When the intense energy fluctuations gradually subsided, the sturdy Ice Crystal Barrier finally reached its limit.
With a crisp “crack,” it shattered into countless ice crystals and dissipated into the air.
“Huff… huff…”
Celes’s face turned a shade paler, her breathing disordered.
Her ice-blue hair hung messily over her shoulders, several strands stuck to her cheek with sweat, making her appear somewhat disheveled.
She looked at Eidin, who was not far away and also catching his breath.
Rather than defeat, her gaze was filled with genuine admiration and awe.
She gently smoothed her hair, her voice tinged with fatigue but exceptionally sincere.
“Eidin, your combat style… is really unique and incredibly impressive. This time… I think it’s a draw, right?”
Not far away, the aura Eidin had been forcing up faded like the tide, replaced by utter exhaustion and weakness.
He shook his head, his voice slightly hoarse.
“No… it’s not a draw. You won, Celes.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his legs gave out, and his body collapsed uncontrollably forward.
The terrifying boost brought by double adrenaline came with double the backlash of side effects.
At this moment, Eidin felt as if his body had been completely drained.
Even the simple act of standing was an unattainable luxury.
Waves of dizziness continuously assaulted his consciousness.
“Eidin?!”
Celes, seeing this, assumed Eidin had suffered some injury in their earlier clash.
Her expression changed instantly.
Ignoring her own exhaustion, she hurried over and caught him before he could fall, supporting him against herself.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Don’t… don’t worry… it’s not an injury… this is just… the debt from overusing my strength… that has to be repaid…”
Leaning against Celes’s slender but warm shoulder, Eidin barely managed to lift his heavy eyelids, looking at her anxious face and forcing a weak smile.
“I just need… to rest a bit… I’ll be fine…”
A wave of overwhelming sleepiness washed over him, like a surging tide.
Eidin’s eyelids felt impossibly heavy, warring against each other.
His mind was a fog; the only thought left was to close his eyes and sink into deep sleep.
Celes looked down at Eidin’s defenseless sleeping face.
Watching his tightly closed eyes and relaxed brows, she couldn’t help but curve her lips in a small smile.
Eidin had fallen soundly asleep in her arms, exposing his weakest and most defenseless side to her—he must trust her completely.
This realization seeped into her heart like a warm current on a winter’s day, bringing an indescribable warmth and fluttering to her chest.
A pure happiness rippled through her heart, like a stone tossed into a calm lake, sending out rings of sweet ripples.
As expected, she had truly fallen for Eidin.
The fierce battle just now—the swift movements of the black-haired boy, the dazzling and deadly dance of the black sword, and that final desperate courage—every instant was deeply imprinted in Celes’s mind, leaving her utterly captivated.
Celes carefully half-carried the sleeping Eidin to a soft bench by the edge of the arena’s rest area.
Gently, she adjusted his position so he could lie down comfortably.
Then she sat down herself, placing his head tenderly on her thighs, made more shapely by her tight combat suit.
Lowering her head, a few locks of ice-blue hair fell like a waterfall, brushing against Eidin’s cheek.
She gazed silently at his sleeping form, listening to his steady, deep breathing.
Unconsciously, her eyes drifted to his slightly moving lips.
Right now, Eidin… seemed to be sleeping deeply from exhaustion… so… if she did something quietly… he wouldn’t notice, would he?
At that moment, a daring thought sprang up in Celes’s mind.
The idea made her heart pound violently.
She couldn’t help but swallow, her throat bobbing.
As if guided by some invisible force, she reached out with trembling, slender, fair fingers, and ever so gently, her fingertips brushed against Eidin’s cheek.
Warm and soft—that was the sensation at her fingertips.
An even bolder, more shameful idea surged forth.
If… she kissed him… what would it feel like?
Celes, overtaken by the turbulent emotions and curiosity inside, slowly lowered her head, almost unconsciously bringing her pressed-together legs a little higher to shorten the distance between them.
Holding her breath, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of water, she pressed her soft, slightly cool lips gently and quickly to Eidin’s cheek.
In an instant, a wave of heat like she’d never felt before raced through her body.
Celes straightened up abruptly, her face turning crimson in a flash, the blush spreading to her ears and neck, like a ripe apple.
She instinctively pressed the back of her hand to her burning lips, her ice-blue eyes brimming with shyness and helplessness.
Th-this is what a kiss feels like?
So strange… so wonderful… there’s a strange feeling welling up inside…
It was a mix of sweetness, nervous excitement, shyness, and some indescribable longing—so intense that Celes felt feverish.
I-I want to… try it again…
This new and intoxicating sensation left Celes, experiencing it for the first time, unable to resist its allure.
Driven by this impulse, she lowered her head again, like Eve tasting the forbidden fruit, this time with even more affection and curiosity, leaving a second soft kiss on Eidin’s cheek.
Now, the small desire in Celes’s heart began to grow.
Her gaze, no longer satisfied with his cheek, drifted with infatuation and greater curiosity to Eidin’s sharply defined lips.
If… I kissed here… what would it feel like?
This thought circled her mind like an incantation.
Should I… try it?
The temptation was so close.
But finally, reason sounded its alarm.
But… what if Eidin suddenly wakes up right now…
She pictured those eyes, always smiling or serious, suddenly opening to find her doing something so intimate—wouldn’t he think she was strange, frivolous, and maybe start to dislike or avoid her?
Just imagining the possible consequences made her heart tighten.
The courage she’d just gathered to take things further deflated like a punctured balloon, quickly replaced by thick hesitation and anxiety.
For a moment, it was as if two little people inside Celes were fighting fiercely—one side was fear and shyness about being caught, the other an uncontrollable longing for that unknown sensation.
She was trapped in unprecedented indecision and struggle, her face full of conflict.
She took a deep breath, as if to gather her courage, and once more slowly lowered her head.
Her tender lips were just a hair’s breadth from Eidin’s lips, so close she could feel his warm breath.
Yet at the very last moment, she froze again, her lips hovering in midair, locked in an inner battle, still unable to muster the resolve to finish that true kiss.
Ruby, floating nearby, took in all of Celes’s bashful and hesitant expressions, so anxious she spun in the air.
[“Celes, you fool! Just go for it! Such a great opportunity!”]
Even though Ruby was desperate, her voice could not reach Celes’s ears.
Seeing Celes still hesitating, Ruby’s eyes spun with an idea.
She suddenly darted above Celes’s head, then, using all her strength, pressed down hard on Celes’s head with both hands.
[“This is all I can do to help!”]
Caught off guard, Celes felt an irresistible force from above.
Her head was suddenly pushed down.
Four lips, with no gap between them, pressed together.
For a moment, Celes felt as if her heart had stopped beating—only to start pounding even more wildly a second later.
A feeling, indescribable and tingling, warm and sweetly thrilling, surged from their joined lips, making her whole body feel as if it would melt.
She didn’t even have time to wonder why her head had been pushed just now; all her senses were swept up by the dizzying sensation of her first real kiss, greedily savoring the brief contact.
Yet, the intoxication lasted only a second or two before a tidal wave of shame rushed in, engulfing Celes.
Like a startled deer, she jerked her head up and, feeling guilty, looked quickly around.
Only after confirming that there was no one else in the training room except for herself and the sleeping Eidin did she relax a little, though the blush on her cheeks only deepened, as if soaked in the evening glow.
Unconsciously, she stuck out her tiny tongue and lightly licked her lips, which still seemed to hold Eidin’s warmth, the action laced with a hint of tempting reminiscence.
Celes savored the brief but soul-stirring sensation from moments before—her First Kiss.
It was even softer than she had imagined, tinged with Eidin’s scent and a trace of warmth, like a gentle current of electricity that struck her soul, leaving a feeling of ethereal, wondrous shivers behind.
In this moment, it was as if countless sweet bubbles rose and burst in her heart, releasing an intoxicating fragrance.
Then, Celes suddenly recalled the pivotal push from before.
It really did seem as though something invisible had nudged her head, making her take that step she’d been too afraid to make.
Could it be…
***
A romantic and fateful idea sprouted in her heart.
Was this the will of the Goddess?
Was it fate… at work behind the scenes?
Celes gazed again at Eidin, still sleeping and completely unaware.
His peaceful sleeping face was now irresistibly attractive in her eyes.
A bolder, almost reckless thought bubbled up in her mind.
Since… since this was destiny’s guidance… then, kissing him a little more… should… be fine, right?
Once this thought appeared, there was no stopping it.
The girl who had just tasted the forbidden fruit, seduced by that wondrous feeling, again, with even more intense fluttering and a dash of self-indulgent courage than before, slowly and determinedly lowered her head.
For a while, in the quiet training room, only the soft interwoven breaths of two people remained, and, from time to time, the faint, lingering sounds of tender and lingering kisses echoed gently.