21st Century Necromancer

Early in the morning, the sunlight spilled onto the head of the bed, rousing Chen Yu to the changes in the light.

This was the first time since he had mastered meditation that he had rested through sleep rather than meditation overnight. After so many years, his return to sleep had been dreamless until dawn and incredibly comfortable.

Chen Yu stretched lazily as he sat up in bed, his bare upper body revealing well-defined muscles. Despite being a Necromancer, he had not neglected physical training. Coupled with the strengthening effects of Magic Power soaking into his body during meditation, he did not possess the frailty often depicted in fantasy novels about mages.

Instead, he boasted a muscular build that could rival that of a fitness coach.

"Mr. Chen Yu, are you awake?" Jounouchi Hiromi, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, heard Chen Yu stirring and quickly wished him a good morning, "Good morning, breakfast will be ready soon! I wanted to make Tamagoyaki, but I couldn't find the square pan, so I just made sunny-side-up eggs. I hope you won't mind."

Jounouchi Hiromi wore nothing but one of Chen Yu's shirts, her long and shapely legs dazzlingly white beneath it, the ivory-like fairness causing Chen Yu to squint after just one look, unable to resist the desire to admire her more.

"Having someone make breakfast for me is already a joy; how could I possibly mind?" Chen Yu got up from bed, put on his pants, and approached Jounouchi Hiromi. He kissed her on the face and wrapped his arms around her slender waist, seeking more.

"ちょっと! Don't be so energetic this early in the morning!" Jounouchi Hiromi stopped Chen Yu's movement and pushed him away, blushing as she said, "Go brush your teeth first!"

After being pushed away, Chen Yu kissed her face once more before turning to head to the bathroom, where he picked up his toothbrush to brush his teeth.

Meanwhile, Jounouchi Hiromi plated the finished breakfast and brought it to the coffee table in the living room. Just looking at the living room, with clothes she and Chen Yu had thrown all over the place the night before, made Jounouchi Hiromi's face turn even redder.

She quickly put down the plate holding breakfast and swiftly gathered up the scattered clothes, carefully sorting out her own. After all, she couldn't possibly go to work in Chen Yu's shirt today; she needed her own outfit.

When Jounouchi Hiromi had collected the clothes into a pile, Chen Yu, having finished brushing his teeth, came back to sit in front of her in the living room.

"Wow! What a delicious-smelling breakfast!" Chen Yu, looking at the breakfast Jounouchi Hiromi had set out on the coffee table, exclaimed with exaggerated admiration, "Hiromi, your cooking skills are so good, whoever marries you is really lucky!"

Chen Yu originally just meant to praise Jounouchi Hiromi's cooking, but his words made her twist his waist unhappily, "What's that supposed to mean, Mr. Chen Yu? You don't want to marry me?"

"Of course, I want to marry you!" Chen Yu quickly replied, but his tone hesitated as he added, "But... Hiromi, wouldn't you mind that I..."

As he spoke, Chen Yu's gaze swept over a row of glass jars in his home. Although last night's tenderness had given Jounouchi Hiromi no time to inquire about these jars, Chen Yu knew that if he wanted to be with her, this was an issue he couldn't avoid.

It might be manageable if they were just boyfriend and girlfriend, with Jounouchi Hiromi only occasionally visiting like now. But if they were to marry and truly be together, how could he continue researching necromancy without his partner knowing? How could he meditate every night without his partner finding out?

They were things that obviously couldn't be kept secret forever, but how to explain and come clean to Jounouchi Hiromi was another problem troubling Chen Yu. It wasn't that Jounouchi Hiromi's affection meant he could completely trust her or tell her all his secrets. After all, even married couples might divorce someday.

"It's okay!" However, facing Chen Yu's hesitation, Jounouchi Hiromi smiled beamingly, "I know you have secrets you're keeping from me, Chen Yu, but I have secrets I'm keeping from you too! Until you're ready to explain or tell me, I won't pry into your secrets. Everyone has the right to keep their own secrets, don't they?"

While saying this, Jounouchi Hiromi began to enjoy her breakfast, "Hurry up and eat, I put effort into making it, and it won't taste as good cold."

Hearing Jounouchi Hiromi say this, Chen Yu finally picked up the chopsticks, ready to eat breakfast. However, the words she had just spoken made him reflective, and he hesitated for a moment before asking her, "Hiromi, do you really not mind that I'm keeping things from you?"

"I don't mind!" Jounouchi Hiromi nodded her head but then added as if remembering something, "But that doesn't mean you can go having other women behind my back! That I definitely cannot accept. I'm just saying that I can accept that you have your own secrets, things that you're uncomfortable sharing with me. You don't have to tell me."

Hearing Jounouchi Hiromi say that, Chen Yu took a deep breath, deciding to tell her some things. After all, he had fully taken advantage of her, he couldn't act as if nothing had happened last night, "Hiromi, I do have some things I've kept from you, but these things... I wasn't planning to tell anyone. I rejected you before because of this; I don't want anyone to know my secrets."

"So now, Mr. Chen Yu..." Jounouchi Hiromi stopped what she was doing and looked at Chen Yu seriously, knowing that what he would say next must concern their relationship.

"You're really great, Hiromi, so much so that I'm tempted to spend my life with you, even though I had planned on dying alone." Chen Yu said with a wry smile, shaking his head. It was clear that Jounouchi Hiromi entering his life had disrupted his original plans, "The secrets I hide aren't the kind that normal people can accept, and I don't want to tell anyone.

But now that you and I have been intimate, I must take responsibility for you. If you feel you don't want to know my secrets, then that's fine, you can be my girlfriend until you get tired of me, and we can break up peacefully. But if you really want to marry me, then I hope you're prepared to share my secrets because once you learn them, I won't be able to let you leave me ever again."