A Return Gift for the Confession

Her thumb kneaded the soft flesh of Gepard's cheek back and forth. His eyes were so beautiful, so pleasing to look at—their purity like a blue sky.

Stelle stared straight into Gepard's eyes.

What she did not know was that her own gaze looked even purer than Gepard's. Everyone who had ever met Stelle's eyes firmly agreed on one thing:

They said the Trailblazer's eyes were as pure, innocent, and ignorant as those of a newborn fawn.

They held no malice whatsoever, absolutely no aggression.

And now, Stelle was looking at Gepard with that very gaze.

Under such a stare, Gepard naturally could not have imagined that Stelle was actually thinking about something like, How do I win Gepard over?

For a moment, he forgot to react. With his back against the chair, he had nowhere to retreat, and could only remain in that position as the Trailblazer held his face and kneaded it.

It was a very strange feeling.

The distance between him and the Trailblazer seemed to have suddenly shortened by a great deal. Not quite intimate, but certainly close.

How had things developed into this...?

Gepard's brain briefly crashed.

He simply could not understand, because he could not understand the Trailblazer's motives or intentions.

Was the Trailblazer deliberately teasing him, or was this simply how she played around with good friends?

Or perhaps...

Gepard looked toward the Trailblazer's face, and only then vaguely noticed an emotion flashing through her eyes, too fleeting to grasp. At that moment, Gepard suddenly realized that the Trailblazer's feelings for him were not entirely innocent.

Stelle pinched the soft flesh of Gepard's cheek between her fingertips and pulled it outward. Seeing him in her hands like a soft, voiceless little dough ball, she found the contrast utterly amusing.

Anyone who saw the usually stern and uncompromising Silvermane Guard being kneaded and rubbed about by a young girl would probably cry, "What has the world come to?!"

"Gepard, I've actually always thought you were wonderful.

You're a man worth trusting and relying on—worthy of my trust, and everyone else's.

Thank you for treating me to lunch, and thank you for wasting your vacation time dealing with Sampo for our sake.

You really are a very dependable man. Anyway, that's what I think. I wonder what you think, Gepard."

Deep within her consciousness, listening to what sounded suspiciously like a confession, Aha's voice was full of gratification: Stelle, there really is a different way to handle every person.

That was right!

This was where the Trailblazer's skill lay!

For a reserved flirt like Sampo, the proper course was to directly activate the Elation Switch and slap him twice until he submitted and enjoyed it.

But what was she supposed to do with an innocent little Gepard like this?

The Trailblazer decided to divide the plan into the following three steps:

First, pinch his cheeks without warning to close the distance.

How many people wanted some physical contact with Gepard? Yet ordinarily, there were very few people who got to touch him. Very few, but not none.

For example, colleagues whom he grabbed by the arm during drills and threw to the ground with an over-the-shoulder toss.

Or criminals whose arms he forcefully twisted behind their backs and locked in place during actual arrests.

Wait, that was not the kind of "contact" she meant!

Second, say a bunch of ambiguous nonsense.

Yes, it had to be ambiguous.

Based on the Trailblazer's understanding of Gepard, she could not confess directly.

When dealing with a pure-hearted, upright older man like this, the best method was indeed to skirt the line—say things that were easy to misunderstand, and let him brainwash himself.

Third, which was right now.

Trailblazer, now!

Stelle quickly ran through her plan in her mind. Mm, at last, it was time for the final step:

She released Gepard's cheek, then swiftly slipped her arms around his waist from either side, clinging tightly to him like an octopus.

Her chin rested in the hollow of his neck, her breath falling upon his reddened earlobe. Every breath made the person in her arms tremble almost imperceptibly.

Gepard's entire body stiffened. He did not dare turn his head to look at the Trailblazer's expression.

A sweet, cloying chocolate fragrance flowed through the air, spreading from between the Trailblazer's slightly parted lips.

Gepard's breath caught. Even taking a deep breath seemed to become an impossible luxury.

Was it all right? Could he greedily indulge a little longer in the Trailblazer's scent?

"Help me, Mr. Gepard."

Stelle lightly breathed a puff of white mist into the man's ear. "As long as you encourage me just a little, that'll be helping me. Is that all right?"

Gepard only felt half of his shoulder grow heavy.

The Trailblazer had already pressed all of her upper body weight onto him.

His mind went blank. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around the Trailblazer's waist, keeping her from slipping off him.

"Okay."

Stelle obediently rested against Gepard's neck, listening to the thunderous heartbeat of this older, pure-hearted man. Only after a long while did she hear him force out a hoarse syllable from his throat.

She suddenly felt the arms around her tighten, and in the next instant, Gepard pulled her tightly into his embrace.

Her gaze still caught the blue-sky-and-white-cloud colors of his uniform, every bit of it declaring the reality that she was being embraced by the Silvermane Guard.

"Stelle, I believe you'll return safely."

Gepard turned his head slightly and buried his face in the Trailblazer's hair.

After all, he had already made an intimate gesture like hugging her. Since he had taken the hardest first step, he no longer felt any psychological burden about whatever came next.

"I'll keep waiting for you to come back."

Why did this feel like he was waiting for his imprisoned lover to be released after serving her sentence?!

The Trailblazer blinked blankly, suddenly realizing—was this Gepard's own straight-man style of confession?

Thinking that, she hugged Gepard tightly as well, using all her strength to clamp him firmly in her arms.

Just before the man could let out a pained "Ah...," she released him at precisely the right moment.

"Gepard, then I'll keep... keep thinking about you too, okay?"

She then cupped Gepard's face again, her gaze wandering over his features.

When she kissed Sampo earlier, she had kissed his forehead. She couldn't kiss Gepard in the same spot now—she needed a little novelty.

Even if every person she kissed was handsome, kissing foreheads all the time would get tiring.

The Trailblazer pinched the Silvermane Guard's face and examined it from side to side. Finally, she tilted Gepard's face to the left, exposing his right cheek, and planted a dragonfly-light kiss on the side of his face.

Before Gepard could even realize what had happened, the kiss was already over by the time he came back to his senses.

"Consider it a little return gift for confessing to me just now."

Seeing Gepard's dazed expression, Stelle could not help but laugh as she stood up.

One hand held the paper cup of still-steaming hot chocolate, while the other mussed up Gepard's golden hair. The traces of her mischief served as proof that she had been here.

Proof that she and Gepard had shared such an unspeakable little story at this cable car station.

Aha: What exactly is unspeakable about it? Don't make it sound so suggestive, okay? If this plot can pass review, then it doesn't fall under the category of "unspeakable," okay?

Trailblazer: You're so noisy. Mind your own business. Aeons are forbidden from serving as the snarky commentator.

Aha: My screen time in the game is practically nonexistent. Can't I give myself a little more screen time now? QAQ

Trailblazer: Aeons are also forbidden from acting cute!

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