Chapter 217: Lazy
"Let me sort your story." Sitting next to Anastasia in his cell, Braham took a deep breath.
"So you decided to stop being a charity angel?"
"Yes."
"And that’s because the anomaly told you a crazy idea about fusing bloodlines and a speech about caring about others instead of strangers?"
"...Yes, though it’s not that simple."
"And now you are trying to spend more time trying to recover from your trauma while searching for a solution for your condition instead of wasting your time helping others. Am I correct until now?"
"Yeah..."
Braham massaged his temples and breathed heavily, feeling a surge of complex emotions overwhelming him.
"I don’t know whether to thank that boy or be annoyed that he did something I couldn’t..."
"Thank him. You will waste less points now! You won’t have to follow me to the mines with an outfit that is 70% tape." Kael remarked from the corner of the cell, devouring a steak made from the meat of an unknown beast.
His bed was now almost attached to the walls, as far as possible from Braham and Anastasia.
Of course, that was because of Anastasia’s trauma.
She had agreed to go to their cell instead of being alone, but that didn’t mean she was ready mentally.
And now that she was alone with two men, one of them having an identical face to Valor, she couldn’t even hide her fear. Thus, leaving Kael alone at the corner was the best thing to do currently.
"Can you at least hide that steak before talking about wasting points?" Braham frowned at Kael’s savage manners, eating the steak like a beast: "Also, we need to buy some real clothes. There is a lady living with us now."
Kael growled: "I’m not hiding my majestic muscles. Your princess is blessed to see them, she should be grateful."
Braham rolled his eyes and shifted his focus to Anastasia, smiling widely: "Anyway, how do you want to start? Should we use a brute approach like sleeping on the same bed or making you shake hands with Kael, or should we do it slowly and just talk while sitting next to each other?"
Anastasia glanced at Kael thoughtfully, her body shivering subconsciously. After a few moments of thinking, she made up her mind: "Let’s do it slowly... I’m not that comfortable yet."
"Sure!"
For a while, Braham and Anastasia just enjoyed remembering the past, knowing more about each other.
Anastasia talked about her parents and their life, hiding all the possible critical information that could cause problems.
After all, the guards were always listening to them.
As for Braham, he shared his love story with his wife. How he met her after he failed to become a holy knight and became depressed, how they went from being friends into lovers, their first date, their marriage, and the days of her pregnancy.
Anastasia listened to him with bright eyes as his smile never left his face, almost forgetting that he was in prison.
He looked truly happy to have a partner.
’Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me now to find such a person.’
Even if Anastasia recovered from her trauma and fell in love with a man... who would accept her?
Her face and body were ruined.
Most people in her homeland had seen what happened to her through the recording scrolls.
She had a demonic bloodline that was hated by all people in the Holy Kingdom.
And her secrets were making everything worse.
’Having a normal life is already almost impossible. Having a relationship similar to Braham’s relationship with his wife is even more impossible.’
As Anastasia was lost in her thoughts, Braham suddenly cut her thoughts off, saying: "Wait, I think I got an idea of how to become more suitable for your demonic bloodline."
"Hmm?" Anastasia’s eyes shone at his words.
Braham continued: "Maybe you should be a bit... lazy."
"Lazy?"
"Yes." Braham nodded: "The first thing that comes to our minds upon hearing sloth is laziness! Not philosophical meanings or heavy sins... just laziness. Start caring more about yourself and the people close to you, keep the sacrifices at the bare minimum, and become lazy!"
"Sleep more, work less, speak less, eat more, and so on. That should be enough to decrease the conflicts without turning you into a real demoness, right?"
"I... guess?" Anastasia tilted her head while considering his idea.
’Charis, would that work?’
Charis’ response echoed through her head: "Likely yes. The choice is yours."
"I see." Anastasia immediately lay back on the floor, closing her eyes and resting her body and her tense muscles. She was still trembling, but that position was really comfortable.
Maybe because of the bloodline, she felt like that was the most natural thing to do. Just sleeping peacefully without having to do anything.
Well... now she had to act lazily and wait for it to become a part of her nature, which didn’t seem to be hard to do.
The only true challenge was not to help people.
"...!"
All of a sudden, she felt a wave of sharp pain passing through her body for a split second.
She didn’t even have time to register the pain before it disappeared.
’Oh, it was quick this time too.’ Anastasia smiled faintly.
She was so lucky lately to the point that three waves of pain disappeared before the halo could even manifest.
"By the way, what are you going to do tomorrow? We need a good mission for you." Braham rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I’ll feed the anomaly again."
"WHAT?!" Braham and Kael shouted in unison, their jaws dropping.
"Braham, I told you that boy did something to her!"
"What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?"
"Hit her head!"
Kael and Braham panicked at her response, and for some reason, Kael threw a brick at Braham.
’Wait, was he hiding a brick?’
Seeing that Braham was staring at the brick with a dangerous gaze, Anastasia gulped and asked: "Why are you overreacting? It won’t take so long, and it fits being lazy. I only have to feed him and leave."
"Ana, my princess..." Braham exhaled under gritted teeth: "Are you stupid or are you acting stupid? Didn’t you say you want to recover and care more about yourself?! Did he himself tell you not to visit him until you RECOVER?! Just stop that!"
"I just want to thank him..." Anastasia moved her head to the other side, not meeting Braham’s gaze: "I’m telling you he’s safe. I have visited him several times already and nothing happened. Also, I don’t think he’s a bad or an insane person... not completely at least."
"Your overconfidence is going to kill you someday! No. I won’t allow it." Braham shook his head violently and crossed his arms. He wasn’t ready to allow her to visit such a dangerous anomaly.
However, her response changed his mind immediately.
"I think I’ll be punished tomorrow then."
"..."
"I hate you sometimes."
"Sorry."