The Ocean Villa at Dawn.
Sylvia lay sleeping in a room with three transparent glass walls.
On the other side of the glass was clear seawater and all manner of swimming fish.
A soft nightlight cast a faint glow, and Sylvia was nestled alone under the covers, deep in slumber.
The island villa was built underwater.
The entrance appeared to be nothing more than a simple single-story cabin, but stepping inside revealed a different world entirely.
The two of them had stayed out quite late the previous night, having indeed spent a long time exploring the shopping islands nearby.
But in the later hours, after returning to their own little island, the moment Sylvia saw the underwater villa's room, for some reason, a wave of drowsiness washed over her. So, after telling Firefly, she fell right asleep.
And so it was, until now—
A gentle knock sounded at the room's door.
Tap tap—
"Sylvia, are you awake?"
Firefly's voice came from outside the door, but by the time it reached the inside, it was far too faint.
Sylvia, sound asleep in bed, showed no reaction at all.
The knocking waited a moment, then Firefly's voice was heard again:
"Hehe, guess I'll have to disturb you then~"
Following that, the room's door was gently pushed open, the smooth surface not making a sound.
A head of white hair peeked in from the doorway.
She looked left and right before spotting Sylvia buried under the covers.
"Mmm, sleeping so soundly."
Firefly murmured with a chuckle, then pushed the door fully open.
Kicking off her shoes at the entrance, she padded barefoot into the carpeted room, moving just as quietly.
Firefly seemed to have just finished a bath, her face flushed, still wearing her swimsuit with only a thin jacket draped over her shoulders.
She took a few steps to the spacious bedside. Leaning down with her hands on her knees, "Hup~"
As she carefully studied Sylvia's sleeping face, she couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
'Not very alert, are you? I'm already here and you still haven't woken up.'
Firefly brushed her hair aside, leaning in close to Sylvia's face, whispering softly.
Then she reached out a finger and gently poked Sylvia's cheek, suddenly reluctant to wake her.
But a glance at the time on the bedside table showed sunrise wasn't far off.
So Firefly, propping herself up on the bed, climbed onto Sylvia's bed, sitting sideways beside her before curiously leaning down again.
In her drowsy state, Sylvia felt only a gentle and pleasant voice softly calling to her.
Usually, the one to wake her would be Acheron.
But Acheron's voice wouldn't be this tender, and her movements would be firmer.
Still not fully awake, not even having opened her eyes yet, Sylvia couldn't quite remember where she was.
Today, she'd slept for less than four hours, far less than her usual rest.
So much so that Sylvia's eyelids felt too heavy to lift.
Mumbling something with her eyes closed, she tried to pull the covers over her face to keep sleeping.
Watching Sylvia fumble for the blankets with her eyes shut, Firefly covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
She felt a bit guilty about waking Sylvia like this.
But they'd promised to watch the sunrise together; she couldn't just let Sylvia sleep on. So Firefly swung a leg over, straddling Sylvia.
Then, gripping the blanket with both hands, she started pulling it down:
"Come on, time to get up—"
"Mmm…"
The sensation of the covers being tugged away was unmistakable, the sudden force finally kickstarting Sylvia's brain a little.
At the same time, something heavy seemed to be pressing down on her abdomen, making her uncomfortable.
Struggling to open her eyes, she expected to see the familiar dark, long hair.
But what greeted her was a head of silver hair, with blue-green highlights at the tips.
Why did that look so much like Firefly?
"...Firefly?"
Still bleary, Sylvia wanted a closer look, so she reached up and touched Firefly's cheek.
Hmm, definitely feels different from Mei's face.
Just then, Firefly's light laughter rang out: "Still not awake? Come on, get up. We're going to watch the sunrise."
"Sunrise? Oh… right, we did plan that."
Hearing Firefly's voice, Sylvia's mind gradually booted up.
When she opened her eyes fully, she realized Firefly, in her swimsuit, was sitting right on top of her.
And her own hand, which had somehow ended up on Firefly's cheek, was now held there by Firefly's hand, unable to pull back.
"...Mmm, what time is it?"
Feeling utterly drained, Sylvia didn't bother with what Firefly was doing, closing her eyes again to ask the time.
"Local time, it's 4:30 AM. Sunrise is in half an hour. Why are you closing your eyes again…"
"Just a sec, I'm getting up…"
Sylvia raised her other hand. Though she didn't speak, Firefly surprisingly understood the gesture.
Smiling, she grabbed both of Sylvia's hands and pulled the girl right out from under the covers.
In the process, Firefly shifted to kneel over Sylvia.
Releasing Sylvia's hands, Firefly brushed aside the messy hair covering Sylvia's face.
Then, cupping Sylvia's cheeks, she began gently shaking her head from side to side.
"Sylvia, time to wake up~"
"Ai—I'm awake, I'm awake."
Struggling to open her eyes, Sylvia was met with a pair of breasts swaying right in front of her, almost dizzying her.
She even felt like she might plunge face-first into them.
Her nose brushed several times against the exposed skin.
Letting Sylvia faintly sense a certain softness.
When Firefly finally stopped, Sylvia looked up helplessly into Firefly's eyes:
"Your wake-up service is really… I thought it'd be the kind where you sit by the bed and gently nudge me awake."
Seeing Sylvia's expression, Firefly covered her mouth with a soft, tittering laugh. Once she'd laughed enough, she explained:
"That was my plan, but you wouldn't budge no matter how much I pushed. What else could I do?"
"...Really?"
"Mhmm!"
Sylvia was skeptical, but Firefly stared back with utmost sincerity, nodding emphatically.
She really didn't seem to be lying.
Fine.
Sylvia's gaze dropped briefly as she fumbled for her phone, asking: "How come you're already in your swimsuit?"
"I just went to soak in the hot spring, and changed into a swimsuit while I was at it. We're going to the beach to play soon anyway."
Firefly rolled off Sylvia and sat beside her.
"Going to the hot spring alone without me."
"You were sleeping! If I'd called you, I'd have been afraid you'd fall asleep in the spring."
Sylvia climbed out of bed and began changing out of her pajamas. Hearing Firefly's words, she said:
"Then let's go together tonight. A natural one!"
As a vacation planet, there were naturally islands with hot springs. They could fly over to enjoy them in the evening.
"Sure, let's go together."
Firefly watched openly as Sylvia changed, nodding along with a soft, amused chuckle.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.