Chapter 285
Chapter 285
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: Eden (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
An awkward silence filled the room.
This windowless, sealed space was filled only by the faint glow of a yellow lamp illuminating the empty expanse.
We could have turned on the lights if we wanted, but we did nothing.
I just fiddled with my smartphone, which had no signal. Maronie was doing her best to pass the time in her own way.
"……."
Maronie, hugging a pillow as big as herself, stared blankly at me.
With our beds facing each other, her gaze was impossible to ignore.
"Hey."
A bored voice.
"What're you doing?"
"Smartphone."
"I can see that."
Dissatisfied with my answer, she grumbled and hugged the pillow even tighter.
With nothing to say, maybe we should grab dinner.
I considered it, but eating without Cornus would be a problem I couldn't handle.
I'd only just managed to build up her favorability recently.
I couldn't let our connection slip again like during the training camp.
Cornus. The light of my life.
Just looking at her melted away my fatigue.
"Heyyy."
"What?"
Maronie's call snapped me out of my thoughts midway.
I set my phone down beside the pillow and stared straight ahead.
"What is it? Why do you keep calling me?"
I kept my tone from being too aggressive.
She hadn't gotten subjugated because she wanted to be victimized, after all.
I was dying to release her from it.
Maronie buried her face in the pillow and shot me a sidelong glare.
Her ten toes, sticking out from under the blanket, wiggled open and closed repeatedly.
"……Tell me something fun."
"Do I look like a story vending machine to you?"
It was like that in the dungeon, and during the meeting too.
Whenever we were alone, Maronie always begged for commoner tales.
At this point, maybe she had no one else to ask and was turning to me.
"But I'm bored."
"Read a book."
"There are too many interesting ones. I don't know where to start."
"Just pick one and dive in."
Her eyes narrowed, unsatisfied with my response.
What an inscrutable woman.
Maronie abandoned the pillow, wrapped herself up in the blanket like a burrito, and poked just her head out to mumble at me.
In clumsy Korean, not French.
"…Idiot."
The emotion in her voice was impossible to ignore.
'She learned Korean in the meantime?'
I sighed, staring at Maronie, rolled up like a kimbap roll in the blanket.
What was I supposed to do with someone under emotional control like this?
'Did the subjugation even take hold in the first place?'
The Sun had said that once subjugated, they'd act for me no matter what.
Obeying commands.
Using both hands solely for my sake.
Maronie listened to my words well enough, but in other ways, she was a huge pain.
It was like having a cat jump on my lap while I was queuing up a game of League on the computer.
The only way to check subjugation was to give a direct order.
"Maronie."
"What."
A curt reply.
I casually scooted over, making space beside me on the bed.
"Come here."
If she was subjugated, she'd come on her own.
That was the thinking, calculations included.
"…N-no. I don't want to."
After a brief surprise, she shoved her head under the blanket and refused.
I clicked my tongue and shook my head once.
I knew the subjugation had an unknown duration.
So had it worn off already?
'Maybe check the favorability window.'
I called up the status window in my mind, but it wouldn't appear for some reason.
Come to think of it, this place was completely cut off from everything. No surprise the status window wasn't responding either.
I gave up on checking favorability and looked back at Maronie.
She was still curled up under the blanket, round and motionless.
"Hmm."
As I let out a thoughtful hum, the pure white lump shook vigorously.
Maybe it was fine to just leave her be.
I flopped back down and stared at my phone again.
'…But why hasn't Cornus come?'
I'd heard from Maronie that she was deep into swordsmanship studies.
It was already 9 p.m.
She should've finished several books by now. Had the Sage caught her midway?
She should've dropped by at least once, but there was no sign of her.
The Sage had called me here for a reason, so there must be reasons for bringing Maronie and Cornus too.
-Swish.
Something rustled.
-Tap, tap.
Tiny footsteps echoed in the quiet room.
Something light climbed onto my bed.
I pulled back the blanket to check. It was Maronie.
"Weren't you not coming?"
At my question, Maronie ducked her flushed cheeks and averted her eyes.
"…Why'd you call me then."
Was this subjugation at work, or just Maronie's whims?
Her words and actions didn't match up.
Prostrated on the bed, Maronie did nothing, waiting for me to speak.
I hadn't really thought about anything after she climbed up.
"Hey."
I had no choice but to throw a straight ball.
"Do you like me?"
If it was a half-baked subjugation, she might mistake her own feelings.
I had too many things vying for my attention to take it slow and test the waters.
So I asked outright.
"……Huh?"
Maronie's face turned beet red, visible even in the dark room.
Not just her cheeks—her ears, nose, forehead, and even around her eyes were flushed.
"…What'd you say?"
"Do you like me?"
I sat up and approached her, leaving no room for evasion.
She tried to scoot back too late, but my arm wrapped around her waist.
We hadn't known each other long.
We'd had zero time to get close.
Of course, mixing bodies was the best way to bond, but...
That had been semi-coerced, making it hard to call it proper.
-Gulp.
A swallow echoed.
It wasn't from me.
A soft, gentle fragrance tickled my nose.
Not perfume, but the fresh, woody scent of a wood person.
Maronie gaped, bit down on her canines, and weakly pushed at my chest with both hands.
It was sudden, but so feeble I didn't budge.
"What nonsense is this all of a sudden..."
She weakly patted my chest.
"An Imperial Tree can't like someone else..."
It barely felt like being hit.
"So let go..."
I tugged my arm lightly, and she slipped into my arms without resistance.
"Ah..."
She really was too light, in more ways than one.
Now she was mumbling incoherently, unable to speak properly.
I'd gone too far.
Maybe because our faces were so close, Maronie couldn't even look at me properly and squeezed her eyes shut.
"…."
Her lips parted shyly, ever so slightly.
Was she expecting it?
I felt like absolute shit.
I loosened my arms.
Maronie's legs gave out, and she plopped down onto the bed.
"Sorry."
With dazed eyes, she stared at me blankly, like she was dreaming and couldn't grasp the situation.
Then, suddenly snapping to, she covered her crotch with her hand and scooted backward.
"Uh, ah... A-ahh!"
She retreated too far and nearly tumbled off the bed.
I reached out and caught her.
"Hic."
Our faces close again. The hiccuping resumed.
Her face showed pure shock from my sudden actions.
"You okay?"
"You're the one who said weird stuff... It's your fault..."
She glared at me with a teary pout.
"Why'd you suddenly ask if I like you? You say that, and then I... I keep... Uh, ugh. I don't know."
Her voice was that of a scaredy-cat wanting to crawl into a hole.
"I don't know. Don't know don't know don't know... Don't know! It's your fault."
"No, there's a reason for it."
I'd slipped up.
As I froze, Maronie covered her face with both hands.
"…I, I don't even know why I'm like this."
She looked utterly lost.
If it were true subjugation, she shouldn't have this inner turmoil.
At least it was clear she wasn't fully subjugated.
I waited for her to calm down and checked on her.
This might help her overcome the subjugation if I cleared it up myself.
I'd dragged these feelings out of her, but they seemed too tangled.
"Maronie. Don't misunderstand. Listen up."
"……."
"I've got this unique ability, right?"
-Nod.
"Looks like it's affecting you right now."
I explained slowly to Maronie.
"Not full brainwashing or anything. Something similar. Back in the dungeon, I was out of it, unconscious-like, and used it without realizing."
"…What?"
Her eyes flew wide at the shocking truth.
"So... that's why?"
"Probably. The issue is, I can't undo it at will. Got it?"
Quick on the uptake, as expected from an Imperial Tree.
It didn't take long for her panic to subside.
She took several deep breaths.
"…So that thing from back then is still lingering in my body?"
"That's... I don't know for sure."
"What? Tell me properly. This is serious."
"I told you. I can't release it."
I wasn't sure if subjugation had taken or not.
But some aftereffect or lingering influence remained.
It could heal quickly depending on her mental fortitude.
I explained it step by step.
It took about 40 minutes for Maronie to accept reality.
"So, when you asked me that earlier?"
"To confirm. See if it was working."
"And calling me to the bed?"
"That too."
"Not because you wanted to do something to me?"
"No idea what you thought, but yeah."
Maronie bowed her head, looking somehow dejected.
"……So right now, these feelings I have... they're not real?"
"Yeah."
"Then I can be honest?"
"Go ahead."
"…I really wanna punch you."
Her face was the picture of disappointment.
I nodded silently.
"Go for it."
-Slap!
She swung without hesitation at my cheek.
But it didn't hurt a bit.
"…Ow."
Instead, Maronie clutched her hand and blew on it gently.
Her face no longer looked as conflicted as before.
It was just the daunting prospect of enduring the tough days ahead that left her dizzy.
The previous agony had faded a little.
"It'll be gone soon. You'll be fine."
Maronie reacted fiercely to my words.
"Not fine at all! So what am I supposed to do now? I keep thinking only of you. Even thinking about sharing a room today, I couldn't read... When I sleep, when I wake up, always, always like this. How am I supposed to endure it?!"
"……I see."
Now that she knew it wasn't her real feelings, she was brutally frank.
Realizing what she'd said was off, Maronie's face flushed red again like before.
"Uh, ugh..."
Unable to bear it, Maronie jumped to her feet.
"I don't know!"
-Slide.
The door opened then.
Cornus stepped inside.
"Siheon?"
"Yeah, you're here?"
"What are you two doing over there?"
Cornus, with a slightly darkened expression, tilted her head cutely as she looked at us.
Maronie huffed, glanced at Cornus, shot me a glare, then turned her head away.
"Nothing."