When Alex opened his eyes again, his vision swam in and out of focus. His head felt oddly heavy yet warm, and something soft was beneath it. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming until he caught a familiar scent — subtle lavender mixed with the faint metallic tang of mana.
'Wait… this smell… this softness… no way.'
Just as he was about to shift, the warmth disappeared, and his head smacked against the hard wooden bench with a dull thud.
"Ow—! Damn it!" Alex yelled, clutching the back of his head as he glared up. "What the hell, Evelyn!? You could've at least let me wake up properly before committing attempted murder!"
Evelyn, standing beside the bench with her arms crossed, simply looked down at him. Her expression was calm as always, but there was the faintest trace of amusement in her eyes. "You were drooling," she said matter-of-factly.
Alex froze mid-rant, his brain refusing to process that sentence. "I—what? No, I wasn't!"
"You were."
