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Noelle never stayed.
She was adamant in keeping the thing between her and Yuno a secret so she was very careful to leave his room at the dead hours of the night, making absolute sure that no one saw her. But with her coming to him nearly every night now, she knew she was pushing her luck.
She was curled to her side facing away from him, trying to fall asleep but couldn't. She could sense from his mana that he was sound asleep, probably worn out from the "activity" they just performed. It started out as a competition of who would be the first to come undone. It was always him at first since she was too stubborn and competitive to let him get the best of her. But as they spent more nights together, she gradually let herself loosen up and allowed herself to get lost in him more and more.
Yuno was always his calm and aloof self whenever Noelle saw him the following mornings and neither of them would speak of their engagements the previous night. Oftentimes, they would sit at the same table other Magic Knights being their usual selves, him being quiet and her being as haughty as a royal can be. They seldom spoke to each other, like they always did, and their exchange were limited to the stolen glances so discreet that they went unnoticed.
But when night fell, and everyone was already asleep, Noelle would tiptoe to Yuno's room and knock on his door to spend the night with him. And for some reason, he always let her in. He always returned her fervent kisses and gave her what she demanded from him.
The sex was great, not that she had a lot of experience on the matter. But she was doing this with Yuno for practice, so that when it came to the real thing, with Asta she hoped, she would know what to do.
Then when morning came, she would leave.
And he never tried to stop her.
Noelle felt slightly pained at the thought. Maybe she meant less to him than she thought? But what if she did matter to him. She wouldn't know what to do as well. This situation with Yuno has progressed into something that she couldn't understand anymore.
She shifted on the bed to face him. Yuno was fast asleep and was slightly snoring. Noelle smiled at the sight. He was handsome, the prettiest boy she ever laid eyes on and she knew a lot of girls thought the same. But his aloofness made him cold and distant, sort of like a brilliant star you can admire from afar but can never have.
Noelle sat up, her thoughts racing. Did she want him? No, that's not possible because she wanted Asta. It was always Asta that occupied the forefront of her mind for the last three years. Why did she care so much about how Yuno felt about her? And most importantly, why did she care so much about how she felt towards him?
She hated herself for not knowing.
Sighing, Noelle pulled away the sheets and stood up from the bed, trying to locate her scattered clothes on the floor.
"Noelle." She heard Yuno call out softly. He was looking at her, his amber eyes still half lidded with sleep as he propped himself up slightly with his elbows.
"I need to go." She said in a level tone.
Yuno blinked once, the sleepiness from his eyes now completely gone but he didn't say anything. He laid down again as she turned to pick up her skirt.
She was leaving again and before he could stop himself, he heard himself say, "Stay here tonight."
Noelle froze. The silence which followed was deafening as they both waited for the other to say something.
Yuno closed his eyes knowing that his plea would fall into deaf ears. Keeping their secret, well a secret, was far too important to her. She can't afford to let Asta know that they've been having sex during the joint training or it would ruin all her chances with him, she had said.
Admittedly, he agreed to be her practice dummy to satiate his curiosity when it came to intimacy. He wanted to know why everyone seemed to loose their minds at the mention of sex.
Attraction was already familiar to him. There had been girls that had caught his interest in the past but nothing went beyond a casual conversation. Partly because he was too busy in making himself stronger to beat Asta into becoming the Wizard King but it was mostly due to the fact that he didn't think any girl was worth his time, even those who he was attracted to.
But Noelle was different. She didn't like him the way that other girls liked him and he meant little to nothing to her making this situation highly convenient for him. He can explore sex as much as he wanted without the connection that would slow down his training.
Then why was he becoming increasingly disappointed at the sight of his empty bed after she leaves? Why did he have the urge to touch her whenever they were around other Magic Knights? Why did the fact that he couldn't hold her hand outside this bedroom irked him so much? Why he's still agreeing to be a part of this was beyond him.
To his surprise, he felt the mattress dip from her weight as she went back to bed. She was already back in his sheets when he opened his eyes to look at her, the moonlight streaming from the windows making her look ethereal, as if she was a sylph from another world. She laid on her side facing him with an unreadable expression on her face. She seemed confused, her eyebrows knitted together as if she was thinking about a new spell. But after a moment, a small smile formed on her lips.
"Well, if you insist." Noelle said playfully and Yuno couldn't help but laugh as he rolled his eyes.
This whole situation was complicated indeed. But this was not the time to sort things out.
For tonight, she would stay.
And that was enough.