William slowly opened his eyes, his mind still replaying the pleasant dream he had. 'Wait, why is my chest so heavy?' he questioned himself as he looked down.
He widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Seraphina and Achlys sleeping peacefully on his chest.
'What's going on?' he wondered as he stayed still; he didn't want to disturb the sleeping girls while he wondered why this all happened all of a sudden.
'It must be Seraphina!' he mumbled inwardly and raised his hands, beginning to gently pat their heads.
'This really feels nice!' he muttered inwardly, while a small smile tugged at his lips, waiting for the girls to wake up.
His mind began to replay the events that had led up to this point. His first meeting with Achlys, where he almost killed her and the rulers of the continent.
He still had questions about how he did it and why he did it; 'I asked Mother, but she didn't know anything about it.'
He then recalled the incident with Lyra; she almost stopped talking to him, all the while blaming herself. He had to stalk her for a few days and beg tens of times, all while Orion and Ophiscus tried to stop her depression.
Then the image of William going out with his brother flashed in his mind; he recalled the little girl he had saved from the kidnappers. 'That girl now works as a maid in the mansion; I believe she is under the care of the twins who follow brother Orion like little ducklings.
CHUCKLE
He chuckled at how they acted around Orion and how they always tried to spoil him whenever William went to look for his brother.
He then recalled the day he fought the monsters; it was his first fight that he felt was somewhat thrilling. 'The fight with the cadets was good. But it cannot be compared to the fight I had with those monsters.'
He then remembered how he had argued with his father about giving permission to go to the Marduk Forest. His face contorted into a cringe as he felt embarrassed about how he had blackmailed his mothers into agreeing to let him go to the Marduk Forest.
'Good thing that Mother Aquila insisted on coming with us; if not, the girls and I definitely would have died!' he mumbled inwardly, with a frown on his face.
Although he felt responsible for what had happened in the forest, he had overcome his self-deprecation when his father slapped wisdom into him.
'I have to say, that really hurt.' Not just the physical slap, but the mental pain he had felt when he saw Seraphina that way.
'I think these two are the most important to me after my family.' he mumbled inwardly as he continued patting their heads. But then he shook his head and mumbled, "No, these two are my family."
His cheeks reddened a little as he continued, "After all, they said they love me!" William didn't yet fully grasp the concept of love between a man and a woman but knew some things, like that it was the same kind of love that his mother had for his father.
He then recalled how these two had barged into his room and made it theirs. He almost called his mothers when Seraphina teased him about doing adult stuff, but only stopped when Achlys stopped him while glaring at Seraphina.
"Hmm," Achlys mumbled while her eyelids fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked over to William, expecting him to still be asleep.
But her groggy eyes opened wide when she saw him looking back at her. Her face reddened in shame, and she immediately closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.
CHUCKLE
William chuckled at her cute actions, 'I get why Seraphina always tries to tease her. She is cute!' he mumbled inwardly as he muttered, "Good morning."
Achlys slowly peeked her head out and glanced at William, but she immediately hid herself again when she heard him chuckle.
William didn't say anything else and continued patting her head while a smile lingered on his face.
The Buried Achlys's eyes widened in surprise when she felt William's hand gently patting her hair.
A small smile bloomed on her face as she closed her eyes. 'It feels good!' she mumbled to herself, relishing the bliss that she was experiencing now.
A few minutes had gone by, and William felt some movement to his right. He looked over to see Seraphina waking up as she rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning," William greeted with a small smile on his face.
Seraphina widened her eyes when she heard William's words, 'I didn't expect this!' She exclaimed in surprise. She thought that William might act all shy and would ask why they were sleeping on his chest but didn't expect him to greet her.
But then a small smile developed on her face as she stopped thinking about all the complicated stuff and replied, "Good morning, William."
But she didn't get up and kept laying her head on his chest. She glanced at Achlys, who by now had become comfortable and was gazing back at her.
She smiled at her sister and closed her eyes, confusing William.
"Um, don't you girls have work to do?" he asked; he knew that both girls were researching some new attack and defense techniques in the library.
"We can take a leave today," Seraphina said while glancing at Achlys, who nodded her head in agreement.
"Oh!" William exclaimed while he bobbed his head in understanding.
William then closed his eyes while his hands continued patting the girls when Seraphina suddenly asked, "William, do you hate this?"
William frowned as he opened his eyes and asked, "Hate, what?"
"You know, us sleeping on your chest," Seraphina clarified. Achlys, too, raised her head slightly and looked at William, hoping for him to say that he didn't hate it. 'I had the best sleep while listening to his heartbeat.' She mumbled inwardly.
For her, William's heartbeat felt like a lullaby, and she slept like a baby.
"Actually, I didn't hate it. In fact, I think I like it quite a lot," William answered honestly; he quite liked the girls sleeping on top of him. "They smell really good!' He inwardly exclaimed. Achlys had a fresh scent of lavender that felt pleasant, calming his mind. While Seraphina had the smell of honey, attracting him like a bee.
Seraphina and Achlys smiled widely when they heard his words, "Then, we both will sleep on top of you from now on!" Seraphina decided, her heart thumped against her chest in excitement while she awaited William's opinion.
"I don't have a problem with it," William informed as he turned toward Achlys.
Achlys blushed lightly when she noticed Seraphina and William staring at her. "I quite like it a lot and want to sleep like this too." Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito as she answered the duo.
CHUCKLE
William chuckled at Achlys as he reaffirmed his thought about Achlys being cute. Seraphina, too, smiled at her sister. She then placed her head back on William's chest.
Achlys too followed her sister and placed her head on top of his chest, listening to his heart beat.
"Let's stay like this for some more time," Seraphina mumbled while she closed her eyes, relishing this moment.
"Okay," William whispered while he too closed his eyes. He stopped caressing the girls' hair and rested his hands on their shoulders.
"Don't you have something to do?" Achlys asked, curious. William would have run off to the training grounds by now and wondered why he still hadn't left.
"I won the bet against Mother, but the training grounds were too damaged to continue. I am planning to visit Father and ask him to hasten the repairs."
"You won?" Achlys blurted out while raising her head. Seraphina, too, opened her eyes and looked at William; she perked up her ears, curious to know what had happened.
"Yes, I won against Mother. But all I could do was cut just a millimeter of her skin while depleting almost all my mana and strength." He answered honestly. He still was amazed by his mother's prowess and didn't know his mother was that powerful.
The girls nodded their heads in understanding as they fell into a daze, 'Who could say that they could harm a grandmaster while being an apprentice!' Seraphina muttered inwardly while she placed her head back on his chest.
'This is just too absurd!' Achlys exclaimed in surprise. Her blood-red eyes dilated as she said, 'Even with all my power, I am not confident in touching Lady Ara, let alone making her bleed!'
Both the astonished girls stared at each other while thinking simultaneously, ''We have to get used to this!''
"What happened?" William asked in confusion as the girls went silent all of a sudden.
"Nothing," Achlys mumbled while still in a daze.
"....Okay," he mumbled; he knew that the girls were thinking something and had become silent.
'Haah! I wish every day were like this!'