See you on Monday. 

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The warm water lapped gently against Aric’s skin as he leaned back into the tub. The faint glow of residual magic lingered on his fingertips as he was using healing magic for his muscle.

A day has passed and Lira had stabilised his mana core for abit but it was a slow process as she was learning what the pure dark mana actually does. Aric decided to push that thought aside and really sink in as there was peace in the tub.

But peace was fleeting when Ivy was involved.

[Hello there!] came her chirpy voice, materializing abruptly on his notification screen. True to form, she appeared not just as her usual self but this time, wearing an absurdly sexy bunny girl suit.

Aric groaned internally, What now, Ivy? I’m trying to relax here.

She smirked mischievously, [Oh, don’t give me that tone. You like when I dress up. You could even say I’m your dress-up dar—]

No. You're not. Let's not do that okay. And seriously, fuck you for bringing that up. I can't even watch any shows now since I'm in this world.

[But I do let you binge watch shows with me though.]

Aric raised his arms dramatically, Half the time, you skip through it and say it's boring. And the other half is, you don't even let me choose what I want to watch. We always watch what you want.

She crossed her arms and pouted dramatically, [Hmph. At least you get to watch something.]

After a brief pause, Ivy leaned forward, [Anyway… how’s your body holding up? And don’t give me any of that ‘I’m fine’ nonsense. Be honest.]

Aric sighed inwardly, flexing his fingers beneath the water, It’s… manageable. The pain was intense, but I’ve dealt with worse. Mentally, though… it’s complicated. Seeing everyone cheer for me feels strange.

Ivy raised an eyebrow, [You saved lives, Aric. You fought to protect people who once hated you. That counts for something. Don’t sell yourself short.]

Mmm...anyways. I heard that people from the Arkwright estate are coming over soon. I wonder if Claire remembers about that book I gave to her. I hope she got everyone's demands.

Though, it's been months we have been away...they must think I have forgotten or something. I also need to figure out how to fix my relationship with Claire.

Ivy hopped into her chair, [Well, at least you're thinking like normal again.]

Aric looked at her with curiosity, Say, Ivy. Why did you risk yourself for someone like me?

[The same reason Seraphina did for you.]

Huh.

[Mhm.] She stretched lazily, then added, [Anyway, go see Lira again. That pure dark mana still needs to be purified. It’s way too potent for your body.]

She gave him a devilish grin, [Oh, and heads up for tonight. You’re gonna need a lot of restraint and kumbayah from your wife.]

Aric blinked. Huh? What do you mean by that?

[Bye-bye! I’ve got a salon appointment!]

“Ivy, wait—!”

[POOF!]

Aric sighed, sinking deeper into the tub.

Ugh. What the hell’s going to happen tonight?

******************************************

Aric wore his nightwear and look himself in the mirror.

Well, it's just been 3 days but my new look...is kinda cool. Time to go to bed again, hopefully Ivy was just messing with me.

The soft glow of the bedside lamp cast a warm, golden hue across the room as Aric emerged from the room. He wore a simple black silk nightgown. His mismatched eyes darted instinctively toward the bed and he was reminded about Ivy's warning.

Seraphina, sprawled casually in the center of their king-sized bed like some predator waiting for its prey. The sleek crimson nightgown she wore hugged her curves with an elegance that bordered on sinful.

For a moment, Aric felt like a deer caught in headlights. His heart raced wildly in his chest as he tried and failed to tear his gaze away. Instead, he awkwardly cleared his throat, averting his eyes and attempting to act nonchalant as he shuffled toward the edge of the bed.

"Uh... hi." he muttered lamely, sitting down as far away from her as possible without falling off the mattress entirely.

But Seraphina wasn’t about to let him escape so easily. Before he could settle into his self-imposed exile, one of her shadow tendrils snaked out lazily, wrapping around his waist and pulled him closer.

"Look at me." she said softly.

"Yes...Seraphina. What is it?" He tried to say nonchalantly but on the inside, he was screaming.

WHY THE HELL IS SHE WEARING LIKE THOSE WOMEN IN PLAYBOY MAGAZINES!?

WHO EVEN GAVE HER THAT!? I DO THE LAUNDRY AND THIS WASN’T IN THE WARDROBE!

Her lips curled into a faint smirk, "I want to know what you were doing at Mira's bakery shop for so long today. You didn’t come see me until tonight."

Aric swallowed hard, panic bubbling within him.

"I was... uh..." he stammered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Just picking something up! Yeah, that’s it. Picking something up."

Seraphina raised a brow, "Wow, that was a terrible lie. Even Vayne or a toddler could’ve come up with something better."

[Mhmm, tell him, girl!]

Aric groaned internally, WHEN DID YOU COME BACK!?

Out loud, however, he managed a weak chuckle, trying desperately to salvage the situation.

"Okay I was ordering something exclusive and I needed to teach the recipe. That's all. I just wanted to try bringing back a classic cake from Earth."

To his surprise, Seraphina just shrugged, "Fine."

She lets go of Aric's waist and sat down, "Alright then, since we’re stuck together anyway, let’s do some real icebreakers. Something we both never talk about before."

"Let’s start with something simple. What kind of love language matters to you?"

Aric was caught off guard by the unexpected question.

Love languages? Of all things, why did she choose that topic? Also, was that really a thing in the medieval era?

"Well..."

No like seriously. Why does she want to know? Shouldn't we be talking about how to deal with the crown or something?

Ivy reappeared all of a sudden in a salon, [You sound exactly like that guy who said, ‘I just want to talk about the political and economic state of the world right now.’]

WHY DO YOU ALWAYS COME BACK JUST TO SAY STUPID JOKES, IVY!? THIS IS RECORD-BREAKING, EVEN FOR YOU!

[I’m bored. But I also want to give you privacy. But I also like annoying you. Don’t worry, though. I’ll shut up...for now.]

UGH.

Aric cleared his throat, "My top two are physical touch and words of affirmation. Not necessarily anything lewd or inappropriate, just... touch. Like holding hands, hugs, stuff like that. If someone doesn’t touch me, I feel like they don’t care about me at all. And words matter too cause what people say can make or break me sometimes."

He paused, fidgeting nervously as he processed his own admission. It was strange, opening up like this especially to Seraphina.

Seraphina nodded thoughtfully, "Huh."

She thought about it deeply while tapping her chin,

"Interesting. Mine is words too but spending time comes second. Physical touch is close behind, though."

"I guess... when someone spends time with me, it feels like they’re investing in me. Words also matter alot to me...it makes me feel like you understand things about me and know what to say. About touch... well, it makes things feel real, you know? Like proof that they’re actually here."

She clasped her hands together as if she had a brilliant idea,

"Alright then. Let’s test your love language tonight. How does that sound?"

"Wait what?"

Before he could say anything else, she wrapped her arms around him and pull him into a loose embrace, resting her chin lightly on his shoulder.

"See? It's not that so bad."

Aric's heartbeat raised a little while hesitantly hugging her,

"But...it must be hard for you to do this."

"It is hard but I don't mind it. Plus, as long you stay with me, you have to be my husband so I have to be extra comfortable with you."

She hugged him tighter, " So...just relax, okay?"

Aric wrapped his arms around her fully, closed his eyes and rested his chin on her shoulder,

"Mmm...thank you."

He was thinking in his head what to say to her for her love language. He settled on a simple but genuine compliment,

"You look really pretty tonight."

"Just tonight?" She said playfully.

"Extra pretty..."

Seraphina dropped her tone to be low and whisper into his ears,

"Hey, Aric. Would you be okay if I ask you something sensitive? You can just say no if you don't want to."

"Sure...ask away. I'm okay with anything."

"When you died right, what did you see? What was...death like? Can you remember?"

Aric opened his eyes and stared at the lamp,

"Death...I remember that I was in a giant white space. It looked endless to me. I walked around there for what felt like days but you told me I was dead for an hour. So, there's probably a time distortion there. There was nothing there you know?"

"But, eventually there was something. There was a projector there and it played my memories for me. Back on Earth, there is a theory that when you die, your life flashes before you as if trying to find something or giving you one final comfort."

"For me, it was all about the happiest memories in my life."

Seraphina loosen slightly over her grip, "I'm guessing your kids were in there right?"

"Mhm. They sure were."

"Were you...happy?"

"I was. I miss seeing them and seeing my memories play out to me, it was nice."

Aric was conflicted in telling her that she too was part of the 8 minutes.

Seraphina interrupted his thought by letting go of him,

"Aric. This may sound rude and intruding perhaps but I am very curious. Was there anyone else in your happiest memories?"

Aric put his hands back in place, "Yeah. They were. My parents was in there. Surprisingly my ex wife too. I guess she was in there since I knew for basically my entire life."

She looked like she was disappointed, "Oh..."

She spaced out, I guess...he still wants Natasha deep down...hahaha what am I even saying? Did I expect something? He's just a man that got stuck in an unfortunate situation. Hahaha.

Like seriously, was I really expecting something?

But then, something strange stirred in her mind.

"Here you go Sera!"

The voice came and go from her head. There was no visual, there was no sensory in there but for some reason, Seraphina felt like she lost something dear.

Her mind tried to find it but she couldn't see anything besides darkness.

What...was that? What memory was that? Whose voice was it?

She was suddenly pulled back into reality from Aric shaking her.

"Sera? Are you okay?"

She looked up, eyes slightly wide. "I… yeah. Just spaced out. Sorry."

“You sure?”

She nodded, though her mind was spinning. "Yeah. Just tired, that’s all. Let's go to sleep now. We have a long day ahead."

She laid down on the bed with Aric still sitting down. She looked at him,

"C'mon now. Let's try cuddling to sleep. Last time ended horribly with you...being hard."

Aric's face was immediately red, "Tha-that's cause you were-"

She patted the bed, "Now now, let's go to sleep now."