"Hmm.... Rick?" Gwen called out to him with her eyes still closed.

"I’m here."

"Good morning, Rick." Gwen moaned cutely as she opened her eyes, staring at Rick with her eyes which were still a bit sleepy.

"Good morning, Gwen."

"How’s your head? Does it still hurt?" She asked, raising her head up with a worried look on her face.

Noticing this, Rick couldn’t help but smile as he replied. "No, it doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m fine now. I told you last night, remember?"

"I know. But I just wanted to be sure you’re okay, that’s all."

"Thank you, Gwen. For everything."

"You’re welcome, but you really don’t have to thank me, you know?"

"I know, but I want to, and I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me despite how I’ve been unable to regain my memories. So, once again, thank you for everything, Gwen." Rick thanked her as he tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

Hearing this, Gwen smiled and noticed his hand, which was now on her cheek, stroking it gently and not letting go.

"Rick....?"

"Hmm?"

".....Your hand." Gwen muttered, feeling a bit flustered by what he was doing.

"What about it?" Rick grinned as he noticed her cheeks slowly turning pink.

"It feels really warm."

"Is that bad? I can remove it if you want?"

"No. Please, don’t stop. I like it."

Hearing this, Rick continued what he had been doing and Gwen sighed softly.

He had activated his Warm Touch skill, so this allowed Gwen to feel all the worrying thoughts in her mind slowly vanishing away.

Even the worries she had tried to bury deep within her, concerning Rick’s chances of success in his rite of adulthood, slowly found their way surfacing towards her mind once again, but unlike before, Gwen slowly realised she wasn’t worried about Rick failing his menhir awakening.

Instead, she had a strong sense of belief in Rick’s chances of success.

Of course, she had always believed in him in the past, but right now, the sense of belief was a lot stronger than ever before.

She didn’t know why she was feeling this way but Gwen really liked it.

She didn’t want to have any doubts about his chances of success anymore.

Now, she truly wanted to see him complete his menhir awakening and his rite of adulthood.

And so, her smile widened even more as she felt the warmth in her heart after deciding to believe in Rick a bit more than ever before.

But while this thought filled her mind, Gwen suddenly recalled something very important and she opened her eyes, staring at Rick.

"Rick?" She called out to him.

"Mm?"

"I think if you have the chance, you should thank Grog and Phyllis for what they did for you yesterday."

"I will." Rick replied honestly.

Even Rick had had this thought in mind before Gwen had mentioned it, because if it weren’t for both of them doing what they did, he probably wouldn’t have been here right now, so Rick knew he had to thank them both one way or another.

"Good, I’m sure they’ll be happy to hear you thank them. But anyway, have you thought about what we discussed last night?"

"Was it about the awakening ceremony?"

"Yes. Have you decided if you’ll partake in the menhir awakening coming up tomorrow?"

"But I thought you wanted me not to take part in the ceremony?"

"I changed my mind. I want you to take part in it if you want to. I do not want to be the one stopping you from participating in the ceremony. So if you know you want to go, then I won’t stop you."

Rick remained silent because he was unsure of what to say.

A part of him wanted to see if he would be able to awaken a talent like most other elves in the clan, but Rick was also worried about the fact that maybe the reason why the previous host had failed his first awakening might have been due to his low mana capacity.

That would explain the failure and his inability to take part in the rite of adulthood.

In other words, his chances of awakening a talent this time around would be zero, just like the first time.

Rick frowned slowly because the reality of this made him realise that he might not even be able to activate any of his emotive magic for more than a couple of seconds, which meant he wouldn’t even be able to last long in fights if he used it during combat.

Realising all this, Rick’s frown deepened even more and Gwen noticed his expression as she asked softly.

"You’re unsure about taking part in the awakening, aren’t you?"

Rick nodded his head slowly and Gwen smiled as she slowly placed her hand on his cheek, just like he had done to her a few minutes ago.

She had liked how he touched her cheek earlier, and though she was unfamiliar with such a gesture, Gwen didn’t stop him because she liked it, and right now, she hoped Rick would like what she was doing too.

Her thumb gently stroked his cheek and she called out to him, dragging his eyes to stare at hers.

"Rick?"

"Mm?"

"Do you know why mother gave you your name?"