Chapter 200: Merit Ceremony (3) (1/2)

WARNING: This episode may cause a sugar overdose. You have been warned, ufufu~

In fact, she didn’t know why she was crying.

Jude didn’t wake up for two days, or three days if you counted the fact that it was dawn now, but Cordelia herself was unconscious for nearly two days.

Both of them had been unconscious in that time, so it wasn’t the reason for her tears.

Unlike Maja’s sincere wish for Jude to wake up over the past two days, Cordelia herself had been worrying for a few hours at most, though it was less than an hour if you exclude the time she fell asleep.

‘I’ve heard that you’re going to wake up soon.’

She had confirmed the condition he was in and was just waiting for it to end, so her situation was different from Maja.

So what was the reason?

She had only seen Jude’s face and cried non-stop when she hugged him.

She cried without even realizing it.

‘Is it because I’m sorry?’

Because I’m the one who made him open the fifth door?

So I feel responsible?

‘But.’

If he hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have won.

Perhaps the Lord Protector would have really killed all of us.

‘No, that’s not the reason in the first place.’

It wasn’t a matter that needed logic or complex reasoning.

She was just sad because Jude was unconscious, and she was happy that he woke up.

It was a simple reason.

Something that didn’t need to be that complex.

“Huu-hu, huhu.”

After crying for a long time, Cordelia gradually stifled her tears and opened her closed eyes. She naturally stared at Jude’s face.

She saw his green eyes looking her way and the sly smile drawn on his lips.

His left arm firmly held her waist, and his right hand was patting her back.

His chest had become broad and something that she could lean on at any time, making her feel safe like those firm castle walls.

“My princess, are you done crying?”

Jude slyly asked, and Cordelia could tell at that moment.

His insides were black, but he was quite pure now.

He was covering it with his sly smile, but he was actually at a loss on what to do.

His green eyes seemed to be holding back all kinds of emotions, such as his joy and slight embarrassment.

Why?

Is it because his face is close to mine?

So I can see things I usually can’t see?

Cordelia’s lips squirmed once before she sniffed with her nose because of her tears, and she unconsciously thought.

‘The smell of Jude.’

Cordelia’s five senses were all excellent, and among those senses, her sense of smell was particularly good.

So Cordelia knew well that the smell of Jude was a mixture of various things.

The slightly sweet smell of his skin.

Add to that was the scented soap chosen by Maja.

There was also the scent of the shampoo and conditioner developed by Jude.

And the common perfume that most nobles sprayed on themselves more or less.

It was basically a rose fragrance.

The added scent had a refreshing feeling, giving one a neat impression.

But today was a little different.

The slight smell of sweat.

It was a slightly heavier scent.

As a result, the smell of Jude was more pronounced than usual.

Cordelia shifted her blue eyes and looked up at Jude who faced her with his green eyes.

Jude’s green eyes seemed to be a little darker than usual, perhaps because of the dim candlelight, so it felt more mysterious.

Cordelia raised her head a bit more. Without realizing it, she touched her lips on Jude’s cheek.

Chuu.

It was a small sound, but it was so quiet that it sounded loud.

Embarrassment and surprise lightly spread in Jude’s eyes again, and in response to that, Cordelia was strangely pleased rather than feeling shy.

And Jude read the feelings of Cordelia with his eyes. That was why he strengthened the hold of his left arm that held Cordelia’s waist, moving his head as he touched his lips on her forehead.

Very softly.

To the extent that there was no sound.

This time, embarrassment spread on Cordelia’s big and blue eyes, and Jude had an awkward smile instead of his usual shamelessness.

And that smile triggered a switch in Cordelia.

Cordelia drew more closer to Jude’s body. So that her neck could reach him more.

She shifted the weight of her upper body as if she was pressing down on Jude, and her lips pressed on his cheek again.

And it seemed like this time, she looked up at Jude with a bit of slyness.

‘Your cheeks are red.’

Jude sent her an answer with his eyes, and this time, he touched his lips on Cordelia’s cheek and not her forehead.

Unlike his previous one, it was a kiss that made a loud sound.

‘Aren’t your cheeks red too?’

Cordelia suddenly had a strange desire to win, and she raised her head again and kissed Jude’s ear instead of his cheek this time.

Even Cordelia herself didn’t know why she put her lips on his ear.

Because it just caught her eye.

Because she thought that it would be nice to touch her lips on his ear.

But it was right after her lips touched.

His reaction was different from before.

She was able to feel it clearly because she was in close contact with his body.

Jude had flinched.

His left arm that was holding Cordelia’s waist, that left arm that held her tightly that she couldn’t move, had slightly trembled.

Why?

Cordelia turned her eyes to see Jude.

She saw that his cheeks were redder than usual, and his familiar sly smile that she found unpleasant had slightly collapsed.

And his eyes.

His green eyes were filled with shyness and confusion on what to do.

At that moment, she thought it was fun. So Cordelia once again gave Jude a peck on the ear, and he flinched and reacted again.

A smile naturally spread over her face.

‘This is fun.’

It’s like I’m attacking something.

It’s like I’m trying to find the boss mob’s weak point and stabbing it.

As Cordelia’s gamer brain began to work, she snickered, and that snicker stimulated Jude this time.

His desire to win.

His feeling of not wanting to lose.

Jude firmly held Cordelia’s waist again. He straightened his neck and kissed the back of Cordelia’s white and long neck.

“Kyaa?”

Cordelia unconsciously let out a sound, and a triumphant smile appeared on Jude’s face.

A smile that was very obnoxious.

‘Then.’

Cordelia’s blue eyes moved again, and she bit his earlobe very lightly instead of kissing his ear.

“Eh?”

It was Jude who let out a sound this time.

She seemed to have struck a critical hit.

“Hehehe.”

Cordelia put her lips in Jude’s ear again, and as if she was striking an additional hit, she gently blew her breath on it.

And she felt him tremble.

His body trembled and his face burned red like never before.

‘I won, okay?’

Cordelia snickered and said with a glance, and Jude was pissed off for a moment, so he put his lips on her neck again. He held the flinching Cordelia firmly with his left arm to prevent her from moving, and lowered his face as he dragged it along her long and thin neck, and then pressing his lips to the raised part of her clavicle.

“Eep.”

Cordelia trembled this time. Her blue eyes were then filled with a passion.

‘Alright, let’s do this.’

So it’s my turn now, huh?

Cordelia turned her blue eyes. Instead of attacking his ear again, she carefully examined Jude’s face to find a new weakness.

His red cheeks and lips that let out a hotter breath than usual.

At that moment, Cordelia unknowingly swallowed hard. She stared at Jude’s lips, and roughly breathed a bit.

And Jude also stared at Cordelia.

Likewise, he swallowed hard and couldn’t move.

Jude and Cordelia breathed out.

Their breaths touched each other’s lips.

And it was at that moment.

“Miss!”

“Young master?!”

The door burst open as Dahlia and Maja appeared. Even Jun, the knight who was guarding the door, was there.

“Kyaa?!”

Cordelia was embarrassed and flustered, and so did Jude.

As if the magic of 12 o’clock had been broken, the two struggled as they quickly pushed each other away, and Cordelia even fell off the bed because of that.

“Miss!”

“Uh, yes. Uh. I-I’m okay!”

Cordelia jumped to her feet, and Jude saw such Cordelia.

How should one describe the current scene?

Cordelia’s face was covered with an indescribable shame, and Jude was the same – so to put it into words, the emotions they felt were inexpressible.

However, it was not a situation where they should let their hearts beat wild.

Dahlia and Maja entered the room, and Maja’s tears instantly pulled Jude back into reality.

“Young master!”

Maja cried and clung to Jude’s chest.

Even though she was already an adult, she burst into tears like a child.

“Maja.”

I worried you a lot.

I’m sorry.

I’m really sorry.

Jude tightly hugged Maja and said that he was fine, but her crying did not easily stop.

Jude had become explosively strong in the past half year, but Maja had rarely seen that strong appearance of Jude.

What remained in her memory was not the big and strong Jude, but the weak Jude who had a hard time going outside.

Maja Tantalotte.

A servant of the Bayer family and Jude’s exclusive maid.

But for Jude, she was not just a servant but a person no different to a real sister to him.

When Maja’s crying didn’t seem to stop, Cordelia hesitated at first before she sent a glance to Jude.

‘I’ll… see you tomorrow, okay?’

‘Yes, see you tomorrow.’

‘Yeah, good night.’