"Host, get up,” Zero alerted the sleeping fellow for the nth time, who groaned in response before rolling out of bed in a daze.
Emlyn yawned as he tried to suppress the dizziness that overwhelmed him. He had been reading books at night again, forcing him to reduce his sleeping hours, which naturally led to sleep deprivation.
“Ughhh!!” Emlyn groaned loudly. Despite the fact that reading spell books were useless now since he couldn't practice, those books were so damn interesting whenever he picked up one, he'd end up getting lost in them.
But he had to stop this now or else he might hurt himself during training because of the sleep deprivation.
“Hmm? Hmm?” Emlyn muttered in a daze while steering the pot of soup.
“The bread is burning,” Zero replied once more.
Almost instantly, the sleepiness in his eyes cleared up as he dashed to the oven, placing on a pair of gloves before immediately taking out the bread.
Looking at the charred edges of the bread, Emlyn sighed heavily, “Okay, this sleep thing really has to stop.”
Zero: You don't say.
***
[Knock, Knock, Knock]
Elara knocked softly at the door within intervals of five seconds, and on the third knock, the door was opened to reveal a neatly dressed Riven, who had taken off his robe, leaving him only with a tunic and pants.
“Morning, Teach,” Emlyn greeted with a smile before outstretching his hands, which had on a tray of food, “Your breakfast.”
Riven stared at the smiling male whose eyes held a deep tiredness that couldn't be hidden no matter how cheerful he acted.
Frowning, he questioned, “Are the chores too much?”
A confused Emlyn stared at him wide-eyed, “No?”
“Your eyes,” Riven replied, “Why are you not getting enough sleep.”
“No, no, no,” Emlyn immediately denied, “The chores aren't the problem; it's me; I read late into the night, cutting short my sleep time!”
Riven stared at the awkward male for a while before ordering calmly, “Get in.”
Watching him turn around and leave, Emlyn, despite his shock, followed immediately, “Okay!”
This wasn't the first time he had been to the target's room, yet somehow, it felt new and surreal. Maybe it was because Riven was the last person he thought that'd let him into his room.
‘Even with the meter already in its 20-something percent, isn't this a bit odd?’ Dina pondered.
“He's just being considerate,” Zero replied bluntly.
Fair enough. Well, far be it from Emlyn to not accept!
Just looking at the large bed, much bigger and probably more comfortable than his, the sleepiness he had suppressed earlier overwhelmed him, and even before Riven permitted him, he was midway to the bed.
As soon as his head touched the bed he drifted up to sleep, chest raising softly as quiet pants escaped his parted lips.
Riven glanced at the sleeping male one last time before leaving.
***
When Emlyn woke up, he was all alone in the lavender-scented room, disoriented and lost on what, when, and where he was until Zero spoke.
He yawned loudly while getting out of bed, inwardly grateful for Riven's compassion. Sure, he was an asshole for killing him then, but he was mostly chill if you count that out and even nicer than a certain purple-haired demon.
He left the room, moving into the bathhouse to change into his training outfit before leaving for the courtyard. There, he met Riven training his sword skills, which had drastically improved to the extent that he couldn't even catch the afterimages of his swings. How depressing.
In order not to disrupt Riven's training, he simply picked up his bow and quiver and began practice. Unlike a certain freak, his skills were improving at a decent rate and he went from being a 4.5/10 to an 8/10.
Of course, this was only possible because Dina had practiced it before and her system archery skills, or she'd still be stuck at a 6/10.
On noticing Riven had paused to take a break, Emlyn immediately shot one last arrow, which hit the target, and after a quick celebration, went after him.
“Teach thank you so much! I thought I was gonna die,” he chirped excitedly.
Riven found himself a bit lost in the shimmering golden orbs—was it normal for a person's eyes to shine like that? Maybe for witches.
“Don't read late into the night, or I'll ban you from reading,” he threatened lowly, leaving the male whimpering.
“Yes, teach.”
“Good, let's have lunch.”
Emlyn:!!!
“Okay!”
***
Emlyn stirred his broth lightly before grabbing it with both hands and gulping it down in one move. Putting the now empty bowl down, he licked his lips, giving them a glossy appearance.
Patting his stomach in satisfaction, Emlyn decided to be daring, “Teach. I have a suggestion. Please hear me out!”
Riven barely glanced at him but gestured at the male to continue.
Something Dina had noticed about Riven was that he was a routinary human being. He was the type that once adopts a routine and sticks to it habitually. This was exactly why she had to strike because, with the pace of things, she could spend a couple of decades with him and still wouldn't fill the meter.
“I can tell that Teach has the same thoughts as me. You want to try to be more versatile with your schedule so why not let me help you?”
Riven calmly observed the confident male and had to admit he was very keen. Truthfully he was routinary to a terrible degree.
He never knew this problem until he had to pick up his sword after centuries. He was the type to focus on one thing once he found it interesting, pouring lots of passion and commitment into it.
Before magic, he was an excellent swordmaster who was obsessed with his sword, but as soon as he mastered magic, he abandoned it. The fact was that there was no need to abandon either and that never occurred to him until Emlyn suggested a break.
Once he touched his sword, it made him realize he also wanted this and that learning magic couldn't stop him. He just needed to learn how to multitask.
He almost couldn't believe that the male's lousy idea helped him confront this dilemma. Thus, he decided to be a bit more amiable with him.
Maybe that was why, despite how ridiculous the plan sounded, he found himself listening rather attentively.
“Sounds nice but all these are merely distractions to me,” Riven replied coolly.
“That's exactly why it'll work; if you can manage to do something distracting along with something worthwhile, doing two things you're passionate about would be a cakewalk,” Elara persuaded eagerly.
“Hmm,” Riven hummed lightly, “We'll see about that.”
‘Will he consider it?’ Dina wondered to Zero.
“Possibly, since he didn't straight up reject it.”
Emlyn sighed faintly, garnering Riven's attention, who curiously glanced at the downcast male.
From his vision, he could see a soft layer of black hair with short bangs that spread sparsely across his forehead. His beautiful eyes lowered lightly concentrating on his almost finished food while his small red lips pouted in displeasure.
He was indeed an incubus—possessing a simple yet deadly charm capable of hypnotizing others even without trying. Unfortunately, he wasn't like others.
What he truly wanted to know about this child was why his ascension was tied to him? No matter how much he studied, the soul within was from this world and even the memories were the same.
He had even broken his own rules to sometimes interject the male's thoughts but found nothing suspicious. Even on killing him, he thought that he'd uncover something, only to uncover nothing. The soul within was from this world through and through.
‘Maybe I just have to look at it from a different angle,’ he pondered lightly.
Either way, he did have all the time in the world, and the male, despite not being immortal, lived quite long as a magical creature, and that would be enough time to find out everything.
***
After the conversation, Riven still did not answer him, leaving Emlyn frustrated to no end.
But on the third day, he decided to take matters into his own hands preparing snacks, laying out a mat outside before inviting Riven to join him.
Surprisingly, he accepted, and both ended up stargazing. The night sky was beautiful that night; there were so many stars that their brilliance nearly outdid the moon's bright glow, and with their combined effort, the night seemed to become just as bright as the day.
The duo lay side by side with a slight distance between them as they observed the mesmerizing view, which left them marveling at the beauty of the world.
Deciding to be daring, Emlyn asked, “Teach, do you know anything about stars?”
“No.”
Emlyn:....
“Haha, me too…” damn, what a blunt rejection!
The next day, Emlyn got up even earlier and awakened Riven, who stepped out of his room, surveying him with a glare.
“Erm… Let's go watch the sun rise, Teach! I promise it's just as beautiful as the stars!”
And just as the male promised it was beautiful, and suddenly Riven found himself having a change of heart. These things he referred to as trivial; perhaps doing them wasn't so bad?
All his life had been about chasing after one thing or the other, so now he was forced by a certain witch to stop for a moment and appreciate life's fleeting distractions. He couldn't help but find himself getting interested.
Maybe indulging a bit more wasn't so bad? It wasn't like it distracted his original goals at all. And so he did. If there was one thing about him, it was that despite his iron-clad self-control when it came to something he wanted to do, he did it and enjoyed the heck out of it without regrets.
After all, what are mere months to an eternal being?
That was how Emlyn finally got full cooperation from the male.
The next activity they tried was a thorough home cleaning and Emlyn was left shocked at how good Riven was.
‘I guess at the back of my head I regarded him as royalty who would never do such peasant things,’ Dina said to Zero.
“Who do you think cleans his room?”
Dina: (￣ー￣；)
“That makes sense.”
***
This went on for weeks, with Emlyn introducing various activities, including but not limited to strange ones, which Riven accepted wholeheartedly.
Had it not been for the meter still stuck at 35%, Dina would have thought the target had fallen for Emlyn or something with how much he was indulging him.
But on thinking deeply, it seemed what the male liked was the activity. Either one was fine as long as he could steadily raise the meter.
Just as he was getting broke idea-wise, Riven suddenly dropped a bomb about a second storage room filled with outfits apart from their usual boring black ones, exciting Emlyn.
The next day, immediately after preparing for the day, Riven was led away to play dress-up with Emlyn.
***
“Teach, how do I look?” Emlyn inquired with bright eyes as he spun around cheerfully before Riven, who sat calmly in a corner observing his outfit.
He had on a high-collared shirt with ruffled detailing and a long coat with elaborate flowery patterns, a pair of knee-high boots, fitted pants, and gloves.
Due to its dark colors, the outfit strikes a delightful contrast with Emlyn’s fair skin, making him look like a beautiful porcelain and bringing out his boyish charm to the fullest.
Even Riven was impressed; these outfits were ones he had worn as a young teen and were also one of the few keepsakes he had with him in honor of his family.
“Not bad,” he commented lightly, which caused Emlyn to brighten up almost instantly.
“Then I'll go try out some more!”
The next outfit was a gray vest worn over a white collared shirt with a black cravat. The pants were plaid, tucked into the pair of black knee-high boots which the male wore.
He had on a black top hat, matching a black coat and fingerless glove with a fancy cane, which he swung about playfully, performing a silly little dance that had Riven chuckling inside.
This wasn't so bad…
{Interest-meter +5%}
The next outfit had Riven raising his right brow at Emlyn leaving him smirking mischievously.
The male had on a wide-brimmed hat scorned with feathers, matching the chain necklace over his neck, which seemed to emphasize its petiteness. The outfit wrapped about his waist tightly despite the absence of a corset, highlighting Emlyn’s curvy figure.
The off-shoulder dress had puffed sleeves and a high slit revealing thigh-high stockings and boots, and its black and brown palette stroke a perfect compliment to his looks.
It was a female's cloth yet perfectly suited him as if his body had found its true element.
With a dazzling smile, he swaggered along towards Riven, who observed him keenly. Immensely pleased by this, Emlyn twirled lightly, his gown puffing up a bit before cascading once more.
His pale skin, soft black hair, brilliant eyes, red lips, and curvy figure truly did seem like snow white except more seductive.
Along with his slightly overgrown hair, his twinkling eyes gave him a cute feel, which clashed sharply with his already delicate looks, merging into an extremely feminine look with charms flying off the charts.
This time, when he asked Riven how he looked, he purposely integrated that charm of his, looking unto the male with a haughty yet alluring gaze that demanded yet pleaded for his praise.
A small smile appeared on Riven's gorgeous features making him look even more immaculate as he kindly complimented, “You look great.”
“I—I do?” Emlyn muttered shyly, a deep blush staining his face leaving him more magnetic than he already was.
One little quirk of Emlyn that Dina had learned from his memories was his cross-dressing habit. Due to his inherently feminine looks, Emlyn looked even more like a girl then and had always dressed up as such just to avoid the annoying: boy or girl question.
As he approached his teen years, he began dressing more like a boy but sometimes cross-dressed as a girl, which fitted him a bit too much.
Feminine outfits seemed to radiate his suppressed charms leaving heads turning wherever he went. The adoring gazes, affectionate ones, and even lustful ones left him flattered, and he loved the worship and attention he got just from it.
There was so much thrill that it left him excited even to this day whenever a person gazed at him with appreciation when he cross-dressed.
This feeling had seeped into Dina's temperament, and despite being the one now possessing Emlyn's body couldn't control the surge of excitement.
Emlyn's eyes met Riven's gaze—it was steady, and instead of a lost look of adoration or a burning lust, it was more of a sincere appreciation of the beauty before him.
He was so excited that he short-circuited, and losing control, his eyes glowed a piercing burgundy, and he leaned over Riven, pressing his soft lips against the male's.
A Dahlia flower materialized, its magnetic petals unfurling to reveal its gorgeous image, etching itself onto the male's forehead.
The incubus in him had been awakened.