Chapter 155
“So it’s Rahav, the Despair That Crawls Across the Sky…….”
Richard’s expression darkened further at my report.
The Despair That Crawls Across the Sky, Rahav.
One of the Three Great Calamities in the world of [Lady Maker].
A being completely unrelated to Elodie, the protagonist of the main story, whose existence is only occasionally mentioned in passing.
That was because these creatures were bosses that appeared in the DLC.
Until now, I hadn’t paid them much attention.
There was nothing more ridiculous than a slave struggling just to make ends meet worrying about the world.
‘Who’s worrying about whom?’
They’d manage just fine on their own without me.
That was how I had lived.
At least, until that bastard came before me.
‘I thought I’d be emancipated and able to run away before then.’
I never imagined I’d still be held captive by then.
Was I being punished for trying to live well on my own?
No, but honestly, this was just too unfair.
If my existence in this world was that important, they shouldn’t have made me start out as a slave.
I’m stuck in the mansion, unable to do a thing, so what am I supposed to do?
‘I should’ve possessed Aither’s body.’
Then I’d have been a prince,
with Aurora as my older sister,
I could’ve attended the academy and had fun,
and flirted with Elodie to my heart’s content, legally.
I wanted to go straight to Aither and demand that he give my body back, but far too much time had already passed.
What I had to do now was stop that calamity. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to escape, and I’d die.
“Why do you think Rahav is coming here?”
“The sudden, abnormal flood of magical beasts included numerous top-tier individuals.”
“Indeed.”
“As rulers of their respective territories, they have no reason to join hands with ordinary magical beasts and flee alongside them. They must have run because something stronger than them appeared.”
“Certainly. If a calamity-level magical beast has appeared, that would explain the current situation.”
Richard nodded as if he understood.
“But why Rahav? Aren’t there other calamities as well?”
“I saw dark clouds gathering at the far western edge of the sky.”
“Dark clouds?”
“It’s the miasma emitted by Rahav.”
The miasma could be called Rahav’s defining characteristic—the Despair That Crawls Across the Sky.
In the game, it was laid down as a basic field effect during battle and inflicted despair on poisoned enemies.
It was an unfair passive that made it impossible to fight Rahav without meeting certain conditions.
Of course, that was from an ordinary person’s perspective.
To the protagonist, who could meet those conditions, it was merely stage machinery designed to make her shine.
The problem was that the protagonist wasn’t here right now.
“Rahav…….”
Richard fell into thought for a moment.
Apparently having organized his thoughts, he nodded once more.
“I understand. I’ll report that detail to His Majesty the Emperor and discuss our preparations.”
***
After conveying my opinion to Richard, I parted ways with Helena and returned to the Imperial Princess’s Palace.
It was to meet Aurora.
I had been ordered to come see her without fail after swinging my sword, whether in training or actual combat.
Since she was bound to be horrified if I went in looking as I did, I washed myself thoroughly from head to toe.
Even then, worried that I might still smell, I was given some scented oil and applied it here and there.
Only after that did I head to Aurora’s study.
“I’m back.”
“Oh, Leon!”
Aurora, who must have been waiting impatiently for me to arrive, had been bustling around the study and greeted me brightly.
“Welcome back. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Not really.”
“Really? You’re not hiding an injury, are you?”
“I’m really fine.”
Only after getting my firm assurance did Aurora’s worried gaze ease somewhat, apparently reassured.
“How did the subjugation go? From what I’ve heard, it seems to have gone well.”
“Yes, it ended successfully. There was a minor accident, but there weren’t really any casualties.”
“I see……. What a relief.”
Aurora sighed in relief.
Of course, this invasion was merely an omen of the despair to come, but I didn’t bother mentioning it.
She would find out soon enough even if I said nothing.
“That’s all I had to report. I’m tired, so may I go get some rest?”
“Huh? Oh, um……. If you’re tired, you should go rest. You should, but…….”
Aurora trailed off, fidgeting.
Her eyes darted around as she stole glances at me.
It seemed she had something else to say.
“Did you have something else to tell me?”
“……Should I hug you?”
“…Pardon?”
The question was so out of the blue that for a moment, I thought I had misheard her.
Should she hug me?
Who?
Whom?
Why?
Aurora’s face reddened as if she had only belatedly realized what she’d said.
But she didn’t take the words back.
She fidgeted with both hands and needlessly looked away.
“N-no. I mean, it’s not like I have any strange intentions. Should I say I just want to help you as your master?”
“What does that have to do with hugging me?”
“You know, when a man comes home after working outside, the woman at home hugs him and says he worked hard…… That.”
It wasn’t as though I didn’t know about things like that.
It was a common expression of affection between lovers or married couples.
“But why do that with me?”
I was a man, but I wasn’t Aurora’s lover.
And Aurora was a woman, but she wasn’t my wife.
We were master and slave.
The master hugs the slave because the slave worked hard?
I didn’t know where slavery operated that warmly.
If Aurora had a reason to do something like that……
“Sis, could it be…”
“Huh? W-what about it?”
“Are you, by any chance… working on an idea for your new novel?”
Aurora’s face stiffened for an instant.
Was that not it?
For a moment, I thought I was wrong, but Aurora, who had frozen, suddenly nodded vigorously.
“Y-yes, that’s right! An idea for my new novel! Or should I say research? Anyway, that’s what it is.”
“I knew it.”
“In a novel I read recently, the husband supposedly gets a burst of energy when his wife hugs him tightly after he comes home from work. But I don’t really know what that feels like, so I was curious.”
“So you want to know my reaction?”
“Exactly.”
If that was all it was, I could understand.
Even when we had only just met, Aurora had given me a lap pillow under the pretext of doing research.
It was just that my emotions had welled up in the moment, and I’d glossed over it awkwardly.
It had become an awkward subject to bring up carelessly, making it difficult to ask her what she thought of it.
“If that’s the reason, then sure.”
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about doing this with someone who wasn’t my lover, but if it helped Aurora with her writing,
and if it helped her become independent, I could put up with this much.
I was a man magnanimous enough for that.
“What should I do? Just stand still?”
“Uh, yeah. Just stand there. I’ll hug you and see how it feels.”
“Understood.”
I stood still where I was, as she wished.
Aurora took a breath, then cautiously stepped closer.
One step.
Another step.
And so Aurora stood before me.
“Then…… shall I?”
“As you wish.”
I spread my arms slightly.
Aurora seemed to hesitate for a moment, then slipped both arms around my waist, beneath my arms.
Her arms wrapped around my back, and Aurora carefully pressed her body against mine.
“Y-you’re incredibly hard……. This is all muscle, right?”
“I suppose so? It probably doesn’t feel very good.”
“……”
The arms wrapped around me tightened more than before.
Aurora clung to me a little more tightly.
“You too……”
“Yes?”
“You have to hug me too. There’s not much point if I’m the only one hugging you.”
“Hmm……”
“You’re not going to help me?”
Put that way, it became difficult to refuse.
Since I had agreed to cooperate anyway, I should do it properly.
Probably.
“Understood.”
I carefully lowered my arms.
I paused to consider where and how I should hold her.
Her waist?
Her shoulders?
Her back?
It wasn’t as if I could put my hands on her butt, at least.
Her waist felt a little too suggestive, so I settled for placing my hands on her back.
Very lightly, at that.
I merely rested them there.
Since our bodies were pressed together, various sensations assailed me all at once, but I forced them aside and focused my attention outward.
‘Surely no one else is going to come in, right?’
The Emperor had barged in while I was massaging Aurora’s legs before.
I sharpened my senses to make sure nothing like that happened again.
A little more time passed.
Aurora didn’t move in the slightest as she held me.
“Isn’t that enough by now?”
Aurora didn’t answer.
I wanted to see what she was thinking, but I couldn’t see her face because the crown of her head was positioned beneath my chin.
Every now and then, I could hear her breathing. A damp warmth brushed against my chest.
Then Aurora spoke with her face buried in my chest.
“What about you……? How do you feel when I hold you like this?”
Was she asking how it felt?
Soft.
She smells nice.
Warm.
Those simple impressions were the first to come to mind, but they were too blatant for me to say aloud.
How should I answer?
“Tell me. I won’t know unless you tell me. What, is it unpleasant…?”
When I remained silent, Aurora urged me to answer.
I gave her an impression that wouldn’t cause any problems.
“It’s not unpleasant. It’s actually quite nice.”
“Only ‘quite nice’? I feel so reassured and happy like this.”
“……”
What was this?
Why was she being so bold?
Saying she felt reassured was far removed from simply commenting on an ordinary sensation.
It was something one might say only in a relationship that went beyond master and slave.
What could she have meant by saying that?
Unable to guess her intentions, I found myself speechless for a moment.
Aurora then raised her head and met my eyes.
From much closer than usual, Aurora was looking up at me.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
The gaze she directed at me held a subtle emotion intertwined with simple curiosity.
As if there were something she wanted to hear.
“Leon. Is it really only ‘quite nice’? Is that all? You don’t really want to do this? Are you just humoring me because I insisted?”
Aurora fired her questions at me aggressively, demanding an answer.
Reluctantly, I opened my mouth once more, adding a little more honesty.
“I feel at ease too. Enough that all my worries and concerns disappear.”
“Do you want to stay like this forever?”
“That……”
“I want to stay like this forever. Don’t you, Leon?”
Aurora asked again with the same bold, forward attitude.
At this point, it was almost enough to make me wonder whether she was setting a trap to socially ruin me.
“……I don’t know about forever.”
Aurora’s eyes wavered at my answer.
Had I hurt her feelings?
Was this not a trap?
With those thoughts in mind, I continued.
“But……”
“……But?”
“At least right now, I don’t want to pull away.”
Aurora’s eyes widened for an instant at those words. The blue eyes gazing at me sparkled more brightly than ever.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Really? You’re not lying?”
“I’m not lying.”
“I see……”
Only after hearing my confirmation several times did Aurora’s face slowly relax, apparently reassured.
Relief and joy.
Those emotions were plainly visible at such close range.
“That’s enough for me.”
-Fwoom.
Aurora buried her face in my chest again.
Deeper than before.
Her arms tightened a little more.
“Leon.”
“Yes.”
“I like you.”
“……What?”
“I like being like this.”
I swallowed my reply.
Because I felt I shouldn’t say anything more than that.
Instead, I put just a little strength into the arms wrapped around Aurora.
Not too much.
Just enough to feel her a little closer.
As I tried to find that degree.
We remained wrapped in each other’s arms for a long time.