Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: This is Invalid!
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An eternity seemed to pass in that fleeting moment, and finally, Elfin's lips parted from mine.
She stared at me with slightly glazed eyes, tear tracks still fresh on her cheeks, before realizing what had happened a beat too late. Her face flushed crimson as she shoved me away.
"Wh-Wh-What, what is this! Y-You, why would you... to me, to me..."
"Kiss you?"
"Ack! Aaaah! Uwaaaah!"
Elfin bounced around like a live fish pulled from the water, pointing at me with a trembling hand.
"Are you insane?! I said thanks, but that doesn't mean I gave you permission for this!"
"If you hated it that much, you should've refused from the start. You even wrapped your arms around my neck like you wanted it."
"Wh-Wh-When did I?! Are you dreaming or something?! Me, wrapping my arms around your neck because I wanted to? As if I'd ever do that!"
"Then why'd you let the kiss happen?"
"Th-That was..."
Elfin tried to come up with an excuse but ended up speechless, like her mouth was glued shut with honey.
She knew deep down there was no justifying it. Rolling her eyes side to side, she averted her gaze and shrieked.
"Th-That wasn't my will! I only said thanks, and then you suddenly kissed me, you jerk! I swore my first kiss to Brayden—I wasn't gonna give it to anyone else! Give me back my first kiss!"
To an outsider, she might look like an ungrateful brat snapping after being comforted. But knowing Elfin as I did, I just saw it as her adorable way of acting out.
She was the type who got mad when embarrassed.
If she truly hated my kiss, she would've bitten my lip the instant they touched, or at least attacked me for real afterward.
But she hadn't bitten, hadn't attacked—just yelled while carrying on this conversation. That alone meant she wasn't actually angry, no matter what she said.
And this was Alvis—the guy she'd despised with every fiber of her being back at the academy—taking her first kiss, yet she wasn't trying to kill me. It had been obvious from the start.
"Why'd you steal my first kiss! I never planned to give it to you! Give it back, you jerk!"
I smirked and stepped closer as she forced a fierce scowl.
"Fine, got it. I'll give it back then."
I grabbed her slender waist with one hand and cradled the back of her head with the other, pulling her toward me.
Our lips met again, silencing her protests. Her eyes flew wide as she pounded my chest with her fists.
"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmph!"
But I didn't let go, deepening the kiss.
No tongue—just a long, lingering press of lips that went on for quite a while. When I finally released her, she wiped her saliva-slicked mouth with the back of her hand and glared daggers at me.
"You... you damn bastard... I asked for my first kiss back, and you..."
"I gave it back the same way I took it."
"What kind of logic is that?! It doesn't even make sense!"
"Says the girl who demanded I return a kiss that's already happened."
I grinned cheekily, and Elfin shot to her feet, pointing at me accusingly.
"Fr-From now on, never do this again! This doesn't count as my first kiss!"
"Then what is it?"
"This was... um... an ac-accident! Yeah, an accident! You took advantage of me when I was mentally weak and pulled a dirty trick! Of course, I'm truly grateful for everything you've done, but that doesn't mean you can do it again! So don't ever!"
With that, Elfin bolted from the spot.
She stopped abruptly, turned back toward me, and yelled even louder.
"This is invalid!!!"
So cute.
On the way back to camp, Elfin clutched her burning cheeks and shook her head, trying to banish the lingering sensation of Alvis's kiss.
'No way, this can't be! How could my first kiss go to that... that guy...'
She'd loathed Alvis from the depths of her soul. And now she'd kissed him?
Even by coincidence, that should've been impossible. That kiss was clearly an unforeseen disaster. So of course it couldn't count as her first.
Who was Alvis, anyway? Vulgar, utterly lacking in dignity despite being a fallen noble, frivolously shallow, and a total pervert molester to boot.
Yet he was surprisingly strong when pushing himself, selflessly sacrificed to save the elves guarding the sacred tree, kindly guided homeless elves to a new home...
He even had unexpected thoughtfulness and knew how to comfort the heartbroken...
"Gasp!"
Elfin realized she'd unconsciously started listing Alvis's good points and smacked her head hard.
"Idiot! What are you even thinking?! Alvis, Alvis! My heart belongs to Brayden—why am I thinking about that weirdo?! Th-Think about Brayden! Why I like him..."
First off, Brayden was handsome. But if she was honest, Alvis wasn't bad-looking either—not really behind Brayden.
Try something else.
Brayden had a resilient spirit, unyielding will that never broke. Incredibly, Alvis had shown the same.
No, that's not it!
B-Brayden was the strongest, never backed down from any foe... But Alvis was ridiculously strong too, never retreating from anyone.
This can't be...!
Brayden would never... strip off my panties in front of everyone!
...It was a clear difference, but way too ridiculous as a reason to like someone.
In the end, after mentally comparing them, Elfin found shockingly few distinctions. She screamed internally.
At this rate, she'd have to admit she was starting to like Alvis.
But her last shred of pride desperately refused, frantically trying to erase him from her mind.
Back at camp with Ravi and Lenis, the smell of cooked food tickled her empty stomach.
After her self-destructive training frenzy—only snapped out of it thanks to Alvis—hunger hit her late.
Grrrooowl—
Ravi's rabbit ears perked up at the stomach rumble, and she approached Elfin.
"Elfin, haven't you eaten? Alvis took some earlier."
"Oh..."
My food.
Elfin remembered fleeing from Alvis without touching the meal he'd brought for her.
"Huh? N-No, it's fine. I'm not that hungry..."
Grrrooowl—
Regretting it inwardly, she lied blatantly, but Ravi tilted her head and leaned in, sniffing curiously with twitching ears.
Then, eyes narrowing slyly, she smirked.
"Elfin? Why are you sweating like that? It doesn't smell like training sweat."
"H-How can you just sniff a girl's scent like that!?"
"I'm a girl too?"
"Anyway! That's rude! Don't sniff!"
"Hmm... Elfin, are you hiding something from me?"
As curiosity piqued Ravi to sniff closer, Elfin backed away in panic.
With her beastkin nose, Ravi might even figure out the kiss just from her scent.
The shame of keeping it secret was already mortifying; getting caught would be unbearable—might as well die.
Even if it raised more suspicion, she needed distance now.
"Hey, Elfin. I brought that for you to eat—how could you just leave it?"
Alvis emerged from the forest depths, carrying a hunk of meat wrapped in large leaves.
"Alvis!"
Ravi's ears perked happily as she dashed to him. The steaming meat in its leaf wrap released an enticing aroma, masking Elfin's scent for Ravi's nose.
Perfect timing, Elfin thought, rushing over to snatch the meat.
"Th-Th-Thanks! I'm such an airhead. How could I leave this behind? Ha... haha..."
"Why are you acting so weird?"
Elfin shook her head furiously at the bullseye and fled to a corner of camp to devour the meat.
Ravi kept staring at her intently, then shifted her gaze to Alvis.
"Alvis, you know, our stored food's running pretty low now. Wanna go hunt something together?"
Seeing Ravi's subtle wink, Alvis grinned back.
"Oh? Running low? Guess we have no choice. Let's go."
"......♡"
Ravi and Alvis exchanged smiles and slipped quietly into the forest.
While Elfin wolfed down her belated dinner, Lenis paused her work, stared piercingly toward where the two had vanished, then stood up.
"Munch munch... Lenis, where are you going?"
"...Just checking something out. I'll patrol the area. Take care of camp, Elfin."