Chapter 181: The Goal
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 181: The Goal
Tresha nodded vigorously. It looked to be around six o'clock. It wasn't quite time for dinner yet, and with so many people having cleared out of the Southwest district, the evening rush might actually be quiet.
Neither of them were the type to enjoy crowded places, so they shook their heads when told they could go out and enjoy the festivities more.
"Are you going to take a nap on the second floor?"
"Yeah. I'll wake up around nine to help with the dinner guests, grab a bite myself, and then head straight to the Guild."
"I see... Things have become much easier thanks to Sola, so you don't really have to help, Yoo Eon. You could sleep a bit longer."
"No, I should help. What about you, Dora?"
"Me? Hmm..."
Theodora pondered for a moment before leaning against the table.
"I'm free until tomorrow afternoon. I think I'll wait for you to wake up and head to the Guild together."
"Now I feel bad. Should I just skip it? Stay here and enjoy the festival with you guys?"
"Forget it. I was just starting to get tired of all the noise and crowds anyway."
"Fair enough."
"Go on up and rest. I have some things to take care of down here."
Theodora glanced briefly at Sera and gestured with her chin for me to head up to the second floor. Nothing for it, then. Time for a deep sleep to prepare for the match.
* * *
After Yoo Eon went upstairs, the first-floor dining room fell quiet. Tresha was diligently studying, scribbling on paper she’d bought from the caravan with a fountain pen purchased at the festival. Having grown up in the countryside, she still wasn't quite used to being around so many people.
"Sera... you and Aven are in a relationship, right...?"
"T-That is..."
"It's okay. I mean, it's pretty obvious."
Sera and Theodora then retreated to Sera's room for a private conversation. Both were already aware—or rather, certain—that they both harbored feelings for Yoo Eon.
Now, as they moved forward, the situation required not just a mutual sharing of emotions between themselves and Yoo Eon, but a confrontation with each other.
"Then, as I thought, Ms. Dora also..."
"I couldn't help it. I... well... I took a liking to Aven."
"I see..."
As of yet, neither could accurately gauge the depth of the other's relationship with Yoo Eon. Having spent time together during the festival, Theodora viewed Sera and Yoo Eon not as being in a deep commitment like an engagement, but as a fresh, budding couple.
Sera, likewise, had a rough idea of the romantic link between Theodora and Yoo Eon. The reason she felt no disappointment or anger at sharing a lover was likely because she knew she was the latecomer. Furthermore, she was aware that her own pursuit had been somewhat one-sided.
"I-I'm just asking out of curiosity... but how far have you two gone...?"
"Wh-what?! I mean...! That is..."
"You did it... I knew it."
There was no particular social stigma suggesting that sexual relations were strictly forbidden outside of marriage. It wasn't that people were encouraged to be reckless, but rather that they lived in a world where no one knew what tomorrow might bring.
A lover could enter a Labyrinth and return as the opposite sex, or simply never return at all. It was also common for love to simply wither away.
Sera, who had remained a virgin until her relationship with Yoo Eon, had received many advances from men, but none had ever caught her interest. She had always imagined her first time being like something out of a romance novel, shared with a man she would love for the rest of her life.
Theodora was a noblewoman, and naturally, many men had tried to get close to her as well. However, she had been incensed when her mother suddenly ordered her to go "husband hunting."
To be told to find a man she liked herself—when all the men she had seen as a noble daughter were outstanding and formidable candidates—it was unlikely that some commoner crawling up from the bottom would ever catch her eye.
"H-How was it...?"
"Pardon?!"
"No! I-I'm just asking... Just because..."
Theodora was curious about sexual relations between humans, who didn't have a distinct estrus period. Unlike beastkin, who felt a throbbing in their loins and surrendered their bodies to instinct the moment they went into heat, she wondered if there was a more rational, deep, and beautiful form of mating that stemmed purely from love.
From Sera's perspective, the sexual experiences of a noblewoman like Theodora were a subject of great interest. After all, the protagonist of a romance novel was usually a beautiful lady, like a flower on a cliffside, sharing her love with a knight who was rough on the outside but had a warm heart.
Of course, both had developed slightly twisted preferences after being utterly defeated by Yoo Eon in bed. But what did victory or defeat matter in the bedroom? They had both concluded that they had simply been blissfully overwhelmed.
"How... how did it start...?"
"Well... I put on a pretty dress...? We went out for dinner... had a little wine..."
"A-And then! What happened next?"
"My mind got a little hazy... and I felt... l-lonely...? So I held onto him and asked him not to leave..."
"Oh my...!"
There was no need to list the details of her own aggressive sexual simulations. Sera selectively edited the beautiful moments from her memory and laid them out for Theodora.
Naturally, she cut out the part where her body trembled on the bed and something in her mind snapped. To Theodora's ears, it sounded exactly like the beautiful, rational human mating she had imagined.
"W-What about you, Ms. Dora? How did it happen for you...?"
"Oh, well, for me..."
Theodora fervently refined, combined, and processed her memories until they were something she could actually tell another person.
"T-That was the day Aven was working as my bodyguard..."
"A bodyguard...!"
"When it was time to head back after work, I called for a carriage... I kept it a secret from Aven and gave the coachman a tip..."
Gasp!
Sera was completely enthralled by Theodora's story, her imagination running wild.
"I told him to take us somewhere far away from where we were staying... and when we arrived, I told Aven..."
"A-And then...?!"
"I told him to take a hint... and then Aven picked me up like this..."
Theodora held her arms out to demonstrate a princess carry. It was a scenario that removed her own irritable behavior during estrus and blended the truth of that day into a suitable script.
Hearing this, Sera's mind was already filled with dark ink as she let her imagination soar. Yoo Eon as a bodyguard? A stiff, noble escort falling for the schemes of a frustrated noble lady? And in the end, their love was inevitably consummated?
‘That is so romantic...!’
While they were both lost in their respective fantasies, Tresha's shout pulled them back to reality.
"Sisters! It's time for dinner!"
Snapped back into the quiet, cramped room, Sera and Theodora hurriedly wiped away the drool they hadn't realized was escaping.
"T-Tresha! We'll be right out!"
"Ah, yes... P-Please, go on ahead!"
"I'll call for Dora right away, so you'll eat with us, right?!"
"Ah...! Y-Yes, gladly!"
"Okay! Got it!"
Click.
Now that Sera had opened the door and left, Theodora—whose lower abdomen was throbbing and whose damp underwear felt heavy—made a firm resolution.
‘Now is the perfect time...! Sera must have gone to the kitchen...!’
She opened her door quietly so as not to make a sound and crept up the stairs to the second floor.
She had heard that the room at the end of the hall was Yoo Eon's. Even if she hadn't known, there was only one closed door.
‘Phew, calm down, Theodora. Just...’
After a brief moment of hesitation in front of the door.
‘What do I do?! I can't just wake him up and ask him to mate! S-Should I use my hands...? But he's sleeping!’
It wasn't a situation where she could actually do much. She just wanted to see his face for a moment. But the moment she pushed the door open...
"Ack."
"Huh."
She saw Sera kneeling beside the bed where Yoo Eon was fast asleep, cautiously unzipping his pants.
"S-Sera...! What are you doing right now...?! What about Tresha...!"
"N-No... I told her I was going to the bathroom... B-But why are you here, Dora...!"
The two began a frantic, whispered argument, careful not to wake Yoo Eon.
Even so, Sera's hands didn't stop, and eventually, even Theodora joined in.
"L-Let's just go down...! Tresha must be waiting...!"
"But...! But...!"
Ridiculously, the two women were now bickering while both holding onto the man's member. Even for Yoo Eon, who was a deep sleeper, it was impossible to stay asleep in this situation.
"...What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"Eek...!"
"Gah..."
Sera's face. Theodora's face. And then his own crotch.
Yoo Eon's gaze moved from one to the other before he calmly sat up, adjusted his trousers, and walked out of the room.
"A-Ah..."
"What do we do...?"
Left in front of the now-empty bed, the two women knelt, clutching their trembling hands and trying to process their panic.
Creeak.
About a minute later, Yoo Eon returned, drying his wet hands with a towel. He walked past the two women kneeling anxiously and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Both of you, get up."
He held out his thick middle and ring fingers, freshly washed.
"I sent Tresha on an errand. We don't have much time, so I'll make this quick."
Ms. Alfi's lessons echoed in Yoo Eon's mind.
* * *
"The final stage we are aiming for... is simultaneous intercourse."
"Oh boy."