Blind Box World - SSS-Rank Eye of Truth

Laira leaned down and kissed him again.

Ethan no longer let her take full control. He held her waist and rolled, sending both of them tumbling across the soft grass.

Laira let out a small laugh when her back touched the ground.

Ethan braced his right hand beside her head.

Even lying down, Laira’s frame was clearly longer than his. Her long legs stretched across the grass, her red hair spread wide around her, forming something almost like a carpet beneath them.

She looked up at Ethan above her.

Her eyes lit up.

"I like you like this."

Ethan leaned down and kissed the side of her neck.

Laira tilted her head back slightly, and the hand resting on his shoulder tightened.

"Like what?"

"Greedier."

Ethan didn’t answer.

He kept kissing her.

Laira’s laughter quickly faded to silence. Both arms wrapped around Ethan’s neck and pulled him closer. At times she switched positions, her frame of nearly two meters twenty completely overwhelming, her shadow covering him entirely. At other times Ethan pulled her down, held her wrist, and leaned in to kiss her lips, her cheek, and the part of her neck that was growing warm.

The outer coat had been pushed aside at some point.

Red hair tangled into the grass.

Both of their breaths grew faster.

Laira no longer wore her usual playful air. Every time Ethan pulled back, she only let him get a fraction away before hooking her hand behind his neck and drawing him back.

Ethan had no intention of stopping either.

His hand traced down to her waist, holding the tall body pressing against him. Laira didn’t shy away. Instead she wrapped one long leg around him, erasing what little distance remained.

"Ethan."

"Hm?"

"Don’t stop."

Ethan’s left arm chose that moment to flare with heat.

His body stiffened slightly.

Laira noticed at once.

She had been smiling, but her expression shifted and her hand went to the Primordial Armor.

"Pain?"

"A little."

Laira stared at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Want to stop?"

Ethan looked at her.

Then leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Not enough to stop."

Laira was quiet for two seconds.

Then the smile slowly returned.

"Then don’t stop."

She pulled Ethan down.

The rest of the evening passed amid the sound of wind, the rustle of grass being pressed flat, and kisses neither of them could count.

By the time the moon hung high, the two of them had finally gone still.

Laira lay on her side in the grass, her tall body curling in slightly so she could nestle close to Ethan. One long arm draped across his chest, her red hair a tangled mess, a few strands stuck to her cheek.

Ethan lay beside her.

His large coat had been pulled up to cover them both.

Laira traced idle circles on his chest with her fingertip.

"Now you’re completely mine."

Ethan looked at her.

"I wasn’t before?"

"Before it was nine-tenths."

"And the last tenth?"

"You kept it."

Laira smirked, lifting her head to press a light kiss to his chin.

"Now I’m taking that too."

Ethan laughed.

"You really are greedy."

"I’m a dragon."

"Is that relevant?"

"Dragons like to keep what’s theirs."

She said it perfectly naturally, then held him tighter.

Ethan didn’t argue.

He closed his eyes.

A while later, Laira’s breathing had already steadied.

...

Near dawn.

Ruo Yan opened the door to the small house and stood still.

The bed was empty.

She looked at it for a moment, then frowned slightly.

The Soul Thread was still very clear. Ethan wasn’t in danger. The sensation coming through was even more stable than usual.

Ruo Yan stood in the middle of the room for a few more seconds.

"...Those two."

She grabbed a blanket and walked outside.

It didn’t take long to find them.

When she reached the hillside, Ruo Yan stopped.

In the faint light before dawn, Ethan and Laira were lying close together on the grass.

Laira had practically wrapped herself around him.

One long arm was thrown across Ethan’s chest, one leg draped over his thigh. Her red hair was spread everywhere around them, and the state of their clothes told Ruo Yan clearly enough what had happened the night before.

She watched for a few seconds.

Not angry.

But the look in her eyes was still complicated.

’So it finally came to this.’

Ruo Yan let out a breath and stepped forward.

She unfolded the blanket and draped it over both of them.

Laira was too tall for a normal blanket to cover her fully, so Ruo Yan had to tug and adjust for a while before it covered most of her.

She was about to stand when a hand caught her wrist.

Ruo Yan looked down.

Ethan’s eyes were open.

"You weren’t asleep?"

"Just woke up."

"Then go back to sleep."

Ruo Yan tried to pull her hand free.

Ethan didn’t let go.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Stay for a bit."

"I’m going back to sleep."

"You can sleep here too."

Ruo Yan looked at Laira lying beside him.

"I don’t think three people can lie comfortably on this patch of grass."

Ethan gave her wrist a gentle tug.

Ruo Yan hadn’t been on guard. She immediately lost her balance and toppled down beside him.

She braced a hand against Ethan’s chest.

"Ethan."

Not loud.

But enough to make Laira open her eyes.

The Red Dragon blinked a few times, saw Ruo Yan lying on Ethan’s other side.

Then the corner of her mouth curved.

Ruo Yan caught the smile immediately.

"Don’t."

"I haven’t said anything."

"I know what you’re thinking."

Laira reached her long arm across Ethan and took hold of Ruo Yan’s wrist.

"Stay."

Ruo Yan looked at her.

"I only came to bring the blanket."

"You brought it."

"Then I’m going back."

"No."

Ruo Yan narrowed her eyes.

"What right do you have to say no?"

"First Partner."

"That again."

Laira smiled, looking thoroughly pleased.

Ruo Yan turned to Ethan as if expecting him to handle this.

But Ethan’s hand was now resting on her waist.

Ruo Yan looked down.

Then back up.

"And you?"

Ethan didn’t look away.

"I want you to stay too."

Ruo Yan fell silent.

The air between the three of them shifted slowly.

Ethan kept his hand on her waist but didn’t pull further.

"If you don’t want to, I’ll let go."

Ruo Yan looked at him for a few seconds.

Then she was the one who leaned down.

Her lips met Ethan’s.

The answer couldn’t have been clearer.

Ethan immediately wrapped his arm around her and drew her close.

The kiss started slow, but Ruo Yan quickly took the lead. The hand on Ethan’s chest slid up to his shoulder, then circled behind his neck.

By the time they separated, her breathing had quickened slightly.

Ruo Yan looked at him.

"You’re very greedy today."

"Maybe."

Laira immediately cut in from the other side.

"I told you. I like him this way."

Ruo Yan turned.

"Be quiet."

Laira not only didn’t go quiet but leaned across Ethan, her red hair falling over both of them.

"A minute ago you still wanted to leave."

"I changed my mind."

"That was fast."

"Laira."

"Hm?"

"If you say one more word, I’ll..."

Before she could finish, Ethan had already pulled Ruo Yan back into a kiss.

She stiffened for an instant, then kissed him back at once.

Laira watched for a few seconds.

Then she refused to stay on the sidelines.

Her long arms circled around both of them and pulled them close.

Ruo Yan had barely separated from Ethan before Laira’s red hair cascaded over her face.

She immediately pushed it aside.

"Laira!"

"I didn’t do anything."

"You’re lying on top of me."

"I’m tall."

"That’s not a reason."

"I think it’s perfectly reasonable."

Ethan listened to the two of them bickering right against his face and finally laughed.

This time both turned to him at once.

No coordination needed.

One grabbed his collar.

The other held his shoulder.

Ethan’s laughter was cut short very quickly.

The remaining time before dawn became far more chaotic.

There was the sound of Laira laughing.

There was Ruo Yan’s angry voice telling her to move.

At times all three were tangled together under a blanket meant for two.

Laira, at nearly two meters twenty, claimed most of the space, but Ruo Yan had no intention of yielding. She wedged herself right against Ethan, pulling him toward her every time Laira tried to monopolize the embrace.

Ethan didn’t take sides.

He kissed Laira.

Then drew Ruo Yan back.

Then Laira wrapped both long arms around the two of them at once.

By the end, no one remembered who had started what.

...

When the first light appeared on the horizon, all three finally went still.

The blanket Ruo Yan had brought now covered all three of them.

More accurately, it was trying to.

Laira’s legs still stuck out by a considerable length.

Ethan lay in the middle.

Laira on his right, her tall body curled almost entirely around him, one arm draped across his chest.

Ruo Yan lay on the other side, her black hair slightly mussed, her fingers still laced with Ethan’s right hand.

Both were asleep.

Ethan opened his eyes and looked at the brightening sky.

Vesna’s words surfaced in his mind once more.

’Don’t make them wait too long.’

He turned to look at Laira.

Then at Ruo Yan.

The corner of his mouth curved.

’At least this... I’m not making them wait any longer.’

But the smile held only for a moment.

Ethan’s gaze slowly drifted toward the horizon.

The sky beyond Spring Village was still as vast as ever.

And somewhere out there, the path Vesna had heard perhaps truly existed.

Thunder.

Fire.

A gate.

A place he needed to reach.

Ethan gently squeezed Ruo Yan’s hand.

Laira, still asleep, unconsciously held him tighter.

He closed his eyes once more.

’One more day.’

’After that... it’ll be time to prepare to set out.’