Side Story: Three Days
Three days before setting out on their adventure, inside Dowonhyang.
Thud!
"Phew. Shall we wrap things up here for today?"
Having set down a bed large enough for three people to lie on comfortably, Jun stretched his back and asked.
At once—
"Agreed!"
"I concur."
The Angel and the Divine Beast, who had been organizing various items, readily consented.
Plop.
Jun sat on the bed and surveyed his surroundings — the tent interior, decorated like a bridal chamber.
As he did, the clock hands, both pointing straight up at the sky, caught his eye.
"It's already midnight. Why does the day feel so short?"
"We've been running around shopping since morning. Even after dinner we had no time to rest, decorating this place."
"It was a most fulfilling day."
Pulling the Angel close as she clung to him and taking the hand of the Divine Beast who sat demurely beside him, Jun looked back on the short day.
Buying various weapons and supplies for use inside the labyrinth at the guild, visiting Lawrence to purchase plants and animals for cultivating Dowonhyang, treating the two who had helped with the purchases — Carol and Lawrence — to dinner as thanks, then organizing everything they'd bought.
Strictly speaking, all he'd done today was buy and organize — just two things — but the scale of it was anything but ordinary.
The money spent was equally extraordinary. Hadn't he used at least thirty platinum coins?
One might think, Only thirty? — but converted to Korean won, a single platinum coin was worth a million won.
Which meant Jun had spent thirty million won on supplies in a single day.
"...Maybe I should start keeping a household ledger."
Faced with that staggering expenditure, Jun resolved to fix his unplanned, unrestrained spending habits.
After all, he would soon be the head of a large family with multiple wives. If he didn't want his wives and the children they would bear to suffer from poverty, he needed to start living thriftily from now on.
"Why the sudden talk of a household ledger?"
"Dohwa's here now, so I figured it's time to start running a proper household."
"A most wise decision. However, my lord — please entrust such matters to this humble one."
"She's right. Leave that kind of support work to us, your wives, and focus on your role as a husband."
"My role as a husband? You mean bringing home the money?"
"No, not that."
"Then what?"
At Jun's question, Fortuna grinned wickedly and shoved him toward Dohwa.
His body pressed against Dohwa's, who had been sitting a little apart.
"Oh my."
Realizing at once what Fortuna's action meant, Dohwa's porcelain skin flushed a peach-blossom pink.
She looked truly lovely, like a flower bud blooming into full blossom.
And so Jun —
Stroke, stroke.
— like a bee drawn by the scent of sweet honey, found himself caressing her pink cheeks without thinking.
The pure, delicate flower grew even more lusciously ripe.
I want her.
Jun sincerely wanted the flower before his eyes.
Not for reasons like gratitude, pregnancy, or the Divine Throne — simply as a man, as a male, he wanted to make the woman, the female before him, his own.
And so he conveyed that feeling fully to the flower.
"Dohwa."
"Yes, my lord."
"Will you give yourself to me?"
"No."
A completely unexpected answer.
Just as Jun was about to gape in shock —
*Peck!*
"When my lord first caused this humble one to sprout, I immediately offered my body, heart, and soul to him in return. I cannot give again what has already been given."
The flower shyly pressed her lips to his, her eyes holding clear dewdrops.
Jun wiped the dew from the corner of her eye, then covered her lips just as she had done.
A fresh, tender kiss began.
Then —
"Well then, I'll see you both tomorrow morning. I'll step out for now."
Fortuna rose from her seat.
She forced a smile for Jun and Dohwa's sake and walked out of the tent, but she couldn't hide the slight trembling of her body.
If he let her go like that, she would clearly spend the night in tears.
Just as Jun was about to ask Dohwa's understanding so he could comfort her —
"Sister, where are you going?"
Before he could even open his mouth, Dohwa stopped Fortuna first.
"Huh? I-I was just going to wait outside nearby."
"Please don't. Stay with us."
Once again, Dohwa gave an unexpected answer.
Neither Jun nor Fortuna had expected her to say such a thing, so they both stared at her blankly.
"Uh? Uh? But this is like your first night together. Isn't it a bit weird for me to stay?"
After a moment, Fortuna recovered and said so. Though she said that, she seemed tempted, stopping in place and gauging Jun and Dohwa's reactions.
"It is quite all right. Rather, I would like to ask you to stay with us."
"W-why?"
"This humble one wishes to gift my lord an unforgettable night. However, lacking experience, I fear that may be impossible. So please, Sister, who is so experienced with my lord, help your inadequate little sister."
"That's, well..."
Fortuna trailed off, looking at Jun.
Under her gaze, Jun scratched his cheek awkwardly, then turned to look at Dohwa.
At that very moment, she was also gazing up at him steadily, her pink eyes filled with sincerity.
Recognizing her sincerity, Jun turned back to Fortuna and nodded.
"I'm counting on you, Sister!"
At that, Fortuna beamed and accepted Dohwa's request.
"Dohwa, listen carefully. Daytime Jun is very kind, but nighttime Jun is rough, fierce, and a real meanie. Well, he can be like that sometimes during the day too, but at night it's especially bad. Anyway, he loves being in a position of relative dominance, so he absolutely adores it when you beg and cling to him."
"Is that so? Then what should I do?"
"First you need to beg for a kiss, and the way you do that is..."
Returning to the bed, she went to Dohwa's side and began giving advice as requested.
The result:
"My lord, mm∼."
A scene that any man of normal tastes would have dreamed of at least once unfolded — a pure, delicate wife nestling into his arms, shyly yet invitingly pushing out her pretty pink lips as if asking him to kiss her.
Sway, sway.
Through her slightly parted lips, a glimpse of her snow-white tongue swayed enticingly.
Jun wasted no time falling for the temptation.
Twitch.
The moment their lips met and Jun's tongue entered her mouth, Dohwa trembled with tension.
Fortuna soothed her by stroking her back. Of course, she didn't forget to give advice either.
"Dohwa, don't be scared — try sucking on Jun's tongue. It'll be really sweet and delicious."
"Haup? Mm! *Slurp!* *Peck!*"
"Yes, just like that. And wrap your arms around Jun's head... oh, you've already done it."
Before Fortuna could even finish advising, Dohwa had already wrapped her arms tightly around Jun's head and was kissing him passionately — as if she would never let him go.
Can you even call this a kiss?
Even accounting for it being her first deep kiss, Dohwa's movements were strange.
Her tongue wasn't so much caressing as scouring Jun's tongue and mouth to gather something, and her lips weren't caressing either — they worked to suck that gathered something into her own mouth.
*Gulp.*
"Hnn♡"
Something that had traveled along Dohwa's tongue and lips — Jun's saliva — slid down past her throat.
Dohwa let out an ecstatic moan, as if it were utterly delicious.
It was such a vulgar sound that it was hard to believe it came from the girl who had shown only demure composure ever since revealing her spirit form.
Normally she would have been too embarrassed to meet his eyes. But right now she paid no mind to such things at all, greedily devouring Jun's saliva.
Her pink eyes, which had held a dreamy haze, had completely lost their reason and gone vacant. It was as if she were on some kind of drug.
"Dohwa, that's enough now."
"*Slurp!* *Peck!* *Gulp* haup! *Chuuup!*"
"Dohwa?"
"*Sluuurp!* *Peck!* *Peck!*"
"Did I make the honey flavor a little too good? Well, nothing for it — we'll just have to go with this."
What the hell is that supposed to mean.
"Hehehe. Sorry, sorry. More importantly, let's get her clothes off."
At Jun's scolding that came through the soul bond, Fortuna gave an awkward smile and began undressing Dohwa.
Rustle, rustle.
The silk shrine maiden robes came off one by one. With each layer, the peach scent seeping deep into his nostrils grew thicker and thicker.
When only the pure white upper robe remained, Fortuna stopped undressing her, as if leaving the final wrapping for him to open.
And so, with a heart pounding like a child unwrapping a gift, Jun untied the knot holding the robe closed —
*Boing, boing.*
Two peaches, so lusciously ripe they had grown a touch oversized, came into view.
They were considerably smaller than Fortuna's, but still large enough to qualify as ample, and they possessed a lovely color and shape.
In particular, the round little nipples that called to mind tiny peaches were so adorably cute he wanted to bite down on them right then and there.
But then —
Why are they standing up?
The round little peach nipples were so thoroughly ripe inside that anyone could tell at a glance — even though no hand had touched them, not even a breath had reached them.
As he wondered about this, Fortuna confessed:
"When I changed the flavor, I added a little aphrodisiac effect..."
...It's not too strong, right?
"Well... it's a bit strong, you could say, and addictive too. Hehehe."
...Fort, what exactly are you trying to turn me into?
"Hmm, a woman's enemy?"
Jun had no idea how to respond to that.