Chapter 29
It was a desperate attempt to woo me.
At least, that’s how it felt to me.
I rose from the plush bed, feeling sorry for her.
Perhaps puzzled by my getting up, Aria tilted her head.
Then her ebony-black hair fell across her cheek.
The sight was undeniably sensual.
Was it really all right for a Saintess to be this alluring?
“Ashtein?”
Her clear voice was refreshing to the ear.
I forced myself to ignore her and walked over to the table, where I drank a glass of water.
The cold water slid down my throat, and I felt the heat in my head cool a little.
‘………Ashtein, would you like to do something naughtier?’
Asking to do something naughty with that innocent face?
The impact was far too great.
Are you the Holy Sword or something?
Why are you putting me to the test?
Thinking she might be joking, I looked at Aria.
Her face held no trace of mischief.
Then again, a Saintess wouldn’t seduce someone as a joke.
It meant she was that serious about her feelings.
I was a grown man, too, and a temptation like that naturally stirred my libido.
Even now, the blood rushing south was making it ache.
Did you know I’d nearly lost control and crossed the line?
“Why, why did you stop halfway?”
Aria’s eyes trembled.
With her trembling like that, I couldn’t help but notice.
That she was anxious.
Idiot.
If you were going to be so restless, you shouldn’t have said it in the first place.
“I was terribly thirsty. Want some water, too?”
“I-I’m fine.”
I went back to the bed.
Then I stroked your small head and drew your delicate shoulders into my arms.
You have a small, frail body.
It feels like you might break if I use too much force.
So I can’t tell how much strength to use.
Every time my hand touched you, you flinched.
As if anxious, distressed, or afraid.
How badly had you been hurt?
I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Hiding my anguish, I pinched her soft cheek.
“More importantly, Aria, don’t you think you’re rushing things?”
“……I-Is that so?”
You forced a smile at my words.
For some reason, that smile seemed precarious.
I quietly gazed at your face.
All sorts of thoughts swirled through my mind.
Was this really okay?
Was it all right for me to take you into my arms?
……Were you really okay with this?
Wounds don’t heal overnight.
That’s true even of physical wounds; emotional ones must be worse.
Because you can’t see them, you never know how badly they’ve festered or how serious they are.
What if an act born of my own desire reopened your wounds and made them worse?
Wouldn’t I end up hurting you in exactly the same way as the men who had lusted after you?
I couldn’t stop worrying about it.
I wanted to ask you, but I didn’t.
I knew that sometimes even a question could wound someone.
So all I could do was be myself and treat you honestly, just as I always had.
I wasn’t sure whether that was the right answer.
Maybe it wasn’t an answer at all.
Even so, I had to move forward.
Whether we liked it or not, life was a succession of choices.
I gave you the most natural smile I could manage.
“Well, I never said we wouldn’t.”
“Y-you really will do it with me?”
Aria’s cheeks flushed, color returning to her face as if she’d never been disheartened.
She looked so adorably shameless that I kissed her deeply.
Seeing you yield without hesitation, I couldn’t hide my excitement.
When I tried to pull away, you wrapped your arms around my neck as if telling me not to leave.
So we kissed for longer than I’d intended.
“Pwah, h-heh.”
Aria breathed heavily.
You were the one who’d begged, yet your face was flushed.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
You shook your head vehemently.
“I believe you more than anyone in the world.”
What a grand declaration.
It was a weighty trust, but it didn’t feel like a burden.
If anything, it made me happy.
“Aria, you’re not going to back out after coming this far, are you?”
“M-me?”
I bit her earlobe.
“You’re the one who got me worked up, so I trust you’ll take responsibility.”
“I-I’m always r-ready!”
As if you were ready. Sure.
I licked the nape of Aria’s neck.
She let out a heated sigh.
“Hah, i-it tickles.”
“That’s the point.”
I sucked on her soft nape, making a wet smacking sound.
Did women naturally smell this good?
Or was Aria special?
“Ahh, th-this isn’t naughty…… Hah!”
Her voice was utterly disheveled, the opposite of her usual dignified tone.
How wanton.
I didn’t want anyone else to hear that.
What a damnable Saintess, making me want to keep her all to myself.
“You say that, but you’re breathing pretty hard.”
“Y-you’re so mean.”
“So you don’t like it?”
“………You really are mean.”
You shot me a sidelong glare.
I found it so amusing I couldn’t help myself.
I laughed aloud.
“Aria.”
“What is it, you wicked Hero, laughing at me to your heart’s content when I’m right in front of you?”
“Do you want to do something naughty?”
“……Ugh.”
Aria drew in a breath and blushed.
Her flustered expression was a sight to behold.
“I want to. With you.”
It was a simple thing to say, but embarrassing even as I said it.
Even my face was burning.
Aria, how embarrassed must you have been when you said it?
How much courage did it take?
Just thinking about it filled me with joy.
It was proof of how much you liked me.
“Ah, u-uh, ah, ah.”
You couldn’t manage to say anything properly.
You broke off at every syllable, just like a mynah bird.
Aria kept rounding her lips, parting them a little, then closing them again.
Was she going to end up mute forever at this rate?
Realizing it was time for shock therapy, I teased her lightly.
“Are you taking deep breaths?”
“W-w-w-who do you think made me like this!”
“You’re not saying it’s my fault, are you?”
“……It is.”
“I’m glad.”
Aria.
You said you loved me.
I felt the same way.
I wanted to make you happy.
I wanted you, someone precious to me, to smile brightly.
I told you so you could be certain.
“I love you, Aria.”
Had my confession taken you by surprise?
Your eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
Your expression was a jumble of shock, joy, confusion, and every other emotion.
Then your face crumpled, and Aria’s tears began to fall.
“I-I love you too.”
Crying women are ugly.
That was what I’d always thought.
But even your tearful face was beautiful.
Was I seeing you through rose-colored glasses?
Still, I didn’t mind.
I wiped your tears with my finger and asked.
“So, when are we doing that naughty thing?”
“……N-now.”
“You’re going to do it in your vestments?”
That would paint a rather blasphemous picture.
I expected Aria to snap at me to stop talking nonsense.
But contrary to my expectation that she’d get angry, she fidgeted with her fingers and asked me,
“……Ashtein, do you prefer me in my vestments?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I-if that’s your preference, I can a-accommodate you.”
Good heavens.
My Saintess was far too naughty.
“Anything’s fine, as long as it’s you.”
“………Uuu, saying something so embarrassing……”
“What’s embarrassing about that? I’m just saying I like what I like.”
“I-I’m going to say something embarrassing too!”
“Go ahead.”
“Touch me.”
I fell silent.
She really was saying something embarrassing.
“……Where?”
“D-do you want me to say it out loud?”
I hadn’t intended to, but it was a rather tempting suggestion.
It would certainly be easier to focus on the places she wanted touched than to feel my way vaguely around her erogenous zones.
“Yeah.”
“P-please t-touch my p-pussy. T-touch it r-really, really h-hard.”
“You mean it?”
“Tease me, torment me. A-Aria’s pussy—touch it as much as you want.”
Ah, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I put my hand on Aria’s plump thigh.
My hand crept up her thigh little by little, finally reaching her hip.
My fingertips caught on a soft piece of fabric.
I knew instinctively it was her underwear.
“I’m taking them off, okay?”
Aria nodded, her face flushed.
When I pulled down her panties, her tightly closed slit was revealed.
She was completely smooth, without a single strand of pubic hair.
Perhaps unable to bear my gaze fixed on her crotch, she asked,
“S-should I take off my vestments, too?”
“No. I like it better this way.”
I found it more arousing when she was still wearing some clothes than when she was completely naked.
Looking at her panties, I saw a stain where the fabric touched her crotch.
Wondering what it was, I touched it, and a sticky, transparent fluid clung to my finger.
“……This is…”
“Ah, ah, I-I, that’s……”
Aria couldn’t bring herself to answer; she trailed off and lowered her head.
Her face, which I’d thought was already plenty red, grew even redder, as though it had yet to reach its limit.
With her naturally pale skin, her embarrassment was plain to see.
I spoke casually so Aria wouldn’t feel awkward.
“After all that foreplay, it’d be strange if you weren’t aroused.”
“R-right? That’s, that’s only natural, isn’t it?”
In any case, seeing her with her vestments on and only her panties off made the blood rush south.
With my left hand, I caressed the plump folds of her pussy, while my right gripped her waist.
I continued the gentle caresses for several minutes.
“Mmm, ahh, ah.”
Twitch, twitch.
I’d only touched the area around her sex, but Aria reacted so sensitively, making soft, wet sounds.
The Saintess was very sensitive.
I felt playful.
“Aria, aren’t you feeling it a little too much? Do you like my fingers that much?”
“……D-don’t say th-things like that, hngh.”
When I touched her clitoris, a melting moan spilled from her lips.
At some point, my fingers had grown slick with viscous wetness.
Was it because I’d drawn out the foreplay?
There was so much of her natural lubrication that it ran down her perineum, enough for me to enter her right away.
Since I was already touching her, I decided to make her feel good and worked her clitoris and vaginal opening.
Aria covered her mouth, trying to hold back her moans.
Every little thing she did was so lewd.
“I’d rather you moan as much as you want.”
“W-wouldn’t it be weird if I panted too much?”
“What does it matter? It’s only natural when you’re turned on.”
I persistently touched Aria’s pussy as she tried to close her thighs.
Perhaps the fingers rubbing her clitoris and vagina felt good, because tension gathered in her waist and thighs.
“Mmm, hngh, hng…… Ah, ah.”
Aria had been letting out sweet, fruity moans when her body suddenly trembled and she clung to me.
It seemed she’d reached her climax.
“Hwoo, I-I’m sorry for being such an e-easy woman.”
Perhaps embarrassed that she’d come first, Aria covered her face with both hands and apologized.
You apologize too much.
“As long as it felt good for you.”
“……B-but when are you going to take your clothes off, Ashtein?”
That’s right.
I still hadn’t taken my clothes off.
I scratched the side of my head.
“I’ll take them off now.”
As soon as I said it, I took off my trousers and underwear.
A stiff, erect cock sprang out, and Aria sucked in a breath.
“Huh?”
“Is it… a little big?”
When I asked awkwardly, Aria’s face turned pale.
My cock was about as long as her small face.
“……Is that a club?”