Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: Daydream #02
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“Haa... As expected, Arthin's cheeks are so soft and warm...”
With Arthin sleeping defenselessly before her, the first thing Kaiyen—no, Karen—did was knead his cheeks to her heart's content.
When was the last time she'd touched Arthin's cheeks? Thinking back, it had been the night before heading out to subjugate the Specter Emperor in the 3rd round, when she'd secretly poked his sleeping face with her finger.
It couldn't be helped. Karen knew full well that Arthin hated her—Kaiyen.
Whenever she tried to sneak even a handhold, the look of disgust in Arthin's eyes had made her feel rejected, and not just once or twice.
“...It can't be helped. To you, I'm worthless without being the Hero.”
Karen wasn't oblivious or dim-witted.
She knew exactly why Arthin had neglected her in the 4th round, and why he'd sought her out again in the 5th, welcoming her back into the party. She was fully aware of it herself.
“What Arthin needs is me as the Hero, right? Then I'll become the Hero for you, Arthin.”
Karen pulled her kneading hands away from his cheeks and lifted the blanket covering him.
As Arthin's recently toned, muscular body came into view through his robe, Karen swallowed hard.
“...Those wicked women, interfering like that, and still managing to defile Arthin... Someone as kind and gentle as you...”
Even as she cursed the other women, Karen admitted it couldn't be helped. A man this cute and lovable wouldn't stay unclaimed unless she protected him.
“I didn't expect the other women to move so fast... I'm sorry, Arthin. Can you forgive me for failing to stop you from being defiled?”
Saying that, Karen naturally slipped into bed beside him and pulled the blanket over both of them.
Arthin's scent... Arthin's body heat...! This must be heaven...!
How many sorrowful days had it been?
To fulfill her duty as the Hero, she had to hide her true self from the man she loved.
And unlike the other women—though she hadn't told Arthin—she had carried faint memories of him from early on.
Yet every time, Arthin never looked her way.
The deeper her love grew, the more he distanced himself, tearing her heart apart each time.
But even while hating it so much, he can't truly be cruel—that's Arthin's charm...♡
From the day after the 1st round's failure, when he'd lifted her from despair, instilled confidence in her, and become her one true friend.
Karen had endured countless times, sustaining her unrequited love for Arthin through fantasies.
But now, she didn't even envy Agnes, who'd confessed first and become his lover, or Shaomei, always clinging to his side.
“Arthin, you really shouldn't hug so roughly... Hngh...”
With Arthin's sleeping arm draped over her shoulder, Karen's face flushed red as she started whining to herself without realizing it.
It was a sight that might make onlookers click their tongues, but after 16 years of ripening obsession, such trifles were beneath notice in Karen's twisted love.
“...Right, I should clean the body those women defiled, shouldn't I?”
At first, she'd planned to be content just embracing him, savoring his scent and warmth.
But to Karen, this was an opportunity she couldn't let slip. When would she next find Arthin so vulnerable?
With the unicorn and now a contract with a dream demon, even sneaking peeks at night had become impossible. She wanted to savor this moment intensely.
Confirming Arthin still slept, Karen yanked open his robe.
As his firm chest sprang free, she swallowed again, then pressed her ample bosom—straining against her dress shirt—against his.
“...Hehe, come on, Arthin. Like this chest? Better than those wicked girls', right? Softer?”
“Hngh... Mmm...”
Squish! Squish!
Each time Karen's breasts mashed and deformed against him, a faint moan escaped Arthin's lips.
His reaction only excited Karen's heart more.
I'm arousing Arthin! I can dominate him!
“Hng... Arthin, you're such a pervert. Even asleep, you lose it for breasts... Idiot. That's why you fall for other women.”
When she'd heard about Arthin's orgy party, Karen had been shocked.
Agnes, Shaomei, Violet—she could understand those three. But the others? Weren't they just nobodies who'd wormed their way in?
If she were the proper wife and the others main heroines, those women were lucky to be mere passing sub-heroines. To fall for them...
“If only I could reveal I'm a woman... I'd give you all sorts of things, Arthin...”
A twinge of sadness hit her. She even resented the status window's bizarre penalty hiding her identity.
This warm embrace, even holding hands—it was only possible while he slept. The reality stung.
“Thinking about it, this is unfair. Why should I settle for just a hug?”
Karen reached out, drawing Arthin's face toward hers.
His flawless, smooth skin touched her fingertips. Her hand naturally caressed his cheek, brushing his lips.
“...A kiss, just a kiss... Surely even the Goddess would look the other way? There's no rule saying the Hero can't kiss.”
Olga had warned against crossing lines, but a kiss should be fine. She felt certain.
Of course, there was no basis. It was just her desire crafting that certainty as she leaned in for the kiss.
But that was enough. Karen squeezed her eyes shut with resolve and slowly brought her face to his.
“Arthin...!”
Her first kiss in life—with Arthin as her first, regrettable but thrilling—she tensed up.
“...Ka...iyen...?”
“Eek.”
But at the voice that followed, Karen's eyes snapped open in panic. Arthin's drowsy gaze stared back, far too close.
*
What... is this? A dream?
I didn't know when I'd fallen asleep, but waking up, there was an unfamiliar woman in my arms.
And with her eyes squeezed shut, lips pursed as if to kiss me, I couldn't help but panic.
...But this woman... looks familiar somehow...
It was odd. She was a beauty with striking long black hair cascading like Olga's. Her dark eyes, framed by long lashes, sparkled like jewels.
Her allure blended decadent shadows with pure elegance—a beauty I'd never seen in all my time meeting people here. If anything, she resembled the statue of the Goddess, or Olga as her proxy.
“...Ka...iyen...?”
Yet the words slipping from my mouth were bizarre, even to me.
Why bring up that gay guy Kaiyen? He was handsome enough to cram every male beauty in existence, but unmistakably masculine—no mistaking him for a woman.
But this woman before me embodied every Eastern beauty imaginable, nothing like the Western hunk Kaiyen. Her mouth and that oversized chest for an Eastern beauty felt a bit unbalanced in the dress shirt.
...Wait, that dress shirt... isn't it the one Kaiyen was wearing...?
The woman in my arms squirmed as if desperate to flee, but held tight, she could only glance at me with her eyes.
Why's she trying to run...? Like she's caught doing something bad?
A ominous thought struck. Had Kaiyen finally gotten hit by a gender-swap beam or something to pounce on me?
I tried to bolt upright in alarm, but drowsy sensations and that floaty dream-limb feeling made me flail and flop back onto the bed.
My limbs have no strength... This a dream...?
Easy way to check if it was a dream: as always, circulate mana and stop my heart.
If it stopped without dying, dream. Pain before stopping meant reality.
“W-wait, Arthin!”
As I gathered mana, the woman panicked and flailed.
Haha, no use, filthy dream demon. If it's a dream, I'll wake right up.
Smirking at her panic, I prepared to detonate mana in my heart.
“No! Don't go! You can't regress!”
Squish!
Then she yanked my head into her cleavage, burying my face in her soft bosom.
The pillowy warmth enveloped me, faint floral scent teasing my nose. Unthinkingly, I released the mana.
S...soft... and squishy...
“You can't go, Arthin! If you die because of me...! How am I supposed to look at you then...!”
She cried desperately, but it barely registered.
My already dizzy head, plus that sensation—it made me think even an erotic dream might be fine.
Come to think... this is the Northern Parish dorms... No dream demons here...
Rubbing my face in her chest to calm down, I sensed something off.
Academy dorm security was ironclad. This wasn't a dream demon. Which meant...
I slowly lifted my head from her chest and looked at the teary woman before me.
“You... don't tell me...?”
“...A-Arthin. No more. If you say more...”
This speech pattern, pure and clear voice aside—the tone let me be certain.
“...You're the female version of Kaiyen I imagined...?”
And I was stunned. Imagining that gay guy's girl form? In my arms, in a dream...?
Did skipping a day of sex really drive me insane...?
As my face soured, she gave a strange look, then lightly pinched my cheek.
“What are you saying, Arthin? I've always been a woman! And Kaiyen? I'm Karen!”
Ah, so a dream with that setup. In the dream, I'm sharing a bed with Karen, not Kaiyen...?
“This feels off. Why you, of all people, in my bed... Hmph?!”
As I kept my suspicious frown, Karen puffed her cheeks and hugged my neck.
Then her moist lips pressed to mine in a brief kiss.
As I startled to speak, her tongue slowly slipped between my lips.
It tasted of mint.