章 39: Why Didn’t You Do This Before?
Leonar sat on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together, and staring at the floor with a frown.
No bath had ever felt so exhausting.
Now, he was wearing the same clothes he arrived in, as he had no way to change, his mind adrift and weighed down by worries as he tried to process recent events.
The contract… his rank… and now the fact that Eleonora had a physical body…
In front of him, Eleonora stood with a small white towel precariously wrapped around her body, barely covering the essentials.
Despite her slender figure and apparent composure, Eleonora seemed a bit uneasy, likely because of the fragile fabric she struggled to keep in place.
But her natural curiosity triumphed over everything else. Slightly tilting her head, her bright, inquisitive eyes studied Leonar intently.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Eleonora finally asked, breaking the silence.
Her tone was straightforward, but her voice carried a certain sweetness, as if she genuinely wanted to understand him.
Leonar looked up, meeting her gaze. He pressed his lips together before answering, as if words weren't enough to convey what was on his mind.
"Don't you see? Now that you're out of my head… this is going to cause problems. A lot of problems."
Eleonora blinked, slightly confused. Her eyebrows arched as she tried to process what he meant.
"Problems? Why would there be problems?"
"Because you're here!" Leonar exclaimed, gesturing toward her with both hands. He sighed and let his hands drop to his legs. "Before, when you were in my mind, no one could see you. No one asked questions. Now, if someone sees you, I'll have to come up with a good explanation, you understand? I can't just say you're… some kind of magical entity that lives in my head and pops out whenever it feels like it."
Eleonora kept a neutral expression for a moment before a mischievous smile appeared on her lips.
"But I can merge back with you if that worries you so much," she said, as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.
Leonar frowned, a bit skeptical.
"And how would you do that? Because so far, you haven't explained half of how things work with you."
Without answering directly, Eleonora stepped closer to him. Her smile widened slightly, and her eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief.
Noticing her intent, Leonar instinctively backed away on the bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked, bewildered.
"Exactly what I said I'd do," Eleonora replied, not stopping. She leaned toward him, wrapping her arms around him in an unexpected hug.
Leonar's body tensed at the contact, but before he could say anything else, an odd sensation began to envelop him.
It was hard to describe. A kind of warmth coursed over his skin, followed by a subtle pressure, as if something were wrapping around him.
Little by little, Eleonora started to disappear before his eyes, dissolving like invisible liquid that seeped into him.
His skin seemed to tingle, and a faint buzzing sensation spread from his chest to his head.
"This feels weird," Leonar muttered, closing his eyes as he tried to process what was happening.
Finally, the sensation stopped. When he opened his eyes, Eleonora was no longer in front of him. All that remained was the small towel she had been wearing, now left abandoned on the bed.
With a mix of confusion and relief, Leonar picked up the towel and held it in his hand.
"Eleonora? Are you still here?" he asked, glancing around the room as if expecting her to reappear.
"Of course I'm here," her voice answered in his mind, as clear as if she were speaking aloud.
Leonar dropped the towel onto the bed and ran a hand over his forehead.
"This is still strange… But hey, if you could go back into my head, why did you come out in the first place?"
A brief silence preceded Eleonora's response. Then, her tone took on an irritated edge.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to be trapped for years in a place where you can't do anything? Waiting, day after day, for some random human to come along and make a contract with you? Do you know how frustrating that is?"
"Alright, alright," Leonar interrupted, raising both hands as if to calm her down. "I get your point. But please, don't come out without my permission. You could cause a lot of trouble."
Eleonora sighed, as if still unconvinced.
"I'll think about it… when you're somewhat stronger," she replied mockingly.
Leonar crossed his arms and let out a frustrated huff.
"Great. I guess I should be satisfied with that."
"You should," Eleonora quipped with a soft laugh, clearly amused by his exasperation.
A moment of silence passed between them until Leonar remembered something that had been bothering him since he leveled up.
"By the way, how does this system work? It's strange. Even though I leveled up, I don't feel any different."
Eleonora, looking at him as if he'd said the dumbest thing she'd ever heard, let out a long, heavy sigh.
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