The sound of birds chirping and the warm sunlight streaming through the window wake me from my sleep.
“Yawn…”
As I stretch and get up from the bed, I see Lily, snugly sleeping and hugging my waist.
‘There’s no such thing as an angel…‘
By the way, is it the change of seasons?
Why are my lips so dry?
When I touched my lips, they felt as if all moisture had been sucked away, a cracked texture conveying itself to my fingers.
A bit of lip balm should fix this, but there’s probably none around here.
Sighing, I carefully loosen Lily’s grasp so she wouldn’t wake up.
As I opened the door, I spotted Dania in the kitchen.
“You’re up early.”
“Oh my. Did you sleep well, Hera? Breakfast is almost ready, just wait a little longer.”
Dania, wearing an apron and cooking, was a sight to behold. Coupled with her beauty, it brightened my morning.
“Hehe… I feel like I’m the only one being pampered.”
“Of course, it’s totally okay for you, Hera.”
Seeing Dania smile alluringly at me, I couldn’t help but stare blankly.
“Huh? Is something on my face?”
“N-no, it’s nothing. Just lost in thought.”
‘Get a grip. I’m a girl right now.‘
In the world of The Indomitable Hero, while same-sex relationships weren’t legally banned, they weren’t viewed favorably either.
The couples depicted in the novel were all heterosexual.
Of course, there were people who liked the same sex, but only one existed.
A character who, despite being female, had feelings for another woman.
She was one of the protagonist’s companions, the Saintess.
But aside from the Saintess, there was no one else.
I didn’t know much about Dania’s preferences through the settings, but she probably liked men.
“So… by the way, Hera, did anything happen last night?”
Last night, um… I only remembered sleeping.
“Nothing happened. Why do you ask?”
“Hm… it’s nothing.”
Dania raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
“Breakfast is ready. Can you wake up Lily for me?”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
Having tasted Dania’s cooking before, I entered Lily’s room, thinking how delicious that fragrant food would be.
“Lily~ Time to wake up and have breakfast.”
“Umm… just a little longer…”
Since she was still growing, Lily didn’t seem inclined to get out of bed.
“Hm… then you can’t eat with me. Is that alright?”
Lily loved Dania very much, and I figured she wouldn’t want to miss out on time with her.
I guessed correctly, as Lily suddenly threw the blanket off.
“I-I don’t want that!”
Sitting up quickly with a startled expression, she looked at me. I gently ruffled her hair.
“Then let’s get up and eat.”
“Okay… but kiss me first.”
Is it really okay for her to be this cute?
Just like yesterday, I leaned in and kissed Lily’s cheek.
*
After finishing breakfast.
While chatting with Dania about the West, I felt I needed to share my thoughts.
“Dania, I didn’t get to say this properly yesterday, but I actually have no intentions of ruling here.”
My previous experiences with regional management had only been a few construction games.
There was no way someone like me could properly manage a city.
Besides, I didn’t even want to.
“Really? Then what do you want?”
“Just… I want to live comfortably here with you and Lily.”
Upon hearing my answer, Dania chuckled and fell into deep thought for a moment.
Then, as if an idea struck her, she clapped her hands together.
“If that’s how you feel… how about making a deal?”
“A deal?”
“Yeah. So…”
I listened to Dania’s explanation until the end.
Drax was quite a large city, divided into four districts: north, south, east, and west.
Each district had its own ‘king,’ and in the West, that person was Bram.
The kings of the north and east were not much different from Bram.
However, the king of the south was special.
His identity was that of a merchant. Though he lacked physical power, he was so skilled as a merchant that he successfully brought several trading companies to resource-starved Drax.
Ultimately, thanks to him, Drax had managed to survive until now, and he had proudly become the king managing a district.
Now that Bram was dead, the person closest to taking over the throne in the West was me.
If I didn’t want to rule, what if I proposed a trade instead?
“Hmm…”
Not a bad idea. If he’s a merchant, he might be likely to show greed for the power and wealth that Bram held.
If I could secure support from him to live comfortably in exchange for the throne, there’d be no reason to refuse.
Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to deal with the headache of city management.
“That seems like a fine idea.”
“But we’ll have to show clear proof that we’ve dealt with Bram’s forces.”
“That shouldn’t be hard.”
In terms of proof for having captured Bram, I could just bring his head, right?
It’s said throughout history that bringing the head of an enemy general served as proof of victory.
“Well, it’s quite a distance on foot, but if we ride, we can get there in about two hours. We should be fine if we leave now. What do you think?”
Ugh.
“Ride? I don’t know how to ride a horse…”
To this day, I had never ridden a horse.
I’d heard it hurt a lot the first time.
“Hah… I can ride, so it’s okay.”
With a reassuring smile, Dania said confidently.
Well, if that’s how it is…
“Strike while the iron is hot. Shall we go now?”
Let’s hustle off to the West.
“I’m coming too!!”
Lily’s strong will against being left behind.
Upon hearing our conversation, she pleaded to join us.
“That’s not possible, Lily.”
But when Dania firmly refused, Lily looked at me with a wounded expression.
“Hera unnie… can’t you take me with you?”
Seeing that look in Lily’s eyes softened my heart.
In the end, I tried to convince Dania, unable to resist Lily’s plea.
“You’ll be riding, and neither you nor Lily knows how to ride a horse, so it’s risky.”
That was a point I couldn’t dispute.
A single horse can carry two people. If Lily joined, there was a risk of falling while galloping.
I looked at Lily and calmly said.
“We have no choice, Lily.. but I promise to come back quickly, so can you just hold on for this time?”
“Ugh…”
As I looked at her with earnest eyes, Lily’s face flushed slightly.
After a moment of hesitating, she took a step back.
“…A wish.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll wait, so when you come back, you have to grant me one wish.”
Lily asked me to grant her a wish.
Surely, she wouldn’t wish for something that would cause her to be separated from her sister.
It couldn’t be that. Lily was such an angelic child.
“Okay. I promise to grant you whatever it is!”
I held out my pinky to Lily.
“You said you’d grant me anything…”
Lily wrapped her finger around mine as she spoke.
*
At the stable, borrowing horses and setting off south.
“Huff… huff…”
“Hera, stick a little closer.”
“B-but…”
Right now, I was sitting on a horse with Dania. While the position wasn’t uncomfortable, there was one significant issue.
I was seated behind Dania, and in this position, I could feel her soft body pressing against my back.
“Your… uh, chest is touching my back, sister.”
Dania tilted her head in confusion.
“What does it matter? We’re both girls.”
“Gah?!”
She then pulled me in tighter, wrapping her arms around my waist.
Suddenly, two immense pressures were pushing down on my back.
‘T-this is too stimulating!’
My face began to heat up.
I thought that maybe if I felt the wind, it would help, but…
“…..?”
Dania didn’t budge, still hugging me tightly.
Was she hurting somewhere? I could hear her heavy breathing from behind.
“Sister?.. Are you okay?”
“Ssshh… Yeah, I’m satisfied. Now let’s go.”
Neighh!
Once Dania kicked the horse, we began galloping forward.
A refreshing breeze started to hit my face.
“Wow… it feels nice, sister!”
“Hehe… right?”
Refreshing, yet somehow hot.
That was the experience I was having.
.
.
.
In the deep of night.
In the Great Empire of Karaz, deep within the empire’s inner regions, there stood a mansion so large it could be mistaken for a castle.
As a middle-aged man walked through the corridor of such a mansion, he looked up at the sky, then paused to open a window.
Just as if it had been waiting, a brown-feathered hawk swooped in, tracing a graceful arc.
The hawk’s leg was tied with a long piece of paper, and as the man untied it, the hawk spread its wings and flew back into the sky.
“The king of the West is dead… the opponent is a girl?”
The man pondered over the paper for a moment.
Then, snapping his fingers, the paper burned away without a trace.
As if nothing had happened, he resumed his walk down the hallway.
“An interesting incident, but… I don’t think it needs reporting.”
His lord had no interest in such matters.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.