Undine's Gentle Mercy
"..." I jolted awake. "...?" Why had I woken up? No—how had I woken up?
The soft, rippling sensation of a damp water bed pressed against my back. I twitched once, then slowly opened my eyes, only to be struck by a wave of confusion. How was I even conscious again?
Looking down, I saw my familiar body. Arms and legs were still attached, and there were no grotesque signs of melted skin. I had clearly been swallowed by Undine and become one with her... so what was happening?
While I was still reeling, a voice reached me—but it wasn't Undine's gentle tone.
"You've woken up."
It was an unpleasant yet familiar voice, like fingernails scraping across a rusted iron plate. Only now did I notice the clown mask of the Team Leader standing right in front of me.
"Team Leader? Don't tell me you were the one who..."
"No. I arrived a little too late."
"...?"
Her voice was oddly welcome in this situation, but from her reaction, it seemed she hadn't been the one to save me. Yet aside from Undine and myself, only the Team Leader was inside the containment chamber. So how had I managed to wake up perfectly fine after nodding along to Undine's gentle offer?
I thought I should get out of her embrace first, but the damp, cozy feeling made me reluctant to move. There was no discomfort, and the heavy lethargy that had been dragging my body down was mostly gone. The exhaustion I'd felt every time I woke up after losing consciousness over the past week was still there, but greatly diminished.
One thing remained unchanged: a distinct soreness in my lower body. It seemed I really had been thoroughly drained by Undine through various embarrassing methods. That hadn't been a dream.
'Already awake, baby? You could sleep a little longer... Ufufu.'
"...Undine."
'You looked so adorable while you were sleeping soundly.'
Adorable, huh... I felt a shadow fall across my vision, as if a cloud had briefly covered the sun. Only then did I realize where I was lying.
Whether it counted as a lap pillow or a lap bed was debatable, but my head was half-buried on her gathered knees. Her large breasts blocked the bright lights of the containment chamber, casting a soft blue glow and gentle shadows over my face like a mood lamp.
I briefly entertained the ridiculous thought that having a bed like this at home would cure any insomnia, then quickly snapped back to reality. If the Team Leader hadn't saved me, there was something I needed to ask Undine.
"Undine, I... why..."
It felt strange to ask directly, but I lifted my head from between her ample breasts and met her eyes. I wanted an answer to my question—why she hadn't simply devoured me as she had offered.
She gave me her usual endlessly gentle smile, as if she already knew exactly what was troubling me.
'Just as you felt my heart, I came to feel yours as well.'
"My heart...?"
My ability was the sharing of senses and emotions, so in hindsight it made sense. At the time, however, I hadn't considered it. I had attempted the connection in a desperate, last-ditch effort while being swallowed, not as a carefully prepared plan. My own mind had been extremely unstable.
'There's no need to overthink it. Once I touched your sincerity, I simply came to this conclusion.'
"..."
I conveyed my question with my eyes rather than words and waited for her to continue. Soon, her soft gaze took on a hint of gravity.
'If someone were to take you away without a word... I think I would feel more upset and sad than I've ever felt before. So I reconsidered whether I was truly doing the right thing.'
"..."
'I could never have thought this way on my own. It's a little embarrassing to say, but... I've never had anyone I could call a friend or family until now.'
Besides the fact that I had been mentally overloaded from having my body and mind thoroughly violated, it seemed she had also been influenced by me—just as I had been swayed into accepting her offer to become one.
In short, Undine had decided that from now on, whenever she made her gentle offer, she would sincerely ask not only the person involved but also those around them who cherished that person.
With such an even more sincere and gentle proposal, wouldn't it now be nearly impossible for anyone to accept?
'Besides... there are many ways to become one. Isn't that right?'
"..Ah?"
I flinched without meaning to. The "many other ways" she mentioned made me a little nervous, but it seemed our promise had been properly kept. She certainly looked well-fed...
"It appears some kind of agreement was reached. Still, it shouldn't be easy to influence someone without significant emotional upheaval. Weren't you in quite a dangerous situation?"
"Ah... well."
The Team Leader, who had been silent until now, struck right at the heart of the matter as if she had seen everything. When I had finally felt the danger and let Undine swallow me, the first thing that flashed through my mind wasn't my parents' faces, nor even Nero or the Founder. It was the women I had been physically involved with.
Was that a sense of responsibility... or instinct as a living being, as a male?
"It's fortunate that Undine's gentleness was somewhat rational. If it hadn't been, you might have become part of those large breasts by now, helping them grow a little bigger."
"..."
Why did it have to be the breasts? Of course, if such a situation ever arose... and if I had to choose... I would prefer the breasts. No, wait—that wasn't what I was trying to say.
"...No. It would probably have been a little different. Undine... showed an emotional side until the very end."
"...?"
I finally understood the disappointment and regret Undine had felt in those final moments. Just before I was swallowed, I had thought of my relationships with others—of my lingering attachments. She had already sensed them.
At that moment, she had given up on gently melting me inside her and becoming one with me forever. That was why she felt regret, and why she felt a touch of disappointment upon confirming that my bonds with others were stronger than my connection with her.
Back then, I hadn't known. I had been trembling in terror, convinced that if I lost consciousness I would truly die, yet no matter how hard I tried, my eyes kept drifting shut in comfort. That feeling of "Is this the end...?" was something I never wanted to experience again.
While I was internally calming my chilled heart, Undine looked down at me with a full smile and whispered.
'If you ever need to replenish yourself again... come find me, baby.'
"..."
'I'll drain you nice and thoroughly again.'
Drain me... This wasn't an expression of love or affection. It was simply her pure desire—she had realized that when I felt good, she felt good too. Still...
"I've brought clothes for you to wear back, so let's get going. Why did you suddenly stand up again?"
"Eek.."
I reacted involuntarily to Undine's secret aftercare request, meant only for me. To think I could still get hard after that hellish paradise. The Team Leader couldn't hear Undine's voice, so it must have looked like I had suddenly stood up on my own.
...How embarrassing.
"Well, it's fine. As the management team leader, I find it desirable that your defensive range is this wide."
"..."
When she put it that way, it only made me more embarrassed.
"However, the act of seeking pleasure itself shouldn't become the goal. It seems you've been properly tamed by Undine over the past week, so I'll be restricting your access here for the time being."
"Ugh, eh..?"
Why had I just reacted with such obvious disappointment? Had I really been tamed, just as the Team Leader said? By Undine?
I wanted to deny it, but somehow I couldn't. The word "tamed" felt... incredibly damaging to a man's pride.
"Undine has no objections to this decision either, I assume?"
..Nod.
Unlike me, whose body still felt heavy, Undine continued to smile contentedly, as if she had enjoyed a proper feast after a long time. I felt a lingering sensation of her smooth tentacles on various parts of my body—even inside—and a renewed ache in my lower half.
As the Team Leader said, I would have to keep my distance from Undine and recover for a while. It had felt so good that I'd nearly believed I was melting, but my masculinity... felt strangely hazy.
...Should I hurry and go see Yerin?
'I ate well... ♡'