Chapter 257
Theo, upon hearing that request, showed not the slightest hesitation.
With a calmness that was characteristic of him, he immediately offered every empty room within his private dormitory.
The dormitory itself held a long history, solidly built by the Erusha family as a symbol of prestige and power.
And now, authority over it had shifted into Theo's hands, ruling from within the body of Eshura Birtash.
The building was not merely a residence, but a legacy, a personal fortress rarely entered by others.
By offering it to Aldraya, Theo was not merely providing a roof, but also extending a deeply personal form of trust and protection.
Aldraya, after a brief look around, chose a room located directly opposite the door to Theo's room.
Her choice was not mere coincidence.
The close distance offered a sense of safety, an anchor in her still-unsteady new life.
She could feel her protector's presence within just a few steps, a quiet consolation for her still-fragile soul.
Then, a scene unfolded that might once have seemed unimaginable.
Theo Vkytor, the architect of worlds often consumed by the vastness of his own thoughts, and Aldraya Kansh Que, a former Supreme Angel who had just lost everything, stood side by side in a dusty, empty room.
Together, they tidied the space.
Theo lifted the light mattress, while Aldraya spread out the still-wrapped bedsheets.
Theo brushed dust from the tall window frames, while Aldraya wiped the wooden tabletop with a damp cloth.
Few words were spoken.
The sounds filling the room were only the friction of fabric, the thud of dust, and the rhythm of synchronized breathing.
In that productive silence, every wipe of the cloth, every arrangement of objects, became a cleansing ritual—not only for the room, but also for Aldraya's soul.
Each cleaned corner seemed to sweep away the remnants of her dark past, preparing a clean foundation to begin the next chapter of her life.
They worked like two parts of a machine that had suddenly fallen into harmony, transforming a cold, empty space into a room—a place that began to feel like hers, carrying the scent of hope and new possibilities beneath the aroma of cleanser and old wood.
And so, an unexpected new routine took shape within the fortress that was Theo's residence.
At first, after Aldraya's room had been neatly arranged across the corridor, Theo felt that a great achievement had been reached.
He could breathe a sigh of relief, not only because he had succeeded in saving a major antagonist from total destruction—both existentially and from the snares of debt and financial ruin—but also because he had regained his private space.
The two rooms separated by a short hallway seemed to symbolize a perfect balance.
Closeness sufficient for protection, yet bounded by healthy limits that respected each other's privacy.
Theo immersed himself in this new rhythm with a sense of calm, confident that the storm had passed and that everything would proceed in order.
However, the universe often has its own sense of humor.
That calm began to crack due to a small, recurring occurrence.
Each time Theo woke from his sleep—whether in the depths of night or at the edge of a gray dawn—he always found an additional presence in his bed.
Aldraya, her white hair spread like moonlight across the pillow, was always there, sound asleep.
Her position was never random.
She always lay partly atop Theo's body, like a kitten seeking warmth.
Her arms, slender yet strong, invariably wrapped tightly around him, an embrace that in her sleep felt utterly natural and full of surrender.
What was strange was Aldraya's expression.
Though she slept in what appeared to be a comfortable embrace, her face remained flat, as if her actions were an absolute normalcy that required no emotion whatsoever.
Theo, who had initially been merely confused, began to search for a logical explanation.
Perhaps Aldraya's room was too cold, he thought, considering how cold and sterile the atmosphere of her newly occupied room was.
Or perhaps this was a manifestation of deep longing.
Aldraya had lost all twelve of her Sisters, fellow Supreme Angels who had once been her family and her entire world.
In her fragile post-transformation state, the instinct to seek closeness, to seek protection through touch, might have grown so strong that it breached the boundaries of her consciousness at night.
Theo tried to understand, tried to empathize, and allowed it for several nights, assuming it was a transitional phase that would eventually pass.
But that phase did not end.
Day after day, precisely when night fell and darkness enveloped the dormitory, a silent ritual began.
Aldraya would emerge from her room, glide softly along the quiet corridor, and enter Theo's room with steps so assured they seemed born of entitlement.
Without a sound, without asking permission, she would lie down beside the bed, and with a movement gentle yet certain, she would drape herself over Theo's body—which, due to long habit, always slept helplessly on its back.
And there she would remain, asleep in silence, throughout the night.
Then, without ceremony, when morning arrived and the alarm rang, Aldraya would wake calmly, release her embrace, and depart for class as if she had just completed an important task.
And in truth, for Theo, the matter of sharing a bed was not, in itself, a serious problem.
Aldraya's physical presence beside him, even with the unavoidable embrace, was something he could tolerate.
He saw it as part of the healing process, a pressing need for security from someone who had lost everything.
As long as it was only sleep, as long as it was merely seeking warmth in the middle of the night, Theo would never forbid or reject her.
He would let the girl sleep at his side, hoping that as time passed and her inner calm returned, this habit would fade on its own.
However, the issue began to creep into territory that was more complex, more intimate, and far more confusing for Theo.
Aldraya's nightly ritual was no longer limited to simply lying down and sleeping.
Often, in the liminal space between wakefulness and dreams, just before she fully drifted asleep in his embrace, Aldraya would perform a movement that could make any man's heart jolt.
With a motion slow yet full of certainty, she would lower herself, bringing her expressionless face close to Theo's cheek.
Then, gently, she would press her warm lips to his skin, delivering a kiss that was sincere and innocent, yet searing.
Only after that would she fall asleep, as if the kiss were a closing spell for her dreams.
At times, she even fell asleep in a more unsettling position.
Her lips and the tip of her tongue still rested softly against Theo's cheek, brushing unconsciously in time with the sighs escaping her nose.
Those sighs themselves sounded… different.
Soft, long, and without Aldraya realizing it, carrying an erotic undertone—a sound of primal satisfaction born from the warmth of that contact, a language of the body whose meaning even she did not understand.
Such incidents repeated, night after night, and tonight was no exception.
After kissing Theo's left cheek with a gesture that had now become familiar, Aldraya did not immediately relax.
Instead, with a boldness rising from the deepest reaches of her subconscious, she tightened her embrace at once.
Her entire body pressed close, and Theo could clearly feel the gentle yet unmistakable pressure of Aldraya's B+ cup curves.
They rested just beneath Theo's chest, slightly toward his abdomen, creating a point of contact that was warm and inescapable.
To be continued…