Chapter 6 - Do you hate me?

Time passed slowly as Ethan stared at Amira. His hands rested on her small shoulders, the feeling of her soft skin sent bolts of electricity up his arms.

Tears began to suddenly well up in Amira's eyes as the silence in the room was an unbearable burden on her heart.

Just as she was going to ask why he hadn't said anything

"Your right. I should take responsibility."

His words made her elated and she said "then does that mean you'll make me your woman?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

Amira's eyes widened "Wait, why?! but you just said..."

Tears flowed like waterfalls "Do...do you hate me?"

"No! of course not. how could I possibly hate you?"

"But you-"

"Marriage."

This single word stopped all thoughts in her mind and her heart skipped a beat.

"Your words earlier were true. You warned me not to look at you but I did. I also understand that a woman's honour and virtue are the most important things to her. Because of this, I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions. So if you're willing, we can get married. Of course, I think we should wait a little while until we get to know each other better."

Amira didn't know what to say. This night hadn't gone anything like how she imagined it would. At first she was happy, then confused and sad, until finally being completely overwhelmed. If they existed here, one might say her emotions had been on one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

After taking a breath to calm herself Amira spoke softly

"Yes..." she then looked him straight in the eye "I'll marry you."

Ethan smiled softly while saying "Okay then. we can talk more about this tomorrow. It's already late and I'm sure your exhausted, I know I am. Why don't we call it a night?"

It was at this moment that Amira finally realized how tired she really was. He legs which had already been shaking suddenly gave out. fortunately, Ethan was there to keep her from falling. He then helped her to the bed to lay down before grabbing his sleeping bag and laying it on the floor.

"What are you doing? the bed is big enough for the both of us." Amira asked curiously

"I know. But with neither of us having anything to sleep in, I'd rather not tempt myself. I am still a healthy male after all."

Amira look as if she were struck by lightning when she saw that she indeed wasn't wearing anything but a towel around her body. She quickly got under the thin blanket on the bed and rolled over to face away from Ethan. She wasn't upset however, simply embarrassed, and she didn't want him to see.

When he say this reaction all Ethan could do was laugh quietly before blowing out the lantern and lying down.

"Sweet dreams" he said before closing his eyes.

It took less than a minute for fatigue and then sleep to overcome them both.

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The next morning

Amira woke up to the sound of knocking at the door. She quickly got up but paused when she didn't see Ethan in the room. Panic set in when she thought that he had snuck out and left her there, But when she saw his pack sitting on the small table; she sighed in relief.

Another series of knocks brought her out of her contemplation. Amira then went to open the room door just a crack, but kept her body hidden behind as she only had a towel wrapped around her.

Brianna, The innkeeper, was standing there wearing a bright smile when Amira opened the door.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Ms. B."

"Do you mind if I come in? I brought you something to wear." Ms. B then held up a dress that was light yellow in color.

Amira nodded slightly and opened the door wide enough for Ms. B to enter the room.

"How did you know I needed clothes?"

"Oh honey, It wasn't too hard to notice that the two of you were in pickle when I saw the state you were in last night." Ms. B said with a mischievous chuckle

"Besides, when your companion left this morning he asked if there were any shops in the village that sold clothes, I put 1 and 1 together. After giving him directions to Janessa's Fabrics, The best and only clothes shop in Lorik, I came here straight away. The dress is an old one of mine so it should fit."

"Thank you, but I don't have any way to pay you for the dress." Amira said guiltily

"Oh? but I'm sure there is one way..." Ms. B said with a bright smile that made her more attractive.

Now Amira was confused by the inkeepers words and it was clearly visible on her face.

"Haha, no need to be concerned. I was simply going to ask you to tell me about how the two of you met. It's been so long since a nice young couple like yourselves came to stay here. I also happen to be a sucker for a good love story."

Amira was amazed by the honest and straightforward nature of Ms. B. All she could do was smile and nod her head in agreement.

"Okay, although it's not much of a story, I'll tell you how we met"

And so, After changing into the yellow dress; Amira began to recount the previous days events about her first encounter with Ethan in the Forest of Despair.

Meanwhile, while Ms. B and Amira were having their girls talk, Ethan was making his way through the village in search of the clothing shop.

He decided to use this opportunity to check the Imperial System

'System? are you there?' Ethan asked silently

[Welcome back user!

How may I be of service?]

'Yesterday you informed me about unlocking a Quest tab. I would like to take a look at that. Also, are there any other functions that I don't know about? if so, I want a full explanation of available functions.'

[Certainly! allow me to guide you through the full range of system functions that you currently have access to]

The Imperial System then began to explain that In addition to the User Stats tab and the Quest tab, Ethan also had access to a Storage tab as well as a Map and two currently locked features.

'A Map and Storage? I know the storage will be handy, but the map! I was worried that my abysmal sense of direction was going to haunt me in this life too'

[Would the User like to access the Quest tab now?]

'No, not just yet. First I'd like to see the Map' Ethan stated

Suddenly the System screen changed to a Map of Lorik Village and Ethan gazed at it for a moment before saying "Ah, there it is. Janessa's Fabrics."

He then followed the path indicated by the System Map until he was standing before the shop after just a few minutes.