Chapter 260: What Lies Ahead
With a brief pause, she squinted her eyes before licking the blow from her bite and moving on to nibble on his ears for a bit. A chuckle left Raven's lips as he felt his nerves tingling, and joining him in his laughs, Regalia slipped something important to capture his true emotions.
"Would you stay with me if you didn't have to go?" Her question killed the joy of the moment and shadowed it with shock and doubt.
It took Raven a moment to figure out what the question meant to her, and without a doubt the one thing that came to his mind first was her gauging how much he loved her. Moving his hand on her hair, smiling, he brushed it for a few seconds until the wolf-girl began purring like a kitty.
"If I could I would, no doubt about it," holding himself to love every one of his girls the same was a struggle for sure, but even someone as nefarious as him knew that it wasn't just about their bodies but the heart of the relationship as well. "Although, the others are already jealous of you so I might catch a beating or two if you hog me all to yourself."
Glancing around at the others with a chuckle, Raven felt thankful that everyone except him and Regalia was asleep and hadn't heard what he'd said. He intended to give them each some time alone with him–throughout which he would dote on them just as much he had on Regalia so far.
"You know…" Resting her head on his chest once again, Regalia drew a deep breath before sighing which was quickly replaced by a smile. "You're too much of a charmer sometimes, know just the right buttons to push and give in just enough to keep me wanting more. I guess that comes with being part fairy, but I really wish that if not your only then I'm at least one of your loves."
Planting a quick kiss on her forehead, Raven hugged Regalia and moved her over his body. Blanketing her in his warmth, his hands ran down her spine, making her fur spark up with a tingle. Then nuzzling her face next to his own, he leaned into her ears and whispered.
"You have nothing to worry about, see for yourself that I haven't lied about my love for you," masking her eyes for a moment, Raven shared his mana-fused eye's ability to share the truth-seeking gift with Regalia. "Now when I move my hand, see for yourself if I'm speaking the truth or telling a lie."
Letting her go, Raven opened his eyes and looked right at her face. With a deep breath, he readied himself while the ability's function was made clear to Regalia on its own. And once the two were done, Raven's lips parted to utter the unchanging truth coming straight from his heart.
"I love you, Regalia, and I always will…" Seeing invisible white smoke emanating from Raven, the wolf-girl's eyes numbed a little, but being a seasoned warrior, Regalia held back her tears and instead let out her emotions through a long passionate kiss.
Wrapped in each other's arms with their fingers intertwined, the duo basked in the comforting warmth of their partner until both of them fell asleep with their fingers still locked together. By the time the two woke up, the others had already gotten ready for their carriage ride to the dark castle.
None of them had disturbed the duo as the girls knew that Raven wouldn't have much time to share with Regalia before they had to move on from the city.
However, once they were up no more time was wasted before making their way to the castle. Getting ready as quickly as they could, both Raven and Regalia led the group out of the inn. From there the demi-wolf took over the carriage that she'd come to the inn in last night. The others stayed inside the wagon with the coachman's window left open to talk to her about some queries.
"What's next to Elenaris?" Glancing back from over her shoulder, the demi-wolf mused over Mel's question for a while. "Why? Didn't you see when you came down from the train? It's the surface of the nine hells, the Infernal Ocean, that's what's next."
Everyone's faces paled at the mention of hell, and why wouldn't it, only the dead were invited there. And from experiencing the imps and devils through their own abilities, neither Amedith nor Erika were too fond about charting the sea. Noticing the looks of worry on everyone, however, Regalia decided to ease their heart with reassurance a little.
"It's not unheard of to sail through the ocean, I had to do it quite often about a hundred years ago when we were still struggling with a small island kingdom," thinking back on her time at war, Regalia realized that what was about to say wasn't exactly gonna inspire confidence. "The place sank; at the hand of a titanic creation lurking in the hell waters.
Not to mention the water is said to be the tears of lost sailors forever wandering in an undying search for land, even though their flesh has decayed centuries ago from the sulfur in the gust of their watery prison."
Cringing more and more as she informed the party more, Regalia looked back again and saw everyone just glaring at her with an upset look in their eyes.
"Uhmm…I should stop talking, ahaha…" And with an awkward laugh, she did.