Chapter 27
Fortunately, it didn't seem to be quite that severe.
More precisely, it seemed that only the scent that had been put in the room for use had spread through it, so things had stopped at this level. If it hadn't, the Hero and I might have gone into heat and done something about it long ago. Even now, my body was so overheated that I was barely managing not to touch myself right away.
“I’m sorry. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve just booked a normal twin room..”
You don't need to feel that sorry..
If anyone was at fault, it was me more than Cecilia, who had forced me into this impossible situation. No, actually, there was no need to assign blame here.. This had happened entirely because of misunderstandings and coincidence, not because anyone had done anything wrong.
My attempt to save money had accidentally lined up with Lumia's character concept, Cecilia had happened to force me into an impossible situation.. and then, because refusing to act accordingly would have broken character, I had no choice but to enter the same room, only to find a scent made from an aphrodisiac inside?
At this point, I was almost starting to think the world itself was bullying me.
Someone might look at the situation and say it was actually perfect for seducing the Hero, but my goal was only to seduce him to buy time; I absolutely wasn't doing this because I wanted to have sex with him.
It must be..
‘Phew..’
It's too hard to endure.
I don't know what pleasure as a woman feels like, and I don't want to know.. but I kept feeling the urge to touch myself, to experience it, and for some reason my lower abdomen kept throbbing, driving me crazy. A sinking feeling? No, it seemed a little different from a sinking feeling.
In erotic games or manga, I never believed those lines about a woman's lower abdomen going thump-thump or whatever; I just thought they were there to heighten the titillation. But apparently they weren't. That sort of sensation, of one's lower abdomen throbbing and all, was real.
When I used to see aphrodisiacs in games, I thought they were no big deal..
Since merely smelling it had affected me this much, I thought I vaguely understood why people who actually swallowed an aphrodisiac lost their senses and could barely even keep their bodies under control. I was already having trouble standing; how much worse must it be for those who actually took one?
But why had the area down there felt damp for a while now..?
...
Ah..
“...”
Damn it.
I want to return to my original body..
It was awkward to say this about myself, but if I had been here alone without the Hero, I might have masturbated right then and there. I didn't know how to do that with a woman's body, but that's how hard it was to hold back right now.
If even I was having trouble enduring this, how much worse must it be for the Hero?
I started to turn toward the Hero, then stopped.
There was no point looking when he was obviously covering his tent with the blanket. As if deciding this wouldn't do, the Hero got up and went to the window, opening it. The scent filling the room began to dissipate.
That only meant the scent had faded; it didn't do anything about the aphrodisiac already inside our bodies and running rampant.
I was afraid I'd really lose my mind if I turned around and saw his tent, so I lay on the bed with my head turned away from where the Hero was. I figured that if I kept my eyes closed like this, I'd eventually fall asleep.
Would I be okay..?
From the Hero's appearance that I'd glimpsed earlier, he had looked dangerously close to his limit, but he wouldn't.. do anything to me while I was asleep, would he..?
“Lumia..”
“...”
I didn't answer when the Hero called me.
More precisely, it wasn't that I couldn't answer; I was afraid of what he might do if I did. No matter how kind-hearted a eunuch he was, he was still the protagonist of an adult game, so I couldn't help feeling anxious.
Thinking that, I clutched the blanket around me and curled up.
...
...
But the words I had expected him to say never came.
“As expected.. you're anxious, aren't you?”
“...”
“I was going to ask because I thought I was making you anxious.. but you don't have to be anxious anymore.”
“..?”
What was he suddenly talking about?
I turned my head and glanced at the Hero, who had gotten up at some point and was walking toward the door, facing it.
Wait a second, surely he wasn't..
“I’ll sleep outside. Rather than sleep here with you while making you anxious, I’d rather sleep outside.”
Ah..
That idiot was serious.
If I didn't stop him, he was obviously going to go outside and spend the night.
“...”
Do I really need to.. be anxious?
I suddenly had that thought.
Come to think of it, the Hero had always acted for my sake. Whenever I was in danger, he had always been the first to appear and save me, and he had always steadfastly watched over and cared for me, even though my character was supposed to be unable to speak or hear.
Whether it was with Cecilia or when we met those adventurers, the Hero had always told them that I couldn't speak so they would look after me, and he had always gotten angry on my behalf. Come to think of it, whenever the Hero got angry, it was only when I had been insulted or something had happened to me.
By now, I couldn't possibly fail to understand.
The Hero's personality was genuine.
I knew he wasn't the kind of guy who would do anything to me while I slept.. at least, I knew that much.
In a way, what had happened was my fault. Even though I was deceiving everyone for the sake of everyone's survival, if you asked whether the greater blame belonged to the Hero rather than to me, who was more at fault, the answer was absolutely not. But on a night like this, in a city where I didn't know what dangers might be lurking, was I really going to let him sleep outside..?
I'm not garbage.
“L-Lumia?”
He probably hadn't even imagined that I would suddenly take his hand.
I saw the Hero looking down at me, his face flushed bright red and his expression thoroughly flustered. I knew all too well how hard it was for a man to suppress sexual desire, so I understood how much superhuman self-control the Hero was exercising to hold himself back right now.
Look at him—his face was bright red.
But even so, I couldn't just stand by and watch him go sleep outside alone.
I wasn't that kind of garbage.
Since I couldn't speak, I shook my head to tell him not to leave and tugged on the hand I was holding. I had no hope of pulling him along with my strength, so I grabbed his hand with both of mine and tugged. Even then, perhaps because I was still too weak, he didn't budge at all.
But he must have understood what I meant.
“Are you sure..? You must be anxious with me here..”
I shook my head.
No, of course I was anxious.
I couldn't overpower him, we were different sexes, and now I had the scent of the aphrodisiac to contend with as well, even if it was weak, so I couldn't help being even more frightened. But if I left a party member, a comrade, to sleep alone just because of that, wouldn't I lose the right to call myself a comrade?
I wasn't that heartless.
And..
I wasn't some insane woman who would see a guy going out of his way to sleep outside to spare me discomfort, yet still worry that he'd rape me. I trusted him that much; I knew he was absolutely not the kind of person who would betray that trust—until now, I had known it from his character setting, and now I knew it from experience.
I smiled at him the way Lumia would.
- Let's sleep together. You don't have to go outside.
Even after my message, the Hero still showed no sign of intending to come back in.
This wouldn't do.
“Uh.. Lu-Lumiaa?!”
Argh, what a frustrating idiot..
Using all my strength, I dragged him to the bed and pushed him down onto it.
With the Hero lying there, bewildered, I crawled across the bed to his side and lay down in my place. It was a little embarrassing, but I had a conscience; I couldn't let everyone else sleep inside while I left him to sleep outside alone.
Yes, that was all.
“Um.. Lumia.”
“...”
“Thank you.”
What did he have to thank me for?
I couldn't understand what he was thinking, buying the room with his own money and then thanking me.
“I’ll definitely keep the promise I made to you last time.”
“..?”
A promise?
Had there been one?
Well, he wouldn't have said that if there wasn't one.
Since telepathy was the only way I could answer, and Lumia wasn't the sort of person to respond to words like that with telepathy, I merely lay there in silence.
I just want to fall asleep like this, but I can't get to sleep..
My whole body felt restless, and I had no idea how I was supposed to fall asleep.. Couldn't I just somehow drift off with the feeling that, after one thing led to another, I had fallen asleep? The atmosphere of lying here with my back to the Hero like this was.. pretty intense.
It was good that, as he had said, he didn't seem to have any intention of doing much to me, but what if I woke up to find him hugging me like last time? What was I supposed to do then? Even more absurd was that, although I had been startled that time, I hadn't found it disgusting or anything.
He wouldn't, right..?
I hoped not.
The Hero's embrace was certainly large and warm, but after a few embarrassing incidents like that, if I opened my eyes to find myself being hugged again, it would really be a little..
...
No.
I’ll just go to sleep..
I want to sleep..
I closed my eyes.