"Layn?

" Irea asked, watching how the archmage faltered, only for his head and the entire upper body to sway forward. Then, without a word of warning, the man appeared to lose his consciousness, falling forward without any control.

"LAYN!

" Irea screamed out in worry as she caught the man's body.

'Just what the hell was that?' she asked herself, staring down at the golden bracelet that Layn still held in his hand. 'Did he just propose?' she thought, unable to wrap her head around what just transpired.

"Layn, are you okay?

" Unable to solve the confusion on her own, Irea attempted to gently shake her man awake. Yet, from how steady his breath was, it was clear that the archmage had already fallen asleep.

'Just what could make him so tired?' Irea questioned herself while she unconsciously moved her hands from just free-floating by her side to the man's head. Before even realizing what had happened, she was already running her fingers through his hair while using her own chest as a pillow for the man's chest.

'Maybe it's all about that bracelet?' she thought, using her left hand to reach for the decorative item.

'Huh?' Irea shrugged when her fingers came into contact with the bracelet. For something as decorative and meticulously crafted as this thing, she didn't expect it to have any value outside of its looks. Yet, with a single touch, that proved not to be the case.

"Is that why you were absent from the council?

" She asked in a silent voice, putting the bracelet away only to pull Layn closer into her embrace. Then, as the situation continued to develop without the active involvement of her wishes, Irea fell to her back, pulling Layn along with herself.

"This is surprisingly fun,

" she muttered when Layn's weight pinned her down to the bed. Yet, instead of spreading her legs to accept his affection, Irea simply continued to gently caress the skin of his head. 'Now that I think about it, isn't his breath a little more stable now?' she thought, thinking deeply about the situation. 'It's as if a massive burden vanished from his mind,' she thought, trying hard to figure out just what was going on.

For Irea, having Layn propose to her was something so impossibly great that she had troubles accepting it as the reality. It was just too great to be possibly true! For someone like her, who constantly doubted her right to remain at Layn's side, having him reaffirm her like that...

"I'm sorry,

" Irea suddenly said as she wrapped her arms around Layn's back and pulled him towards herself even tighter.

"I'm sorry,

" she repeated in a trembling voice as she started to circulate her own energy, only to pass it on to Layn's exhausted body.

For the next few whiles, rather than letting Layn regain his strenght in the easiest and most efficient manner, she continued to pump him full of her own mana.

While doing something like this wouldn't ward off Layn's exhaustion at all, it would at least give him support to lean on.

"I'm sorry, but I won't let you get away without making sure that we are on the same page,

" she muttered, with her voice breaking as she forcefully woke Layn up.

"Huh?

" The archmage attempted to stand up as he always did once he opened his eyes. Yet, locked in Irea's arms, his attempts soon prove futile.

"What was I...?

" he asked, still too dizzy to recall the events that transpired before he lost his senses.

"Layn,

" Irea called out, moving one of her arms out of his back only to bring her hand up and caress his cheek.

"I'm sorry for waking you up like that, but I really need to know. Not being sure about it is killing me,

" she explained her reasons as tears started to well up.

'Seeing him so tired... Why is it so painful?' she asked herself, unable to stop the tears from squeezing through her eyes.

"What do you mean?

" Layn asked, taking a very long time to properly come to his senses. But then, he realized that there was something uncomfortable about his hand. Something was making his hand pained as if squeezing a small row of points on it. Curious about the reason, Layn looked to the side.

"Huh?

" he muttered when he saw a glint of gold from underneath his palm.

And then, everything came back to the archmage's mind. As if his soul was smashed by a hammer, all the emotions, all the doubts, and all the courage that he had just before falling asleep returned.

"Dear,

" Layn lowered his head, pressing it back against the extremely comfortable pillow of Irea's chest.

"I'm sorry for being so weak, but I just could stand seeing you tear up,

" he said, forcing his hand to pull up. 'If I'm going to propose, then the least I can do is actually finish the deed,' he thought to himself, securing a proper position for his hands before pushing his upper body up.

Still glued to Layn's chest, Irea couldn't help but get pulled along. Yet, as she released her hold over the man's back, Layn didn't waste any time grabbing her right hand.

"Dear...

" Layn muttered before looking the girl in the eyes. For a moment, the two of them just remained like that, staring at each other's soul through what was often called the windows to one's head.

"Will you accept my feelings?

" he asked, using all the courage he could muster for this one moment.

"Yes,

" Irea replied after a moment. There was no hesitation in her eyes as she did, proving that the tiny wait before giving her answer was caused by nothing but a shock.

"That's great,

" Layn smiled gently, moving the girl's hand up only to slide the gold bracelet of his making on it.

"I wanted to make this moment grander and filled with celebration, but for now, this will have to suffice,

" he muttered, caressing the girl's palm as the magic imbued into the bracelet made it close around the girl's arm.

"I know this is sudden, but with that...

" Layn said, before raising his eyes and looking at the girl's face with an extremely mellowed expression,

"you are hereby my wife.

"