[TKOSINM] 170 - Is He Sleeping?

 Irene closed her eyes thinking it would only become even more complicated. It would be unreasonable if she were to argue with him any further. At the time, she thought it would not be that hard and she would fall asleep any time soon...

I can’t sleep!

 It was a big problem. Far from falling asleep, her mind became clearer as time went by. It was because she had had a long sleep earlier in the day.

If I don’t sleep, Noel won’t either.

He was pretty stubborn; he would keep his word to the end. Thus, he definitely would not sleep until she did. Urgh. She really could not do it.

I have no choice but to pretend to be in slumber.

Irene came to the conclusion that perhaps pretending to sleep would be the best way out. This was because she had to put Noel to sleep. After all, he was so diligent in inspecting the monsters’ whereabouts. Irene closed her eyes tightly. She opened her mouth a little and did her best to act deep asleep. She made her breath even and sometimes even tried sleep-talking. She was quite shy, but she thought she did a fine job overall.

She’s pretending to be sleeping.

Noel could tell at once that she was faking sleeping. Needless to say, so far, there have been countless people who have put on all sorts of acts in front of him. He could not allow himself to be fooled by those masks, so he was always on the lookout. Hence, it would be absurd if Noel were to be deceived by Irene’s clumsy trick. However, Irene, unaware of this fact, only wanted to get him to go to bed.

Soon, her effort paid off, Noel began to move slowly. At that, Irene pricked up her ears to get a hint of his movement. But soon she hardened.

S-so close!

 Noel finally lay down in bed, but the gap between them was too narrow. When she turned her back, facing upward, she felt as if his breath could reach her. Irene flinched and her body tensed up. But before long, she heard Noel’s even and stable breathing in her ear.

 I-is he sleeping? She wondered, but if he was not yet asleep, all her efforts so far would go in vain, so Irene just kept her eyes shut. As the long night continued, silence and stillness encroached on the surroundings. Not feeling even his slightest movement, Irene gently turned her head. As expected, Noel was lying right beside her. When her eyelids lifted, revealing the front view, there Noel was, face zoomed up close at her sight.

... It’s the first time I’ve seen his face this close..

Irene stared blankly at Noel, who was sound asleep. Even his sleeping face is handsome. That was all she could think of. In fact, Noel’s face shone with beauty so bright that it was beyond describable -if she tried to put it into words. He was like the embodiment of the greatest masterpiece of the century. One, created by a virtuoso artist. Irene’s thoughts of admiration for Noel’s sleeping face popped up without an end.

After a long while of silently appreciating Noel’s handsomeness, she opened her mouth. “You have worked hard today, Noel.” She muttered in a quiet voice.

Of course, she knew that he could not hear it as his consciousness had long sunk into a haze, but she still wanted to say it. That he had done a great job today. Even after that, Irene kept her eyes on Noel for a long time. So long that she lost track of time, unaware that plenty of time had passed. Things carried on that way until the night was over. But what Irene did not know was the fact that his skill of pretending was a level above her.

♔♔♔

♔ Vol 3. Part 7 Kreisen (2) ♔

 It had been four days since Noel and Irene first came to Kreisen Castle. Irene, who came out to see Noel off early in the morning, tied the knot on his cloak and asked with anxiousness.

“You mentioned that you are going into the area of the Snow Forest today, right?” “Yes, because we found out that the source of the monster emanated from there. There is no reason to waste time.”

“...it’s a monster, you are fighting, right?”

 In the midst of tying the knot, Irene said with a gloomy expression. She learned about monsters back at the academy. Demonic monsters came from a dirty dimension where the dregs were gathered. Therefore, in most cases, the area where the monsters originally appeared was a shady or hazardous place. However, Kreisen was a land ruled by the Great Kristen. The crops were always flourishing and the inhabitants were provided with adequate living conditions. For this reason, the appearance of Kreisen’s demons was unprecedented. Despite knowing that Noel was an excellent swordsman, Irene’s mind could not be at peace when Noel would be fighting such a sinister monster.

“Yes, eliminating the monster is also one of the conditions given to me.”

“...don’t get hurt.”

 Unable to stop him, Irene said in a sad voice. Noel answered with a reassuring smile.

“Yes.”

On the other hand, the mercenaries, and the knights, who were listening to their conversation, held back their desire to shout out that the person himself was a much more terrifying human being than a beast. In particular, the mercenaries who had been to all kinds of battlefields and dangerous regions with Noel were well aware that he was just masking his true self. They wished to rip his mask off and show her his true colour, that was how much of a hypocrite he was. Yet, they could not because their life might be at stake, the worst case, their neck might come flying.

“Then, I will be back.”

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