But no matter how hard Kopii tried to shake off Cain's strange desires, she reminded him of it every second, descending into humiliation, and he saw himself as a rag that couldn't ever quite take everything into his own hands.
"I made a new dish today, I hope you like it."
"Thanks."
When she tasted a spoonful, her eyes filled with pleasure. The more he looked at the happy sword princess, the warmer his heart became. Now he finally understood Reve, who always insisted that he wanted to see people happy, especially when he brought them happiness.
Noticing Kopii's intent gaze, but this gaze was different from the ones men were always giving her: in this gaze there was joy and satisfaction. She didn't understand why he was looking at her like that, but decided to ignore it.
Kopii saw a fleeting surprise flash across her face, but then she quickly returned to eating.
"Delicious."
"Yes."
"I have a proposal for you."
At his words, she stared intently into his eyes. He realized she was all attention. Smiling, he continued:
"Let's have a sparring match."
"In bed, you forgot to add. Who else but me will remind you of that," she thought.
…
"And don't tell me we have too big of a difference in levels."
But seeing her staring at him with an impenetrable gaze, he decided to take drastic measures:
"If you don't agree, then I… won't cook for you anymore."
"… Okay."
Kopii smiled even wider at the sword princess's answer. He waited until she finished eating, and together they delved into the destroyed district of Orario.
"Come on! Get in your stance!"
But seeing her not even budge, he just smiled and began his attack with a lunge. Before he could even approach her, he saw only darkness.
"What?" was the last thing he thought before losing consciousness.
Ais was looking at Kopii's unconscious body. This scene reminded her of when she first met him, defenseless and half-alive. She couldn't have imagined back then that the boy she saved would be able to surpass her record.
She always felt interested in him, especially after that incident in "The Hostess of Fertility," all her thoughts were only about him. And every day they only grew stronger and stronger. This was something new for her, both scary and enticing. Picking him up and taking him home, she laid him on the bed.
Ais was just looking at the unconscious Kopii, but the more she looked, the more a desire arose in her soul to look at his back and learn his secret about raising his level. But she decided not to do that, because there was a very high chance that his falna was hidden, but there was also another reason - because she would have to undress him, but she simply couldn't even remove the upper clothes.
Reaching out a hand to his face, she touched his hair. It was so soft and pleasant to the touch, without even realizing it, she began to play with his hair. The more she played, the more she liked it. But realizing what she was doing, she pulled her hand back and felt her cheeks burn.
"Hesitate a little… No one will know," she thought, beginning to touch his sleepy face. He had such smooth and pleasant skin. Her movements became more and more confident. The more she did this, the more she realized that it was starting to bring her pleasure.
But a sudden movement from Kopii startled her, and she pulled her hand away as quickly as if she had touched something hot. He just stirred. Exhaling in relief, she thought:
"Did I hit him too hard? A relatively long time has passed since their sparring, but he's just lying unconscious. After all, she wanted to eat already. So she wanted to eat specifically his cooked food. She couldn't even have imagined when he had prepared her a very exquisite dish, as he had said as gratitude that she had shared with him then.
She would become so fond of the cooking that she would become dependent on it. It was so delicious that she only ate from him. Because of this, she felt bad when he spent an entire day in the dungeon and didn't cook anything for her at all, which annoyed her a little, to put it mildly.
Opening his eyes, the first thing Kopii saw was his ceiling that had already become familiar. The last moments of his pathetic loss immediately came to mind. He, of course, understood that the difference in levels was too great. He hoped that she would give in to him.
"Maybe it's in revenge for me blackmailing her? But even if so, he didn't regret fighting her, because maybe he will also become like that someday, or maybe even stronger than her." He smiled as much as he could.
"I want to eat, Kopii."
Hearing such a beautiful voice and looking at the sword princess's usual emotionless face, Kopii's smile disappeared. He asked himself the same question again, but now he said it to her directly:
"Were you kicked out of the Loki Familia?"
"No."
Her reply followed immediately.
"You're lying to me."
"No."
"Then you have no business?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a personal life?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Then go and get one and let him cook for you to your heart's content!"
"Why do I need him if you can cook for me?"
"What am I, your personal cook?!"
Kopii shouted, abruptly getting out of bed. His irritation had reached its limit; she was simply using him as a cook.
"How soft are your breasts?"
"How soft are your breasts?" she said casually, as if nothing had happened.
Realizing that he had said it, all of Kopii's irritation vanished, as if it had never been there. He just repeated Cain's words unconsciously. Looking at the sword princess's face in the hope that she hadn't heard, but her furrowed brows said otherwise.
"That's it, I'm done for," Kopii thought, realizing and beginning to mentally prepare for the worst outcome.
"It can't be, you're developing in a good direction. Hahahaha."
…
…
"Let's say… Let me think… Ah, there! Can you show me your panties? Come on, say it!"
But Kopii completely ignored him, beginning to realize that, perhaps, not everything was lost yet, and he began to act.
"Hey, hey, I wasn't thinking about anything like that!" Kopii waved his hands in different directions. "It just came out on its own, you know… just thoughts out loud."
"… Just thoughts out loud?"
"No, I… Let's just forget about it. Okay?"
Looking at her with the hope that it would be so easily forgotten, but the more she was silent, the more nervous he became, and with each second his hope grew smaller and smaller.
"Okay," she said as if nothing had happened.
He shined with joy, because he understood: if she didn't like it, then she could do whatever she wanted with him, or, even worse, turn the Loki Familia against him. But thank God, at least for once luck is on his side. Because if she were having those days today or just in a bad mood, he probably wouldn't have gotten away with it so easily.
"Only on one condition."
Kopii looked at her with a degree of wariness, because in reality he had never understood her and her motives.
"And what?" he replied uncertainly.
"You will cook for me for a month."
"Okay," he replied without delay, because even without this condition he would still cook for her, and of course, he knew that the Loki Familia was about to descend, because if he understood her as well as, for example, her friends, then he understood one thing: that strength was very important to her and the sooner the better.