"That was tiring,

" Layn said, falling to the grass-filled bedding of his. Even though the negotiations concluded in a satisfactory manner, the archmage couldn't help but feel a sense of defeat.

"You know you can't take rest yet,

" Irea said, looking over at her man.

"I know you are tired, but try to push yourself a little more,

" she asked as she sent Layn a lovely smile.

"I know, I know,

" Layn shrugged on the bed.

"Just give me five minutes,

" he requested, burying his face in the poor-quality pillow.

'I still need to convert the stones into coins, organize the blueprint for the academy layout, check for problems in different areas, and then there is the council meeting...' he thought, despairing over the amount of work that he still had on his shoulders for today.

"Just how do you cope with constantly working?

" Layn asked after a moment, looking over at the girl..

While he was busy negotiating, she was busy turning the little food they had into actual meals. Even after Layn returned with a fresh batch of stones, she continued to fulfill her duty without even a single bit of whine.

"Someone has to do it,

" Irea shrugged her arms as she moved from chopping the few pieces of meat the camp still had to stirring a massive, metal pot where various ingredients would turn into a nutritious soup.

"And since there are barely any men left with all the work that we are organizing right now, I could as well do it myself,

" she added, once again gracing Layn with a smile.

"I guess you are right,

" the archmage said, moving up and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"There are things that anyone can do and things that only you or I can do,

" he added, trying to force some motivation back into his system.

"In that case, how about trying to work a bit more for now?

" Irea asked, leaning her head over her shoulder as she continued to move a ladle around the massive pot.

"I will make sure it will be worth your while once the sun sets,

" she added as a small blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Stop that,

" Layn said in a stern tone.

"Stop what?

" Irea asked, almost jumping in surprise. Her face revealed just how confused she was by Layn's sudden and unexpected reaction.

"Do not treat yourself as some sort of comforting tool,

" Layn said in a tense voice.

"While sleeping with you is one of the brightest spots for each of my days, it's not something that you should try to incentivize me to work with,

" Layn said. He was angry at himself for allowing a situation where his girl would say something like this to happen.

"Ah, you are so sweet,

" Irea smiled cutely. Then, she pulled out her ladle before putting it back on the table and moving over to where Layn was sitting. Then, she pushed her arms forward, coiling them around the archmage's chest.

"But you don't really need to think like that,

" she added, whispering right into Layn's ear.

"I enjoy myself with you pretty much as well, so I don't think there is anything wrong in treating our rare moments of privacy as a way to relax after a hard day of work,

" she added, moving her hands all over Layn's body.

"Didn't you just say, after a hard day of work?

" Layn muttered, completely ignoring that part on his own as his hands started to feel the girl's body up.

"There should be nothing wrong with a little break, don't you think?

" Irea asked, sliding her hand into Layn's pants while keeping her eyes on the archmage's face.

"I'm worried that...

" Layn took a little break as a wave of pleasure traveled up his spine. After all this time and all the private moments the two of them shared, Irea was perfectly aware of just how to get a rinse out of him.

"I'm worried that it won't end up as a short break per se,

" he added, barely holding against the girl's attack.

"Oh?

" Irea smiled.

"Do you dare to doubt my ability?

" she asked, sliding down Layn's leg only to kneel in between his legs next.

"How about I prove just how wrong you are?

" she asked, pulling Layn's pants down.

Just as one could expect from the situation, Layn was all ready and raring to go.

"Look at you,

" Irea smiled as she started to move her hand up and down.

"And here you were claiming that it would take too long,

" she said as she lowered her head and wrapped her lips over Layn's lower head.

"I still can't get over how much better you got at it,

" Layn whispered, barely capable of saying anything between the moans of pleasure escaping from his throat.

The wet, warm feeling of her lips over his shaft coupled with Irea's playful tongue caressing his most sensitive part was just too much.

'Now that I think about it, Ortensia never bothered to blow me,' Layn thought, placing his hands on the top of Irea's head. Yet, as he started to rub his fingers through the girl's hair, a sudden moment of realization shook his mind. 'No, it's wrong to even compare the two of them,' Layn thought, biting his lips all the way to the point where they started to bleed.

"What's wrong?

" Irea asked, pulling Layn's penis from her mouth in order to articulate properly.

Looking down, Layn saw both the curiosity and the worry written all over Irea's face. With this look and her hand still slowly caressing his penis, he felt something snap inside of him.

'Wait, what's that smell?' Just as Layn was about to pounce at the girl, his face suddenly distorted, distracted by the smell. 'Damn,' he thought, once he realized what that meant.

"Oh no!

" Irea screamed out a mere moment later, jumping up from her position and rushing towards the pot.

"I guess we will really have to put that for later,

" she added as she furiously stirred the pot once again.

"Well, I will better get back to work, then,

" Layn smiled as he stood up from the bed and fixed his clothes.

"Also, if I manage to finish it, I will have a gift for you tonight,

" he said before waving his hand and leaving the place.

"I can't wait!

" Irea shouted after the leaving man before moving her attention back to the meal she was preparing.

'I wonder how she will react,' Layn thought, reaching to one of the few pockets he had. In there, a small prototype of the gift was resting. For now, it was carved out of a random stone, just to let Layn figure out the final shape of what he wanted to create. 'Well, it's good that we got more stones now,' he thought before shaking his head.

"Still,

" he muttered as he approached his workshop.

"I wonder how she will react!

"