The Martial Unity

Rui continued explaining his encounter with the Whisperer. From how he found her to his request of her, and her counter-request of him, and their tentative agreement. Then he described his meeting with the Empress and what happened.

“All in all, Empress Schlieffen was different from how the Whisperer portrayed her,” Rui remarked in thought even as he gently patted Amare under the blanket, wrapping his body around hers. “She was correct in that the Empress is deeply hateful and angry with us for decentering Grinolia Island from the center of the world, which is pushing her away from neutrality. However, where she was wrong was in how irrational she thought the Empress was. The woman struck me as remarkably objective in her decision-making, detached from her emotions. I believe that if I convince her that maintaining her neutrality will be for the better for her nation, she will agree to it. And so…”

His attention returned to Amare. “That’s where I’m at right now, see? I didn’t do anything with them.”

Amare peeled herself from within the blanket, peeking from under it as she gazed at Rui with softened amber eyes filled with relief and affection, along with a hint of guilt and regret.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she softly murmured. “…And I’m sorry for being paranoid and suspicious. I just… don’t want to lose you or your love ever again.”

“Hey…” Rui smiled as he pulled her in close with both arms. “I told you, I love you. I love both sides of you. I love who you’ve become, truly.”

“I know… but sometimes I can’t help but wonder,” she murmured softly. “Your actions and words are all I have. So when you see other women or go away…”

Her voice trailed off.

He could sense her anxiety and fear.

“Do I strike you as such a fickle man?” he raised an eyebrow with a wry smile. “I don’t tell people I love them lightly. When I say it, I mean it. I truly love you from the bottom of my heart. I know you can feel my love just as I can feel yours.”

Those words caused her to stiffen a little.

“But I can’t.”

“Hm?” Rui raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t…” Her tone grew stronger. “I can’t feel your love just as you can feel mine.”

Her amber eyes bore deep into his with intense affection and care. “I can’t sense your emotions and your mind the way you can sense mine. Your Martial Mind is the strongest in the entire world. Nobody can sense your heart, while everybody’s heart is open to you. So of course you aren’t insecure about my love for you, you can sense it every moment. But I can’t!”

Rui’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him.

He hadn’t even considered it.

He hadn’t even considered how his mind sense affected their relationship, how it affected his relationship with everybody, but especially with Amare. It had become so normal for him to be able to sense people’s hearts and minds that he had forgotten that the reverse was not true.

That was why he didn’t hanker for love and affection the way Amare did with him; he could sense it every moment, making it normal.

“I don’t know that you love me unless you tell me and show me.”

She gazed into his eyes with longing as Rui finally understood.

It was an insecurity that she had harbored in her heart for quite some time now, ever since Rui had fallen in love with her again. She hadn’t had the time to think about it as deeply because the moment they had their first night together, he had been whisked away by the light elf attack, and his physical safety became more important than her insecurities.

He returned three months later alive and safe, much to Amare’s relief, and only then did these buried insecurities start to surface once more.

It was no wonder that Amare had turned into an animal every night since he returned, even when they journeyed across the oceans of the true world. She wanted to feel his love and show her love for him in the most raw and intimate manner possible; she knew of.

“I’m sorry.” Rui heaved a deep breath, closing his eyes as he mentally beat himself up for not realizing this sooner despite his mind sense. She had done a good job of hiding it from him, but it was too much to keep from bubbling up in moments of anger earlier that day. “I should have realized. I should have known. I would have, had I paid more attention to your feelings. The mind sense isn’t a substitute for emotional labor and connection, and today I have realized that.”

His hands brushed across her body, from her waist, up her abdomen and chest, and to her face. An intimate gesture she would never ever fathom allowing anybody else, but with Rui, it aroused great pleasure and bliss.

His finger brushed past the bronze skin of her soft cheeks as he cupped her face gently and softly.

“Amare.” His tone was intimate. “If love was Martial Art, I would already be a Martial Transcendent by now.”

He smiled at her.

“That is how much love I have for you.”

Her eyes lit up at those words not just because of they appealed to her philosophy, but also because of the sincerity behind them.

“I will remind you of it every day so that you never forget. Not just with my words, but also…”

CLASP

He used a grappling maneuver to flip her in bed, pinning both of her hands beside her dominantly as all of their finger overlapped intimately.

His smile grew suggestive.

“…but also with my actions.”

She blushed as she tried breaking free from his grip.

She possessed greater nominal strength due to the efficiency of her mastery but this time Rui leveraged his mind, using self-hypnosis to bring out even greater strength, a lesser, nascent version of Soul Retcon. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt

He pinned her down with force as his eyes lit up with arousal.

“I didn’t mean like this…” she murmured with a shy and embarrassed tone.

Rui smirked. “What’s the matter? Why are you getting shy now after how you’ve been in the past month and a half?”

His eyes lit up with excitement as he beheld her beautiful form, leaning in for a passionate kiss.

It ignited her senses as a rush of pleasure and euphoria passed through her entire body, leaving her in a dazed state of tingling nerves. Her resistance crumbled as she felt her body weaken with arousal and pleasure.

A single whisper escaped Rui before he lunged at her.

“We’re just getting started.”