That Time a Bookworm Got Ascended in Tensura

Ch.66 The Beginning?

Tuuli's pov: 

A dull pulsating pain filled my head as I tried to keep my focus on the person in front of me, it was as if I had my entire body shutting down. 'White clothes?' I could not make it out properly, as my vision was blurred with too much blood dripping down my forehead. 

Then I shot up, a cold sweat was caking my skin like a layer of film, as I wiped off my forehead to look at my hand I saw there was nothing more than sweat. I shook myself a bit and shifted out of bed to quickly put on my shoes, while thinking softly about what I had just seen, trying not to remember the details too specifically. I looked over to see Rozemyne had not been watching me tonight like she usually did, and wondered momentarily where she was. I took hold of Nahenlicht and expanded my aura to use my senses to search the entire house, and found she was in the garden sitting peacefully, reading something. I smiled a bit to myself and retracted my aura before getting ready for the day, which took only a few minutes. 

I was outside and in a fresh outfit by the time Rozemyne looked up from her book, though I would not precisely say that was impressive. She looked up very rarely, I may have even been the reason she did so. "Are you ready for the day yet?" I posed the question more casually than I had recently. 

Rozemyne had her eyes go wide for a second and let out a softly satisfied sigh before rushing to me and hugging me softly, of couse making sure to carefully set down the book she had been reading beforehand. "Much more now." She said quickly once she was holding me tightly, it sort of hurt as I could tell she was using her almost full strength for this. 

I coughed a bit from the pressure and softly held her back while making a simple request, "Please, you are far stronger than you used to be." It was a little hard to say, but it was not something I truly hated. It had been some time, so I just waited. 

Rising in response to my implication her gaze became frenzied as she quickly released me while blushing lightly like she had just done something horribly wrong. "S-sorry. It's just been so long since you've been that casual with me, I should not have been so careless..." She seemed to have that gaze drift off into space while a tense expression came up on her face for a split second before she stepped away and picked her book back up with a more delicate approach. 

"It is fine, I am not hurt, it was simply difficult to breath." I smiled a bit to try to help calm her while looking around the garden for a moment, noticing all the flowers had been overgrowing as they had quickly overflowed from their pots in a few nights. As well the amount of magicules in the air had vastly increased in that time, "Rozemyne, is something more wrong?" 

Crackling failed the air for a moment as she turned to me with an expression I could not place, it was as if she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, causing me to shiver lightly. "I, Don't know what you mean.." She quickly quipped as she slipped on the aura controlling bracelet and seemed to struggle for a minute with hiding her expression. 

I stepped back a bit to give her a moment while thinking of what to say, however I was quickly interrupted by a sight I was expecting. It was Damuel, having entered the anti-perception barrier already, almost surprising me for a moment as I had not noticed him. 'Can he hide his magicules?' My mind wandered for a moment while I considered this. 

Damuel bowed lightly to Rozemyne on approach while greeting her, causing Rozemyne a moment of pause before he explained further. "I would like to accompany you as well today, now that multiple attendants may be present in your entourage." There was a small bit of a glance over to me before a small shake worked it's way up his back when he saw me glare softly, trying to go unnoticed by Rozemyne. 

I nodded a bit in a resigned manor, I'd need to let him be around eventually. I had a feeling my presence alone would make nobles angry, they already seemed to hate me. I felt a bit of a clench in my stomach at the thought of putting Rozemyne in danger without being able to fix it, while looking down to the hilt of Nahenlicht. "I think it's a great idea to have him come with today, if I am to participate in the opening of the Labyrinth." I used it as yet another moment to practice speaking and hiding my feelings behind a mask.