2.
"Urgh...!! Ah, no...!!"
I screamed and snapped my eyes open.
My cock was searing hot to a horrifying degree, and my underwear was damp and soaked.
I had suffered a humiliating wet dream like some adolescent boy.
As I gasped for breath, trying to pull myself together, a stinging pain assaulted my right eye.
"Aaargh....!"
Along with a splitting headache, my right eyeball began to flush blood-red, as if it were about to burst.
"Hah, hah."
"Louis, what's wrong? Why are you sweating so much...?"
Lina was looking at me with worry.
Still beautiful, still pure, the most precious wife in the world who looked only at me.
But the lewd and promiscuous image of Lina I had just seen began to gouge viciously at my mind.
'... What if Lina really did spread her legs and cry out for other men...'
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart pounded like mad.
Rationally, I should have been overwhelmed by extreme jealousy and rage.
But beneath that, a strange excitement and twisted sense of depravity boiled up, making the blood in my entire body surge backward.
"No. What kind of trash am I thinking right now...!"
As I wrapped my head in my arms in horror, Lina reached out to me tenderly.
"Are you okay? Louis, your face looks so red... Let me take a look at you."
Every time her warm hand touched me,
a bizarre impulse surged from a corner of my chest.
Her warm eyes, full of worry for me...
and her eyes, looking at me bewitchingly as she was violated by other men, were overlapping before me.
Then Lina, discovering my reddened right eye, flinched in shock and urgently raised her voice.
"Louis, you... your eye, it's turned red. Don't tell me...."
Lina was trembling, seized by fear.
I held her warmly as she shuddered in terror and said,
"It's okay. But just in case, let's go see the High Priest today."
It had already been a year since the final sealing.
Since no abnormalities had appeared, we had let our guard down.
We had been basking in peace, having completely forgotten the horrifying truth of history—that countless heroes of the past had ultimately been consumed by the demonic energy.
Red eyes.
The High Priest's earnest request echoed heavily in my ears—that if such a sign appeared, I was to come find him without delay.
"It can't be... right?"
We left the inn in the hands of the staff and headed straight for the royal castle.
The horse's hooves pounded vigorously on the dirt road, where the morning mist had not yet fully lifted.
The horse's mane whipped wildly in the morning wind, and the cool air brushing against my skin carried a strange flutter of anticipation.
"How is it, Lina? I'm pretty good at riding now, right?"
I held the reins leisurely and turned my head, asking as if to boast.
My right eye, covered by an eyepatch, was still blood-red, but my expression was deliberately kept bright.
Lina, as if trying to hide her own unease, scolded me for my boasting.
"Louis... Do you not remember crying because you were scared of horses back then? Crybaby Louis."
"........!!! Are you going to keep bringing up old stories?"
"Because you couldn't ride a horse, our journey was delayed for ages back then. Pfft. Coward Louis."
"You....!!!!"
A strange liveliness swirled within our bickering voices.
The wide-open plains.
The endlessly stretching green grasslands.
And the warmth of our bodies as we held each other tight.
Our hearts pounded in rhythm with the vibrations of the galloping horse.
The excitement of the past.
The pounding heartbeat from those days when we took our first steps, carrying a vague sense of mission to save the world, seemed to come alive again, intact.
'Yeah... it was like this back then. With Lina, I felt like I could go anywhere in the world.'
Her warmth as she held me tight.
Within it, her worry and love for me were conveyed completely.
Still a tomboy and fierce,
but as she grew older, Lina was becoming more and more dazzlingly beautiful.
Her appearance, which had been boyish in childhood, was transforming into the image of the Goddess I had seen in visions.
Perhaps...
she who was chosen as my guardian.
Could it be that her appearance was even changing like this under the abundant influence of the Goddess's blessing?
'Hehehe, thank you, Goddess.'
My dazzlingly beautiful wife, more precious than anything in the world.
The desire to set out on an adventure into the world once more was welling up fiercely in my heart.
The countless days of fighting hunger and exhaustion during that arduous journey...
Each time, I had been bone-achingly grateful for the coziness the inns had offered.
So I had vowed that someday I would open an inn, offering warm meals and a place to rest to travelers, and at last, I had achieved that dream.
But...
I thought that setting out on the road again with Lina, heading toward a new world, wouldn't be so bad either.
Carrying that pounding excitement forward, before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination, the royal castle.
The massive castle gate came into view, and countless people were being inspected to enter.
If we revealed our identities, we could enter immediately without waiting in line...
but I didn't want to attract noisy attention.
So, quietly pulling our hoods down, Lina and I lined up at the end of the queue.
Burly guards stood in imposing postures.
At that moment—
the remnants of last night's nightmare crept in like black poison, encroaching upon my consciousness.
'Lina's pure white thighs...
if they were to be spread open lewdly by the touch of those rough guards... and she were to let out a coy, coquettish moan...'
A fantasy more vivid than reality began to unfold before my eyes.
Lina was being dragged away by the guards, her hands bound, dripping with cunt juice.
Toward the rough men drooling hideously over her, she was acting coy and pleading lewdly.
"Hah, haang♥.
Please, shove the dirty cocks of the guards, soaked in sweat all day... into Lina's bitch-cunt."
"Heh heh, you lewd guardian. Is this what you want so badly?"
"Yes... hah, Lina is the kingdom's public toilet."
"Ha... crazy bitch... she's pissing out cunt juice like it's nothing."
"Lina is a bitch in heat. Please fill my womb with all of your seed."
"Alright, then today I'll impregnate you with a child whose father you won't know."
"Fwoo-♡. Yes, I'd love that! I'll get pregnant with all of you strapping men's children. And then I'll cuckold my husband with them."
"Hauugggh.... a cock is entering. It's entering♥.
Hah... haang.♥."
Squelch, squelch.
"Uuuuht...♥♥ Ughk!!"
Squelch, squelch.
"It's reaching my womb! Amazing♥..."
Twitch, twitch.
"Fwooohht!!.. Ah,,♥ Aaaht!! Ooohhok!!♥
Ah~♡ Aahng~♡ I'm coming~~♡"
Suddenly, my whole body trembled at the obscene delusion that had burrowed into my head. Worried about me, Lina asked,
"Louis, what's wrong? Why are you shaking like that all of a sudden? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?"
She placed her hand gently on my forehead with worried eyes.
Every time that soft warmth touched me,
the foul stench of the curse, blooming from the wreckage of the nightmare, seemed to constrict my entire body.
The more I loved Lina...
the more the twisted desire to see her cruelly violated by those rough men grew uncontrollably.
Lina knows nothing.
Her pure gaze, genuinely worried and loving toward me, was ironically becoming a tool of depravity, stimulating me.
My heart pounded like mad.
The fluttering excitement from the memories of past adventures had, before I knew it, transformed into a vortex of perverse excitement and guilt.
Hiding my ragged breathing, I forced the corners of my lips upward.
"Ah, no. I just didn't sleep well last night."
"Really? You have to tell me right away if you feel even a little strange. Got it?"
"Yeah, don't worry. Let's go."
The entrance to the royal castle was packed with a sea of people trying to get inside the gate.
Armor-clad guards were meticulously inspecting identities and belongings with stern expressions.
"Whew, the inspection is way stricter than I thought. At this rate, the sun will set."
Lina adjusted her bag strap and grumbled lightly. I took her bag and said,
"Did something happen recently at the royal castle? Let's just be patient and wait a little longer."
It was while we were waiting our turn, staving off boredom.
A middle-aged man, who had casually turned to look back, spotted our faces revealed between our hoods and froze in shock.
His eyes widened uncontrollably.
"Huh...? E-excuse me... Could it be?!"
The startled man urgently raised his voice.
"Th-this can't be! Aren't you Sir Louis and Lady Lina?!"
At those words, the gazes of everyone around instantly focused on us.
The merchant handing his identification to the guard, the passerby carrying luggage in line, even the soldiers standing guard—all turned their heads at once.
"What? Is it really them?!"
"It really is the heroes!"
"Oh my, why are the heroes standing in line!"
The front of the castle gate was instantly filled with cheers and applause. People began to swarm around us, surrounding us.
"Sir Louis. To think you bear that heavy curse alone for our sake. How hard it must be for you..."
"Lady Lina, you are so beautiful."
Surrounded by the crowd in an instant, we couldn't hide our bewildered expressions.
The residents of the royal castle, being close to Greenfell Village, could see us often,
but to those who had come up from the provinces, we as a couple were practically the Goddess's representatives.
In an instant, the area around us was filled with people kneeling before us, bowing and praying for the Goddess's blessing.
"Ha... really... this is awkward."
"You wore your hood too sloppily..!! You clumsy idiot Louis..!!"
"That's because, Lina, I was trying to carry your bag because you were grumbling, and that's how this happened..!!"
"This guy...!!! Climbing up again..!!"
"Hahahaha. You two are still the same."
Just then, a welcome group appeared, pushing through the noisy crowd to rescue us.
"Ha... you heartless kids. I told you to show your faces more often before this old man dies..."
A white-haired old man, neatly dressed in pristine white priestly robes, walked out from inside the gate under the escort of the royal guards.
"Grandpa High Priest?!"
The people and guards around all bowed their heads respectfully in unison. The High Priest stopped before us, catching his breath.
"..........."
And then, without a word, he embraced us.
The High Priest who had delivered the Goddess's divine oracle to me.
Deeply regretful about placing such a heavy burden on me as a child, he had voluntarily accompanied us on our adventure.
Four years.
The High Priest with whom we had shared joys and sorrows, even sleeping rough together.
He was the one who had guided us like a real grandfather.
In his warm embrace, we were sinking into fond old memories.
"Now... let us go inside and talk."
As the High Priest gestured kindly, space warped, and we were instantly transported to his office.
Inside the cozy office, the noble dignity of a tidy clergyman subtly permeated the entire space.
Amid the fragrant aroma of tea, we sat on the sofa and finally caught our breath.
"Grandpa High Priest. Please scold Louis..! He still doesn't realize that his so-called considerate actions end up being a nuisance instead."
"Wh-what. Next time I can just wear a mask..."
"You idiot...!!!"
Heh heh heh heh.
The corners of the High Priest's eyes, which had been watching our squabbling with satisfaction, grew moist with fond memories.
But—
the moment he saw my bloodshot right eye, revealed when I removed the eyepatch.
The High Priest's expression instantly hardened coldly.
"Ha... D-don't tell me...!!"
He pulled his body close and began to stare intently into my eye.
His hands were trembling.
"Louis... that eye...!!"
"Ah... when I woke up this morning, it was like this. It doesn't hurt, though..."
"Good heavens... this is...."
Beyond the red pupil, deep within the abyss, something was writhing.
It was undulating like a disgustingly twisted black tentacle.
Seeing the High Priest's expression turn gravely serious, Lina grabbed my hand tightly.
Cold sweat was seeping from her palm, seized by anxiety.
"Goddess... Ah, how can you send such a cruel trial upon this child..."
Hot tears began to drip from the High Priest's eyes.
Kneeling on the floor, he bowed his head and sobbed.
After barely composing the sobs he had been pouring out for a long while, he forced a warm smile and asked me,
".. Louis.."
"Yes, Grandpa..."
"Will you tell me about any other symptoms as well, without omitting a single thing?"
"Ah... w-well, that is.."
Seeing my hesitation, Lina scolded me with a worried face.
"What... Louis, you...! You were hiding something from me..!!"
"N-no.. it's just a bit.. embarrassing."
"What is it...! Tell Grandpa High Priest everything right now..!!"
I answered, blushing a little as if embarrassed.
"No, well, in my dream, Lina was... uh, gang-raped...
I mean, I had a dream where she was being violated by a bunch of people.
It was so vivid that my heart kept pounding for a long time even after I opened my eyes, you know? Hehehe..."
At my innocent confession, Lina's face turned bright red and she jumped up.
"Louis, are you crazy?! You're saying that out loud right now?!"