Chapter 39
Last night was intense, too.
Even when I tried not to make a sound, I couldn't stop the breaths escaping me on their own.
Surely everyone staying in the rooms next door must have heard us.
The inn wasn't very soundproof.
Ain said it didn't matter.
Even so, I was embarrassed.
I'd made such wanton sounds and whimpered like a bitch in heat.
I'd be terribly embarrassed if I ran into the other people staying at the inn.
H-hey, but you know?
In proportion to that, I also feel an unbearable sense of fulfillment.
Knowing that you want me fills me with indescribable joy.
Is that strange?
I know you'll tell me it's fine.
You're the one who says it's okay even if I become strange.
That's why I love you.
The more Ain loves me, the more I think I might be able to love myself, even if only a little.
It's all thanks to you, Ain.
I slowly lifted my eyelids.
When I opened my eyes, I saw your broad back.
It's the dependable back that's carried me so often.
“Did you sleep well?”
You must have noticed me stirring, because Ain asked right away.
“……Yes, I slept well.”
Ain always gets up before I do.
That makes me a little sad.
I want to take my time gazing at your sleeping face in bed, you know.
Someday, even if I have to stay up all night, I'll do it.
Your face will seem incredibly special to me then, won't it?
As I indulged in such a silly fantasy, you turned around.
You were neatly dressed.
Ain's face is incredibly handsome.
If I'd seen him back then, I might have called him a pretty boy.
He's very good at making use of his looks.
Just look at that smile.
It stirs my heart however it pleases.
“You're cute today, too.”
“……Hyaa.”
“……?”
Ain raised an eyebrow and opened his eyes wide.
He probably said it without giving it much thought.
But I wish you'd understand.
Sometimes, a frog dies after being hit by a stone thrown without a thought.
Feeling the frog's plight all too keenly, I clasped my hands over my heart.
“A-Ain is wonderful, too.”
He said, “Hmm, what? Is that a compliment? You tried hard,” and pinched my cheek.
What was that reaction?
I didn't say it to compete with you.
I meant it sincerely.
Why won't you understand?
I puffed out my cheeks.
“I-I'm not joking. I-I really do think you're wonderful.”
“I really do think Aria's cute, too.”
My face grew hot.
No matter how many times I hear it, I never get used to it.
No matter how many times I hear it, it still feels new.
My heart was pounding so hard that it wouldn't be strange if it stopped at any moment.
He was grinning like a mischievous boy.
It was terribly unfair.
I pulled the blanket over my head.
“Y-you're way too shameless!”
“I'm just telling the truth. What's the problem?”
“I-I was saying that I really think you're wonderful, too, so why did you say I tried hard? You don't believe me, do you? You don't believe what I say!”
I raised my voice like someone who'd lost her mind.
Ain smiled faintly.
“I believe you.”
“Liar! Otherwise, you wouldn't be so calm! M-my heart's pounding like this!”
Ain laughed softly, then yanked away the blanket covering me.
My blanket, my defensive wall, vanished in an instant. I covered my face with both hands and leaned my upper body back.
Ain took my hands away from my face with his large, firm hands and placed them against his solid chest.
“See? It's pounding.”
“……Your heart is supposed to pound. You'd die if it didn't.”
“Isn't it beating faster than usual?”
“……I don't know.”
“Then put your ear here and listen.”
He skillfully wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
I ended up pressed tightly against his chest.
We were so close.
I felt like even my breathing might stop.
Not knowing what to do, I trembled.
I couldn't tell whether the heartbeat I heard by my ear was Ain's or mine.
“W-waah. I-I can hear it, I can, so p-please stop.”
“Let's stay like this a little longer.”
“……Like this?”
“Yeah.”
“Heuk.”
I hiccupped.
Staying still like this, his faint scent wafted over me until my head started to spin.
H-hey, you know?
Th-this is too much stimulation.
Ain might not feel a thing, but I-I feel like my head's going to melt from happiness.
I feel like I'm going to float away somewhere.
I have a tingling, ticklish feeling below my navel, too.
I can't believe I'm getting turned on again after how intense things were last night.
I-I'm going to go into heat at this rate.
My underwear will get soaked, and it'll feel uncomfortable.
I didn't want to end up like that, so I struggled with all my might.
But Ain held me fast like a bear trap and wouldn't let go.
No matter how much I struggled in his arms, he didn't budge.
That's right.
If you put your mind to it, you could restrain me as much as you wanted.
I know that, too.
But why is that?
It doesn't bother me very much.
……If anything, I like it.
It was so strange that I could stay in his arms for several minutes without feeling smothered.
My face must have turned as red as a ripe persimmon by now.
My thighs must have been completely soaked, too.
I didn't tell him.
I was embarrassed.
Stammering, I asked him,
“Wh-when, when are you going to l-let, let me go?”
“Aria's so warm. You're like a portable heater.”
Well, that portable heater was going to burst on its own before long.
I hurriedly changed the subject.
“A-aren't you going to eat? I-I'm hungry.”
“Oh, eating is important.”
He quickly let go of me.
Now that I was free, I let out a trembling breath.
I-if you'd held me just a little longer, my heart really might have stopped.
“Then I'll go downstairs and order some food.”
“L-let me come with you!”
“You must be tired after I wore you out so much last night. Just lie down.”
That's sexual harassment.
It's sexual harassment, so why am I grinning like an idiot?
Even when I tried to make the corners of my mouth turn down, they wouldn't obey me.
Heehee, I felt like I was about to burst into an unladylike laugh, too.
My life was overflowing with happiness.
It felt like eating a whole armful of sweet desserts.
So sweet, so sweet that it was almost bitter.
I shook my head, trying to dispel the euphoria.
Otherwise, I didn't think I'd be able to speak properly.
“If I make Ain do everything, I'll be terribly ungrateful.”
That's right.
It would be ungrateful.
Ain was always trying to do everything for me.
His kindness was so sweet that if I kept accepting it, I'd turn into a good-for-nothing.
I could order food by myself, after all.
I tried to get out of bed.
Mwah.
A kiss.
He kissed me.
You stole a kiss from me.
I was left dazed.
“Ah, ah.”
Like a sinking ship, my consciousness was sinking, too.
No, sinking wasn't the right word.
Ascending to heaven.
This was ascension.
“Don't make such a fuss. Stay put.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
I shook my head furiously.
Before Ain left the room, he asked a quick question.
“Oh, but aren't you going to keep speaking casually now?”
“Y-you promised you'd only do it yesterday.”
“That's a shame. I liked it when Aria spoke casually.”
At those words, my heart sank.
“……D-do you dislike it when I speak politely?”
Because of my ‘conditioning,’ I was used to speaking politely, so being told to speak casually was a pretty unreasonable demand.
Besides, even dropping the honorifics when addressing Ain had taken a tremendous amount of courage.
“No. I like every side of you.”
He smiled, left those words behind, and went out to order food.
I absentmindedly thought back to what he'd said.
‘No. I like that side of you, too.’
‘No. I like that side of you, too.’
‘No. I like that side of you, too.’
His voice replayed in my head like a video on repeat, turning my mind into a flower garden.
I kicked the bedsheets over and over.
The world looked different.
Was the world always this beautiful?
“Hwaa.”
I took a deep breath.
Back then, I couldn't breathe properly because I was suffering. These days, I'm so happy I can hardly breathe.
Maybe I'd let my guard down too much.
I calmed my excitement.
After he saved me, I made a resolution.
What kind of resolution, you ask?
It's a simple one.
‘I'll live for Ain.’
It might sound like an abstract resolution, but I can't think of anything more concrete for me.
If he wants it, if it'll help him, I'll do anything.
I want to be helpful to Ain.
I don't want to hold him back.
I want to work hard and walk alongside you.
To do that, training is essential.
I watched a cluster of white light burst from my hand.
At some point, I learned to summon it like this just by focusing.
Holy power.
Could I use this holy power to cast a divine spell that would help him?
“It's definitely worth trying.”
It's better than doing nothing.
I let the light in my hand disperse.
“………That aside.”
I looked between my thighs.
It's so wet.
When I touched my slit, sticky arousal clung to my fingers.
I'm soaked.
How could I get this wet just from being held and hearing you whisper words of love?
Ain's usual words came to mind.
‘You're so lewd, Aria.’
‘My Saintess is so lewd, I swear.’
……Was I really that lewd?
I was just thinking I should change my underwear when—
Creak.
The door opened, and someone came in.
Of course, it was someone I knew.
It was Ain.
Scratching the back of his head, he spoke as if he'd made a blunder.
“Ah, I left the money behind, didn't I………?”
Ain couldn't finish his sentence.
Why was that?
I tried to imagine what Ain must be seeing.
I must have been touching my crotch on the bed.
Then I'd probably say this with a stiff smile.
“Ah, th-this is…”
“Sorry, I interrupted your fun.”
Click.
Ain shut the door, holding the leather pouch full of money.
No.
That's not it.
I got to my feet.
Then I opened the door and ran after Ain, who was walking briskly into the distance.
“No! No! It's not what you think!”
“Mm, no. Don't be embarrassed. I heard it's only natural, so I didn't think it'd build up again so quickly. I guess my virility really isn't enough……”
“Aaaaaah! No, that's not it!”
It looked like clearing up the misunderstanding would take a very long time.
It was uncertain whether I could clear it up at all.
He folded his arms, looked up at the ceiling, and closed his eyes.
He looked like a philosopher facing an unsolvable problem.
“I'll go order breakfast. Want to do it for a little while before the food's ready?”
Do it?
I wasn't so naive that I couldn't understand what he meant.
He was clearly asking me to have sex.
It was a misunderstanding.
Nothing more than a mishap caused by a false assumption and terrible timing.
That's what I was going to say.
“………I do.”
……I really do.
* * *
Azazel hadn't slept a wink.
All night, she'd been absorbed in masturbating to the sounds of sex coming from next door.
She'd only been able to stop once the sounds from the room next door had died down.
Sexual desire was a fleeting urge.
Once she'd forcibly worked that desire into a frenzy, all that remained was deep, deep depression and self-loathing.
When her reason returned, she finally wondered if she was going crazy.
“……I'm tired.”
Dark circles had sunk beneath her eyes.
The girl who'd looked neat and well-groomed just a few days ago had become a haggard wreck.
It was a dramatic change.
Still, the one bit of good news was that, perhaps because her body was tired, the sleep that had eluded her so long was finally washing over her.
Just as she lay down on the bed, thinking she'd get a little sleep, a dazzling shaft of light shone in through the window.
“…It's morning already.”
I'll draw the curtains.
Azazel snapped her fingers, and the curtains closed.
It was a simple telekinesis spell.
Even though the morning was bright, darkness filled the room.
Then again, her night was just beginning.
“……Sleepy.”
Azazel buried her head in the pillow.
The bed wasn't especially comfortable, but she didn't care as long as she could get some restful sleep.
And so she went to bed.
“………Hhk.”
It was only for a moment.
She sat up, eyes bloodshot and wide open.
She'd had a terrible nightmare.
Ashtein said he hated her.
He told her to get lost.
Then he made love to another woman.
“Awful.”
There's no way that could be real.
It had to be a nightmare.
Azazel closed her eyes again.
She kept waking from nightmares, falling asleep again, and waking from another nightmare.
As it went on, her stress grew unbearable.
After waking up for the fourth time, she felt terribly thirsty.
As she got up to get a drink of water, moans came from the room next door again.
They're doing it already?
They've got plenty of energy.
Azazel pressed a hand to her chest.
She felt stifled, miserable, dizzy, and like she was going crazy.
“……Am I still not fully awake from the nightmare?”
Maybe that was it.
Azazel left her room and knocked on the door of Ashtein's room.
It was something she never would have imagined doing under normal circumstances, but it sprang from her confused belief that she was having a nightmare.
Bang, bang, bang.
After she'd knocked several times, Ashtein opened the door, his upper body bare.
He looked flustered by the unexpected visitor.
“……Azazel?”
His body smelled lewd.
Azazel made a bitter face.
“Could you keep it down a little? I'm staying in the room next door.”
“……Uh?”
Ashtein reacted as if her soft, gentle voice were unfamiliar.
Azazel turned away without listening to what he had to say.
“I can put up with the noise at night.”
She tried to walk away.
But her body wouldn't do what she wanted.
Then Azazel swayed.
She felt as if her vision were moving on its own.
Crash.
Azazel collapsed.
It was as if she'd fainted.
‘Is she messing with me?’
It didn't look like a joke.
She wasn't the kind of woman who'd pull a prank like this, either.
Ashtein went over to the fallen girl.
Azazel was unconscious.
He wondered what he should do about the situation.
What would Aria say?
He looked toward the Saintess, like a student hoping his teacher would provide an answer.
“Hyeuk, hngh, uu, hee.”
……Had they enjoyed themselves a little too much?
The Saintess was twitching her legs, drool spilling carelessly from her mouth.
She wasn't in any condition to ask for advice.
“……For now, should I carry her to her room?”
Ashtein had a headache.