Chapter 80 - Ruen (2)

At the somewhat unusual sight, my thoughts momentarily ground to a halt.

If Siren had been doing that in her pajamas, I might have understood.

But it wasn't just anyone—it was Ruen, so I couldn't help feeling extremely flustered.

'Could I still be dreaming?'

It seemed highly likely.

No matter how I thought about it, it made no sense in reality, so I chuckled and rubbed my eyes, but…

No matter how much I rubbed them, Ruen showed no sign of disappearing.

'…It's real?'

I stared at Ruen with a blank expression.

As befitted a character popular enough to claim first place in the popularity rankings every time in the original novel, her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful, to say the least.

'And to top it off, her overwhelming divine-power brea… No, anyway, it wasn't enough that certain parts were incredibly large.'

Even her expression was bewitching…

I unconsciously recalled what I had read before possessing this body, then quickly shook my head to dispel the thought.

If she had been a complete stranger, perhaps it wouldn't have mattered.

But by now, we had built up enough trust and intimacy to call each other comrades, so having thoughts like that didn't seem appropriate.

'Get a grip.'

I slapped my cheek with my palm and tried to sneak away.

"Please don't go…"

Ruen began slowly wrapping her arms around mine while talking in her sleep.

At that moment, the sensation of her soft clothes and the characteristic softness of a woman's body enveloped my arm, so I couldn't help but freeze.

'……'

To be honest, as a man myself, I couldn't resist when Ruen appealed to me like this.

I decided to leave her alone rather than enjoy this as it was… and while I left Ruen alone for a while,

Ruen began crying in her sleep, repeatedly begging me not to go.

'Is she having a nightmare?'

Maybe so.

To be honest, I had no idea why Ruen was crying so sadly, but…

Still, based on what I had learned from living with her all this time, I could make a rough guess.

'It must have something to do with the false saintess.'

I carefully wiped the tears from Ruen's face and fell into thought.

The false saintess the church had created to hide the goddess's disappearance.

That fact must have brought Ruen countless hardships and adversities.

'Since she was chosen by the church rather than by the goddess, she must have suffered endless envy and jealousy from those around her.'

Moreover, despite being a false saintess, she had to pretend to be one, bearing the resulting burdens and guilt,

while struggling and suffering to somehow restore the rotten church to normal. She must have been driven to the psychological brink.

'And apparently, many of those who followed her have died recently.'

It was obvious what she must have thought the moment she became trapped in the shadow city.

As I looked at Ruen and stroked her head to tell her she had been through a lot, she slowly opened her eyes.

Judging by her slightly flushed face, it seemed she had been awake for a little while.

Just as I was about to greet her,

Ruen spoke to me in great alarm.

"Ah, I haven't jumped you yet!"

"…?"

I was flustered, unable to figure out where to begin pointing out what was wrong.

Ruen looked at me hesitantly, then seemed to realize what she had said.

Her face turned bright red, and she burrowed into the blanket.

As a result, her bottom was blatantly exposed, pulling her pure-white underwear into view, but…

I pretended not to notice and turned my gaze away.

Ruen poked her face out from beneath the blanket and spoke to me.

"But… um. You know."

I had no idea what she was trying to say.

Apparently, it was quite difficult for her to bring it up, because she mumbled and agonized over it for a long while.

Then she finally spoke to me in a voice full of embarrassment.

"Could I call you Damian instead of Lord Damian now…? Of course, if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll keep calling you Lord Damian."

She didn't need to ask permission; she could simply call me Damian.

I chuckled, wondering why she was making such a request.

"I don't mind."

"Really…? I'll really call you Damian from now on, so you're really okay with it, right? Damian?"

I didn't know what had her so excited, but I chuckled and answered her in kind.

"Sure, Ruen."

At my words, Ruen opened her eyes wide and looked at me, then smiled bashfully and spoke.

"Damian… Damian."

Ruen called my name repeatedly as she looked at me,

Then, perhaps embarrassed again, she flushed all the way to her ears, pulled the blanket over herself, and spoke.

"I-I'll sleep a little longer, so… I'll stay like this."

That made me feel mischievous, so I crawled beneath the blanket to tickle Ruen, but…

Her clothes were already quite disheveled, and as described earlier, they left her half-undressed, so I had no choice but to stop.

Her figure was slender overall, but the parts that symbolized her femininity were anything but slender.

The alluring air around her was so strong that I could believe she was a saintess in a completely different sense of the word, so I stared blankly at her.

Ruen looked at me like that, calmly reached out, and toyed with my cheek.

"……"

"……"

Just as a calm silence was settling over us,

Someone flung open the door, strode toward the bed, pulled at the blanket, and spoke.

"…What are you two doing."

I turned my gaze to the side and saw Siren looking at us with an expressionless face.

At that look, I hurriedly waved my hands and spoke.

"I don't know what it looks like, but it's not what you think."

"What do you mean by that?"

"…Come to think of it, the weather's nice today."

I tried to change the subject somehow.

But Siren didn't seem inclined to fall for such a shallow ploy, because she crossed her arms and began glaring at me.

"……"

Since she watched me without saying anything, silence alone enveloped the room.

I was wondering how on earth I was supposed to resolve this situation when

Daisy suddenly climbed onto Siren's shoulder, crossed her arms as well, and began glaring at me.

"Myaaaak. Me angwy."

"Me too."

It seemed the two of them wanted to make it very clear that they were angry, because they stared at me intently.

I waved my hands at them and spoke.

"Anyway, it's not like that."

Ruen also nodded vigorously while keeping her body wrapped in the blanket.

"That's right. Nothing has happened yet."

"…Yet?"

"Ah, n-no. I was just so flustered that my words got tangled."

Siren's expression hardened even further at Ruen's slip of the tongue as she stared at us.

I smiled awkwardly at Siren for a moment,

Then Siren climbed onto the bed, pulled my arm toward her, and spoke to Ruen.

"…Just so you know. Damian is absolutely off-limits."

"Y-yes?"

"I can concede anything else, but not Damian."

Ruen looked back and forth between Siren and me, seemingly troubled.

She apparently had no idea what she was supposed to do.

I signaled to Ruen to just say she understood and let it go, but…

"…I can't give him up either."

Ruen ignored my signal and confronted Siren head-on.

Thinking the situation had become far too complicated, I smiled awkwardly and closed my eyes.

'What should I do?'

If I had been dealing with black mages, I would have used a point explosion to at least blow something up.

But I couldn't do that to these two, and just as I was thinking this situation was giving me a headache,

Someone knocked on the door and intervened between us.

"Good morning, everyone."

Perhaps because she had received treatment, Liana greeted us with a smile, looking no different from usual.

"It's not a bad sight, seeing you all fight so energetically first thing in the morning… but there's an urgent matter. How about saving this lovers' quarrel for later?"

"L-lovers' quarrel."

"What's a lovers' quarrel?"

Ruen clearly understood what a lovers' quarrel meant, so she showed signs of considerable embarrassment.

Siren seemed unfamiliar with the term, because she looked puzzled and asked me about it.

I smiled awkwardly at Siren and explained.

"How should I put it… a quarrel between people in love?"

"Ah."

Siren nodded as if she understood.

I was smiling awkwardly at her when Liana quietly stepped forward and spoke.

"Anyway, save your pleasant lovers' quarrel for later and look at this first."

It was hard to believe she was the same person who had been tortured and covered in wounds.

I looked at Liana, somewhat amazed by how normal she seemed.

Liana brushed her long hair back, chuckling softly, and spoke.

"This sort of thing is an everyday occurrence at the Information Guild, so I'm fine. And more than anything, with the tea Lord Damian gave me, I can endure something like this without much trouble."

"…Really?"

"Yes."

Liana smiled brightly, placed some documents in my hand, and continued speaking.

"Anyway, back to the point. When I woke up last night and checked the information, I found that something quite interesting had happened in the North."

The North meant Elisia, right?

Feeling intrigued, I looked at Liana.

Liana looked back at me and told me something quite interesting.

"Apparently, Elisia killed the knight commander, one of the key figures on the eldest son's side."

The knight commander was definitely the man who had tried to pin the blame on me in the North.

I widened my eyes and looked at Liana.

Liana looked at me and spoke.

"In that sense, I think it's about time to collect the bait we've planted in the North."