Allyce gritted her teeth in pain, lying came at a price.
She knew Severo was blaming himself, but she was the one who had tried to block Gabrio’s blow and Severo hadn’t wanted to, so she didn’t want Severo to see it.
Allyce quickly covered herself with the quilt.
Then he looked askance at Severo.
Severo didn’t care what she did and took a long moment to reflect before speaking.
His voice was a little astringent as he asked quietly, “Are you in pain?
“It’s okay not to move …,” Allyce muttered.
Severo lowered his eyelids to hide the emotion in his dark eyes and turned to bring the poultice he had put aside earlier and stood on the edge of the bed.
Allyce had covered herself a little, leaving only one head out, and her watery eyes were staring at him.
One of Severo’s hands rose slightly and then withdrew.
He lifted his eyelids and looked at Allyce with sober eyes: “Pick up the sheets and I’ll rub the medicine on you.
“No … I can do it myself.
Allyce was going to say “no”, but it hurt a little and Severo would not have stopped if she said no.
“I will help you. There was a hint of insistence in Severo’s tone, a look of extraordinary seriousness.
Allyce could say no more and, biting her lip, gently pulled the sheets down a little, just enough to expose the bruised patch, and turned her head to one side, no longer looking at him.
Severus sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze rested on her exposed skin, his throat tightened slightly, his gaze then touched her bruised skin, he frowned and all thoughts in his mind disappeared.
Allyce felt a shiver on her skin and couldn’t help but turn her head towards Severo.
His brow was furrowed and his face wore the same expression of concentration as always.
Allyce hadn’t looked at him for more than a few seconds when Severo suddenly raised his eyelids, his gaze precisely on her eyes, his voice a little deeper: “Stop looking at me”.
Allyce’s eyes widened to see what was going on.
Then he felt the strength of his fingers increase a little.
Allyce suddenly understood what was happening and simply closed her eyes.
But with his eyes closed, his senses became even sharper.
The pressure of Severo’s fingers was so light that he felt a slight pain, mixed with a hint of stinging, and a small layer of goose bumps had risen on his skin.
His heartbeat was also uncontrollably fast.
Finally, Severo’s fingers withdrew after a slight pause.
Allyce breathed a sigh of relief and was about to open her eyes when she felt the heat hit her and her eyes snapped open to reveal Severo’s handsome face close to her.
With his eyes slightly closed, he kissed her on the lips, so lovingly and tenderly that Allyce couldn’t resist pulling away.
He kissed her deeper and deeper, one arm resting on the bed so as not to press against Allyce’s body, the other hand reaching under the nape of her neck and gripping her tightly.
When Allyce pulled back to put her arms around Severo, he rose slightly and pulled away from her lips.
She gasped slightly and looked at Allyce with confusion and a hint of disbelief, unable to resist giving her another peck on the lips before whispering, “Your dress looks lovely today.”
This inexplicable comment of his brought a hint of confusion to Allyce’s face.
Severo finished and then lowered his head to continue the kiss, saying vaguely, “So many men are looking at you.”
There was an imperceptible tinge of discontent in his tone.
“You … know …” Allyce opened her mouth in surprise and was about to ask the words she had in mind when Severo kissed her lips again.
Allyce was confused and thought, Severo has a lot of women looking at him every time he goes out, can’t she let him go out?
For some time now, the two had been a little cold in their relationship, neither had been very affectionate.
Not to mention that the place and the moment were ideal for Severo to fall for this kiss and what happened afterwards happened quite naturally.
…
The next morning, still asleep, Severo woke up when he felt something crawling on his chin and felt a small tingling sensation.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Alonzo lying on the edge of the bed with his little hand running up and down his chin.
At the sight of Severo awake, Alonzo’s dark eyes startled and he jerked his hand away, muttering, “Papa”.
Severo remembered that Alonzo had slept in the children’s room across the hall last night, so he reached out and cupped his face, asking, “How did you get here?”
Alonzo looked confused: “I walked here”.
Severo nodded at this childish response and asked no further questions.
It seemed that his and Allyce’s concern was superfluous; Alonzo had adjusted well, sleeping in a room alone for the first time, and waking up the next morning without crying or coming to them.
As Severo pondered, Alonzo again brought his hand to Severo’s chin and touched it twice, blinking curiously as he spoke, “Papa here, thorny …”
“It’s a beard.” explained Severo in a light voice.
After a night’s sleep, there was a newborn beard on his chin, and Alonzo’s hands were so tender they felt prickly when he touched them.
“A beard.” Severo nodded and repeated the pronunciation.
I was still in the learning phase, and when I heard someone say something serious, I would unconsciously repeat it along with him.
“Keep your voice down, mum is still sleeping, let’s not disturb her, you go to your room and dad will come later to brush your teeth”. Severo spoke to Alonzo in a low, slow voice.
Alonzo listened for a few seconds before nodding.
There was still a hint of confusion on his face, he obviously hadn’t fully assimilated what Severo had said.
Severo gave no further explanation: “Well, get back to it”.
“Yes, I’ll be back …” he muttered under his breath, turned on his heels and ran off on his short legs.
Severo could still hear the not-so-soft, muffled sound of his little feet hitting the ground.
He glanced sideways at Allyce, who was curled up in his arms, and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead before carefully withdrawing his hand and arm and getting up and out of bed in one smooth movement.
She knew Allyce was exhausted the night before, so she didn’t even shower in the bathroom in her room, put on some clothes and hurried to Alonzo’s room.