It was a week after the mock battle, and Brenna and I had been training hard whenever we had free time after helping Lord Noah with his work. With Aaron as our instructor, we found we managed to improve on our skills—Brenna with her blast of fireballs and me with controlling my qi output.
As I already knew, my qi was notoriously unstable, with the burst either coming out way too fast and powerful or slow and weak. Me being me, I got a bit obsessed in perfecting my sword wielding and powering skills, which I practiced hard late into the nights—or shall I say early in the morning—so that I barely had enough sleep, so much so that I'd felt exhausted for the past couple days. Now, feeling like I was about to collapse, I excused myself from the dinner table.
I was just getting up from my seat when Aria said, "You look a little off, Alfie. Are you not feeling well?"
I gave her a smile. "I'm fine. Just tired; that's all."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Caleb and Felix were looking at each other.
Caleb said, "You've been training yourself too hard. Even new recruits don't train that hard." He got up from his seat and walked over to me. Up close, he placed the back of his hand against my forehead. He frowned darkly. "You're burning hot."
"A fever?" Lord Noah asked from across the table.
This drew everyone else's attention to me, including Aaron and Geoffrey, who were busy talking about something. Possibly me.
Caleb said, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" He bent his knees and picked me up in his arms, which pleasantly surprised me. Being this worn out and, more so, drowsy, it was nice and a relief that I didn't have to go through the trouble of walking up the stairs to my bedchamber.
I wrapped my arms around his neck as I said, "It's nothing. I've had this before back home. I usually get a slight fever when I'm stressed out; that's all. Like during my exams at the university. It's nothing major."
Felix said, "It might be nothing major back on Earth, but here in Aurora, it's different. When you have a fever, your qi quality is low. This could lead to some serious issues."
I guessed he was right. Low qi quality could lead to the complete depletion of qi altogether and, hence, death. Because one simply couldn't exist without qi here in Aurora.
With me in his arms, Caleb turned on his heel and headed to the door. Behind us, Felix was getting out of his seat too.
Before we exited the room, I said, "Good night," to everyone, from whom I received a chorus of, "Good night," and "Sleep well."
A few moments later, Caleb, Felix, and I arrived in my bedchamber. There, Felix went about pulling down the bedsheet, then Caleb put me on the bed.
Once I was between the sheets, Geoffrey and Aaron walked in. Geoffrey came forward and handed me two blue pills, which were painkillers.
"To help ease your fever," he said.
I thanked him politely and popped the pills into my mouth, which proceeded to melt and give off a delicious, sweet taste.
Once Caleb, Felix, and Geoffrey were satisfied I was comfortable, they then each gave me a kiss on the lips, which ignited an intense spark of pleasure that rushed throughout my body. I felt more than a little dazed once they were done and had left the room.
Aaron, being the last one, had his lips lingering against mine longer compared to the others. Once he moved back, he sighed as if frustrated.
"I hate it when you're working too hard. I hate it when you're unwell. You do understand you need to slow down, Alfie? I will have to have a word with Noah. He's working you to the bone. The bastard can't seem to see that."
I smiled. "Lord Noah is a workaholic, after all."
"Same goes for Geoffrey. They're workaholics, the lot of them."
"Same goes for you?" I asked, my brows raised. "Lord Victor told me you're a maniac when it comes to training your soldiers."
Despite his handsome, flamboyant looks, I knew Aaron was very stern when it came to his job as a warrior and instructor. Well, he'd need to be strict on his soldiers. They'd be facing a life and death situation if they were to go to war, after all.
He said, "Alfie, you're not used to training in this intensity. You need to—"
"I know." I cut him short. "I'm sorry I worried you, Aaron. I'll slow down, allow my body to recover. I promise."
He sighed again. "How about I stay with you tonight? In case the fever gets worse?"
I shook my head, knowing he wanted to spend as much time with me as possible since I was always busy helping Lord Noah with his work. When I did get to spend time with Aaron, it was during my training, along with Brenna and sometimes Aria and Leona, so it was never a one-on-one situation. Not only that, but any spare moment I had available, I had to be shared with Felix, Caleb, and Geoffrey. I guessed this was the downside of having four boyfriends. You simply didn't have enough time to spend with each of them.
Despite that I wanted to be with him too, I didn't want to bother him tonight, especially when I was this exhausted.
I said, "No, there's no need for that. I will be fine. Just need to rest up; that's all. And I have Ruth to help me if I need anything." I gave him a smile since I didn't want him to think I was rejecting him.
"Very well." He kissed me on the forehead this time. Before he left, he said, "You are not permitted to work or train for the next couple days. That's an order."
I smiled. Ahh, the stern instructor appeared, I see.
I nodded my head. "I understand, sensei."
Aaron gave me another kiss on the lips. His breath was warm when he whispered softly, "Sleep well, Alfie," before leaving me alone.
Once the door was shut, I closed my eyes, and within an instant, I fell asleep just like that, so beat I was.