Capítulo 730: Chapter 730 – Taming the Fifth Year – Inner Truth – 2 Ren couldn’t picture his days without wondering what Luna was thinking. Without the challenge of getting her to smile. Without the satisfaction of seeing her walls crack just slightly when she forgot to maintain them. Still he sighed, opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling of his room. ‘Why can’t everyone be like men?’ he wondered, remembering how simple it was interacting with Taro, Liu, Min, Zhao or his father. They said what they thought… Thought what they said. Not many layers of subtext, often none… and no hidden meanings that required a mind reading level of understanding. Simple, direct and honest men. Communication that didn’t require advanced degrees in psychology to navigate successfully. But then, a traitorous voice in his mind whispered, ‘would they be as interesting?’ Taro was straightforward, loyal, good-hearted… But predictable in ways that made him easy to understand and therefore easy to take for granted. Luna, Liora and Larissa were complicated. Frustrating even. Klein had said he was very wrong years ago… that talking to Luna without mana eyes all his life would have been hell. Their minds were complex. Required constant attention and careful navigation. But they were also never boring or predictable… Always challenging in ways that made figuring them out feel like an accomplishment rather than a foregone conclusion. Ren closed his eyes again, deciding that was a thought for another day. For now, he just needed to rest. And wait. Patiently. Just as he’d promised. His body relaxed into the mattress. Tension draining slowly as his mind finally stopped its processing and allowed rest to creep in. Tomorrow would bring Luna’s decision. Or the day after… Or whenever she felt ready. He’d wait. He was good at keeping promises. ♢♢♢♢ Luna’s POV Luna disappeared into the shadows from the practice hall. Her wolf wrapped her in darkness, dragging her slowly through the space between lights. It was faster than walking… more private. Nobody could see her like this. Nobody could ask questions. Nobody could notice the emotions that were probably written all over her face despite her best efforts at control. Efforts that were crumbling with each passing second as the reality of what had just happened sank in deeper. The wolf carried her directly to her room, materializing in the darkest corner. And then, with a movement that might have seemed playful if not for the fact the beast weighed more than fifty Lunas combined, the wolf released her. Luna fell onto her bed, face up, staring at the ceiling. Exactly like Ren was doing in his own room at that same moment. The memories made something warm expand in her chest. Luna kept chewing on the dance in her mind. Every step, every word and every moment where Ren had looked at her with those eyes. She pondered a bit thinking about him. About how he’d changed since the first time she saw him. That small boy, with a spore everyone called pathetic but eyes that shone with a determination he had no right to possess given his circumstances. A determination that suggested he knew something others didn’t. That he’d succeed in what seemed like the worst situation despite everyone’s expectations to the contrary. She was intrigued then. And now… Fascinated, engrossed by his progress, captivated. Now he was way ahead. Taller, stronger… More… present. There was something in the way he moved now, in how he spoke, in how he made decisions without hesitation. He looked very adult. Not just in the physical way, though he’d definitely grown there. But in the way that mattered most. Maturity in his eyes, in his voice, in how he’d held her during the dance with confidence that stole her breath. Like he knew exactly what he was doing. Like he was someone who could be relied on when everything else was falling apart. Luna blushed involuntarily, remembering how close they’d been. Close enough to feel body heat through formal clothing. Close enough to feel his heartbeat through the hand on his back. Close enough that breathing meant inhaling some of the weird sweet dizziness inducing smell in the air he’d just exhaled. And then she remembered something else. Her mother talking about her father. It had been years ago, before the last mission. Luna had asked, with the curiosity of a six-year-old, how two such different people had ended up together. Her father was so quiet… So reserved. So completely unlike her mother’s overwhelming expressiveness. And her mother, with that dreamy smile she always used when talking about Sirius, had responded: “Your father was so handsome when he was young. I too thought he was so quiet… So mysterious.” “Mysterious?” Luna had asked, confused. Her father didn’t seem particularly mysterious to her. Just… quiet. “Oh, yes,” her mother had sighed dramatically, the way she did everything. “Everyone, including me for a while, thought he was this cold and distant warrior. This man who didn’t feel anything deeply.” She’d paused for effect, making sure Luna was paying attention. “But inside…” her mother had leaned in like sharing a secret, voice dropping to conspiratorial whisper, “inside, your father loved with madness, with an intensity that scared even him… A passion that consumed everything in its path.” “Only nobody else saw it… Just me.” Her mother’s smile had been radiant. Triumphant. The expression of someone who’d discovered a treasure everyone else walked past because they didn’t know how to recognize its value. Luna went red now, thinking about herself, about ‘loving with passion’. About Ren. About how he’d looked at her today. About the words he’d said with absolute conviction. “You’re important to me… Personally.” And it was then, lying in her bed with her shadow wolf curled at her side, that Luna’s thoughts stopped being filtered. Stopped being simplified for public consumption. Stopped being controlled. And the real Luna emerged. ‘OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!’ The thought exploded in her mind like fireworks. Like every emotion she’d been suppressing decided to detonate simultaneously in a cascade that couldn’t be contained. ‘Did he say what I think he said? IMPORTANT? PERSONALLY? What does that mean exactly? Does it mean what I THINK it means or am I reading too much into it because I want it to mean that but maybe it just means we’re friends or companions or…’ Luna covered her face with her hands, her heart beating so hard she was certain the entire noble wing could hear it. Drummers announcing news. Trumpeters declaring victory. A whole percussion section playing fortissimo in her chest where her heart was supposed to be. ‘Calm down! CALM DOWN! You’re Luna Starweaver. You’re cold. You’re calculated. You’re…’ ‘…completely lost and with no idea what to do with these feelings that are too big for your chest and feel like they’re going to explode at any moment!’ ‘NO! No no no. You can’t think like that. You have to maintain control. You have to be like Dad… Cold. Distant. Rational…’ ‘But when he looked at me like that, when he held me like that, when he promised to wait PATIENTLY…’ Luna turned over, burying her face in the pillow and releasing a sound that was definitely not appropriate for the Starweaver heiress. It was almost a squeal. If her mother was watching, she’d say… “She was exactly like her father, indeed”. Like it ? Give it a power stone! ǝʌol ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ǝʌol – It’s free and you help me a lot Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know. Thank you so much for reading! (∿°○°)∿ ︵ ︵ ︵ ︵ ︵ ǝʌol