Chapter 49: The Dare

I should just find a tie and quickly leave...

It was my first time wandering through the male dorms. There were not guards specifically roaming about, so it was easy to slip in. This must be the reason why the young Nobles here are able to frequently visit each their lover's rooms back in my day or present time now...

I found out that there were distinct differences with the decor between the male and female dorms. Compared to the glamorous and flowery decor of the girl dorms, the male dorms were slightly more mellow and less colorful.

It was late, so there were not many people roaming the halls. I wanted to avoid their gazes, so I quickly hid whenever someone came near.

I went towards the upper floors since I remembered that higher Nobles lived higher up. As I did so, the number of people roaming about started to decrease and my chances of getting caught lowered significantly.

My cousin Randall should be up there. I remembered that he told me that he had a good view of the clocktower from his room and that he lived at the end of the hallway. There were two rooms that fit the descriptions. I was split at a medium and had to turn left or right.

Which one do I choose?

"What are you doing here?" someone from behind me asked.

I turned around and saw Garett with the ends of his hair slightly wet along with his shirt.

Did he come from a bath?

"Garett...I'm here for..."

We suddenly heard some incoming voices.

My wrist was suddenly grabbed by Garett.

"Girls are forbidden in male dorms. Let's go to my room first," he said as he went towards one end of the hallway.

"W-Wait..."

I would rather get caught than go into his room alone with him.

My complaints went unheard, and I entered the bedroom.

Garett suddenly began stripping.

"I need to get out of these wet clothes first if you don't mind," he said as he took off his soaked clothes.

I do mind!

I turned away, but was unable to completely avert my gaze out of temptation.

I was married before, so I saw my husband's body multiple times. His Knights would also wander about shirtless as well, but Garett was a man that oozed sex appeal even though he usually keeps himself covered from the neck up even on the hottest summer days. Any one with a lick of curiosity in their blood would want to take a peek at this man's body.

Unexpectedly, Garett was hiding a very fit and muscular body. His shoulders were broad while his waist seemed to be accentuate the multiple lines running along his midriff. I had never seen him workout before but apparently his six-pack said otherwise.

"So, what were you doing there?" Garett asked after he began buttoning up a white standing collar shirt.

He is in his casual clothes...

I suddenly felt his face come close to mine and flinched from surprise.

"Ah, I'm sorry...I was in deep thought," I said.

"Should you really be so deep in thought while you are in a room alone with a man?"

My heart raced for a moment before it cooled down. I was surprisingly calm for the situation I was in.

"The other party is Garett after all..."

He slightly scrunched his eyebrows as he made his way to the opposite side of the room.

"I still think that you should have a sense of danger...You are the only woman I know who would sit on a man's bed without any thought," he said as he crossed his arms.

Now that I think about it, I sat here because the number of places to sit were few.

I am still a woman no matter how old my mentality was...

"I'm sorry about that," I said as I tried to sit up.

"It's fine. There are not many places to sit here," he said as he turned around. "I will make some tea."

"...I should still get up. I feel bad about sitting on your bed," I said.

"It is fine for me. Any other man would take it as a sign for an invitation," he said as he came towards me with a teacup.

An invitation...means that kind of thing, right?

I felt my face become flushed.

"I came here because of a dare," I said as I accepted the mug.

"A dare?"

"One person from our dorm is to accept a dare to enter the male dorms and retrieve an item. Those who refuse or fail are subjected to a punishment game," I said.

Garett sighed.

"You are unlucky..."

"I know that fully well...I thought that I might as well ask my cousin Randall for his help. It was supposed to be a simple task, until I got caught by you," I explained.

"...So, what is the item you must retrieve?" Garett asked.

"I was ordered to retrieve a tie," I said.

"You can take my tie then," Garett said as he rummaged around his drawers for a tie.

"Do you have a spare?" I asked.

"I do," he said as he handed me his tie.

"Thank you very much then. I will get going then," I said as I made my way towards the exit.

The door I had begun opening was suddenly pushed back closed by Garett.

"Stop," he whispered in my ears.

The sound of footsteps was slowly approaching.

Dorm supervisors!

I was suddenly pulled by Garett and thrown underneath his covers on the bed with him laying beside me.

Knock! Knock!

"...We are here to inspect the dorms."

I was suddenly brought into Garett's strong embrace. He smelled of fresh linen. The covers made the environment incredibly hot and difficult to breathe.

I might die...

The door was suddenly opened.

"Sleeping?"

The inspectors took a peek for what felt like an hour and left.

Garett had released me from the suppressive and hot environment right afterwards.

"They left, but they will continue monitoring the halls until early in the morning. Once a week, they randomly come to inspect the dorms and monitor us for the whole night...You picked the one bad day of the week that they are here," Garett said as he got out from the bed.

"Does that mean I have to hide here until then?" I asked.

"It seems so...If we were on the first floor, it would be easier to sneak you out. I know that you may be uncomfortable with it, but use my room as you wish. You can use my bed," he said as he began rummaging through his drawers. He soon handed me one of his shirts. "Just use one of my shirts as nightwear."

"I can just use my uniform..."

"...With your clothes as wet as they are?" he said as he continued averting his gaze.

My sweat had turned my clothes translucent.

"I will trouble you then," I said as I quickly took his shirt and began changing.

Garett's shirt was rather large as it had came to my knees.

It was practically a dress on me...

My legs were bare since I had to take my tights off. I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over me.

"I am done changing," I told Garett.

"I am going to sleep outside then," Garett said.

"...Where?"

"There is a couch in the den area..."

"If the dorm supervisors see you outside, they will ask questions about why you are sleeping outside," I reasoned.

Garett was not sounding reasonable...

"Are you suggesting that we share a room then?" he asked.

Sharing a room...It would have to end that way since there are people outside.

"I apologize if my presence makes you feel uncomfortable...I can just sleep in the bathroom if that makes you feel better," I said.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you sleep on the bathroom?" he asked.

"Sleep in the bed with me then!" I said with a slightly annoyed tone.

Garett slowly came towards me and lifted the blankets.

"...Are you sure that you do not mind me getting in the bed with you?" Garett asked with a serious expression.

I suddenly felt shy when I realized that sharing a bed meant that we would be laying close to each other.

"It is fine," I answered despite the loud sound of my beating heart.

Garett maneuvered his way under the blankets and sat beside me.

My heart was racing a bit from the unique situation. It has been a long time for me sharing a bed with someone. I was mentally someone who was not new to this. However, my young heart seems to be extremely nervous for some reason.

Garett suddenly sandwiched a pillow in between us.

"For protection," he said.

"Protection?"

Is he possibly...

"...Who knows if you will try to grab me? I need this in order to protect myself," he said as he laid down and closed his eyes.

...Shameless.

"I see. Goodnight," I said as I quickly laid down and rested my eyes.

I bet that Garett only said those things to make me feel less afraid of sleeping next to a man. It is my fault for wandering around the male dorms. All Garett has done was nothing but helpful to me.

I could not seem to sleep and peeked over the pillow to see Garett's chest was slowly rising and descending.

He probably thinks of me as a troublesome little sister if he can sleep this easily...

I felt my consciousness quickly fading.

That morning, I found the barrier untouched and Garett still sleeping. His sleeping face is rather angelic with his delicate skin and his long eyelashes. However, his hands contained a closed novel on his stomach.

When did he grab a book? Did he wake up in the middle of the night and began reading or is he saving it for when he wakes up?

Either way, seeing him hug a book while he was sleeping was a bit cute.

I quietly changed into my uniform and took the tie Garett prepared for me with me. I had left a letter in Garett's book for when he would wake up.

I touched my lips for a bit.

For some reason, there was a tingling sensation left over.

...Was it the tea from last night?