Just by sleeping in the tent, Layn's mental state returned to the one he had while travelling the future world. But even though even the slightest shred of sound was enough to wake the archmage up in an instant, with Irea cuddled right up his chest, the night was surprisingly refreshing.
Waking up in this ancient world was almost as pleasant as waking up in the arms of the princess, right at the beginning of their relationship. Back when she had yet to cheat on him, back before she turned his back against him. Back then, waking up with Ortensia in his arms was something that Layn looked forward to every morning.
But this kind of affectionate moments ended before Layn would ever have a chance to properly enjoy them. As soon as the belly of the princes started growing with a Kingdom's designed heir in it, he altitude turned maybe not cold, but indifferent at the very least. Ever since that moment, over five years worth of memories ago, Layn's married life practically came to an end.
Back then, forced himself to believe that the girl was just pouring all the love that she had on their children, and he would only need to wait for the cradling period of the newborn to be over…
Sadly for the archmage, the very first time for him to wake up with a girl in his arms was quite a few years in the future and over six years down memory lane. And what's more, that girl wasn't even sworn to him!
'I wonder if they still have this kind of rituals. I made fun of them back in the future, but the origins of this marriage tradition should trace all the way to the ancient world…' Pondering over the topic, Layn finally lowered his sight from the monotone colour of the top of the tent to the face of the girl sleeping on top of his breast.
For this one tranquil moment, Layn just stared at the adorable face of the girl. Whether the institution of marriage already existed in this time or not, it didn't change the obvious. No matter what the culture prevailed in this world, there were still some sanctions about an intimate relationship between people.
Just the fact that Irea had a hard time refusing aggressive advances of Kerren proved that point. But rather than leading to some deeper thoughts or ideas, this realisation only made it more enjoyable for Layn to adore the defenceless face of Irea.
"Hmm…" As if she could feel that she was being aggressively stared at, Irea started to restlessly move around, before her huge eyes revealed themselves from under her eyelids.
"Good morning." Not bothering to hide his interest in the cute face of the girl, Layn greeted.
"Huh?" Moving her head up, Irea blinked a few times as if unable to discern what was real and what was a shadow of her dreams, before a clarity returned to her eyes.
"Oh, hey." Rather than getting flustered by the situation or panicking, Irea lowered her head back on Layn's chest, clearly intent on going back to sleep.
"Not so fast!" From how the very first rays of the sun already managed to wake the archmage up, it was given that the entire camp would start coming awake at any moment now. Knowing from his own experiences, Layn didn't want the girl to fall asleep once again, only to end up being drowsy for the rest of the day.
With his words alone bearing little fruit, Layn decided to employ his hands as well. But rather than molesting the girl's delicate body like some kind of horny teen or an old pervert, he moved his fingers up her armpits, before furiously moving them up and down.
'Ah!" Forced awake by Layn's aggressive tickles, Irea instantly attempted to run away from the torture, only for Layn's arm to wrap around her waist, holding her firmly in place.
"You wanted to sleep? Let me see how you go to sleep now!" What began as an attempt to wake the girl up, quickly turned into a desperate life-or-death fight. With their bodies squirming within the tight confines of the tent, Layn could only attempt to ignore the many times when his skin experiences the softness of the girl above him in the most direct of ways.
"Everyone! Wake the hell up!" Before the modern man and his ancient girl could finish their fun, the loud voice of Karter reached their ears. With their bodies entangled as a result of their bloodless fight, when the prospect of leaving the tent came up on the agenda, the situation turned troublesome.
"Ah! Watch where you are touching!" Protesting meekly when Layn's attempt to free his arm from the mess resulted in his hand falling on a soft mound of her flesh. Not naive enough to misunderstand what he just touched, Layn's face covered in a hue of red.
Even though he wasn't a virgin or even someone who barely had any intimate time with women in his life, for some reason, interacting with this energetic and cute girl was capable of bringing him to the edge of endurance.
"Ah, finally!" With their bodies finally coming apart, Irea quickly squeezed herself through the opening of the tent, only to reach out with her hand inside as soon as she got out. "Come, I will help you."
Following in the steps of the girl, Layn slid on the beddings. As soon as his legs reached the open area, a shiver caused by how cold it was outside travelled up Layn's spine.
"I know it's cold, but we need to get moving right now. Our scouts detected Kerren's team. They are only about an hour behind!" Shouting towards Layn as soon as he got out of the tent, Irea was already running around the place, gathering all her belongings. Once Layn was finally out, her nimble hands quickly got to untangle the knots holding the tent together.
In just a few moments, the entire camp disappeared. All the fireplaces were covered with fresh earth, all the private stuff was safely stored in everyone's backpack. In this atmosphere of general rush, Layn didn't even bother to ask how did this girl manage to learn the news so quickly.
Because now they had to walk. And only walking mattered.