Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Bet
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Overlapping lips transmitted each other's warmth.
Moist yet hot, an incredibly soft sensation.
Just mucous membranes touching—why did it feel so sweet? Was it because his partner was Irene?
Yujin pulled away from her lips, curious about what expression she was making right now.
"Hah..."
As their lips parted, Irene let out a dazed sigh. Her face was deeply flushed.
'...'
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Blushing intensely with embarrassment, she didn't avert her gaze but met his steadfastly.
As if this moment belonged only to him.
As if her heart was filled entirely with him.
At that moment, Irene caressed Yujin's body.
More precisely, she stroked the spot where the dagger wound was—the injury he'd gotten saving her.
"...Did it hurt?"
"Well, I suppose it did."
He didn't remember it all that well. The intense memories of the battlefield had overshadowed the recollection of his first kill.
Irene let out a small gasp and leaned into his embrace, stroking his firm chest. Then she looked up at him.
...Her deep eyes, like a blue ocean.
Yujin instinctively pressed his lips to hers again, moving his tongue. He lightly tapped her lips with the tip of his tongue.
Twitch—
The moment her lips parted slightly, he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. The body he held trembled faintly in surprise. They'd already shared their bodies—why was she still embarrassed?
Yujin was swept up in a strange sentiment.
He slowly pushed her back against the wall.
One step,
Two steps,
Three steps,
Thud.
Irene's back touched the cold wall. Yujin cupped the back of her head with his hand to prevent her from bumping it and focused on their kiss.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, concentrating on exploring his lips.
Like dogs biting onto tails, they sucked at each other's lips.
"...Nngh..."
And once again, it was Yujin who took the next step.
Pretending to pull back slightly, he tapped her lips with his tongue tip.
A signal that he wanted to tangle their tongues properly.
Soon, Irene smiled with her eyes, parting her lips as if inviting him in. Responding to her teasing invitation, Yujin thrust his tongue in roughly.
He brushed her front teeth, stirred between her lips and gums, tasted the roof of her mouth and the inside of her cheeks. But as expected, the most delicious was her hot tongue.
Irene began to match him, entwining her tongue.
"Chup... haup... chup..."
Like a game of tag, their tongues bumped and fled from each other.
Their lips meshed, and to capture one another, they roamed each other's mouths wildly, tangling fiercely.
Naturally, they exchanged saliva, and soon it mixed so thoroughly that it was impossible to tell whose was whose.
"Chup... nngh... chup... Yu... chup... jin."
Every time Yujin stirred her hot mouth, it felt sweet, like savoring a sugary dessert.
Of course, human saliva couldn't taste sweet, so it must mean the kiss with her felt that sweet.
...In that case, did the kiss with him feel sweet to her right now too?
Yujin gazed into her half-lidded eyes and silently asked.
*Does kissing me feel good to you too?*
"...Nngh, chup..."
...Instead of answering, Irene pressed her body closer and chose to deepen their tongue play.
Naturally, her breasts pressed against Yujin's chest, squishing and flattening against him.
Squelch—
Feeling the sensation, Yujin placed his hand on her waist and slowly stroked her lower back. When he trailed a finger down her back, he felt her shiver.
Yet Irene obediently kept her eyes closed.
This time, he slid his hand down to caress her buttocks. He moved his fingers as if carving his name into his possession.
No mark would remain, but Yujin imagined engraving his name there.
...It would have been nice if his name really stayed.
"Mm... nngh... chup."
...To soothe his regret, Yujin let his saliva flow into her mouth. Irene accepted it like a chick taking food from its mother bird.
Gulp—
Gulp—
"Haa..."
After pushing all his saliva in, he pulled away. A thin silver thread snapped between their lips, and hot breaths poured out.
Her chest heaved roughly.
Her face was flushed deep red, a bit of unidentifiable saliva dribbling from the corner of her mouth. Hot breaths spilled out in time with her rising and falling breasts.
Irene's appearance right now...
...could only be described as beautiful.
No other words would suffice.
Simply, utterly beautiful.
"...Yujin."
Irene called to him in a slightly dazed voice.
"...Irene."
"...I love you, Yujin."
They kissed once more.
Of course, not a deep tongue kiss like before, but a light, feathery one.
But this kiss didn't last long.
...Uninvited guests were approaching.
—Do we really have to patrol all the way down this alley? I wanna go grab some moonshine.
—I get it, but we have to. Normally we wouldn't, but a few years back—was it almost ten? No, about eight years ago?—some noble killed someone here, so the guidelines changed to patrol as much as possible. It's been that way for ages.
—A noble killed someone? What the hell? Did they get punished?
—Nah? Investigation said it was self-defense.
—Then why...?
—Just to avoid getting in trouble.
—Ah...
...
Yujin glanced toward the source of the voices, then looked back at Irene.
Into her deep blue eyes.
"...Shall we head back now?"
"Yes, Yujin."
Yujin and Irene headed to the venue where the martial tournament preliminaries were underway.
They had originally planned to go to the marquis's residence, but time had flown by kissing in that secluded alley. By now, the preliminaries had already started.
"Ah, you made it."
As they entered the VIP seats reserved for important figures, Lucia greeted Irene and Yujin.
"Lucia."
"Hehe, did you two have a proper date?"
She spoke as if she knew everything.
"Hm? You knew?"
"Of course. I was planning to go on a date with you this morning too, Yujin."
"I see."
He hadn't known that.
Lucia hadn't said a word about it until now, and only Irene had shown up, so he hadn't thought much of it...
"Do you know how much Irene insisted that your time today was hers?"
"Love is something you seize."
Irene linked arms with him proudly at Lucia's words.
Lucia looked at her as if she couldn't be helped.
"Hehe, so Irene—did you seize your love?"
"Yes. I seized it quite satisfactorily."
"Nngh... That's great news."
Lucia was terribly curious about what exactly the two had done.
For some reason, they both seemed full of vitality... According to Lucia's fragmented common sense, a woman brimming with life usually meant she'd thoroughly wrung out a man.
Which would mean...
*'Yujin got wrung out?'*
But Yujin looked perfectly fine for that.
*'No, no. Yujin's a master, so he must excel there too.'*
Or maybe her longtime friend was just pathetically lacking.
...In truth, none of that was correct, but Lucia had no way of knowing. She'd realize the truth when it happened to her later.
"Anyway, both of you come sit next to me. The preliminaries have started."
Yujin nodded and took his seat.
"Lucia, what about His Majesty?"
"His Majesty doesn't come for the preliminaries. He'll probably show up around the middle of the main rounds? Or maybe just on the final day."
"Busy with work, I suppose."
"Yes. It's not been long since the war ended."
That made sense.
With paperwork flooding in from across the empire, he surely had no time to leisurely watch the tournament.
'Wait.'
Then what was the crown prince doing?
That idiot was the empire's heir, after all. Normally, he'd be as busy as the emperor...
'Guess not.'
Extending his senses, Yujin found the crown prince watching the preliminaries from a VIP room elsewhere.
No work to do?
'...Actually, that's a good thing.'
Thinking differently—that idiot not working meant his filthy hands wouldn't touch imperial affairs.
It reduced the chance of him shitting all over the government, so it was worth celebrating.
—Next, contestant numbers 3 and 11, please come up.
Irene clung to one of Yujin's arms and said,
"It's a mage versus a swordsman. Who do you think will win, Yujin?"
Number 3 was the mage, 11 the swordsman.
From what he could sense, their realms were similar.
"Hard to say. Their realms are comparable, so by general matchup—if the swordsman can close the distance, he'll win; if not, the mage."
They hadn't shown anything yet, so it was just textbook analysis.
Then Irene made a proposal.
"Want to bet on who wins? Loser grants the winner one wish."
"Hm... Sure."
A wish voucher, huh...
"I'll put my vote on the mage."
Irene bet on number 3, the mage.
"What about you, Lucia?"
"I'll bet on the mage like Irene."
A response brimming with confidence. Both Lucia and Irene were mages themselves, after all.
Pfft—
"Then I'll go with the swordsman."
And the match between 3 and 11 began.
'Hm...'
Number 3 quickly chanted a spell. The ground rose up under magic, and flaming spears surged toward the swordsman.
Number 11 was busy dodging.
'Only on the surface.'
It might look frantic to others, but Yujin could tell.
11's evasion wasn't perfect, but it was the most efficient movement for his realm. Plus, he was circling closer around 3.
This signaled melee range was imminent.
'Swordsman 11 wins.'
Though outwardly, the mage still seemed dominant.
'...It'll flip soon.'
His instinct as a swordsman told him so.
Just once.
If just one chance opened...
"Hehe, looks like the mage is winning, Yujin?"
...
"No, the swordsman takes it."
At that moment, the swordsman kicked off the magically risen pillar and charged.
Startled by the sudden rush, the mage summoned another pillar—but that was the fatal mistake.
The swordsman used it as a foothold to gain momentum and pressed his blade to the mage's throat.
"Told you."
Victory for swordsman 11.
"..."
"..."