Chapter 6
#06. Iris (2)
What did I just hear?
‘Breasts...?’
No matter how many times I thought it over, I couldn't believe it, but I had definitely heard her correctly.
-Would you like to touch my breasts, if you don't mind...?
All of a sudden?
Why on earth?
Why had Iris, beautiful enough that even famous celebrities wouldn't dare compare themselves to her, made such an offer to me?
‘Could I actually be handsome by elven standards?’
This was only a vague guess, but just as beastfolk women preferred burly, muscular men, perhaps I was at least somewhat handsome by elven standards.
Of course, it was only speculation.
After all, even if humans and other races had different standards of beauty, I didn't think there was anything particularly striking about me.
’...My height?‘
I was definitely tall. The last time I measured myself, I was nearly 190 centimeters. Besides, Iris also looked comfortably over 170 centimeters tall.
Of course, height was merely the most plausible possibility, and simply being somewhat tall was nowhere near enough reason to offer someone her breasts.
Had I ever been this confused and flustered in my life?
Probably not.
‘...I don't think I'll find an answer no matter how long I think about it.’
I decided to stop trying to guess the reason for her offer and move on. There was no point struggling over a problem when I didn't even know how to solve it; it would only waste time.
Besides, the important thing now was how to answer Iris's offer.
Yes or no—that was the question.
Needless to say, I was going to say yes.
What man in the world could refuse an offer from a woman as beautiful and well-proportioned as Iris?
Given the chance, I could massage them all day.
The only thing that worried me was the possibility that the offer itself might be some kind of test.
What if she was testing me to determine whether I was truly a safe and harmless human?
What if, the moment I grinned and reached out to touch them, she bombarded me with magic, calling me a shameless scoundrel?
Just imagining it sent a chill down my spine.
As much as I wanted to touch them, my life came first. If I stayed alive, another chance would come.
"I'm sorry."
Squeeze- I pinched the inside of my thigh as hard as I could. If I didn't do this, I felt like I would never have been able to refuse.
"W-what do you mean...?"
"Even so, touching the breasts of a woman I've just met is a little..."
The moment I saw Iris wearing an expression as if the world had collapsed, my heart ached as though I had committed some heinous crime.
Should I take back what I said even now?
But what if even that expression was nothing more than an act for a test?
"You don't want to touch my breasts...? Is it because I'm an elf?"
"Th-that's not it!"
I was instantly alarmed. More than one celebrity had ruined their career with a discriminatory remark about other races, and even ordinary people had to be careful about making such remarks.
I didn't particularly like other races, but that only applied to non-humanoid ones.
If they were beautiful, I didn't care whether they had horns on their heads or halos above them.
"Then do you want to touch them?"
"It's not that..."
A Möbius strip came to mind.
Even if I answered no, she would surely ask again, ’Then do you want to touch them?‘ So what on earth was I supposed to do?
Clutching my throbbing head, I fell into thought again.
‘Should I just close my eyes and go for it?’
My gaze naturally ended up on Iris's breasts. There they were—the enormous, soft-looking proof of motherhood that I had only ever seen in videos or photographs.
If she asked whether I wanted to touch them, I could dance until my shoulders popped out of their sockets.
How could they look that erotic despite not exposing even an inch of skin? I was going mad wondering how white and soft they were underneath.
At first, I had maintained an attitude of indifference, doing my best not to look at them, but Iris's out-of-the-blue offer had pushed that restraint to its limit.
"Mr. Hyunwoo...?"
Just as I was lost in thought, Iris had somehow come right up beside me, and a pleasant scent wafted from her.
It was the scent of a woman that drove lust into a frenzy.
And as I looked at Iris, beadlike tears moistening the corners of her eyes, I felt the last thread of my reason snap.
"...I want to touch them."
"Pardon?"
I had never had much patience to begin with. I was not exactly known for my perseverance, either.
Rationally speaking, no breasts were worth risking my life over, but ironically, I could proudly say that my libido was stronger than anyone else's.
"I've wanted to touch them since the moment we met. You aren't going to refuse me now, are you?"
I grabbed Iris's pale, slender wrist and demanded an answer.
A woman beautiful enough to make a powerful man sell his country—literally, a peerless beauty—had kept putting her face right up to mine and seducing me, a man who had never even been on a date with a pretty woman. I was the victim, and she was the perpetrator.
"Ah, um... y-you're too close..."
Iris could not hide her fluster at Kang Hyunwoo's sudden, aggressive change.
Fearing that she might once again be left alone here, Iris had launched an aggressive advance that the usual Iris would never have dared even imagine, but she could not help shrinking back when Kang Hyunwoo actually became so forward.
In her entire life, Iris had never even spoken to someone of the opposite sex outside official matters, let alone made physical contact with one.
Like humans, elves married, started families, and had children.
Royalty, however, traditionally and customarily did not marry.
Since Phelledia's throne belonged to whoever was chosen by the World Tree, their one true god, this was meant to eliminate at the source any factor that could cause needless discord.
Some might say that even thinking such things was blasphemous, but it was only natural given that there had been a past attempt to rebel against the World Tree and usurp the throne.
A royal bloodline was the best rallying point for a rebellion. Since the center of the rebels in that incident had also been the son of the second king, royal marriages had effectively disappeared after that.
"P-Please be gentle..."
***
The mood changed in an instant.
Unable to look directly at each other, Iris kept stealing glances at Kang Hyunwoo's fingertips, while Kang Hyunwoo kept stealing glances at Iris's breasts.
The only sound between them was the occasional plink of a water droplet falling from the ceiling. They couldn't even hear each other's breathing.
The two of them were so tense that they had forgotten to breathe, and their minds were as chaotic as a 108-shot fireworks cannon going off all at once.
"...Excuse me."
I couldn't deny that I had gotten a little carried away, but since no magic came flying at me, I decided not to worry about it.
That wasn't important right now.
After agonizing over it and working up my nerve several times, I cautiously reached out. Why did it feel so far away even though it was clearly so close?
My heart pounded as if it were about to burst.
Unlike the times my hand had found nothing but air and dropped, this time it did not fall.
Squish-
"Kyaa...?!"
Along with her adorable cry, an indescribable softness filled my palm.
This was insane.
Absolutely insane.
I simply couldn't stop my hands.
"M-Mr. Hyunwoo... P-please, wait...!"
Before I knew it, I found myself roughly kneading her breasts with both hands, but I still couldn't stop.
It felt as though I had lost control of my body.
The sensation of her tender flesh through the thin dress was a drug beyond description.
I could proudly say that even if a blade were put to my throat and I died after continuing to touch her like this, it would be a good death.
Who knew the sensation of that mass of flesh, changing shape whenever I touched it before springing back to fill my palms, could be so intoxicating? Women were unfair. They could turn a man into an idiot with nothing more than naturally occurring lumps of fat.
"Ngh... haa..."
Naturally, Iris's breathing grew rough along with Kang Hyunwoo's increasingly rough touch.
As her tension reached its peak, a flush spread across her cheeks, and the rims of her eyes turned bright red.
As Iris grew even more beautiful, as though she had put on makeup in an instant, Kang Hyunwoo unconsciously swallowed hard.
‘...I want to touch them directly.’
Humans were creatures of desire.
Even while undergoing an experience far beyond what I deserved, I kept wanting more.
How soft would her skin be if I stripped off those cumbersome clothes and touched it directly?
Just imagining it for a moment made my already aching lower body hurt.
Squeeze- The hand gripping her breast tightened.
"M-Mr. Hyunwoo... It hurts..."
The moment Iris's voice, thick with moisture, pierced my ears, the reason that had fled returned. Only then did I realize how excessively aroused I had become and pull my hands away from her breasts.
‘You fucking lunatic, you fucking lunatic, you fucking lunatic.’
Unlike moments ago, when all the blood had rushed to my head, Iris's voice cooled my mind, and the image of myself in the throes of arousal flashed through it.
The image of a lust-crazed pervert, eyes bloodshot, roughly kneading her breasts without even a speck of consideration.
Of course, I didn't regret touching her breasts. Even now, with a clear head, I could declare that the moment I had touched them was the greatest moment of my life.
The problem was that I had gotten so excited I had nearly crossed the line.
"...I'm sorry. I got too excited."
Iris had only given me permission to touch her breasts. I should have touched them gently, carefully watching her reactions, but I had ignored all that and squeezed and kneaded them however I pleased.
I'd heard that a woman's breasts were one of her sensitive spots. I had gripped them fairly hard, so there was no excuse: it was entirely my fault that the corners of Iris's eyes had reddened.
"N-no... I was the one who asked you to do it. Why are you apologizing, Mr. Hyunwoo...?"
"Even so, I wasn't considerate enough."
Iris's voice was much shakier than before, and guilt washed over me.
"I'm really all right. So... please don't worry about it too much."
Iris smiled brightly at Kang Hyunwoo. When their gazes met, Kang Hyunwoo felt a wave of emotion wash over him.
She's an angel. There's an angel here.
He felt himself falling for her all over again as she magnanimously embraced even the mistake of an inconsiderate virgin loser like him.
"M-more importantly..."
Iris hugged her throbbing breasts.
She could not say there was no pain at all, but pain was not the only sensation she felt. Something other than pain seemed to be surging through her chest.
It throbbed like pain, but it wasn't simply pain... It was that sort of feeling.
Quietly embracing the unfamiliar emotion that had come to her once more, Iris continued.
“D-did you like my breasts...?”
Her face was red enough to burst.
"Yes! Of course! They were incredibly soft."
"Ah...!"
Iris gave him a radiant smile, seeming relieved by his honest assessment.
It was a truly ironic sight, but since the people involved seemed satisfied, there was no one to point it out.
***
Recalling the ecstatic sensation, Kang Hyunwoo fell into an uncharacteristically deep contemplation.
What could he do for his first love, a woman so beautiful that words could not describe her and who had even let him touch her breasts?
Strictly speaking, she was not his first love, but that was not important right now.
‘I should start by helping her escape, right?’
He had never been to prison, but after spending 200 years alone in a dark, damp place like this, there was no way she wouldn't want out.
"Do we just need to deal with the barrier to get out of here?"
"I'm not certain, but that is probably all it would take. We can't station guards in the holy site where the World Tree resides. The same should apply to magic and magical tools."
A prison without guards, wardens, or even CCTV? It made me wonder whether such a lax prison could exist, but then I wondered how formidable the barrier protecting this place had to be for them to leave it that unguarded.
‘Come to think of it, I never expected to take escaping from prison this seriously.’
This probably wasn't the proper situation for the saying, but I finally understood what people meant when they said you never knew what life would bring.
Then, all of a sudden, I thought of something I wanted to ask Iris.
"Iris, can I ask you something I'm curious about?"
"Ah, yes. Please feel free to ask."
It might have been the most important question for planning our escape.
"Iris, how many mana circles do you have?"
Since I'd always been interested in mages, I knew about mana circles as well.
If hunters and heroes had their influence determined by ranks assigned by an association or a country, a mage's influence and ability were judged by the number of mana circles they possessed.
Naturally, the more circles they had, the stronger and more capable the mage.
Those with two or fewer mana circles were called apprentice mages, while those with three or more were recognized as reasonably experienced.
I understood that anyone with four or more was welcomed wherever they went. I had even heard that some countries treated them almost like minor nobility.
Mages with more than six mana circles, however, were not people an ordinary person could easily meet, so I couldn't say exactly what status they held, but there was a joke that the state even granted them immunity for murder.
They were that rare—and that valuable. If Iris was a high-ranking mage, I wouldn't need to do all that pointless busywork to remove the barrier. It would be like having a computer repair technician right beside me and still trying to fix the computer myself, checking every single thing one by one while watching NewTube.
"...Eight."