CH.226 Introducing Lua
No, I’m not reusing a chapter name. You just think I am.
“... it's a lot bigger than the Watchman family’s place…” Lua muttered as we walked towards the Sawyer estate.
“Yeah. And all of the buildings inside these walls are also a part of it.” I pointed out.
Unlike in Alewatch with the Watchman manor, and the rest of the estate, this place had multiple buildings, other than the main house, within the estate grounds.
The Watchman manor only has the main building, the stables and some small storage buildings.
The Earl’s place had the main building, three guest houses, a servants house, stables, the training grounds, etc. All of it is surrounded by a wall about five meters high.
“... is this really alright? Me being here?” Lua asked.
“I already told you it is fine, didn’t I? Ria is already here, so why couldn’t you be?”
“... I just…”
“Don’t worry. It’s fine.” I said, trying to reassure her. “Come on. Let’s head inside, so I can introduce you to everybody. … well, like half of them do know you already, but the rest of them.”
Getting to the front door, we were treated by two maids. Or maybe one maid and one wannabe maid called Ria would be more accurate. Apparently, someone had gotten Ria a navy blue dress and an apron. As well as a pair of white tights and black leather shoes like the other maids wear. Her silver hair was also styled a bit better than it usually was, and it was tied in the back. Oh, I guess I never said how long Ria’s hair was. It is medium length, I’d say. Just a bit longer than the hair Lua now has, after her evolution grew her hair out.
“Welcome back, Master.” Ria said, with a bow.
“Thanks, Ria. We are back.” I said, trying not to laugh, as Ria was being completely serious.
“... Brian, is this what you usually do?” Lua asked, but I didn’t even have to respond, as she got the answer from my facial expression. “... I guess not.”
“Yeap, this is the first time.” I said, still holding back my laughter.
“Master, is something wrong? Should I do something?” Ria asked, trying to sound proper, but I could hear that she was struggling a bit.
“No. Nothing is wrong.” I responded. “May we come in?”
“... yes. Of course.” It took Ria a second to answer, almost like she had to gather her thoughts after my question. “My lady, allow me to take your mantle. Master, your jacket as well.” Ria then offered.
“Oh, why thank you.” I responded, unbuttoning my jacket. No, it didn't have a zipper. What kind of technology do you think this place has? Well then again, dungeons do seem to bring in some strange stuff, so I guess a zipper would not be that strange.
“No, Master. Let me.” Ria offered, as she saw me opening my jacket. She then basically forced herself to my stomach and began opening the rest of the buttons on my jacket.
… okay then. I guess I’ll just let her do this. Considering the maid watching over her, and Ria’s current outfit, I’ll assume this is a part of her maid training.
After she had completely unbuttoned my jacket, she helped it off of me and took it into her hands.
“Thanks, Ria.” I said as I took the jacket back and put it away in my storage. I then took my hoodie out from storage and gave it to Ria. “Will you help me put it on?” I requested.
“Of course.” She received the hoodie, folded it out and helped me put the sleeves on. Then she zipped it up for me.
… wait. Zippers have to be a thing. Lua and Alice both knew how to use them, as soon as I gave them their hoodies, so they had to have known. Maybe they aren’t used in armor because of durability or something. Weak zippers might very well break under the forces put on them in combat.
“Thanks, Ria.” I said, as she took her distance again.
“My lady.” She turned to Lua. “Would you like me to take your mantle?”
“... just stop that already.” Lua just said in a cold voice. “Ria, this isn’t like you. Why are you acting like that? Brian, why are you letting her act like that?”
“I thought it was a part of her maid training.” I admitted.
“Why is she training to be a maid?” Lua asked.
Ria, and the maid with her, explained the reasoning for the training while we walked into the manor. Yes, Lua did keep her mantle on. I know she is still a bit self conscious of her wings and likes to hide them with it, so I didn’t even comment on it. She’ll take it off when she wants to. But I do hope she will take it off before dinner. The Earl might ask if she has it on.
“So, this is my room. Well, our room now.” I said to Lua.
She looked around, taking in everything, before she asked: “W-will we share the bed?”
“I can make you one, if you don’t want to, but I’d like it if you slept next to me.” I said.
The bed was about 160 cm x 200 cm, or about queen size. Compared to the 140 cm x 200 cm double sized bed Laura and I shared when we began sleeping next to each other, we had a lot more space.
Now, of course, I didn’t have a spare bed on hand, but I can make one with Dungeon Founder. I could also just take Ria’s cot, and let the girls share the bed, and I did offer that option to Lua as well.
“N-No. I… I want to … I want to share a bed with you.” Lua said quietly. “... if that is fine.”
“Yes. That’s fine.” I said. “As long as you are feeling up to it.” Then I turned to Ria. “Ria, can you make sure an extra blanket and pillow are brought in here?”
“Sure.” She responded, having gone back to her more casual self.
“... why?” Lua asked.
“Trust me, it will be better. Just because we sleep on the same bed, it doesn’t mean we have to share a pillow or our blanket.” I learned that quickly when I was with Laura. You want two separate blankets, not one large one. Sure you might still get some fighting over the blanket, but having two reduces the chances of that happening by a lot.
“... well, if you say so…”
“... do I really have to?” Lua asked.
I was trying to get her to remove her mantle before dinner. This, of course, would lead to her wings being out in the open for everyone to see.
“Of course you don’t have to.” I said. “I can just say you are not feeling well. Or I can even say that you still only drink blood, instead of eating solid food. Either will work just fine. But still, sooner or later, someone will see your wings. Are you sure you don’t want to show them on your terms, instead of someone seeing them by accident?”
“Can’t you use one of your cards to hide them for me?” Lua asked.
“... I probably could, but I’m not sure. Had you asked this beforehand, I'd have had Laura and Mia check for potential options in the factory, but it’s a bit late to consider it now. Any emergency uses might just make everything worse. And Alice already saw your wings, so is it really that bad for others to see them?”
“... I just …”
“You could always just keep them against your body. That way, they might look like a part of your dress.” I offered. “Or you might be able to fit them under your dress.”
“That won’t work.” Lua countered. “... well the first might, but the second is no. I tried. It feel awful. Like someone is trying to crush a part of me.”
“I see… But it isn’t a problem with your mantle?”
“No. That’s part of why I chose it. It has a good space where my wings fit well.” Lua explained.
“Ah. Yeah. I can see that being a positive trait to have. But what about just holding them against your body? They do look like they could just be decorations, especially for your black dress.” I pointed out.
“... It's just… if I get excited, or afraid, my wings can move on their own.” Lua said meekly.
Oh yeah. I’ve seen them move seemingly based on her emotions a few times. I guess that would be a problem. Well, in my opinion, it really shouldn’t be a problem in the first place. Lua has wings, and everyone else will have to deal with it. If they don’t, they’ll have to deal with me.
“... I can see why you would worry about it. But again, you should just go for it. No one will say anything bad. And if they do, we’ll just leave, okay? If they don’t accept you, we don’t have to accept them, alright?”
“... why do you make everything sound so simple?”
“Hey, I’m a simple man. I put things in priority order. And you are priority number one, alright?”
“Really? … that … I’m happy to hear that.” Lua answered quietly. “Who is priority number two then?”
“... myself, I guess. After that would probably be Ria, then Alice, and then the rest of the people I know in some order that I could come up with, but I won’t right now.”
“What? I’m above you in priority? Why?”
“Because that is how my brain works, okay? I can’t explain it. But I’d gladly give my life to save yours. It’s just how I feel.”
“... you dummy.” Lua said, as she softly slapped my cheek. “Think things over first. You are the one with the power of resurrection, why would you die for someone, when you can just resurrect them?”
“No. That’s not true.” I said, as I got a card out of my collection. “Here. You should definitely hold onto this.” I said as I handed a toploader Monster Reborn to Lua.
Spoiler
Lua received the card and looked at it for a long time, before she spoke up.
“Are you sure? Isn’t this … risky? What if I leave?”
“Don’t say that!” I instantly said back, raising my voice a bit, likely out of sheer panic. Lua flinched a bit because of my outburst, so I calmed myself down as much as I could and added: “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”
“... I … I’m sorry as well.”
“...”
“...”
After that, we both stayed quiet for a bit longer.
In the end, Lua decided to just go for it. You know, keeping her wings out in the open. I’m honestly happy that she did. They are super pretty, and it would be a shame to hide them. She also swapped to her black dress. It is the ‘better’ looking of the two she has, as the other is clearly for traveling and combat, whereas the black one is a more ‘proper’ looking one. Honestly, she was outdressing me by a lot. But this dress was still better than the clothes I made for her after the first ‘dress accident’. I don’t want her wings to force her midriff to be visible. I’ll look into making her some casual pants and shirt, with a hole in the back of the shirt so that her wings can come out of it. And I can just use some of the materials from the dungeon for it, so all I’ll have to pay is the tailoring fee. And I think I can wave that with some extra dungeon materials.
As we walked through the house, I introduced Lua to every maid we ran into on the way. While some of them did take a second look, no one asked about her wings. I also made sure Laura transferred all of the ‘maps’ we had of the insides of the house over to Mia, so that Lua would hopefully not get lost. I wish I could get Ria to map this place out. It would help a lot, as I think she explores some of the ‘servant only’ areas of the house. Not that it really matters, but it might be useful in some situations.
We were the first to arrive at the dining room. I actually made sure we were just a bit early, just so Lua could gather herself, if something happened on the way here.
And as the others came into the room, I introduced Lua to them. Of course Alice and Paulina already knew her, as did Mateo, but this was Angelina, Jonathan, Ellanora and the Earl’s first time meeting her.
And of course they all had their own opinion on her wings. Paulina wondered if Lua could actually fly with them, Mateo and Jonathan both wanted a pair of their own, so they could fly. Angelina was trying to make sure neither of them could take off to the sky, and was saying they needed to keep their feet on the ground. The Earl and his wife were instead more focused on the little things, like Lua’s history and origin. They really were acting like they were my grandparents, just making sure Lua is a good fit for me. They were just a bit worried about Lua being a dhampir, but I did tell everyone she is cured, and was stable even before that, but apparently that isn’t what they were worried about.
“Just be careful. While marrying a person representing one of the demon lord’s races is in no way illegal, some nobles do look down on it.” He warned us.
But still, I think the introductions went well.
After we got back to our room, I introduced Lua to my usual evening routine. Bath, while practicing magic. Of course for me, I still had one other thing I wanted to do before my bath, so I left the girls to bathe and practice magic, and headed for the training grounds for a quick sword practice session. I wanted to practice every day, and I didn’t yet today, so it was about time. My teacher for today was Hayabusa Knight. His style is a bit different than what I usually practice, but learning different styles might not be that bad.
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After my sword practice, I returned to my room where Lua and Ria were practicing Vampiric Body Modification with Vampire Lady and Grimson.
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While they kept at it, I took my bath, making sure to wear my PJs before I went back to the other room.
After a bit more magic practice, and showing Lua my Space Wall spell, we used our level ups.
For myself, I again went with Mana Control. Just to get it to level 10. For Ria, Defense Boost. Lua leveled up her Magic Boost.
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Ria is level 78, aka. one Level Up! away from 80. She will get to it tomorrow. The birthday is still 8 days away, so I think it will still be fine if she evolves at this point. Well, I guess tomorrow it will be 7 days, and assuming that she spends a full day in her evolution and wakes up the next day, that will be five days before. … yeah, that should be fine. But Lua and I will have to stop leveling ourselves up after tomorrow, just so we won’t get sick. I doubt that she would evolve, but I might. And we can still level up our skills.
“... so Brian, will we… you know. Do the thing?” Lua asked me after we got under covers and were laying in bed.
“If you want to, but I don’t think that is a good idea at this time.” I responded. “... we do have an extra in the room.” I added quietly, but I think Ria might still have heard me.
Yeah, I know I can get around the entire Ria problem by summoning Cosmo Queen and having her put up a barrier around the bed, but then Cosmo Queen would see. I’m decently sure she can see through her own barrier.
What do you mean about everyone in the factory? That’s an easy fix. I’ll just ask Laura to cut the feed going from my eyes to the factory. Sure Laura and Mia could still watch us, but they are a part of us. We can never really get rid of them.
“... okay… Can I hold your hand?” Lua asked.
“Sure. Here.” I gave her my hand and she took it in hers.
“Good night, Brian.” She said, holding my hand against her cheek.
“Good night.” I responded.
CH.226 Introducing Lua
No, I’m not reusing a chapter name. You just think I am.
“... it's a lot bigger than the Watchman family’s place…” Lua muttered as we walked towards the Sawyer estate.
“Yeah. And all of the buildings inside these walls are also a part of it.” I pointed out.
Unlike in Alewatch with the Watchman manor, and the rest of the estate, this place had multiple buildings, other than the main house, within the estate grounds.
The Watchman manor only has the main building, the stables and some small storage buildings.
The Earl’s place had the main building, three guest houses, a servants house, stables, the training grounds, etc. All of it is surrounded by a wall about five meters high.
“... is this really alright? Me being here?” Lua asked.
“I already told you it is fine, didn’t I? Ria is already here, so why couldn’t you be?”
“... I just…”
“Don’t worry. It’s fine.” I said, trying to reassure her. “Come on. Let’s head inside, so I can introduce you to everybody. … well, like half of them do know you already, but the rest of them.”
Getting to the front door, we were treated by two maids. Or maybe one maid and one wannabe maid called Ria would be more accurate. Apparently, someone had gotten Ria a navy blue dress and an apron. As well as a pair of white tights and black leather shoes like the other maids wear. Her silver hair was also styled a bit better than it usually was, and it was tied in the back. Oh, I guess I never said how long Ria’s hair was. It is medium length, I’d say. Just a bit longer than the hair Lua now has, after her evolution grew her hair out.
“Welcome back, Master.” Ria said, with a bow.
“Thanks, Ria. We are back.” I said, trying not to laugh, as Ria was being completely serious.
“... Brian, is this what you usually do?” Lua asked, but I didn’t even have to respond, as she got the answer from my facial expression. “... I guess not.”
“Yeap, this is the first time.” I said, still holding back my laughter.
“Master, is something wrong? Should I do something?” Ria asked, trying to sound proper, but I could hear that she was struggling a bit.
“No. Nothing is wrong.” I responded. “May we come in?”
“... yes. Of course.” It took Ria a second to answer, almost like she had to gather her thoughts after my question. “My lady, allow me to take your mantle. Master, your jacket as well.” Ria then offered.
“Oh, why thank you.” I responded, unbuttoning my jacket. No, it didn't have a zipper. What kind of technology do you think this place has? Well then again, dungeons do seem to bring in some strange stuff, so I guess a zipper would not be that strange.
“No, Master. Let me.” Ria offered, as she saw me opening my jacket. She then basically forced herself to my stomach and began opening the rest of the buttons on my jacket.
… okay then. I guess I’ll just let her do this. Considering the maid watching over her, and Ria’s current outfit, I’ll assume this is a part of her maid training.
After she had completely unbuttoned my jacket, she helped it off of me and took it into her hands.
“Thanks, Ria.” I said as I took the jacket back and put it away in my storage. I then took my hoodie out from storage and gave it to Ria. “Will you help me put it on?” I requested.
“Of course.” She received the hoodie, folded it out and helped me put the sleeves on. Then she zipped it up for me.
… wait. Zippers have to be a thing. Lua and Alice both knew how to use them, as soon as I gave them their hoodies, so they had to have known. Maybe they aren’t used in armor because of durability or something. Weak zippers might very well break under the forces put on them in combat.
“Thanks, Ria.” I said, as she took her distance again.
“My lady.” She turned to Lua. “Would you like me to take your mantle?”
“... just stop that already.” Lua just said in a cold voice. “Ria, this isn’t like you. Why are you acting like that? Brian, why are you letting her act like that?”
“I thought it was a part of her maid training.” I admitted.
“Why is she training to be a maid?” Lua asked.
Ria, and the maid with her, explained the reasoning for the training while we walked into the manor. Yes, Lua did keep her mantle on. I know she is still a bit self conscious of her wings and likes to hide them with it, so I didn’t even comment on it. She’ll take it off when she wants to. But I do hope she will take it off before dinner. The Earl might ask if she has it on.
“So, this is my room. Well, our room now.” I said to Lua.
She looked around, taking in everything, before she asked: “W-will we share the bed?”
“I can make you one, if you don’t want to, but I’d like it if you slept next to me.” I said.
The bed was about 160 cm x 200 cm, or about queen size. Compared to the 140 cm x 200 cm double sized bed Laura and I shared when we began sleeping next to each other, we had a lot more space.
Now, of course, I didn’t have a spare bed on hand, but I can make one with Dungeon Founder. I could also just take Ria’s cot, and let the girls share the bed, and I did offer that option to Lua as well.
“N-No. I… I want to … I want to share a bed with you.” Lua said quietly. “... if that is fine.”
“Yes. That’s fine.” I said. “As long as you are feeling up to it.” Then I turned to Ria. “Ria, can you make sure an extra blanket and pillow are brought in here?”
“Sure.” She responded, having gone back to her more casual self.
“... why?” Lua asked.
“Trust me, it will be better. Just because we sleep on the same bed, it doesn’t mean we have to share a pillow or our blanket.” I learned that quickly when I was with Laura. You want two separate blankets, not one large one. Sure you might still get some fighting over the blanket, but having two reduces the chances of that happening by a lot.
“... well, if you say so…”
“... do I really have to?” Lua asked.
I was trying to get her to remove her mantle before dinner. This, of course, would lead to her wings being out in the open for everyone to see.
“Of course you don’t have to.” I said. “I can just say you are not feeling well. Or I can even say that you still only drink blood, instead of eating solid food. Either will work just fine. But still, sooner or later, someone will see your wings. Are you sure you don’t want to show them on your terms, instead of someone seeing them by accident?”
“Can’t you use one of your cards to hide them for me?” Lua asked.
“... I probably could, but I’m not sure. Had you asked this beforehand, I'd have had Laura and Mia check for potential options in the factory, but it’s a bit late to consider it now. Any emergency uses might just make everything worse. And Alice already saw your wings, so is it really that bad for others to see them?”
“... I just …”
“You could always just keep them against your body. That way, they might look like a part of your dress.” I offered. “Or you might be able to fit them under your dress.”
“That won’t work.” Lua countered. “... well the first might, but the second is no. I tried. It feel awful. Like someone is trying to crush a part of me.”
“I see… But it isn’t a problem with your mantle?”
“No. That’s part of why I chose it. It has a good space where my wings fit well.” Lua explained.
“Ah. Yeah. I can see that being a positive trait to have. But what about just holding them against your body? They do look like they could just be decorations, especially for your black dress.” I pointed out.
“... It's just… if I get excited, or afraid, my wings can move on their own.” Lua said meekly.
Oh yeah. I’ve seen them move seemingly based on her emotions a few times. I guess that would be a problem. Well, in my opinion, it really shouldn’t be a problem in the first place. Lua has wings, and everyone else will have to deal with it. If they don’t, they’ll have to deal with me.
“... I can see why you would worry about it. But again, you should just go for it. No one will say anything bad. And if they do, we’ll just leave, okay? If they don’t accept you, we don’t have to accept them, alright?”
“... why do you make everything sound so simple?”
“Hey, I’m a simple man. I put things in priority order. And you are priority number one, alright?”
“Really? … that … I’m happy to hear that.” Lua answered quietly. “Who is priority number two then?”
“... myself, I guess. After that would probably be Ria, then Alice, and then the rest of the people I know in some order that I could come up with, but I won’t right now.”
“What? I’m above you in priority? Why?”
“Because that is how my brain works, okay? I can’t explain it. But I’d gladly give my life to save yours. It’s just how I feel.”
“... you dummy.” Lua said, as she softly slapped my cheek. “Think things over first. You are the one with the power of resurrection, why would you die for someone, when you can just resurrect them?”
“No. That’s not true.” I said, as I got a card out of my collection. “Here. You should definitely hold onto this.” I said as I handed a toploader Monster Reborn to Lua.
Spoiler
Lua received the card and looked at it for a long time, before she spoke up.
“Are you sure? Isn’t this … risky? What if I leave?”
“Don’t say that!” I instantly said back, raising my voice a bit, likely out of sheer panic. Lua flinched a bit because of my outburst, so I calmed myself down as much as I could and added: “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”
“... I … I’m sorry as well.”
“...”
“...”
After that, we both stayed quiet for a bit longer.
In the end, Lua decided to just go for it. You know, keeping her wings out in the open. I’m honestly happy that she did. They are super pretty, and it would be a shame to hide them. She also swapped to her black dress. It is the ‘better’ looking of the two she has, as the other is clearly for traveling and combat, whereas the black one is a more ‘proper’ looking one. Honestly, she was outdressing me by a lot. But this dress was still better than the clothes I made for her after the first ‘dress accident’. I don’t want her wings to force her midriff to be visible. I’ll look into making her some casual pants and shirt, with a hole in the back of the shirt so that her wings can come out of it. And I can just use some of the materials from the dungeon for it, so all I’ll have to pay is the tailoring fee. And I think I can wave that with some extra dungeon materials.
As we walked through the house, I introduced Lua to every maid we ran into on the way. While some of them did take a second look, no one asked about her wings. I also made sure Laura transferred all of the ‘maps’ we had of the insides of the house over to Mia, so that Lua would hopefully not get lost. I wish I could get Ria to map this place out. It would help a lot, as I think she explores some of the ‘servant only’ areas of the house. Not that it really matters, but it might be useful in some situations.
We were the first to arrive at the dining room. I actually made sure we were just a bit early, just so Lua could gather herself, if something happened on the way here.
And as the others came into the room, I introduced Lua to them. Of course Alice and Paulina already knew her, as did Mateo, but this was Angelina, Jonathan, Ellanora and the Earl’s first time meeting her.
And of course they all had their own opinion on her wings. Paulina wondered if Lua could actually fly with them, Mateo and Jonathan both wanted a pair of their own, so they could fly. Angelina was trying to make sure neither of them could take off to the sky, and was saying they needed to keep their feet on the ground. The Earl and his wife were instead more focused on the little things, like Lua’s history and origin. They really were acting like they were my grandparents, just making sure Lua is a good fit for me. They were just a bit worried about Lua being a dhampir, but I did tell everyone she is cured, and was stable even before that, but apparently that isn’t what they were worried about.
“Just be careful. While marrying a person representing one of the demon lord’s races is in no way illegal, some nobles do look down on it.” He warned us.
But still, I think the introductions went well.
After we got back to our room, I introduced Lua to my usual evening routine. Bath, while practicing magic. Of course for me, I still had one other thing I wanted to do before my bath, so I left the girls to bathe and practice magic, and headed for the training grounds for a quick sword practice session. I wanted to practice every day, and I didn’t yet today, so it was about time. My teacher for today was Hayabusa Knight. His style is a bit different than what I usually practice, but learning different styles might not be that bad.
Spoiler
After my sword practice, I returned to my room where Lua and Ria were practicing Vampiric Body Modification with Vampire Lady and Grimson.
Spoiler
While they kept at it, I took my bath, making sure to wear my PJs before I went back to the other room.
After a bit more magic practice, and showing Lua my Space Wall spell, we used our level ups.
For myself, I again went with Mana Control. Just to get it to level 10. For Ria, Defense Boost. Lua leveled up her Magic Boost.
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Ria is level 78, aka. one Level Up! away from 80. She will get to it tomorrow. The birthday is still 8 days away, so I think it will still be fine if she evolves at this point. Well, I guess tomorrow it will be 7 days, and assuming that she spends a full day in her evolution and wakes up the next day, that will be five days before. … yeah, that should be fine. But Lua and I will have to stop leveling ourselves up after tomorrow, just so we won’t get sick. I doubt that she would evolve, but I might. And we can still level up our skills.
“... so Brian, will we… you know. Do the thing?” Lua asked me after we got under covers and were laying in bed.
“If you want to, but I don’t think that is a good idea at this time.” I responded. “... we do have an extra in the room.” I added quietly, but I think Ria might still have heard me.
Yeah, I know I can get around the entire Ria problem by summoning Cosmo Queen and having her put up a barrier around the bed, but then Cosmo Queen would see. I’m decently sure she can see through her own barrier.
What do you mean about everyone in the factory? That’s an easy fix. I’ll just ask Laura to cut the feed going from my eyes to the factory. Sure Laura and Mia could still watch us, but they are a part of us. We can never really get rid of them.
“... okay… Can I hold your hand?” Lua asked.
“Sure. Here.” I gave her my hand and she took it in hers.
“Good night, Brian.” She said, holding my hand against her cheek.
“Good night.” I responded.
