"Rise and shine, Zion!" Rianna said as she entered Zion's tent in order to wake him up. However, when she flipped over the blanket, she saw something she didn't expect to see. She found the teenage boy's head buried in Erica's chest, his arms wrapped around her body. Erica was wearing a black, one-piece night dress and also hugging Thirteen, sleeping soundly.

One of the nightgown's shoulder straps had been undone, revealing a part of Erica's chest, where Zion's head was buried.

If one were to look closely, they would notice that the teenage boy's lips were currently touching something it shouldn't be touching.

At the sight of this scene, Rianna was frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

She had come to wake Zion up, and it wasn't within her expectations that she would find herself between a rock and a hard place.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Shana, who had accompanied Rianna to wake up Zion, asked. However, the Saintess' expression stiffened after seeing Zion's and Erica's current state. Suddenly, she remembered the discussion she and Erica had a few days ago.

Erica had said that Zion had some peculiar sleeping habits, which she had warned her about. According to the sorceress, Zion looked strong and could do anything as long as he set his mind to it. However, whenever he sleeps, he shows a vulnerable side that only those close to him knew about.

The teenage boy would often call out names while he cried in his sleep.

This prompted Sherry and Erica to hold him close during those moments, burying his head on their chests and whispering words of assurance in his ears that he was safe with them.

Because of their actions, Thirteen had developed a habit of subconsciously seeking the warmth of the person next to him in his sleep.

He was like a baby who sought safety in his mother's loving embrace, which he had never experienced in any of his lifetimes.

Although it was due to Sherry's and Erica's goodwill, they had unintentionally trained Thirteen to subconsciously bury his head in their chests whenever he slept at night.

Of course, Sherry and Erica didn't think much of this, knowing that Thirteen was a gentleman through and through.

The teenage boy had always protected them and stood in the face of danger with his head held high.

It was only during his moments of weakness that he acted this way, and the young ladies were more than happy to hold him close and protect him in their own way.

"This..." Rianna, who was still at a loss for words, didn't know how to proceed.

Shana, on the other hand, had managed to snap out of her daze. She then lightly shook Erica's body, making the latter's eyes slowly open.

"Huh?" Erica, who was still half asleep, looked at Shana in a daze.

Half a minute later, she once again closed her eyes, even pulling Zion closer to her, and went back to sleep.

Suddenly, Rianna and Shana heard Derek's, Diana's, and Mildred's voices, and based on the volume, the three seemed to be headed to Zion's tent.

The two exchanged a knowing glance and nodded at the same time.

Rianna left Thirteen's tent in order to distract the three people, while Shana tried to wake Zion and Erica to prevent a scandal from being spread.

Tiona, who was coiled on the pillow beside Thirteen, couldn't help but look at Shana with

amusement.

In the end, the Black Snake decided to help and flicked her tongue on her Master's ear as if telling him to wake up.

The teenage boy finally opened his eyes and found his face buried in Erica's chest.

A second later, he pulled his head back and even reached out to tie back the strap that had loosened from Erica's nightgown, which made Shana breathe a sigh of relief.

She had been carefully observing the teenage boy's expression from start to finish. While she already had an idea about how he'd react, she was still a little taken aback with how Zion didn't seem to care that his face was buried on Erica's chest earlier and that his lips were touching its tips.

After making sure that the Sorceress was now properly dressed, Thirteen reached out to Tiona and gave the black snake a kiss on her head.

"Good morning, Tiona."

"Hiss~"

The black snake then coiled around her Master's neck and flicked her tongue on his cheek a few times as if kissing him back.

Shana didn't know how to react to Thirteen's nonchalance about the scene she saw earlier.

In the end she forced herself to smile and greeted the teenage boy a good morning.

"Good morning, Zion."

"Good morning, Shana. Did you manage to rest well?"

After the intense battle against the Centipede King, Thirteen had decided to give everyone a day off so that they could recover their strength.

Also, Sherry would be arriving today through one of the Leventis Family's private jets.

Thirteen also wanted her to participate in the training, for it would greatly increase her chance of surviving her missions in Solterra, as well as the upcoming Jinn Invasion in the Rigel Continent.

Sherry lived in the Cygni Continent with her parents, who were running a Mercenary Group.

Their group would often escort important people, including merchants, in Solterra, protecting them from the monsters that roam the land.

Of course, there were cases when they also protected their employers from other Rogue Wanderers and Bandits who lurked in the routes near mountains and forests.

"Zion, um, do you always sleep with Erica at night?" Shana asked.

A faint tinge of red was spreading on her face as she asked this question.

"Actually, I sleep alone during the night," Thirteen replied. "Maybe Erica was worried about me, so she sneaked inside my tent. Well, this isn't the first time it happened, so I'm already

used to it."

"... You're already used to doing that?"

"Mmm. It felt good."

The Saintess didn't know if she should laugh or cry after hearing the young man's words.

A part of her wanted to be impressed because the teenage boy could say such words with a

straight face.

The other half, on the other hand, made her want to have a private talk with Zion and tell him that there were things that he should and shouldn't do when interacting with girls. However, after thinking about it for some time, she decided that it wasn't her place to educate the teenage boy, who had now started to do some light stretches in front of her.