*
What’s so scary about a strategist?
Smart intelligence? Or the ability to see through any plan of the opponent?
Nope, it’s something else entirely.
Dun dun dun…
The most terrifying thing about a strategist is that they can come up with strategies no one expects.
Right now, I’m playing chess again with Giseok.
We’re redoing a match that ended in a stalemate.
After a few flashes of “Why did you put that there?” judgments, I started losing pieces, putting me at a numerical disadvantage.
“…To sum it up, we need to strive for the ‘Grand Route.’”
Giseok leaned back in his chair.
He crossed his legs while pondering the information I shared.
“Yeah, I can see people’s Affection Levels because my Status Window shows it.”
The truth I couldn’t reveal to Pina Grancia.
To ensure her happiness, I must protect the love of the important figures.
As soon as I say this, it would also reveal that this world is a game created and scattered across other worlds.
“But… it seems that if we don’t deal with the Magic Hat, Pina will end up becoming the Saintess.”
Huh… So conflicted!
What on earth is this prophecy? Why must she become the Nameless Saintess?
Ugh!
I sighed deeply.
It seemed that the Demon Kings of the Hero Church acted with one goal in mind.
Because the heroes here had fallen to Demon Kings due to their loss of loved ones.
But why did the game company, Pantoze, create games that pulled Giseok and me in, just like [Night Heart] and [Black Heart]?
“If this world is real and not a game, Pina shouldn’t become the Nameless Saintess.”
“That’s why you’re telling me this. Good judgment.”
The Saintess, who had no name, was like pure white blank paper.
She would become sad when asked about her past, unable to remember what she did or ask about friends and family.
Heeew…
“The sage’s foresight even mentioned she would die.”
In the future ten years ahead, it was already confirmed that she would be killed by the Demon King.
Even if I captured the Demon King of Truth after countless challenges, I could not change that tragedy.
I was trying to twist it all by having this one-on-one confrontation with him.
“….Su-hyun, do you know the easiest way to find hidden information from the opponent?”
Giseok, who listened intently to everything I said, asked me a question.
Leading the interrogation so that he could find the answer himself.
When I combined the experiences I had while wandering around the shrine, there were still so many secrets I didn’t know.
Past and future, present tangled in contradiction.
I habitually rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought.
I met my father at Tardun’s shrine.
At Akasha’s shrine, I found a blood-stained note written by another world line’s Pina.
And at Pantoze’s shrine, I encountered the Saintess who knew me.
“…Find the contradictory information?”
“Correct. I knew you were the guild master all along.”
Clunk—
With a dull sound, I moved the black knight.
When I gave the answer I frequently heard from Giseok, he smiled broadly.
Bluffing!
When playing guild matches, I had to discern truth from lies within the opponent’s information.
“This much is simple now. It’s been a while since I learned from you, Giseok.”
Giseok was an expert in this field among the people I knew, and together we devised ingenious strategies no one could imagine.
“Are we possessed so that we wouldn’t create contradictions against the original?”
He pointed out the blind spots I had overlooked while discussing.
Giseok moved the white bishop, checking the black king.
“What does that even mean?”
“Simple. Su-hyun.”
As I dodged the check, Giseok moved the rook, gradually blocking my retreat.
As expected of someone nicknamed ‘Northern Duchess’s Husband,’ he was thorough.
“..Someone truly intent on avoiding ‘contradictions’ wouldn’t say such things.”
“No way. If that were true, then why would they impose the Demon Transformation penalty?”
I narrowed my eyes at Giseok suspiciously.
Those gods…
I encountered them while fighting the Demon Kings.
“If I hadn’t been possessed, I wouldn’t have been able to heal Sophia’s heart disease. I had no penalty or anything.”
“…..”
He captured the black queen, raising the corner of his mouth.
Giseok had created an elixir to heal the issue of the Northern Duchess.
Despite facing the Magic Hat, there was no warning window.
Even though he produced contradictions, he didn’t suffer from penalties like Demon Transformation.
And his Status Window showing Affection Levels was also absent.
“…Were you trying to test me?”
When I spoke the answer, Giseok nodded slightly.
He moved the white queen while continuing.
“Exactly. Perhaps the intention was to test you.”
Soon after, he called checkmate.
The black king captured by the white queen made someone seem like a duplicate.
The white wolf-eared princess, Pina Grancia, who exuded possessiveness.
*
Bwahahaha!
Giseok laughed as he listened to the story.
As the chess game ended in his victory, we exchanged some small talk.
Even after I requested a rematch multiple times, he refused, saying, “You can’t play!”
“…So you mistook the Saintess for the Crown Prince at first? You knew she was a girl, but didn’t take off the important helmet?”
“Right, it was separate and couldn’t be removed.”
Instead, Giseok smiled warmly as he listened to my romantic story with Pina.
The days we missed each other’s identities.
Thinking back to when my heart raced only from Pina’s actions, I realized I could have known much earlier.
“The Saintess fetish has evolved… Should I call it a Princess fetish now?”
“..Just don’t say it in front of Pina.”
Now that Giseok knew I was the Grancia Empire’s princess, he started calling me by an even stranger nickname.
“Oh right. How do you plan to convince Emperor Rock?”
“..I almost died, but I managed to get permission under the condition that I would capture all the Demon Kings of the Hero Church.”
He tilted his head, showing a look of disbelief.
“…What? It would be hard for the Inrang Tribe to marry a human!”
“Why…?”
He implied that Rock Grancia wouldn’t acknowledge me.
I was granted permission only after a tough fight against the Emperor during the sports festival. Was he doubting me?
“See, when the Inrang Tribe falls in love, they pour everything into that person, you know…?”
“No…but still, it makes sense when you explain it.”
Giseok trailed off as if it were difficult to say something.
Hearing this for the first time, the Nameless Saintess Pina had no knowledge of the Inrang Tribe.
It felt like I shouldn’t spoil it, so I hadn’t searched for it on purpose.
Now that I think about it, I heard that wrapping your tail around someone is something you do to a spouse or lover.
“It’s not a simple matter at all, Su-hyun…”
I had seen her showing possessiveness without me realizing it. But why? Isn’t that better than being dangerous?
“There’s a day for the Inrang Tribe to become beasts. But if they fall in love with someone who isn’t of the same tribe…”
A race that becomes endlessly strong to share everything with their loved one.
As Giseok explained about the Inrang Tribe, he patted my shoulder.
“…That’s every day. They adapt to humans.”
“……”
So that’s why Emperor Rock was so furious.
It wasn’t just because I was a commoner or a human from another world.
“If he’s full after devouring you, he might calm down…”
Chills ran down my spine!
I felt a gaze piercing through me as I instinctively stood up.
“Make sure to take care of yourself, Su-hyun. And don’t worry about your Affection Level with Sophia.”
Giseok, who had been looking at me with pity, offered his parting words, half-concerned and half-encouraging.
I realized then the reason my father-in-law had acted like he wanted to kill his son-in-law was different.
*
While I hurriedly prepared to leave and return to the Academy.
“Sir Knight, is this where you’ve been?”
“….Pina.”
It was the same room as when I visited the North last time.
In a different atmosphere, Pina hugged me from behind.
I must have sensed her coming, but she had used clairvoyance or something to approach quietly.
Caught off guard, she wrapped her tail around my legs to keep me from escaping.
“Su-hyun, do I look any different?”
Hehe…
Her sultry laughter washed over me, and her warm breath tickled my ear.
We were different bodies, yet at that moment, it felt like we were intertwined as one.
“You look… really… beautiful today.”
“Praise me more. More.”
Had she used perfume? The strong scent of roses wafted from her body.
Her under-eye shimmered, and her lips glowed red like a rose, capturing my attention.
Why is she wearing makeup? And using polite speech…?
Until now, I thought Pina only wore makeup in public.
In the social club, but only for important occasions.
“You’re so beautiful that… I might fall in love at first sight.”
“Hehe, really?”
I honestly poured out my feelings. She laughed with her eyes forming a crescent shape.
With her wolf ears laid back, Pina looked adorable.
“I liked your praise, so I’ll give you a reward, Su-hyun.”
At that moment, she pushed me on my chest, sitting me on the bed behind her.
“..This way, the height difference doesn’t matter.”
She had a soft laughter as if someone had succeeded in executing their plan.
Her sparkling golden eyes slowly drew near.
“….Hugh.”
Bird kiss!
I don’t know where she learned it, but Pina made a sound of peck with her lips.
It was soft but more like a squishy feeling.
Even though I’ve experienced kisses before, this sweetness always felt new.
Pina kept her eyes open while kissing, not even blinking.
Is this really going as Giseok said?
True to her wolf lineage, she kissed passionately, as if she might devour me.
As the gap between us shrank, those kisses that started with peck grew longer.
When I didn’t react much, she pushed my chest again, causing me to fall back.
“Focus on me… Su-hyun… just me…”
Thud, thud!
I fell onto the bed.
The strength that came from her lineage made it hard for me to resist, her arms restraining me.
“Just… think of me… Hugh… keep thinking…”
Pina climbed onto me, kissing passionately, intertwining tongues.
How possessive could she be? The sight of her tiny tongue violating me felt like my brain was on fire.
“Pina, instead of the Saintess… I…”
“Still…I’m… anxious…”
Her pure white hair flowed down, tickling my cheek.
As much as she felt anxious, she craved my love for comfort.
“I love you more than anyone else. More than my future self.”
Pina shyly confessed her love.
With her eyes drawn into a crescent, she pushed her tongue deeper into my mouth.
Hermosa!
Her golden eyes filled with lewd pleasure contained all of me.
“……”
Silence.
In it, the only sound was our shared breaths.
As we exchanged passionate kisses, her tail that had tightly bound my legs began to loosen.
Thank goodness, I guess I can get away with this…
Just as I was relieved, Pina’s intoxicating scent brought me back to my senses.
“…Pina?”
The small pain on my lips awakened my consciousness.
“Mi-maybe… I didn’t mean to… was it… unpleasant…?”
Her face, resembling a ripe tomato, turned bright red.
Embarrassed, she buried her face in my chest.
I belatedly realized she had bitten my lip.
A mark of possessiveness from the highly jealous Pina.
A badge reminding me to never forget the princess, Pina Grancia.
“…It was nice, Pina.”
The small pain left on my lips felt like assurance that this wasn’t a dream.
“……!!”
Pina, startled by my confession, jumped up as if shocked.
Her body moved awkwardly like a broken marionette.
She was so eager that both her left arm and leg were going out together.
At that moment, a thud echoed softly through the room.
Pina, in her haste to exit, collided with the door without opening it.
“Uh, right… I need to open the door…”
“Pina, take your time….”
I worriedly advised her, but—
Then there was the sound of crunch, as the door hinges ripped apart.
“W-Well, I’ll see you later, Su-hyun!”
Despite her attempts to act okay, it was too late since she had already been seen through.
Honestly, I figured her kiss was a huge leap she had to prepare for!
