Chapter 27
Enya didn't say anything.
Why she'd come back to Quaalid.
Why she'd lost her powers and grown weak.
What serious illness she was suffering from—she said she wouldn't tell him.
Instead, she said he could do whatever he wanted.
She'd do anything she could with her body in return.
That's what she'd said.
He understood that even friends could have things they couldn't tell each other.
He had no intention of using their friendship as an excuse to force her to reveal anything shameful.
But.
If those circumstances had to do with death.
**
When he touched Enya, his chest hurt a little.
Enya turned her head away from him.
Their lips parted, naturally giving her a chance to speak.
“Hah... Taal, wait, you—you’re acting strange right now. I’ll help you, so...”
“That's not it.”
“Taal, mmph.”
It wasn't the answer he wanted, so he silenced her again.
He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, then lifted her chin and kissed her.
A light kiss, without using his tongue.
When he stole her soft lips again, Enya let out a moan.
Their lips parted with a soft smack.
“Ah...”
At the sound, Enya's face turned bright red. She shut her eyes and trembled.
Even so, she struggled to escape his hold.
Her slender arms tried to push him away.
Like an animal caught in a trap and thrashing about, she looked so helpless and fragile.
Though she struggled, she couldn't even get free of one of Tarmin's arms, and instead ended up clinging to him.
He even found himself more concerned with not hurting her than with keeping her from getting away.
A moment later, an emotion coiled around him.
A sticky, pitch-black emotion.
Tarmin hesitated, but soon shook his head and cast it off.
He had to keep the purpose of this game in mind.
Suppressing the strange feeling, he said,
“That's not what I want to hear. You know that, don't you?”
Enya's eyes were damp, but still defiant.
“...Taal, you're acting strange. Right now.”
“Are you not going to answer?”
Enya glared up at him defiantly and said,
“I can't answer anything while you're like this.”
“Oh, is that so? Suit yourself.”
She'd refused to answer him, so he should have felt frustrated, but right now he had nothing to lose.
‘Whatever I wanted’ was right there in front of him.
He leaned close again.
“Ngh.”
Just before their lips touched, Enya shut her eyes and hunched her neck instead of struggling.
She seemed to have realized she couldn't escape by force and decided to endure it.
But Tarmin had kissed her before.
He already knew how to make Enya melt.
When he pried her lips open with the tip of his tongue, her body gave a small twitch.
He lightly stroked her gums, then slipped between her teeth and inside.
He explored her mouth, found her tense tongue, and gently sucked it in.
“Mmmph.”
He felt the tension gradually leave Enya's hunched body.
Normally, he would have wrapped an arm around her waist to support her as she went limp.
But this time, he let her sag and focused on the kiss.
-Mmph, haa, mmmph.
Wet smacking sounds and ragged breaths.
The sound of him sucking at a liquid a little stickier than wine.
He paused the kiss and whispered something ticklish in her ear.
“Enya, you're weak when it comes to kissing.”
“...I don't know.”
He relentlessly tormented her weakness.
Even as the strength left her body, her tongue remained stiff, as though she didn't know what to do.
He ravaged it as he pleased.
He entwined their tongues tenderly, then sucked at hers however he liked.
When the long kiss ended, he stood up.
Enya was slumped on the floor in front of the bedroom door, completely disheveled.
“Haaah... haaah...”
Enya breathed out, flushed with heat, and stared into space.
Tarmin looked at her expression and smiled faintly, then flinched.
In the moment when his lust was briefly sated, he realized what that dark, sticky pleasure was.
A sense of domination.
The cowardly, sinister sense of domination he'd felt while overpowering and toying with her as he pleased.
His true self, hidden beneath the pretext of betrayal.
Nausea rose in his throat.
“Ugh.”
He turned his head and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Once he finally settled his stomach and looked at Enya, she didn't seem to have noticed.
He clenched his teeth.
Beneath her disheveled shirt and the hem of her rucked-up skirt, he could see her snow-white thighs.
He had to arm himself with lust again.
So what if she wouldn't answer?
Why not enjoy it?
Enya, isn't that what you actually want, too?
He grabbed Enya's arm and pulled.
“Get up.”
“Taal?”
He hauled Enya to her feet and dragged her into the bedroom.
He threw her onto the bed.
Enya groaned as she fell.
“Ow!”
Had he used too much force?
Regretting that he might have hurt her, he pinned both her wrists above her head before she could collect herself.
Holding her wrists down, he looked at her.
“Enya.”
She blushed for a moment, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them, her expression was resolute.
“Do whatever you want.”
Instead of answering, she told him he could do anything he pleased.
His chest hurt again, but he clenched his teeth and shouted,
“So you're not going to answer me?”
Even now, Enya wouldn't open her mouth.
He gripped the front of her shirt, as if to threaten her.
If only she would resist.
If only she would be ashamed and refuse him.
Then he could pretend it was all a joke and let it go.
Even as he pulled up her clothes, Enya showed no fear.
Her snow-white breasts were revealed above her white undergarments.
“Enya.”
She didn't answer.
What came next? And after that?
Would he keep tormenting her like this while Enya continued to say nothing, the two of them forever moving in parallel lines?
Why wouldn't she answer him?
Was it because he was a useless hunter who'd dropped out of the adventure?
Because he was a coward who couldn't even kiss her without some excuse or another?
She was so close, yet he couldn't reach her.
The truth of it hurt his chest, and he couldn't bear it any longer.
The only thing he knew was the prophecy that Enya would die in Quaalid.
Die? Who?
His vision blurred.
Sobbing, he voiced a single wish.
“Enya, don't die.”
Was this what prayer in a cathedral on the other side of Quaalid was like?
They said people there offered prayers every day, though God never answered them.
“Don't die.”
Don't die and leave me behind.
**
Tarmin was acting strange.
From his eyes, strained as though he were trying not to fall asleep, and his aggressive tone, she guessed he was under some kind of suggestion.
‘Word of Discord,’ perhaps—a kind of magic that sowed discord by making comrades suspicious of each other. But in this body, she couldn't sense it precisely.
Apart from getting full after eating a little less, this female body was utterly useless.
She could only guess that some scheme had reached out to him too, just as a knight had approached her.
Had Tarmin, in the end, suffered because of her just like Sigona had?
The moment that thought occurred to Enya, she finally made up her mind.
It was time to leave.
She'd gained a lot during her brief stay in Quaalid.
She'd even ended up taking back the ring she'd intended to return, and, more than she deserved, gained a lovely little sister who called her big sister.
Most of all, there was Taal.
She'd only meant to watch over him for a little while, but they'd walked through the festival together and strolled along the lakeshore. What a luxury.
She'd been able to lift the curse that bound him.
They'd shared a kiss while drunk.
It was enough.
Just thinking about it made her heart swell until it felt ready to overflow.
The knight who'd seized her had surely appeared at exactly the right time.
If he'd come sooner, she would have regretted leaving. If he'd come later, she might not have been able to let go of her attachment.
“So you're not going to answer me?”
And so, she didn't answer.
She'd held out so well until now.
If she could just endure a little longer, ‘everyone’ could have a happy ending.
There was no need to ruin it at this point, was there?
When he said he'd do as he pleased, she deliberately resisted even more.
Her body was useless anyway, and she meant it when she said he could do whatever he wanted.
It was like a final rite offered to Tarmin.
When he'd dragged her into the bedroom, her heart had fluttered a little, but instead of forcing himself on her, Tarmin had broken down sobbing.
His final words had made her catch her breath.
“Don't die.”
The hunter was offering her another ring.
She mustn't accept it.
She mustn't answer.
But.
The happiness she'd carefully filled to just the right level overflowed at those words.
“I won't die.”
That overflowing feeling was called lingering attachment.
“Really?”
Because her crybaby Taal was begging her.
Instead of answering, she reached out.
She pulled his head toward her and held him close.
With him crying for her, she couldn't even let herself cry freely.
And it wasn't just crying.
Feeling her chest grow damp, Enya sighed.
Ah.
Now even the right to die had been taken from her.
**
The first thing Tarmin did after he stopped crying was straighten Enya's clothes.
He pulled down her rucked-up shirt and brushed off the dust.
Enya, of course, was dumbfounded.
“Now you care?”
He was too embarrassed to say anything.
He rubbed his nose and looked away.
“I, uh... I'm sorry.”
His mind must have been completely messed up an hour ago.
He'd toyed with Enya, and when things hadn't gone the way he wanted, he'd buried his face in her chest and sobbed.
Remembering himself bawling that she mustn't die made his face burn.
After crying his heart out, he did feel better, but the thought of her teasing him about it later made his stomach ache.
“Um, Enya.”
He looked at Enya, intending to say it was late and he should head home.
Enya was taking off her top.
Tarmin's head snapped away at the sight of her bare white skin.
Enya chuckled.
“Now you care? You buried your face in them just fine a moment ago.”
“Nooo...”
He wanted to run away from embarrassment, but after what he'd done, he couldn't.
Come to think of it, he hadn't just buried his face in her breasts while sobbing. He might even have unconsciously enjoyed their softness.
Enya tossed her top into a basket in the corner of the room and said,
“I'm a mess with tears and snot. I can't sleep like this, can I? I need to wash up.”
Her bra was wet and stained, too.
Tarmin stood up with his head turned away.
Now was his chance to run.
“Yeah, you're right. I need to wash up! It's bedtime! Anyway, I'm sorry, and let's talk again tomorrow!”
He decided to leave the hard part to the Tarmin who'd wake up tomorrow.
No one could beat Enya when she was this confident.
He sensed danger.
Besides, he didn't know where to look.
Enya had always worn long clothes that covered her body, but now she stood before him confidently, even in her underwear.
Just then.
As he started to walk away, Enya's hand clamped onto the waistband of his pants.
He had to bring the leg he'd been lifting back down.
He could have restrained her with one arm, but the moment she grabbed his clothes, all his strength drained away as if a viper had bitten him.
“Where are you going?”
“N-No. I need to go home and wash up, too! I have to if I'm going to sleep!?”
And then he could get out of here.
As if she could guess what he was thinking, Enya smiled brightly and said,
“Wash up at my place.”
“Pardon? Why?”
“Get cleaned up, then stay the night.”
It was like a bolt from the blue.
He turned around, trembling, and saw Enya smiling bewitchingly.
“I'll wash you really well.”
He swallowed.
So she really was angry after all.
*****