The Infinite Night

Chapter 15: The Game of PANTs

I've made it clearer and easier to read while keeping the story, dialogue, and events mostly unchanged.

After Tassa performed a healing spell, Nia'le woke up and asked her what had happened.

Tassa didn't answer him right away.

She stood up, clenched her fists at her sides, and angrily said, "You peered at me, that's what happened!"

Then she immediately left the room.

Nia'le watched her leave before touching his head and asking himself, "Seriously, what happened?"

He was genuinely confused.

What had actually happened was that Ayamani had erased the memory of the moment Nia'le saw Tassa's body. The only thing left in his mind was the memory of Tassa throwing things at him, but even that memory was blurry. Because of that, he couldn't understand why she was so angry.

Ayamani did it for Tassa's sake, not because he was jealous or anything.

Ayamani was always by Tassa's side. He constantly protected her and never left her alone. He was also the bodyguard hired by Ixartxist to watch over her whenever he wasn't around.

That could be one reason why he cared for her so much. But if there was another reason, only Ayamani knew what it was.

The Grim Reaper was secretly betraying Ixartxist by feeding Tassa information about his plans and the people around him. If Ixartxist ever discovered this betrayal, he would eliminate Ayamani instantly.

Ayamani played his role perfectly. He pretended to remain loyal to his master while also lying to Tassa about Xart and Ixartxist being different people, even though they were the same person.

His true motive remained a mystery. Perhaps he was working for someone else. Perhaps there was another reason behind his betrayal.

But one thing was certain.

Ayamani genuinely cared for Tassa. And even though he continued to lie, there was always a sadness in his hollow face that seemed desperate to tell her the truth.

Nia'le eventually left his room and saw Tassa eating alone at the table.

"Why aren't you calling me when you're about to eat?" he asked.

Tassa ignored him.

Nia'le looked at the table and noticed there was only one plate, and it belonged to Tassa.

So he grabbed another plate and placed it on the table.

He quietly sat down, served himself some food, and started eating.

"What's wrong with this girl? I just suddenly woke up, and now she's acting like a b***h," Nia'le thought.

Tassa quietly chewed her food.

Seeing his chance, Nia'le asked, "What's wrong with you? What are you so mad about?"

Again, Tassa ignored him and continued eating.

That started to annoy Nia'le.

He had always hated how quickly her mood could change.

Finally, he confronted her.

He slammed his hand onto the table with a loud thud.

"You know what? You're acting like a b***h again. And let me make it clear—NOT in the freaking hot way!"

Tassa immediately stood up.

She planted both hands on the table and angrily replied, "You moron! You are a perverted jerk!"

She grabbed the knife beside her plate and gripped it tightly.

"How dare you peep at me!"

Without warning, she threw the knife at him.

Nia'le effortlessly dodged it with his eyes closed.

When he opened them, he saw the knife embedded nearby, only inches away from his face.

He slowly looked at it.

Then he looked back at Tassa.

Nia'le folded his arms, took a deep breath, and calmly closed his eyes again, trying very hard not to lose his temper. "Listen to me, babe, before you throw a tantrum or should I say, a KNIFE. First, I did not peep at you, I looked at you. Those are two different words with two different meanings. And second, ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" he shouted.

"I would, if I could!" Tassa shot back angrily.

"Listen to me, you insignificant woman. I may have opened the door while you were in the bathroom, but I only did that because I was worried about you. You kept screaming and screaming without telling me what was happening inside."

"Your stupid shampoo spat into my eye when I pushed it! That's what happened! But knowing that I'm in the bathroom, Nia'le, seriously! This has nothing to do with you!"

"Oh, so you're screaming your lungs out, and now you're telling me it has nothing to do with me? I was concerned about you. Besides, even though I opened the door and looked at you for a few seconds, I could swear to my mother-in-law that I can't remember a thing now. I promise."

Tassa froze for a moment.

Maybe he was lying to make her feel better. Or maybe it was possible. After all, memory-lock spells did exist.

She clenched her fists and snorted.

She wasn't going to believe him that easily.

"Then tell me how it happened."

Nia'le looked down at the floor with a devastated expression.

"Well, try getting hit in the head with a giant wooden chair and see if it doesn't jiggle your brain."

"You mean... you don't remember me—no, I mean everything that happened inside the bathroom?"

"You're right. I don't. So rest assured."

Tassa immediately smiled.

Knowing Ayamani, it was entirely possible that he had erased the memory for her sake.

"Okayyyy," she replied sweetly.

But Nia'le didn't look happy at all.

Tassa happily hugged him, but Nia'le only snorted and looked away.

"How unfortunate for me. Out of all the memories I could've lost, I lost the one where she looked like a goddess without clothes." Nia'le thought miserably.

He sighed.

Tassa heard him and immediately asked, "What's your problem?"

Nia'le gently placed his hands on her shoulders and cleared his throat.

"Gladly, Tassa, I can assure you that even if I dig through my memories and try to remember it, I've got nothing. You don't need to worry anymore, okay?"

Instead of smiling, Tassa gave him a dangerous look. She grabbed both of his hands and pulled them off her shoulders.

"Why are you trying to dig through that shallow head of yours and remember it, Nia'le? Can't you see that it was your one and only chance, and you missed it because Ayamani erased your memory? He did that for me, so stop trying to remember it, will you?!" she shouted.

Then Tassa stormed upstairs with Ayamani following beside her. Nia'le remained standing there. A few moments later, he slowly walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Covering his face with one hand, he suddenly began laughing.

"So that's why," Nia'le said. "That little Grim old hulk erased it from my mind." He stretched his arms and stared up at the ceiling light. "You think you won, but you didn't. It may be her old mansion, but there's only one decent bedroom in this place. And that room is mine."

A mischievous grin appeared on his face.

"I'm still going to share a room with Tassa. I'll still get to see her every day."

Nia'le laughed and pointed upward.

"Can't you see, Grim Face? I still won!" he shouted.

Upstairs, Tassa was busy cleaning their bedroom when she heard him yelling about winning.

She frowned.

"Ayamani, what's his deal?"

Ayamani didn't answer.

He simply stood there in silence, because he couldn't care less about Nia'le's nonsense.

Nia'le had predicted it correctly they ended up sleeping in the same room. However, it wasn't exactly how he imagined it.

Tassa slept comfortably on his bed while Nia'le slept on the floor.

Looking annoyed, Nia'le kept turning from left to right and right to left. After a while, he stared at the ceiling and whispered,

"Hey, are you awake?"

"No, I'm actually asleep right now," she whispered back.

"Whatever. But Tassa, can I ask you something?"

"Yep. What is it?"

"How do you feel?"

Tassa was about to answer, but she suddenly felt embarrassed by the question.

"How do I feel?" she repeated.

She touched her chest and felt her heart beating faster. Pulling the blanket over her face, she hid her blush.

"How do I feel... what? What do you mean, Nia'le?" she sweetly asked.

"How do you feel... sleeping in my bed and making me sleep on the floor? While knowing you're staying in MY NEW MANSION. Sure, this mansion used to belong to you, but that was before my old man bought it."

Tassa clenched her pillow.

"So what's your point?" she asked irritably.

"I just want to know how you feel about sleeping in someone's bed!" Nia'le said.

Tassa's expression immediately changed.

"Oh, it feels good. Very good. In fact, I want to thank you for letting me stay in your bed while you voluntarily sleep on the floor."

"Voluntarily?" Nia'le repeated in disbelief.

"I've never been annoyed by a word before, but saying I voluntarily sleep on the floor makes it sound like I actually care about you. That's humiliating."

"What's so humiliating about that?"

"My manhood is! And I'm sorry if you can't SEE my point."

"Who asked you anyway!"

The truth was that Nia'le did not voluntarily sleep on the floor.

They had settled the matter by playing PANTs.

PANTs stands for Place, Animal, Name, and Things. Players write those categories at the top of a paper and list the letters A to Z down the side. Then they fill in each category using words that start with the chosen letter.

For example:

Place – America

Animal – Ant

Name – Althea

Thing – Armor

The first player to finish says, "Stop writing, pens up!" Then both players count their scores, and the player with the highest score wins.

What actually happened before bedtime was this:

After laughing to himself in the living room, Nia'le went to clean himself up before trying to sleep beside Tassa.

He attempted to hug her, but Tassa immediately pushed him away.

Nia'le fell to the floor.

"We're not going to do anything," he said. "I just want to sleep beside you."

And that was true. He had no intention of doing anything inappropriate. Aside from wanting to look at her beautiful face, nothing else was on his mind.

Even so, Tassa refused.

Her expression turned gloomy.

"I don't doubt you when you say you only want to sleep beside me. I believe you, Nia'le. I know your intentions are clean. But I still can't."

She lowered her head.

"I'm sorry. I can't sleep beside you, Nia'le. Xart told me that sleeping beside a man before marriage is a sin. He said it would make me impure. I can't do that. Not until it's my husband sleeping beside me."

Nia'le placed his hands on his waist.

"You're telling me that now? After you've slept in my arms twice?"

Tassa folded her arms and turned away.

"I can't sleep beside you anymore. Nia'le, I'm sorry, but you'll have to sleep on the floor. Or sleep in another room. Seriously, this mansion has more than a hundred rooms."

"They're all haunted."

"Your problem."

"Seriously! What do you think you are, a goddess?"

Then he looked at her and realized she really did look like one.

That was when he came up with the idea of playing PANTs.

"Whoever loses sleeps on the floor. Whoever wins gets the bed forever."

Confident because he always beat his sister Yellaine, Nia'le stretched out his hand.

"Is it a deal or no deal? Your choice, Tassa."

Tassa accepted.

Afterward, she won.

That meant she would sleep in his bed forever, while Nia'le would sleep on the floor for the rest of his life.

Since she had won, Tassa teased him endlessly. She hurried him to move his things and sarcastically pitied his situation.

As Nia'le complained about everything that had happened, he slowly realized that the whole thing was actually his fault.

When he was finally about to admit it, he noticed that Tassa had already fallen asleep.

She looked calm, peaceful, and enchanting.

Nia'le smiled softly.

Then he quietly returned to his place on the floor and went to sleep.