Chapter 144: Sharing a bath & Staring At My Rewards
Within the Stark manor...
Ethan and Isabella had just walked into one of the guest rooms on the top floor. The space was modest but well-furnished, with cream-colored walls and a large bed.
Isabella walked in further ahead of him, and as she approached the bed, she placed one palm on the mattress, and almost immediately, a circular shade of pure darkness materialized over the surface.
It looked like a pool of liquid shadow had opened up right there on the bed itself.
From within that darkness, Bettie’s unconscious form emerged slowly, rising up through the black surface.
Her hair was scattered and messy across her face, and she remained deeply asleep.
The moment her body fully cleared the shadow pool, the darkness beneath her faded away, leaving just Bettie lying there on the bed.
Ethan walked over to her side with genuine concern on his face. He stared down at her for a moment, taking in the pale complexion and the faint exhaustion still visible even in sleep.
Then he reached down and carefully pulled the blanket up from where it had been folded at the foot of the bed, drawing it over her body to cover her properly.
He sighed quietly, then turned and walked toward the door. Isabella followed behind him and they both stepped out into the hallway together.
The princess was the only one who had followed him back to the manor.
Rayleigh had gone on with the Imperial Guard. Hayley had needed to divert her route to drop off her uncle, Melvin, along with both of her cousins at their temporary residence in the city.
And Percival had simply decided it was finally time he actually went home, so he shared the ride with Hayley and the others.
-
A few moments later...
There were soft laughs echoing from inside Ethan’s bathroom.
The shower door itself wasn’t exactly glass, but it wasn’t fully opaque either. It was some kind of frosted material that allowed light, showing clear silhouettes of anyone standing behind it.
And right now, two distinct shapes were visible through that frosted surface.
The beautiful, slender yet curvy figure of the princess and Ethan whose hands were on her waist before sliding down further to grab onto her rear with both palms.
Isabella let out another small laugh at that, leaning into him as the water continued pouring down over both their heads.
The shower spray messed with and flattened their hair, and they stayed like that for a brief moment longer, enjoying the warmth of the water and each other’s presence.
Then Isabella extended one hand toward the shower controls and turned the water off. The spray stopped immediately, leaving them both soaked, with water still dripping off their naked bodies and pooling around their feet.
Their eyes met as matching smiles appeared on both their faces.
Ethan’s gaze drifted briefly to the way her wet hair clung to the sides of her face before returning to meet her eyes again.
"The place you brought Bettie up from," he began with genuine curiosity in his voice. "Is that like... a special space or something?"
Isabella nodded, her smile softening just a bit as she answered. "Something like that, yeah. It’s like a small pocket space of absolute black."
She paused for a second, then added, "It’s not large enough to store so much of anything, but it works well for holding people inside temporarily."
"Hm..." Ethan said with an acknowledging nod.
Then he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, lingering there for just a moment longer before pulling away.
Then slowly, they both stepped out of the shower together.
-
A few moments more...
Isabella was currently fast asleep on Ethan’s chest while they both lay on his bed. One of her arms was stretched across his torso while her legs tangled loosely with his beneath the blanket.
After their shower together, they had barely made it under the covers before exhaustion had caught up with her. She had fallen asleep in his arms almost right away.
This gave Ethan the perfect opportunity to finally go through his system rewards from the past few hours and the days before.
He pulled up the system’s interface mentally
[You have completed different self-imposed objectives;
-Resurrected Hitman X and gained information on the League of Assassins: +5,000 XP]
-Successfully formulated and coordinated a multi-pronged assault plan against the league: +4,500 XP
-Retrieved Katarina, the artifact sniper rifle: 4,000 XP
-Successfully rescued Elizabeth: 6,000 XP
-Engaged and survived combat against two high-tier opponents simultaneously: 8,000 XP
-Defeated Dante Fitzgerald and eliminated his Legendary-class summon Bierzim: 3,000 XP]
[Bonus reward for successfully executing the plans: +6500xp]
[Bonus reward for dismantling the league of assassins: +8000xp]
[Total XP Gained: 45,000]
[Experience Points Balance: 94500]
Ethan nodded approvingly at them, then scrolled down to the next set of notifications.
[Dragon Physiology Progress: Wyrm Stage - 22% Complete]
That was a significant increase from the nine percent a day ago.
He thought to himself that forcing the transformation out during actual combat really did move up the pace much quicker.
[Ragnarok Bond Progress: 24% Complete]
Another substantial jump.But what caught his attention even more was the notification that followed immediately after.
[Ragnarok can now utilize its Sentience feature]
[When active, Ragnarok may act independently to attack and protect its wielder within a five-meter radius]
"That’s genuinely useful," Ethan thought to himself. If an enemy got too close while his attention was elsewhere, the sword would respond on its own.
He continued scrolling through the notifications.
[You can now channel up to 40% more Battle Aura than your previous maximum]
[Albedo has reached maximum potential: Knight Class]
[Nina Dragonheart has gained 2,500 XP]
[Current Nina Progress: 5,200/15,000 XP to Emperor Class]
Ethan nodded to himself in satisfaction as he reviewed everything.
Then one final notification appeared at the bottom of the list.
[Special Reward Granted by System]
He stared at that message for a moment, and his curiosity immediately piqued.
This part he could guess what it probably was, but he couldn’t actually check it out here in his room as that would almost certainly wake her up.
As soon as Ethan left the room, now clothed in regular pants and a white shirt, he saw Eduardo and Francesca walking up the stairs together. Francesca was in front, carrying a large cake with both hands while the butler followed just behind her.
Ethan looked at them with a weird expression, confused about what was happening at this hour.
Francesca noticed his puzzled look and quickly explained, "We are taking this to Valerie’s room down the hallway, Master Ethan. Today’s her birthday."
Ethan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. He hadn’t known that at all.
His gaze dropped to the cake itself, taking in the details. It had several lit candles, and written on the top in careful frosting was a "+1" symbol.
A smile appeared on his face and he nodded in approval. "Let’s all go meet Valerie then."
With that, the three of them moved down the hallway together toward Valerie’s room.
When they reached her door, there was a polite knock.
The door opened almost immediately, and Valerie appeared in the doorway. Her eyes went wide the moment she registered that it wasn’t just one person, but the entire household standing outside her room.
She was wearing a black nightie that clung to her figure, paired with a light robe open over her shoulders.
The outfit was modest enough for sleepwear but still not something she’d want everyone seeing her in.
Her face flushed with embarrassment as she quickly grabbed at the edges of her robe and pulled it closed over herself, tying it shut in a hasty knot.
By then, Francesca had already stepped forward into the room with the cake held out in front of her, and both Eduardo and Ethan followed behind with smiles on their faces.
Valerie’s eyes widened even further in complete shock as she saw the cake.
"What... what’s happening?" she asked.
Francesca smiled and said, "Happy birthday, Valerie darling."