A Morning Together
A Morning Together
It was impossible to tell how much time had passed.
All he knew was that it wasn't pitch black beyond his closed eyes.
And that he could hear the chirping of morning birds.
Aiden suddenly inhaled and opened his eyes.
"...!"
His body reacted first. Like a habit ingrained on the battlefield, the moment his consciousness returned, his muscles tensed, and he became alert to his surroundings.
However, the familiar patterns on the ceiling and the bedroom furniture immediately came into view, and his wariness dissolved like ink dropping into water.
Aiden exhaled slowly.
Fortunately, it seemed nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
The bedchamber was quiet, and no unusual signs were felt from the Summoning Circle he momentarily detected.
"Ha..."
Immediately after, his head throbbed.
A dull pain pulsed like a heartbeat deep within his forehead. When he pressed his temples with his fingers, the aching sensation became even clearer.
"...."
Memories of last night surfaced like broken fragments.
Erwin had brought wine, the two of them sat down and talked about this and that, one glass became two... and after that, it was blurry.
Aiden closed and opened his eyes.
Since being possessed into this different world, this was the first time he had drunk until he was intoxicated. Because he had always maintained tension amidst battlefields and missions, there were hardly any situations where he would overdrink in the first place.
Though he had governed himself with temperance and self-restraint for the sake of success and ambition, last night was different.
For the first time in a long while, his tension had slackened, and this was the result.
"......."
Aiden pressed his temples again to soothe the throbbing pain and slowly sat up. As he raised his upper body, his vision swayed slightly.
It felt as if the clinging hangover was shaking the center of the world.
It was just as he was catching his breath.
He felt a subtle presence beside him.
A very small breath.
The sound of the blanket moving minutely.
Aiden's body froze.
He slowly turned his head.
And.
On his bed, right next to him, he could see someone breathing quietly.
It was Erwin.
Her hair was softly scattered over the pillow, and she was asleep, half-covered by the blanket in the same comfortable dress she had been wearing last night.
As if still in a deep sleep, her face was relaxed and languid, exhaling steady breaths at regular intervals.
Aiden's gaze stopped.
'...What.'
What happened?
Why is Erwin sleeping next to me?
He tried to trace back his memories of last night, but the last things he could recall were the scene of putting down his glass and Erwin's laughter.
Everything after that was cut off completely clean.
Aiden slowly looked around.
The room was the same. On the table remained an empty wine bottle and two glasses, and the candle had already burned out, leaving only the wick.
Then his gaze returned to his side.
Erwin was still fast asleep.
The blanket had slipped down slightly, revealing her shoulder line, and her loosely unraveled hair flowed down her neck. Unlike the stiff atmosphere seen at the training grounds, her current appearance was surprisingly peaceful and relaxed.
As if she were sleeping in her own bedchamber.
Aiden couldn't say anything for a while.
It was because the situation that hit him was harder to comprehend than the pain in his head.
"...No way."
A low monologue escaped him.
Thoughts denying that "no way" followed, but in his severed memory, denial and affirmation were merely brawling with each other.
The only silver lining was that her clothes were the same as in his last memory.
Erwin moved very slightly in her sleep.
"Mmm...."
She took a long breath, and her body leaned a bit more toward Aiden. The blanket pushed aside slightly, and the distance between them closed.
Aiden remained frozen.
The room was silent, and an early morning breeze was blowing quietly outside the window.
In that silence, Aiden was looking down at Erwin, who was sleeping with him in his bed.
And soon.
"Ummm...."
Erwin began to wake up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
**
"......."
Erwin's eyelashes trembled slowly before her eyes opened.
The blurry gaze characteristic of someone who had just woken up brushed past the ceiling and soon stopped on Aiden, who was standing by the bed.
A strangely long silence, though it felt brief, flowed between the two.
"...Uh."
Aiden spoke first, giving an awkward wave of his hand.
"...A-Are you awake?"
It was a greeting so awkward he didn't know what to do with himself.
Erwin blinked once. She didn't say anything for a moment as if her brain hadn't fully woken up yet, but then she nodded her head very slowly.
It wasn't a look of embarrassment, but rather a feeling that was somewhat shy and ticklish.
Erwin sat up and spoke while needlessly scratching her neck.
"Uh... yeah."
Her voice was also a tone lower than usual, having just woken up.
Another short silence followed.
Aiden needlessly cleared his throat once.
"...Ahem, good morning."
"......."
Erwin stared at him quietly before answering a bit late.
"Yeah...."
Both had spoken, but it felt as if the words couldn't reach anywhere and were just wandering in the air.
Aiden forced his gaze elsewhere and said,
"Hey... can I ask you one thing?"
"Yeah."
"Do you... remember yesterday?"
"...I wonder?"
At Aiden's mention of having no memory, Erwin's eyes narrowed halfway.
The awkward and shy air vanished, and a mischievous smile played on her lips.
No, it was a smile of pride, as if she had claimed victory.
And then.
"Pu."
She laughed with her disheveled face.
"I blacked out too."
Aiden snapped his head toward her.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I have no memory from the middle onwards."
Erwin laughed while scratching her head.
The faint smile she wore felt as if she knew something.
"Was it the fifth glass of wine or the sixth... I remember up to there."
"......."
Aiden couldn't say anything for a while.
That meant.
"So both of us have no memory."
"Seems so."
Erwin said very nonchalantly.
There was no sign of surprise to be found; she just sat there comfortably as if it were her own bed even now.
The reaction a woman should naturally show upon waking up in a bed that wasn't hers after getting drunk did not appear in Erwin.
There was a slight hint of embarrassment, but that was merely created by the current awkward atmosphere.
The dazzling sunlight coming through the window made even her disheveled face shine.
Aiden pressed his temple once more.
"...Just how did we end up here—"
Right then, Erwin stood up.
The blanket slid down smoothly.
And in that moment.
Her long legs were revealed through her hiked-up skirt, and the loose shoulder strap of her dress slipped slightly, naturally exposing her shoulder line, collarbone, and right breast.
Fortunately(?), the shoulder strap caught on her upper arm, avoiding the heart-pounding moment where the center of her chest would be exposed.
The morning sunlight entered through the window and settled softly on her skin.
It brightened her already fair skin to be as white as a snowy mountain.
Aiden's gaze froze right there.
In an instant, his face turned bright red, and he swallowed hard.
And then.
"Ah—"
He snapped his head away almost reflexively.
"S-Sorry."
Even though it wasn't something he intended to see, an apology popped out anyway.
Even though he tried to erase it, Erwin's curvaceous body, now burned into his mind, made his heart flutter.
Furthermore.
As his male instincts surged toward something hot, he had to pull his hips back slightly.
"...."
Erwin stared blankly at that reaction for a moment, then smiled faintly again.
She deliberately and slowly pulled down her skirt and tidied her clothes. While pulling the fabric back up over her shoulder, she glanced toward Aiden.
Seeing him frozen with his head turned away was funny yet cute.
Aiden's cheeks turned a very slight shade of red.
For some reason, he licked his dry lips.
Erwin seemed to find that reaction quite amusing as she curled the corners of her mouth, then let out a big stretch.
"Uuuut—"
After loosening up her body, she spoke like a sigh.
"Then, I'm going to wash up, okay?"
Aiden turned his head back.
"...Why?"
"What do you mean why."
Erwin blinked as if it were obvious.
"I'm awake, so I should wash up, right?"
Aiden was dazed for a moment.
"Ah... haha."
Then he nodded as if he understood. It seemed his thinking capacity had been impaired by the strange atmosphere.
If one were an intellectual or a noble, it was only natural to correct the disarray after waking up and groom one's appearance.
Moreover, since they had to head to the Main Castle today at the invitation of Archduchess Emiline, washing up was a given.
"Right. Then see you after you wash."
As he said that, he needlessly ran a hand through his hair.
Erwin looked at Aiden for a moment, then walked away as if it were nothing.
And.
Very naturally.
As if it were perfectly normal.
As if it were her own.
She opened the bathroom door attached to one side of the bedroom.
"...Uh?"
Aiden's head turned again.
Erwin was already opening the door and stepping inside.
"Wait."
Aiden reached out his hand and spoke in a flustered voice.
"Why there—"
However.
Cheolkeok.
The bathroom door closed first.
Aiden was left alone.
A moment later, the sound of a woman washing up echoed through the bedroom where the strange atmosphere had settled.