As Asher rose to his feet, his eyes wandered, quite without his consent, to the sight of the twin peaks enticingly outlined by the dark red fabric wrapped around Ceti's chest while a drop of sweat got swallowed by her deep cleavage.
Ceti, realizing where his hot gaze had landed, quickly turned to the side, a look of piqued annoyance on her face, "Your Highness...you are the royal consort. Please be more mindful," Ceti said, her cheeks flushed while cursing why the air had to be so hot enough to make this piece of cloth stick to her skin.
Asher slowly curved his lips, a glint of amusement in his eyes.
He knew she was indirectly questioning his manners and decency.
With a casual shrug, he replied, "Sometimes, Ceti, one's gaze lands where it will," He let his words linger in the silence for a moment before continuing, "If there was a delicious dessert before you and you just happened to see it, would you quickly avert your eyes or not?"
Flashing a disarming smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Asher turned and started walking away, leaving Ceti in stunned silence.
She blinked, her mind racing. Was he insinuating she was a delicious dessert? Was it a compliment or...
Her eyes widened as it suddenly clicked, making her suck in cold breath.
How boorish!
He was good, she had to give him that - good at veiling his indecent thoughts behind a cloak of harmless words.
She followed him with a sigh of frustration, wishing she could quickly regroup with the others so that she didn't want to walk around half-naked like this, especially around him.
Asher and Ceti moved swiftly through the labyrinth of tunnels, their eyes flicking back and forth between their surroundings and the map etched into their minds.
As their senses picked up echoes of voices and the clash of weapons, they instinctively veered away from any potential conflicts.
They had decided to avoid any unnecessary fights until they could regroup with Merina and Isola. After all, they were only two, and they could not afford the risk of being outnumbered.
However, as the hours dragged on, fatigue began to seep into their bones.
Ceti sighed heavily, looking at the map in her mind, a furrow forming between her brows, "Why does it seem like mother and Isola are getting farther away the more we try to reach them?" She voiced her thoughts, her tone tinged with worry, "They can see where we are, just as we can see them. So why are they moving in a different direction?"
Asher paused for a moment, deep in thought, "The most likely explanation," he started, "is due to the design of this dungeon. You know as well as I do, if they had a clear path to us, they would have taken it. But their moving in a different direction can only mean they are still trying to find a way to intersect with us."
At his words, Ceti pressed her lips together, her gaze clouding with worry.
Seeing her expression, Asher began, as they walked through the winding tunnels, "The bright side is the two of them survived the Cavern Collapse and are still moving together. They will be fine. Your mother is no longer a helpless woman like before if you didn't know."
Ceti felt the tension in her chest lighten hearing his words, yet she asked with furrowed brows, "Why are you showing so much favor to my mother? I have never seen any noble show such favor to their maids," She knew her mother wouldn't have quickly gotten strong if not for Asher supporting her way more than any other noble would.
Asher chuckled as he looked at her and asked, "Because she is my favorite maid. Is it wrong to favor someone you like?"
Ceti felt even more perplexed, wondering if he really appreciated her mother.
"What? What were you assuming so far?" Asher asked with an amused light in his eyes. He found it quite satisfying to see her get so confused. If only she knew the truth.
"I…I thought you were trying to get back at me by making my mother your personal maid," Ceti finally revealed her suspicions.
Asher scoffed as he waved his hand, "I am not that petty. I believe I already showed you your place for disrespecting me, which I still don't understand why you kept stepping on my toes when we didn't even know each other before. I think I deserve an answer. Even if you don't, I demand it," Asher said with narrowed eyes as his sharp gaze fell on Ceti.
He already knew Ceti never took part in torturing him, and her mother wouldn't also lie to him. So he always found it baffling why she seemed to have something against him since the day he woke up.
Ceti's expression became complicated as she averted her gaze. She had always regretted how she treated him after he woke up, especially since her mother also got involved because of her actions.
Feeling his piercing gaze, she finally looked up at him and said, "It…had nothing to do with you…And I have always regretted my past actions," Thinking about it in hindsight, Ceti knew Asher could have made her suffer using the power of his status to get back at her, but he didn't.
This was the only fact that made her feel that maybe he was not as bad as the other nobles.
"What do you mean?"
"It's nothing…It's quite silly," Ceti said with a long sigh as she added, "You reminded me of someone I…used to hate…being useless and burdening everyone around them. But I know your circumstances were different, and…you aren't really useless."
She then deeply bowed and said, "I sincerely apologize for my actions at that time."
Asher gestured to her to rise as he shrugged, "It does seem silly. So let's forget it as a silly matter," Asher inwardly smiled as he said this.
He then gestured at their surroundings, "We should rest. Our supplies are limited, so we need to be careful with what we eat and drink."
He pointed to a narrow path that ended in a dead-end, "We'll rest there," he declared, "We can take turns sleeping when its time."
Ceti frowned, her gaze flicking over the spot he indicated, "But won't we be trapping ourselves?" she asked, "If anyone or anything comes from either side, we'll be cornered."
Asher smirked at that, his fingers closing around two Resonance Crystals from his spatial bag, "Did you forget?" he said, pulling out the crystals and showing them to Ceti, "I'll place one of these on each side, a few meters away. The moment someone gets close, the crystals will vibrate. We'll hear it and move before anything can even happen. But still, one of us will sit at the entrance and keep watch."
"Don't they have a time limit before they become useless?" Ceti asked as she looked at the two dark violet crystals.
"Yes…Each one of them can stay activated for 2 hours. But we have 100 of them, and we may even find more on the way. We will just replace them right before they burn out," Asher said as he handed over one of the Resonance Crystals to her.
A few hours had passed since Ceti had taken up her post as the watch, her eyes scanning the subtle darkness around the narrow path where they had decided to rest.
If it wasn't for the rocks having a subtle glow to them, they would have been walking in total darkness, not that it would be too much of a trouble for her.
Eventually, her gaze fell onto the stone slab where Asher was currently fast asleep.
"Your Highness," she spoke softly, her voice echoing slightly in the eerie silence, "It's time to wake up."
When he didn't stir even after calling to him a few times, she let out a soft click of her tongue, irritation, and disbelief seeping into her whispery voice, "Your Highness, wake up," she repeated, her tone getting harder.
However, he remained as still as a statue, his deep and steady breaths indicating that he was sound asleep.
Finally, out of options, Ceti reached down to turn him over, hoping the physical disturbance would wake him.
But, as she did, her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the ridiculously large bulge in his pants.
She quickly covered her mouth, her eyes darting away as a blush spread across her cheeks. It took a few moments for her brain to process what she was seeing while Asher finally stirred awake.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he blinked at her in confusion, a frown forming on his face, "Why the hell are you staring at my cock, Ceti?" He asked in a gruff voice, brushing his hand through his silver-white hair, "Now do you understand the example of the delicious dessert I told you earlier? We just can't help it. No need to feel ashamed about it though. It's quite natural."
Her face turned even redder, the words causing her to whirl around, her back facing him. "I... I wasn't..." She stammered, her voice trembling, "I didn't mean to. I-I really didn't…" Ceti winced, wondering when she would stop embarrassing herself like this.
Not too long ago she cursed at him for being indecent and now....She couldn't even look at his face now.
Were the Devils purposefully putting her in such situations?
However, inwardly, she couldn't help but wonder just how a man's... thing could be so large. Especially since he wasn't even half-beast.
It was as if he put a sword inside there.
Was it because of his alien race? Why did it even become big if he was sleeping?
Asher sighed as he looked at his angry little dragon that was trying to tear out of his pants. He knew it had been weeks since he pacified the anger of his little dragon.
But even with Merina by his side, they never got the chance or time to do anything. He also knew Merina felt the same thing because of the number of times she shot him silent yet shy gazes. The best he could do was indulge a bit but not go all the way.
However, for some reason, he has been feeling a strange emptiness in his chest that only continued to gnaw at him as days passed and it definitely wasn't making him feel better.
It only made him sigh with a look of frustration.
*Hnnnnn*
Suddenly, a subtle humming sound came from the left side of the tunnel, making both Ceti and Asher become vigilant as he got up on his feet,
"Somebody is coming. We have to move!"
Ceti nodded immediately as they picked up their spatial bags and hurriedly moved out of the narrow pathway.
By now, they realized that without the Resonance Crystals, they could get ambushed easily since those who had entered this mini-dungeon must have learned to not make any loud sounds.
