44 『Sugar Cubes』 (1/2)

Vertum opened his eyes as the morning sun poured in through the window. He went to sit up, but stopped, feeling a small weight on the side of his chest. His gaze drifted down towards the small female, yet boyish, form resting against him.

His first thought being, How did she get there...? Those purple eyes of his looked to the pillow where she had once laid her head, it was still indented. It seemed she had unconsciously moved in her sleep? Perhaps she had gotten cold and subconsciously moved to where there was warmth? Vertum had no idea.

Resting a hand on Ninya's head, he would look to the door. It hadn't been opened or disturbed, his eyes then drifted over towards her belt and pouch on the nearby Chair.

”Hm..” When he had first seen her journal, he became rather curious of it. Mostly because it held notes of her days here in this world, and information that he either already had or lacked.

His tongue traced over his lips before he looked down at her once more, feeling her face nuzzling into his side.

Under shallow breaths, he could just vaguely hear her whimper out her sister's name, ”Tuare...”

A small grin formed over his lips and he placed a hand on the top of her head of short brown hair. ”Well, aren't you charming,” The dragon snickered to himself as he played with the hair between his gloved fingers.

Ninya's eyes fluttered open, before narrowing them as she found where she was. Her arms were draped around him, her body curled close to him. ”Wha... How did...?” Confused, she sat up quickly and looked over at him, flushed in the face, escaping from the hand on the top of her head.

”If you wanted to cuddle, you should've let me know,” Vertum stretched a bit more refreshed. Last night he had chosen to sleep due to mental exhaustion over the fact that in the passed almost two weeks, he had been stuck in another world. While it wasn't all that bad, it was also rather disconcerting. He found himself thinking about the world he left behind, even though it was pretty much left in ruins.

The young man let out a sigh as he sat up himself.

”V-V-Vertum-dono! I-I d-d-di-didn't,” Ninya seemed almost panicked by his insinuation of her wanting to cuddle, to the point that she was stumbling over her words.

Smirking now that she had taken his teasing seriously, he shrugged. ”To each their own,” slipping off the side of the bed, he walked over towards the nearby window and glanced outside.

There were people everywhere, moving through the streets and even gliding on by the wealthy establishment without even blinking an eye. ”Think your friends are up?”

”Probably...” Yawning, Ninya shuffled over to her side of the bed and then slipped off onto her feet. Her gaze narrowed on the boots and her things, before looking to Vertum.

He hadn't touched them, though she already knew he was interested in her diary as he had tried looking over her shoulder when she was writing in it. A small smile formed over her lips as the light from outside was shining on his face. To her it seemed he was now in a better mood compared to yesterday.

Once she pulled her tunic on and fastened her belt, she put on the mantle and slipped into her boots. Plucking her wooden magic staff from the wall, she walked towards him. ”Are you ready to go, Vertum-dono?”

Looking over towards her as he had everything within his item box, he nodded to her.

As the two made their way out of the bedroom, they could hear the shuffling of feet in the dining room of the pavilion and the clattering of silverware. Once they entered the dining area, it was clear to Ninya what they were hearing as the smell of sizzling meats and over easy eggs began to breach Ninya's senses.

On a long table with a white tablecloth with fine linen napkins and plenty of fanciful dishware and utensils. To him it looked like a modern table, but to them, this was exquisit and a symbol of wealth. A faint smile formed over his lips.

Right there in front of them sat the other members from the Swords of Darkness, as well as his two current traveling companions Enri and Nemu Emmot.

”G'Morning Vertum-dono,” a blonde woman with grey-blue eyes wearing a french maid's attire walked over to him with a flat circular metal tray under her arm. ”Your party's breakfast is ready, would you like it to be served?”

Blinking at the service such as this, Vertum nodded lightly, before watching her spring off in the direction of the kitchen. He then turned his attention to his 'party,' and gave a chuckle.

”Good morning, Vertum-san! Come, come sit over here~!” Nemu shouted raising up in her chair only for Enri to force her back down into the seat.

”Stop annoying the other guests,” She seemed to be really enjoying being in this high lass atmosphere, but at the same time seemed rather anxious.

Shaking his head slightly seeing this, he made eye contact with Enri. He was beginning to think he may as well have brought her clothes in which he had made for her.

Clearing his throat, ”Morning everyone,” the Dragon proclaimed as he finally spoke. Proceeding to turn his gaze toward Ninya who sat down with Peter and the other members of her Adventurer Group, he smirked.

Lukrut raised a brow seeing Ninya's flushed face. ”He didn't do anything weir--” He was interrupted by a smack in the back of the head, from none other than Peter.

”Don't ask him weird questions,” Peter cut him off before smiling at, Ninya, his friend.

Ninya smiled humbly at Peter and nodded her head. ”Thank you.”

Vertum sat beside Ninya, between her and Nemu, leaving three chairs on the other side vacant.