Chapter 23: Scrambling in the tent (1/2)
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.