“*_Sniff sniff sniff…_*”
“Pelaine. Stop.”
“*Kheung… *hmm…* *Churup, churup.*”
“Pelaine. I said stop… ugh, wait. Hey!”
No matter what I said, there was no reaction at all.
She merely overwhelmed me with her muscles, pushing me down while she sniffed and licked.
It seemed she completely lost her senses, as if she had become a beast driven mad by something…
No matter how hard I tried to stand up with force, my vitality just kept draining.
When I tried to escape with magic by casting a spell, Pelaine’s ears perked up like antennas, and she licked my ears, agitating me and interrupting my casting.
I saw no way to escape without using my abilities.
“Pelaine! Why don’t we calm down a bit? Even with the barrier, we can’t do this in front of the members…!”
“*Hmph…* *Mumble mumble…*”
This is driving me crazy.
In the end, I had to take extraordinary measures.
Recently, I’ve been trying to conserve my energy and avoid unnecessary battles since I didn’t know when an ambush might occur. I never thought I’d have to use it to escape from the leader of my own knight corps!
‘Selection and Concentration. 1 second on strength.’
“Pelaine. For now…”
“*Ugh?!*”
In one swift motion, I pushed Pelaine away and flipped her over.
Suddenly, she pushed back harder to crush me, and I was taken aback by the unexpected resistance.
If ‘Selection and Concentration’ hadn’t boosted my stats to 299, I might have been overwhelmed by the 99.
Flipping her over was great, but…
Pelaine was kicking up such a fuss.
At this rate, I’d be subdued again.
I had to take extraordinary measures to bring Pelaine back to her senses.
“Pelaine! Calm down!”
“*Heeek!*”
With that, I headbutted her forehead.
She let out a cute scream and looked up at me with an innocent expression, cradling her forehead.
Finally, her wild gaze returned to normal.
“Why the headbutt…?”
“Just look at the state of my clothes and guess the reason.”
“Ah. You mean just now…?”
My jacket was undone.
My shirt was wrinkled and the buttons had popped off.
And there were bite and suck marks on my neck and chest.
As Pelaine slowly scanned those marks, her face turned bright red in an instant.
Then she covered her face with her hands.
“I-I’m sorry! I wasn’t myself just now!”
“You seemed that way.”
“Actually, it’s mating season… For subhumans, there are periods when our sexual urges become explosively strong… But that doesn’t mean we just pounce on anyone! We can balance reason and instinct because we’re civilized beings…!”
Almost as if she were reminding me of a setting I had created long ago and forgotten, Pelaine began to pour out excuses.
I understood.
But there were still questions left unanswered.
No matter how much it was mating season, she should have been able to maintain her reason, as she said.
However, just now, she clearly lost all reason and was not herself at all.
“But what happened earlier?”
“Well… After holding it in for so long… I think when I met someone I didn’t have to hold back with, my reason just snapped…”
Was she saying that dealing with it alone was not an option?
I couldn’t help but question why she’d just bottled it all up.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your request.”
“My request? What did I say?”
“That strong people should create offspring…”
“*Eek! Forget it! Please!*”
The idea itself wasn’t bad.
If Pelaine had sons or daughters, they’d definitely be incredibly strong.
They’d be more than enough to leave this world in my stead.
But there was one problem.
With Trie gone off training, if Pelaine got pregnant, I’d have lost yet another combat member.
“We’ll talk about it after this crisis passes.”
“Later…?”
Pelaine’s eyes sparkled as her fingers wiggled apart.
At that moment, I realized I had just made a blunder.
I had just announced an affair.
While I already had two fiancées!
“Uh… c-could you move out of the way now?”
“I’m sorry.”
I gently shifted off Pelaine and stood up.
Pelaine was still breathing heavily, clearly not back to her usual state.
Well, she hadn’t resolved anything…
Should I buy her some relief or something?
But isn’t giving something like that to a subordinate sort of harassment?
As I mulled it over, I loosely buttoned my jacket, covering my torn shirt.
This should keep it hidden.
…
…
…
“Take care, Your Excellency.”
Emerging emotionlessly as always was Schlus.
The knights lined up before Schlus bowed their heads and saw him off.
At the same time, they all had similar thoughts.
‘Isn’t that a hickey on his neck?’
‘I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there when he came in… why is it there now…?’
‘Did his shirt button just pop off?’
As they couldn’t bear to gossip and merely exchanged glances, the sound of footsteps staggering nearby reached their ears.
Turning their heads, they saw the leader panting and leaning against the wall as he walked in.
The knights’ thoughts unified in an instant.
‘He got assaulted.’
*
“Brother! Did you know there’s a pretty dessert shop next to the market?”
“Oh, really?”
“The cakes were so beautiful that I couldn’t just pass by, so I bought some!”
As Emilia excitedly brought out a piece of cake, I couldn’t stop my trembling legs, filled with guilt.
No matter how much I claimed I wouldn’t cling to monogamy in this world, my original moral compass from my previous life still lingered. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Emilia after what I did—or what Pelaine did to me.
Oh man.
Feeling guilty towards Emilia.
I never would have imagined that thought a while ago.
I was someone who planned to abandon everything, including my engagement, and flee back to reality after the ending…
But now I know I can’t.
I can never just leave Emilia behind.
The mere thought of her searching for me alone tears my heart apart.
As for Iris… well, who knows.
Maybe with Iris, after a long conversation, I could part ways with tears in my eyes.
Honestly, I’m not sure.
If I saw Iris’s tears, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to leave.
“Brother, are you thinking of another woman right now?”
“What?”
She’s uncanny.
As Emilia’s sharp gaze pierced me, I reflexively trembled.
This was practically an admission.
With her cheeks puffed out, Emilia pouted slightly and hid a fork behind her.
“Where’s my fork?”
“Not giving it.”
“What about the cake?”
“Hmm… ah, fine.”
“Ah.”
“You can’t eat it how you want. You can only accept what I give you.”
Then she began to cut the cake and feed it to me with the fork.
When she fed me, it was just a little bit.
But when she ate herself, she took a huge bite.
She was clearly sulking.
Should I do something to cheer her up?
“Come sit on my lap. I’ll give you a massage.”
“A massage? All of a sudden?”
Emilia tilted her head, but she obediently climbed onto my lap.
She initially tried to sit facing me, but I turned her around and sat her down again.
I made her lean against me by pressing her chest down as she sat stiffly upright.
Only then did Emilia finally relax and rest her entire body on me.
“Why are you doing something you don’t usually do?”
“Just… um…”
“Ah.”
After what I did to Pelaine, I felt guilty, so I’m doing the same for you…
That was something I couldn’t bring myself to say.
I loosely mumbled as I started to lift her skirt and slipped my hand underneath.
Realizing what was happening, Emilia’s hands gripped my wrist urgently, but there was no strength behind it.
She made no resistance and just helplessly allowed the invasion.
“Is this what a massage is…?”
My hands climbed along Emilia’s soft thighs, delving into the valley of her groin before returning.
“What kind of massage were you thinking about?”
“Ah…”
As my fingertips reached below her navel, Emilia’s ears noticeably turned red.
It seemed she wasn’t expecting this kind of massage.
Still, I believed she would be satisfied enough.
After all, Arum enjoyed it.
I began to gently rub Emilia’s lower abdomen.
“Wait, what kind of massage is this?”
“A uterine massage.”
“What’s that…?”
Emilia burst out laughing, as if she found it absurd.
Maybe she thought it was a joke, but it was a serious massage.
For women, the uterus is considered the second heart due to its importance.
If blood circulation of the uterus becomes blocked, a catastrophe is bound to occur.
That’s why I often gave this massage to Arum, who had slow metabolism and little activity.
Of course, it’s also a good massage for healthy women.
As long as too much stimulation doesn’t damage the uterus.
“*Huff*… *Uhn…* Hmm…*”
“Is it painful?”
“No. It’s just… unusual.”
A sigh-mixed moan slipped out between her plump lips without pause.
It seemed this was her first experience with the sensation of rubbing and gently pressing around her uterus.
Emilia’s lower abdomen felt soft and gave me a satisfying texture.
*So subhumans and humans really are different.*
While a simple belly rub had driven Pelaine into a frenzy, losing her reason…
That wouldn’t happen with a human like Emilia.
She just breathed a little heavier, occasionally letting out a sound, and her body would twitch and shiver.
“Ugh…?”
“What, what? Did it hurt?”
“It wasn’t that… just a strange sensation…”
“Can you describe it more specifically?”
I grew worried, thinking I might’ve touched a sensitive spot.
But still, how could anything go wrong with such gentle pressure and rubbing?
Emilia took a moment to catch her breath before arching her neck to look at me.
“Let’s do it. Now.”
“What?”
“What do you think?”
As soon as I saw her pleading eyes, my worries melted away.
It wasn’t serious after all.
Thank goodness.
“Let’s do it. Okay?”
“……”
Only then did I realize why Emilia’s posture was awkward.
Something solid was blocking her sitting down.
“Be gentle today… I want to walk normally tomorrow.”
“I’ll try my best.”
I embraced Emilia as she turned to face me.
There was no need to pull her skirt down again.
