossible to agree with such a thing, but it's because he held special feelings for her that he still decided to wait for her without complaining a single time, and so Lefiya had understood the stupidity with which she had behaved with him, creating trouble for Ethan for something she could easily defeat.

'I...trust Ethan. Even though crossing the line is something I don't feel ready for yet, it doesn't mean I can expect him to continue loving me if I don't show my own...l-love. I know he wouldn't leave me, but if I think that way, I'll end up letting Ethan take on all these restrictions, making him suffer..."

Now Lefiya's mentality had broadened, she had accepted this embarrassment, she had accepted the gentle flicker that accompanied his touch, she had accepted the condition her stomach was in, she had accepted these feelings, and she wanted Ethan to understand it, but she also understood in the middle of her sentence that the words she was saying wouldn't be enough to convey this feeling, so Lefiya stopped, took a sharp breath, and let words escape her mouth, but even though these words had already been spoken by her before, now Lefiya felt she had understood them much better.

"...b-but know that...I love you."

Upon hearing this, Ethan was incredibly surprised. Of course, he expected from the way Lefiya was behaving that the latter would not hesitate further, but it was precisely these moments when her usually private and embarrassed personality seemed just a mirage. Ethan could feel how much Lefiya cared about him, and even though those were words he had already heard from her, they were enough to make Ethan inhale a sharp breath…

"…I love you too"

A simple answer perfectly understood by Lefiya for what it was. Although after these words the two didn't utter anything else, the moment their gazes met was enough for the two to understand what the other party wanted in that moment more than anything else. Holding her tighter, Ethan moved her so that Lefiya's face was at the same height as his, but instead of choosing to 'attack' her lips, Ethan gently laid his face on her neck. This sudden contact caused Lefiya to gasp, but that lasted only for a second as she completely accepted his presence, even if his face was somewhat too close for her…

Even if it was embarrassing, now Lefiya felt her heart beating so wildly that even Ethan would be able to hear her heartbeat if he paid a close attention to it, but her doubts, as if he had read in her mind, were cleared up by his words.

"You know... my heart is beating so fast right now... You can even feel it if you try to put your hand here…"

Grabbing her hand, Ethan brought it to a spot on his c.h.e.s.t where it was easier to hear his heartbeat and, much to her surprise, Ethan's words were more than true. His heart was beating so loudly, that Lefiya was afraid it might almost burst out of his c.h.e.s.t, but even though this fear was there, it was completely obscured by the happiness she felt in that moment…

'I can't believe…he's in this state...only for me…'

With her red cheeks, more than embarrassment, Lefiya felt her happiness almost overflowing, so much that the moment Ethan separated from her neck for a second, she made eye contact. Without the slightest hesitation, she let her lips meet his own, and even though it was the very first time Lefiya had no hesitation, she had no regrets. For Ethan, this was the least she could do, at least in her mind…

Getting back the familiar feeling of warmth, Ethan realized Lefiya hadn't spared him this time too, and had further attacked with all force, but in reality he didn't mind at all that she had this kind of switch. If anything, he felt this was…more than pleasant.

With the two quickly lost in their feelings, Ethan abandoned the idea of cuddling at least for now. The two in fact continued to exchange effusions, kissing each other deeply as they embraced in each other's warmth. But, as Lefiya stated in her thoughts, she didn't intend to go any further, and Ethan knew this as well…

---

After the two had somewhat calmed down, the distance and embarrassment at first overwhelming were both gone and, before they knew it, the two had fallen asleep exactly in the same position as they had been for all the time…

But while Lefiya was happily dreaming, Ethan wasn't enjoying it in the same way. Once asleep, Ethan found himself reopening his eyes as if only a moment had passed from before to now, but without even realizing it, he saw that Lefiya had disappeared from the bed.

This made him immediately forget that he had just 'woken up' as he only remembered that a moment before Lefiya was next to him, but the next one she seemed to be gone.

Researching closely around him, Ethan saw that no one else seemed to be present in the room, which made him have even more doubts but, without hesitation, he raised from the bed as he wanted to go find Lefiya, but the moment he touched the ground with his b.a.r.e feet, he saw as the desk that had been placed at the end of the room disappeared before his eyes, without the slightest hesitation.

'…Eh?'

Of course, he was surprised. Ethan didn't know how it was possible for an object to disappear from view, and that had raised even more questions, but by the time he made another step towards the door, Ethan saw how the closet he had in the room for his clothes disappeared from his sight, in the same way as the desk.

'…Wait..'

Ethan took another step and part of the floor disappeared. He made another, the bed he was laying on before disappeared, another and another part of the floor disappeared, he made another, and the walls encircling the room disappeared, but even stranger, Ethan realized he couldn't fall to the first floor, even if there was 'nothing' there, and this made him realize that this had to be the work of his divinity..

'But...even if that's the case..I can't think of why it would try to force me into this again..'

But to his doubts, the system didn't come to help him in any way. Maybe because it couldn't, maybe because it didn't want to, but this was until he could figure out how to escape this reality. If there was something Ethan learnt from the interactions with his divinity, it was that the space he was in wasn't real, and that probably something had happened in the so-called real world that forced him into this sort of second world…

'Well..for now, let's break through this.'

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(Alternate Titles: "Well, what if they have done it in the end? You'll never know UwU", "Strong feelings, Lefiya's major character growth","It's Divinity time!")