Creed looked out into the dark window.
"It's about time to go."
As the main character of tomorrow's victory party, he was bound to be busy from early on, led by Yulrich's hand.
No, more than that, he felt an urge to flee, fearing the mistakes he might make if he stayed any longer.
Navia noticed Creed checking outside and realized he was about to leave.
She bit her lip in disappointment and asked, "Do you have to go...?"
Creed's hand twitched. Seeing that expression so blatantly showing her dislike of him leaving, he felt he might be mistaken.
‘Could it be, does she feel the same way as I do?’
‘No way.’
Creed disciplined himself to not ruin this precious relationship with his wishful thinking.
"Because of the victory party. Are you coming tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Do you have a partner?"
"Yeah, I'll be entering with my uncle. It's also my formal debut in society."
Originally, she would have attended with Lark, but he was still asleep, so Erkin had agreed to take his place.
Navia glanced down at her fingertips.
Her heart fluttered at the thought of Lark.
Creed, leaning his chin on his hand, still in the same position, asked, "Shall I hug you?"
Instead of saying that Lark would definitely return, and everything would be alright, he asked that.
But the atmosphere was a bit strange.
Was it because it was a moonlit night and the bedroom was only softly lit? Navia knew the hug was meant as comfort, but strangely she felt her temperature rising.
Seeing her hesitate, Creed relaxed his posture and continued, "If you need it, just tell me. It's okay to hug me."
His words contained a little bit of selfishness. Well, not a little, a lot.
"I'll be by your side from now on."
Creed stood up, took Navia's hand, and kissed the back of it as a goodbye.
"I'll go. See you tomorrow...."
He couldn't finish his sentence and suddenly clutched his chest, dropping to one knee on the floor.
"Ugh...!"
‘Damn it, why is my magic acting up now!’
He hadn't been able to control his massive magic even during the war. His entire body was like a giant magic hole, constantly drawing in new magic.
"Creed!"
Navia sat down on the floor in shock next to Creed.
Creed tried to assure her while his veins bulged on his neck, "I'm fine, really. Please, step back a little..."
If he lost control, Navia could get hurt. That was something he couldn't allow.
Navia felt déjà vu.
"You, what are you hiding?"
She remembered Lark, who was afraid and telling her to stop, to not come closer.
What he had been hiding was the fractures that were tearing his body apart. Creed's actions were identical to Lark's.
"It's the magic, right? It's not solved?"
Creed remained silent, looking defeated.
Navia's hands trembled.
'Anesthetic, would an anesthetic help Creed?'
The anesthetics and ointments Minerva had made were still unmatched in effectiveness, even helping to ease Lark's fractures.
Could they also work for Creed?
'Wait a minute.'
A sudden thought flashed through her mind.
"What if I absorb that magic?"
"It's dangerous. If something goes wrong...."
Before he could finish, Navia hugged him tightly. Black Moon reacted to his powerful magic and began eagerly absorbing Creed's magic.
However, unlike before when a brief touch absorbed a large amount, it was much slower this time.
Navia felt as if she was in a forest as Creed's magic poured into her.
'So this is Creed's scent.'
It was different from Lark, who smelled of winter. This lovely fragrance suited Creed so well.
"Haah-."
Creed let out a rough breath.
He felt the magic scratching inside him transferring to Navia.
Breathing became easier. The pain lessened.
Ah. It was salvation. Such a sensation was new to Creed, and he lost his senses.
He hugged Navia more tightly, as if a person drowning in water, not allowing even a small gap between their bodies.
Navia, feeling his desperation, willingly embraced Creed in return.
"Please, you have to get better."
Creed's upper body heaved greatly.
"More, give me more."
"Ugh..."
He frantically scanned Navia, who was absorbing his magical power, and burrowed deeper into her embrace.
Please, please more...
Navia, unconcerned about her disheveled clothes, accepted his magic. However, there was a limit to what just an embrace could do.
Suddenly, she remembered something Nyx had said long ago.
- The good thing about the Black Moon is that if you increase the intensity of physical contact, it quickly...
‘That's crazy. That's not possible.’
Creed was not his biological brother, but she had always thought of him as such.
- By increasing the level of contact with your partner, kissing or having a relationship...
‘No, I said no! Stop thinking about it!’
Navia's face was already flushed to the extreme.
This is a medical procedure. Yes, it was a medical procedure. So, she shouldn't have strange thoughts. That would be very strange.
‘But the position is too…’
Navia was currently sitting on Creed's thighs.
In that state, Creed was burrowing deeper into her embrace, his touch assuming a form that could easily be misconstrued.
It was undoubtedly a compromising position that would be extremely awkward if someone entered the bedroom.
"Um… Creed?"
Navia called his name softly, as if to gently coax him back to his senses.
When Navia tried to slightly distance herself, Creed urgently pulled her closer into his embrace, ultimately collapsing onto the carpet.
Navia's hair cascaded over him like a curtain of silver.
"Sigh…"
Creed, with his eyes half-closed, weaved his fingers through her hair, wrapping them around the back of her head.
Navia immediately anticipated what would follow this action.
"Wait…!"
Just as she covered Creed’s lips with her hand, he lifted his head.
The feeling of his twisted head, trying to capture her lips, his ragged breath, and parted lips were vividly felt against the palm of her hand.
Navia found herself with her lips pressed against the back of her own hand, narrowly averting a kiss.
Creed, not fully grasping the situation, ran his tongue over the palm of Navia’s hand.
"Huff...!"
Her hand flinched at that strange sensation.
'Dangerous.'
Navia felt her whole body pulsating nervously.
Her insides tightened, soaking in this damp atmosphere.
It seemed like a real disaster was imminent. She felt she might succumb to Creed's temptation...
Creed, noticing Navia's hand feeling trapped, shook his head and then bit down on it, careful not to cause much pain.
Navia, in the meantime, pushed herself up from the ground.
"Snap out of it, Creed!"
His disheveled hair, her skirt rolled up to reveal her calves, and her flushed cheeks slowly entered Creed's field of vision.
"......!"
And then he belatedly realized what he had done.
"Mi, sorry. I'm sorry, Noona."
He quickly sat up, but as his face again came close to Navia, he jerked back.
Creed too seemed utterly embarrassed by the situation.
Navia was equally clueless about how to handle this unexpected scenario.
‘Wouldn't it be better to just brush it off as nothing important? That way, it won't be awkward.’
Navia tried her best to appear natural as she asked with a trembling body.
"Are you, okay?"
"Huh? Ah, yes... I'm okay."
It wasn't just a casual remark. After all, she had been holding him for over 30 minutes.
The water, which had been overflowing from the glass, had only settled to a gentle swish, but even that made Creed feel as if he had gained a new life.
"Thank you."
This was heartfelt.
From the first moment he saw Navia, she had been his salvation, and now, in a new crisis like this, she had saved him again.
As if a god had taken pity on him and sent down Navia, she was the greatest gift and treasure of his life.
'I can't help falling deeper in love like this...'
Creed was already a completely conquered fortress.
Navia was his god and his everything.
Yet, Navia seemed unsatisfied with just that, growing ever larger in his heart.
He was certain that if this continued, he wouldn't be able to control himself.
Now, it could be stated with certainty.
‘The only way we can become a family is just one.’
By becoming a couple.
Any other relationship was unacceptable. Because that would be a deception.
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