Chapter 106
Every word Aldraya spoke seemed crafted to test the limits of his patience, forcing him to feel a mixture of frustration and admiration at once.
He realized that such interactions could never be separated from the way Aldraya perceived the world, from the way she judged others and positioned herself in the ever-moving flow of reality.
"You know, perhaps your stiffness was born from something heavenly that accidentally spilled into space and time… and one of those spills even created a super cold star."
Thud - thud - thuuud!
'Hah, that insolent girl!'
After leaving the Mini Planetarium Dome, Aldraya and Theo stepped into the Interactive Star Map Room, a chamber filled with glass-layered interactive screens where visitors could rotate constellations, explore celestial bodies, and simulate star positions from different eras.
Soft light from the panels reflected across their faces, casting shifting shadows that moved with Theo's busy hands as he pointed and rotated the simulation.
Still irritated by her earlier teasing, Theo used the moment to strike back, tossing subtle remarks about Aldraya's stiffness that might have been born from some celestial anomaly, an accidental spill upon space and time that ended up creating a super cold star.
Aldraya ignored the words completely.
Her body moved with deliberate rhythm, her steps steady even as her expression remained flat.
Every movement resembled a quiet measurement of distance between herself and Theo, an unspoken refusal toward any interaction that attempted to breach the boundaries she had constructed.
Theo observed this closely, his eyes following her every motion, trying to interpret the meaning behind each step and every slight tilt of her head.
He realized she was not merely indifferent, but rather displaying the most refined and calculated form of control over the situation.
At the very least, Theo let out a small laugh and covered his mouth with his left hand, for the feeling came not only from the joke he had just made, but also from his admiration for Aldraya's cleverness and unshaken composure in the midst of provocation and teasing.
Without a single word, Aldraya decided to walk ahead first, her calm steps leaving Theo momentarily breathless as he continued to watch every curve and line of her figure moving away.
The silence felt heavy yet meaningful to Theo, who read each detail with a blend of frustration, wonder, and an ever-growing curiosity.
Aldraya walked away from Theo, her posture firm, her face unmoving.
Tssiiing!
"Perhaps I truly was born from a heavenly spill, and you, a shameless samurai who knows only women and beds, might just be the existentially rotting fragment of some planet."
'Good grief. The urge to… want… is extremely strong.'
Fhhhh!
'Relax, relax, your life is safe.
I only want to give you a small wound, in return for all the irritation you've dumped on me.
So even if my hands hesitate, my mouth still works!'
"What would a rude girl who only knows how to wrestle with her writings on a mattress understand?!"
"…"
'Ignored? Damn it!!'
The Open Observation Room awaited them at the top of the building, its clear glass walls and open space offering an unobstructed view of the incomparable night sky.
Aldraya, still with her flat stare and rigid demeanor, finally responded to Theo's earlier teasing in her own way.
She asserted that her birth might indeed have come from an accidental heavenly spill, while Theo—full of samurai arrogance and a narrow obsession with women and beds—might simply be the manifestation of a planet fragment decaying on an existential level.
Every word carried subtle tension, and Theo could feel his blood heating, though never enough to make him want to harm Aldraya.
His anger surfaced only as breaths of irritation and internal muttering that slapped his own ego, all while calling Aldraya an insolent girl too absorbed in wrestling with her writings atop her bed, a reflection of her tendency to withdraw from the world's attention.
Theo held back his frustration each time he looked at Aldraya's unshaken composure, interpreting her silence and posture as something more than simple indifference.
He watched how she placed herself within the vast open space.
Her stance was firm yet unforced, like an energy holding back a storm beneath a frozen surface.
Every step she took, every subtle movement of her head or hands that shifted without conscious intent, created a psychological battlefield invisible to ordinary eyes.
Though annoyed, Theo continued to evaluate, understand, and even feel something akin to respect for her resilience, though that respect remained entwined with the sharpest frustration.
Around them, the open sky displayed a cosmos whose gentle light washed over their faces, stars and nebulae drifting slowly as if following the rhythm of their steps.
Aldraya stayed rigid, holding back any expression that might alter Theo's perception, while Theo suppressed the urge to scold, tease, or simply laugh at her unbreakable calm.
The Open Observation Room became a witness to the delicate tension and unspoken power play between them, revealed only through gestures and glances they exchanged.
After passing through each area, Aldraya remained rigid and Theo still held onto his irritation, the two of them finally exiting the tall observatory and stepping into the world waiting beyond the glass.
"Aldraya, look at this flower—its color is bright, but still outmatched by your stiffness."
"It is still better than someone whose mind is full of nonsense like yours."
"Then what about you, cold as stone yet trying to look alive in a garden full of colors."
"At least I am not pretending to be poetic among plants that do not care about you at all, isn't that true?"
"Tch! I can read nature better than I can read your ever-shut mind."
"Impressive. You can read the universe but fail to understand the human standing beside you."
"Human? You stand like marble, without a single expression."
"And you remain noisy like a bird that doesn't know when to be quiet."
"Insulting me? I'm more like a lion that challenges, but you? Merely a cat pretending not to care."
"Far better than a lion who is only brave through words."
"Good. I like the way you hurt me with coldness."
"And I like the way you always manage to annoy me."
Fhooooh!
"You're still here, eager to end an argument you claim you would win?At least this garden is beautiful. It lessens my irritation caused by you."
"That means you need much more time to understand the silence I choose."
"Maybe. But I'll keep bothering you until you admit—you enjoy a little attention from me."
"Wish upon the wind."
In the botanical garden, the air felt heavy with the blend of floral scents and damp leaves, yet the tension between them was far thicker.
Theo's steps were steady, his eyes fixed on Aldraya's rigid, icy movements, even though the distance between them could be considered close.
Every corner of the garden seemed alive, leaves rustling with a thin breeze, sunlight passing through the gaps between trees, and flowers of many colors blooming around them, yet none of it could soften the fortress of Aldraya's composure.
Theo observed every motion she made, trying to decipher the strategies hidden behind her flat gaze and the rare, fleeting hint of a smile.
He felt a mixture of frustration and admiration, an emotional pull not easily tamed, for every tiny reaction from Aldraya demanded full attention and a delicate understanding of the boundaries she upheld.
To be continued…