Chapter 137 | You’re In My Bed
Dexter was startled awake by a crisp, chiming notification from his system.
He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. The digital clock on the nightstand read 5:00 AM. It was the dead of night.
As his senses sharpened, he realized he was not in his own room. He was in the girls’ bedroom. He hadn’t managed to leave the night before; the exhaustion from the battle, combined with Selene’s iron grip, had pulled him straight into a deep sleep.
He lay still, scanning the room with his enhanced hearing. To his left, Mira was asleep on her own bed, completely silent, not making a single sound. To his right, Lyra was also sleeping, but instead of snoring, she was making a soft, rhythmic purring sound, like a cute tiger cub.
Then, Dexter’s eyes widened.
Mira’s fingers were twitching. Not just one finger, but all five of her fingers on her right hand were making subtle, grasping motions, as if she were trying to hold onto something.
"Finally!"
Dexter whispered happily.
A massive smile broke across Dexter’s face. All their efforts, the Grade-1, Grade-2, and Grade-3 meals, the tea, the massages and the arduous cultivation—were not in vain.
Myrawas actually healing. Slowly but steadily, her nerves were regenerating. He could tell that given enough time and his continued cooking, she would heal rapidly.
His joy, however, was immediately accompanied by a sharp, tingling numbness in his left arm. He looked down.
Selene was still fast asleep, but she was clinging to his arm like a lifeline. She had wrapped both of her arms around it, pulling it tightly against her chest, hugging it like a giant teddy bear. He could feel two incredibly soft, massive mounds of flesh squeezing tightly against his forearm, making him feel incredibly embarrassed. The blood flow to his arm had been completely cut off, leaving the limb frozen and numb.
Yet, looking at her sleeping so peacefully, her silver hair—which looked significantly healthier and prettier than when he first met her—spilling across the pillow, he found himself thinking the numbness was entirely worth it. Her eyelashes fluttered softly, and she murmured something inaudible in her sleep, pulling his arm even closer.
As if sensing his gaze, Selene’s eyes suddenly snapped open.
Through her echolocation, her sightless gaze immediately locked onto Dexter. At first, her brows furrowed in confusion, as if she thought she was dreaming. Then, she blinked, realizing it was reality.
"You are here," she muttered softly.
Dexter nodded. "Yes, I’m here."
Her brows furrowed even deeper. "You are here on my bed."
"Yes, I’m on your bed."
She remained silent for a few seconds as though waiting for it to sink into Dexter. But Dexter was also doing the same.
She couldn’t handle the silence anymore and tilted her head as she said.
"Why?"
Dexter chuckled and glanced down at his left arm, which she was still desperately clinging to.
Selene followed his gaze downward. She saw her own hands and even one of her leg tightly wrapped around his bicep, pressing it against her chest and belly.
"Eh—"
Her eyes widened in shock. She instantly let go, her pale face flushing a deep crimson. She tried to hide her embarrassment by lowering her head, but her skin was simply too pale to conceal the blush.
She looked like a child who had been caught doing something wrong, yet even with her head down, Dexter could feel her echolocation completely focused on him.
Dexter chuckled at her incredible cuteness but didn’t say anything to further embarrass her. He stood up, shaking his numb arm vigorously to get the blood flowing again.
As he turned to leave, he heard Selene’s tiny, whisper-like voice. "Sorry. And... thank you."
Dexter smiled warmly. "You’re welcome."
He left the bedroom and headed straight to his own room. Sitting on his bed, he finally opened the system notification that had woken him up.
***
[Investment Return Detected: Suppressed Eternal Winter Ice Curse & Sustained Emotional Care]
[Multiplier: 100x]
[Rewards Granted:]
1. E-Rank Talent Advancement Card: Ice Manipulation.
2. Raw Materials: 10 kg of Premium Diamond Rice and additional spiritual ingredients.
3. Grade-3 Divine Peak Recovery Pill ×1
Dexter inspected the Grade-3 Divine Pill carefully. The system’s description was very specific:
[The pill can temporarily heal all injuries and return the user to their absolute peak form for exactly 24 hours. However, once the 24-hour duration expires, the user’s original injuries will not only return but will significantly worsen, making the pill a desperate, win-lose situation.]
Dexter frowned. Selene was blind. Although she could "see" through echolocation now, it wasn’t true sight. A pill that could temporarily heal all injuries and restore her to her peak would be incredibly tempting for a crippled hero.
But the backlash was too severe.
"I don’t think it’s safe to give this to them," Dexter muttered to himself. "If they get desperate, they might use it, and end up hurting themselves more."
Yet, he also realized that giving them the pill was like giving them hope. It was physical proof that their conditions could be reversed, that a cure existed. He wasn’t 100% sure how long it would take to fully heal them, but with the system, he was at least 50% sure he could do it eventually.
He decided to hold onto the pill for now, keeping it as a safety net rather than giving it to the girls prematurely.
As he put the pill away, a sudden thought hit him. He slapped his forehead.
"Damn it. I didn’t make dinner."
He had been so exhausted and distracted by Selene’s outbreak that he had completely forgotten to cook the evening meal. He stood up and walked to the kitchen to see what the girls had eaten.
Upon checking the kitchen, he found the pots and pans exactly where he had left them. The girls hadn’t cooked.
Instead, he checked the microwave and found it completely empty. The Celestial Moon Pastries he had stored there were gone.
Lyra and Mira had eaten the pastries for dinner. While Selene hadn’t eaten anything.
Dexter leaned against the counter, deep in thought. Lyra had been so angry the day before that she had rejected the pastry he offered her directly. For her to reject food meant she was truly mad at him.
Usually, food was his ultimate peace-offering. If food couldn’t calm Lyra down, he had no idea what would. He needed a new plan to appease her.
As for Mira, he temporarily placed her in the back of his mind. Her emotions were so unpredictable, swinging between angry, indifferent, and secretly pleased, that trying to decipher her was like dealing with someone bipolar.
He would tackle Lyra first. Her expressions were usually more readable, and right now, her face was frigid.
He sighed, staring at the empty microwave. "How do I fix this?" he muttered, scratching his chin as the sun began to peek through the kitchen window.