Chapter 122 - Luna’s pov
Luna’s POV
I walked through the hallway with Gray beside me.
As usual...
He talked.
About everything.
His opinions.
His ridiculous jokes.
His strange ideas.
Somehow, no matter what we were talking about, he always managed to make me smile.
Gray suddenly looked at me.
"I have something important to do."
I blinked.
"Something important?"
He nodded seriously.
Gray was carefree most of the time.
He loved joking around.
He constantly teased me.
But I knew there was another side to him.
Whenever something truly mattered...
He became extremely serious.
His expression changed.
His entire presence changed.
So when he said he had something important to do, I naturally became curious.
If it was something I could help with, I would gladly help him.
Gray seemed to think deeply for a moment.
Then...
He dramatically looked at me.
"The most important thing I have to do..."
He paused.
Keeping me suspended in anticipation.
"...is go to sleep."
...
I froze.
My brain refused to process those words.
For several seconds, I simply stared at him.
Then my brain finally caught up.
Of course.
This was Gray we were talking about.
It suddenly made perfect sense.
"You..."
I punched him.
Of course, I barely used any strength.
But Gray immediately grabbed the spot and dramatically cried out.
"Ouch!"
"That hurt!"
He didn’t even give me time to respond.
He turned around and ran.
I stared at his retreating figure in disbelief.
I should have expected this.
"Gray!"
I chased after him.
He ran like someone was trying to kill him.
And while running, he continued shouting.
"Evil princesses like you will never understand the importance of good sleep!"
"Violence is always your answer!"
"Why can’t you understand how precious sleep is?"
The more I listened to his ridiculous complaints...
The angrier I became.
"Gray!"
He immediately reached his room.
He slipped inside and locked the door.
"You just don’t understand..."
"I have to sleep..."
"Good night!"
I stood outside his door.
...
I felt like breaking it down.
But what could I do?
He had already locked himself inside.
I could only stomp my foot before turning around and heading toward my room.
Yet...
As I walked away...
A small smile unconsciously appeared on my face.
I couldn’t help remembering the way he had dramatically explained the importance of sleep.
That idiot...
I returned to my room, chose a comfortable dress, and took a shower.
After changing, I climbed into bed.
I only intended to rest for a little while.
Before I knew it...
I had fallen asleep.
⸻
About an hour later, I woke up.
I glanced at the time.
Dinner would be starting soon.
I quickly got ready and left my room.
While walking toward the dining hall, I waited for Gray.
But he never appeared.
A few moments later, Amy and Elena approached me.
"Oh, Luna."
Amy waved.
"Come on."
"Don’t wait for Gray."
I looked at her curiously.
"Why?"
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she gestured for me to come closer.
I followed her.
Amy opened Gray’s bedroom door and motioned for me to look inside.
I quietly poked my head through the doorway.
...
There he was.
Gray was completely asleep on his bed.
He was hugging his pillow like a koala.
His face was buried deep inside it.
His breathing was slow and peaceful.
He looked completely defenseless.
I stared at him for a few seconds.
Then I quietly pulled my head back.
Amy sighed.
"See?"
"He’s completely out."
"I can’t bring myself to wake him up."
"Just let him sleep."
I nodded.
I couldn’t bring myself to wake him either.
Elena smiled.
"Amy was planning to drag him out herself."
"But the moment she saw him sleeping like that..."
"She suddenly went completely quiet."
"She didn’t even make a sound when she left the room."
I smiled softly.
It was strangely cute.
The three of us finally went to the dining hall.
Amy and Elena took their usual seats while I sat at the main table.
Mom immediately noticed that I was alone.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Luna?"
"Where is Gray?"
I puffed out my cheeks.
"Don’t even talk about him, Mom."
Mom looked amused.
"Oh?"
"What happened?"
"Did you two have a fight?"
I shook my head.
"No."
Her curiosity increased.
"Then what happened?"
"You look annoyed."
I nodded.
"After we returned from training, Gray told me he had something important to do."
"I asked what it was because I was curious."
"And then..."
I pouted.
"He told me he had to sleep."
Mom blinked.
Then she laughed softly.
"Oh..."
"You got tricked."
I shook my head again.
"No, Mom."
"He really believes sleeping is the most important thing."
"He even told me that I don’t understand the importance of sleep before running away."
"And now..."
"We checked on him."
"He’s sleeping peacefully."
Amy covered her mouth as she laughed.
"That really is the little brother I know."
Even Aunt Seraphina smiled.
Mom laughed again.
"Well..."
"Let him sleep for now."
"It sounds like you two had quite a fun day together."
My eyes immediately lit up.
"Yeah!"
"Today was really fun!"
"We fought so many monsters."
"We explored so many places."
"And Gray had so much food stored away!"
Mom listened patiently as I recounted everything.
Her expression briefly changed when I mentioned the Alien Beast.
But she quickly returned to her gentle smile and continued listening.
After I finished, Amy and Elena began telling their own stories.
I listened to them with interest.
Eventually, dinner came to an end.
Mom smiled at us.
"Keep up the good work."
We all nodded.
Aunt Seraphina then began speaking with Amy while I returned to my room.
I lay down on my bed.
For some reason...
My thoughts returned to everything that had happened today.
It was surprisingly easy to get along with Gray.
Being around him felt...
Comfortable.
He taught me many things.
How to improve my spells.
Different ways to use my Ice Affinity.
Small tricks that made my techniques more effective.
And despite possessing so much talent...
He wasn’t arrogant.
Nor was he overly humble.
He didn’t go around bragging about his abilities.
But at the same time...
He never allowed anyone to underestimate him.
I remembered the tournament.
He had faced opponent after opponent...
And defeated them all.
Yet he always claimed he was lazy.
That was probably one of the biggest lies he told.
Gray was lazy when he wanted to be.
But when something interested him...
He worked incredibly hard.
Then my thoughts shifted toward our engagement.
Gray had made his position very clear.
He wasn’t trying to force me into anything.
He didn’t constantly remind me that we were engaged.
He didn’t try to win my favor because of the engagement.
He simply treated me like a friend.
And he had even told Elara that if either of us eventually decided we didn’t want the engagement...
We could end it.
There was no pressure.
No forced promises.
Just...
Time.
A chance for us to understand each other.
Perhaps that was what I appreciated most about him.
He never tried to control my choices.
And somehow...
That made me want to stay beside him even more.
I closed my eyes.
A small smile appeared on my face.
Then I turned over and slowly drifted into sleep.
[Gray’s POV]
I woke up and stretched myself before looking at the time.
It was almost six o’clock.
I blinked a couple of times.
"Wait..."
"Six o’clock?"
"Wasn’t I supposed to eat dinner yesterday?"
"How is it already the next day?"
I stared at the clock for a few seconds before finally accepting the reality.
I had actually slept through the entire evening.
With a helpless sigh, I went to take a shower.
After freshening myself up, I put on some clean clothes, neatly made my bed, and finally left my room.
I waited in the hallway for a while.
Soon, Luna appeared.
She was wearing a black dress today, and the dark color made her eyes and hair stand out even more.
Usually, Luna preferred wearing ice-blue or pure white clothes that matched her eyes and hair.
But today...
She had chosen the complete opposite.
I waved at her with a cheerful smile.
"Good morning, Luna."
She looked at me and smiled softly.
"Good morning."
Then she continued.
"You slept like a log yesterday."
"We came to check on you, but you were sleeping so peacefully that we didn’t want to wake you."
I scratched the back of my head.
"Oh..."
Before I could say anything else, Amy suddenly appeared from nowhere.
"Oh, look."
"Our sleepyhead finally decided to wake up."
I looked at her suspiciously.
"Hey."
"I only slept for a day."
Amy blinked a couple of times.
"A day?"
"Gray, you do that more often than I can count."
She crossed her arms with a smug expression.
"And after we saw your sleepy face, no one dared to wake you up."
"So you basically used that to your advantage."
I frowned.
"Don’t spread rumors."
Amy immediately grinned.
"I’m not spreading rumors."
"I’m telling the truth."
"You slept through an entire evening."
"That’s impressive, even for you."
"I was tired!"
"That’s what sleepyheads always say."
"I’m not a sleepyhead!"
Amy laughed.
"You definitely are."
I glared at her.
"You’re just jealous because I can sleep better than you."
"What?"
"I sleep perfectly fine."
"Then why did you wake up five times last week because of a nightmare?"
"That was completely unrelated!"
Luna covered her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.
I looked at her.
"Don’t encourage her."
She shook her head while smiling.
"I didn’t say anything."
"You’re smiling."
"I can’t help it."
Amy laughed even harder.
The three of us continued bickering as we made our way toward the dining hall.
Elena and Luna followed behind us, listening to our argument with amused expressions.
Another ordinary morning had begun.