After a while of being together above the ground, levitating through the air, the two's position has become more comfortable and even natural.
Even Kamille had already forgotten to notice this; his eyes were only focusing on the ground, observing the scenery below using his ability.
Unlike him, who was so focused on scouting and observation, Rise was a bit leisurely—too relaxed, even. Given their dangerous and confusing situation, Rise only looked at the ground occasionally, but during the flight, his eyes would linger more on Kamille. feeling so comfortable with his position.
It had been a while since he felt this... Being in the Guild Leader's arms was truly heavenly!
Was Kamille not feeling his gaze? Of course, he did. It was just that the situation was more urgent, and he let Rise stare at him, not having any time to reprimand him or care about it.
A few minutes later, no, more like almost an hour later, they finally found something other than the white expanse of snow. Almost at the center of the open space was a tall and colossus crystal palace; it gleamed whenever light shone through it, giving the surroundings a sense of beauty and purity.
For a moment, Rise was also a bit distracted, his eyes lingering on the crystal palace not far from them. Kamille stopped in midair; his arm around Rise subconsciously tightened, pressing him closer.
In the dungeon, anything out of the ordinary was the most dangerous.
"It's beautiful..." Rise broke the silence, voicing his genuine admiration.
Even someone without a care in the world other than himself and Kamille, his aesthetics for beauty were still working just fine. He wasn't stingy with praise, and this crystal palace was worthy of his compliment.
As it stood tall, cold, and imposing, it garnered everyone's attention. Its beauty was truly deceiving inside a perilously evolving dungeon.
Kamille blinked and glanced at Rise; his gaze carried his agreement. He was about to say something when Rise also turned his head and faced him.
Rise's eyes were bright, almost giving off a mischievous flair; add to that how he hooked his lips, seemingly mocking everyone with his smile.
Kamille almost forgot to blink; his ability was unconsciously focused on Rise, making his appearance magnified in front of him.
Rise's smile widened seeing Kamille staring at him, no matter what the meaning of those gaze. He could not help but boldly and openly crack a joke, which was not really a joke.
"But it's not as attractive as you..."
Kamille's lips parted slightly, and his composure slightly became off, before he averted his gaze.
"Don't joke, we're on a mission."
Rise bit his lips and chuckled, having missed this Kamille. He was used to this.
Rise did not shy away from declaring his affection to Kamille, even if the latter was too dense to realize this point. Even before, whenever Rise boldly claimed his feelings for Kamille, the latter would brush it off as just him being a brat again who wanted something from him.
He sometimes thought, Kamille knew, but for some reason, he never acknowledged his feelings. Knowing the reality of this world, Rise seemed to already know why that was the case.
Kamille, the male lead, was destined for another.
And so whatever it was, even if they were not destined, Rise would forcefully change that. This was not a novel, he refused to let their lives be manipulated by the so-called plot.
"Who said I'm joking, Guild Leader?" His tone was flirty and coquettish. Rise's eyes lit up, having thought of something, he also tightened his arm around Kamille, almost hugging him like a koala.
Rise would always take any opportunity to take advantage of Kamille...
With his sticky and coquettish actions, Kamille was once again speechless. Kamille's life, after awakening as an S-class Esper, had become centered around fighting monsters and subjugating gates.
From the age of thirteen, until he took over the guild, Kamille was more like a weapon, tiring himself to do his duty as an esper. That also comes with the responsibility of being an S-class esper, the most powerful rank in the federation.
His life revolved around gates, and his status made it hard for any ordinary person to make contact with him. His guild members and even the people who knew him respected him, but at the same time, there was this human instinct that they also feared his power.
There was always this kind of boundary that Kamille gradually got accustomed to, eventually taking it as this was how it used to be kind of mentality.
However, Rise was different. Perhaps, this was Rise's nature as a troublemaker? He was... the first person in years to get close to him. For a time, Kamille became so curious about what his deal was.
"You said you're my fan?" Not used to having this kind of 'normal' conversation, Kamille sounded awkward and stoic as he asked this.
For Rise, though, he was really surprised! It had to be taken note that in the past, well, it was now the future, but that was beside the point... Kamille took almost six years, and it was even because of some incidents that Rise warmed up to him.
His heart suddenly pounded, even this small question was enough for Rise's heart to quicken. Damn, he was that whipped, huh?
"Uhmm... I've been a fan for years now."
Technically, Rise was talking about something else. Although he also admired Kamille as an Esper, Rise was honest in saying that he became attracted to him first as a person rather than him as an Esper.
With this answer, Kamille did not answer immediately, seemingly pondering something. Rise only stared at him, wanting to observe, and perhaps got a clue as to what was on his mind.
"I got it." After a while, Kamille nodded and looked seriously at Rise; his mind appeared to have already reached the conclusion he wanted.
It was now time for Rise to get confused, and question marks began to appear in his face.
What? What do you mean, 'I got it'?
"What do you mean?"
"You're my fan, so you found me attractive," Kamille confidently said, his tone calm as if to say he had Rise figured out.
For him, there was no shortage of people who found him attractive and also claimed to be his fans. Kamille did not think their feelings were genuine, which might stem from a lot of reasons.
Hearing this, the corners of Rise's twitched uncontrollably. He suddenly became lost for words.
Again, he encountered a roadblock, this wall being... Kamille himself. Rise found himself back in this weird cycle, with him advancing and Kamille somehow dodging or putting a massive and thick boundary between them.
Sigh... No matter what, this time, I will slowly tear down this boundary! This cycle won't continue in this life.
Just you wait Kamille. I'll push myself in you so that you won't be able to think of any excuses in that attractive, dense skull of yours other than...
I want you!