Just wake up already.

(Look who's back)

Slowly, without ever hurrying yourself, you open your eyes. The fading light from the evening sky going through the windows that faced you. Afterwards, you lifted your right arm... Well, tried to lift it, as you found it incredibly weak, and looking down at it, you noticed what was for sure the origin of your weakness : A small, glowing white rune was on your bare torso, right on the spot where you got stabbed by this sword...

What was strange about it was the complete lack of any injury under this rune. You could see your skin, feel the warming glow of the rune on it, but there was no hole, nothing that would even hint at what happened to you.

Well, another thing took your attention after a little while, and it made you smile warmly : Rei was sitting besides the bed you were in, her upper body lying on it as she was asleep, making a cute face as she was sleeping. This simple sight made your heart swell, making you understand just how important you were, at least to her, before you got startled by an angelic voice, coming from your right, right out of your sight.

"She fell asleep again, let her sleep, please." Softly said Douma, her voice very low to not wake Rei up, yet still loud enough for you to hear. "We have been taking turn looking after you since you were stabbed... Thankfully Allit was able to use her gigantic supply of energy to maintain you alive while the Ladies managed to stop the injury from getting worse. Lady Kogai's regeneration ability is really amazing."

Your heart swelled even more after hearing this. Even if you were not from this world, if you didn't even know if Adam Marshall was your real name, you at least were sure that there was some people that found you important to them, and you couldn't help but start slowly stroking Rei's hair in-between her foxy ears, which were flat on her head. Despite having almost died and waking up after an unknown amount of time, you felt like you belonged here more than anywhere else. And this thought begged the question of how much time have you spent sleeping, and since when you have a question, you ask it, you do just that to Douma.

"Douma... How much time have I slept ?" You ask, pretty unsure of whether you actually wanted to know the answer or not.

"Almost six weeks..." Douma hesitantly replied. "Thankfully, we managed to get back to the manor with no trouble, and none of us has been harmed while you were sleeping."

This answer was enough to make you stop breathing : You slept for almost two months ! How could this happen ? And when you took a look around you, you could confirm that Douma was not lying : you were in your own room, in the manor. But a surprising event after the other, the formerly sleeping vixen suddenly jumped at you, hugging you tightly (yet not hurting you, thanks to the rune, you guessed) as she was crying softly.

Even Douma did not say a word while witnessing this unfold, which only reinforced the emotionnal strength of the scene, making tears well up in your eyes too, as you struggled hard to hug Rei back, letting her cry all she wanted.

She cried for a long time, before eventually stopping, saying to you.

"Adam, don't ever do that again..."

"I won't." Is the only answer that crossed your lips. There was no words that could answer her plea, and you felt like every other word would be a word too much.