CHAPTER 277: A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM [PART 1]

"Awww, they look good together."

"I know, right?"

"The handsome Prince who saved the princess—hah... I’m so jealous."

"They’re a match made in heaven."

"Vaan is so bold. She actually dares to lean her head on Alex’s shoulder in class."

"Look at Alex! He’s just indulging her. Look at that affectionate gaze."

"A-Are you sure it’s a gentle gaze? For me, it looks like a helpless one."

"It doesn’t matter if it’s gentle or helpless. Either way, they look so good together!"

""Right!""

The girls giggled as they chatted among themselves, occasionally sneaking glances at Alex and Vaan, who were seated right beside each other.

Just like what the ladies had said, Vaan’s head was currently resting on Alex’s shoulder, with her—errr, his eyes closed and a sweet smile.

Nessia smiled before whispering something in Lavinia’s ear. "You need to try a little harder, or Vaan is going to steal him."

"B-But Vaan is a guy, right?" Lavinia replied.

"Are you sure?" Nessia fixed her glasses. "Do you have any proof?"

"Alex said Vaan is a guy, and I trust Alex," Lavinia insisted.

Nessia smiled faintly and decided to let the matter slide before glancing at Latifa, who was pretending to be asleep, but was secretly eyeing Alex and Vaan from her seat.

’If I remember correctly, both of them went to the same trial,’ Nessia mused. ’This looks fun.’

The young lady then shifted her gaze toward the next transfer student who had come with them to Class C.

Evangeline Feylune.

She was one of the last survivors during their Battle Royale, but Nessia didn’t know anything about her.

But during her introduction, Nessia vaguely sensed some sort of hostility coming from her, which was aimed at Alex.

’Was that just my imagination?’ Nessia thought.

The Professor had yet to arrive, so she casually looked around and memorized the faces of her new classmates.

Several hours later...

Alex did some light stretches after the final class of the day ended.

Fortunately, they hadn’t missed anything important while they were clearing the trials in the Heracle Mountains.

The Professors even expressed concern and told them to be more careful when going out on expeditions.

Of course, to keep things fair, they still received a penalty for their week-long absence. They were banned from traveling long distances for a month.

Alex showed no protest since he didn’t plan to invite the rest to a trip anytime soon.

"Alex, what do you plan to do now?" Vaan asked. "Are we going to have a meeting in the club room today?"

"I don’t have anything planned," Alex replied. "But I plan to take a nap in the club room."

There was an unoccupied floor beneath their clubrooms, so Alex turned them into various rooms—nap rooms, laboratories, and study areas.

Spending some time there wouldn’t be too bad.

"A nap..." Vaan smirked before nodding his head in understanding. "Sounds like a good idea."

After saying those words, the pretty boy then left the class with Chuck, who seemed to need his help for something.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim lightly patted Alex’s head.

"Okay, you can go," Alex replied. "Just make sure to be back before curfew."

"Dim!" Dim Dim saluted before jumping towards the window.

It wanted to visit the farm to play with the animals there and make up for the days they weren’t together.

Since his other club members also planned to do other things, Alex headed to the clock tower on his own.

To his surprise, Latifa was already there, sleeping on her bed as usual.

Lotte stood guard by her side and gave Alex a nod of greeting.

Alex returned the greeting before lying down on the couch to sleep.

He could have gone to the nap room, but taking a nap in the clubroom wasn’t a bad decision either.

It took Alex only a minute to fall asleep after his head rested on his pillow.

(A/N: Grrrr! I hate people who can fall asleep so quickly!)

Lotte watched the young man sleep before looking at Latifa, who opened her eyes to look at Alex.

"Hey, I know what you’re thinking," Lotte said. "Don’t do it."

As to what Lotte was referring to, Latifa pretended that she didn’t hear it and continued to sleep.

———

*Poke*

"Ngh..."

*Poke* *Poke*

"Dim Dim... don’t poke my nose," Alex said.

"Dim Dim? Are you talking about your plushie?"

Alex abruptly opened his eyes after hearing the familiar voice.

"G-Guildmaster?" Alex asked as he looked at the beautiful young lady seated beside his bed.

"Who else?" Noelle eyed Alex as if she were a girlfriend who found her boyfriend cheating on her. "Were you expecting anyone else?"

"Ah..." Alex blinked after realizing that he was just dreaming.

It had been a while since he had dreamed about his guildmaster, which he felt was a blessing.

Alex didn’t want to forget about her. But he was no longer on Earth after all and had no way to see her. Memories ought to fade after a long time, so he was grateful to find her before him.

Although he knew this was just a dream, Noelle was simply so vivid that it seemed real. He couldn’t help but thank the God of Dreams for giving him such a sweet dream.

"Ah?" Noelle arched an eyebrow. "Is that all you’re going to say after this beautiful girl traveled all the way just to see you?"

"I love you, Guildmaster," Alex said in a serious tone. "Please marry me."

"Huh?!" Noelle immediately backed away and looked at Alex in disbelief. "Y-You’re Alex, right? You’re not some kind of evil spirit possessing this man, right?"

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle after seeing the young lady’s reaction.

"I’m just joking," Alex said as he did a few light stretches before getting out of bed. "Guildmaster, I’m hungry. Please cook me something."

"Wow, look at this guy." Noelle crossed her arms over her chest. "Since when have you been so demanding? Are you a child who wants to be spoiled?"

"Yes." Alex nodded. "I want to be spoiled."

Since this was just a dream, his self-control tucked itself into some deep corner. Right now, he was doing everything he wouldn’t have dared before, like teasing his guildmaster to see reactions he had never seen before.

"You’re the worst guild member," Noelle clicked her tongue. "Get up and clean up. I’ll cook you something."

"Nice!" Alex did a fist pump.

Just like always, the two worked together to clean up a little before Noelle went to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast, which was a simple meal of egg-fried rice, bacon, and eggs.

But for Alex, this meal surpassed those prepared in Michelin Restaurants. After all, the cook had been his beautiful guildmaster!

"Say ahh..." Noelle said as she tried to spoon-feed Alex with some egg-fried rice.

"Ahhh..." Alex opened his mouth to eat and even closed his eyes to better taste the food. He knew that this was a dream, so the food might not even have a taste. However, he planned to imagine what it would taste like with all his might.

But after leaving his mouth open for quite some time, there didn’t seem to be any food whatsoever, which made him wonder if his guild master was pranking him.

Because of this, he opened his eyes and saw something that he never expected to happen.

There was a young lady, her long hair hued by a combination of red and orange.

The spoon that Noelle had extended to him was now inside Latifa’s mouth, which made Alex wonder if his dream had done a crossover.

The young fox lady then pulled back and chewed the food properly inside her mouth. She then pulled out a chair and sat beside Noelle, who had the same dumbfounded look as Alex had right now.