Episode 72
Episode 72
There was a brief commotion due to Karen Unni's shocking statement, but it quickly settled down.
I was trembling slightly as I nestled back into Unni's embrace.
"You're not really dating Aron, are you? Not like... lying him down on a bed and doing things, right?"
"It's a joke, just a joke."
"R-really just a joke? You're not suddenly lying in bed with Aron or anything, right?"
"I said no. Have you ever seen me alone with a man?"
"Well, no, but..."
If even Karen Unni joined the harem, I might really have no place left.
A friend-like woman, a childhood friend, a sister-like woman, a physically fit woman.
Someone in an ambiguous position like me would just die.
"And that person probably wouldn't want that either? There's no way he'd like an ajumma who's already over 30."
This is totally that line.
"What's so good about this ajumma?"
In other words, it means her impact is no joke.
"But he likes an elf who's a thousand years old?"
"That's because she's an elf~"
"And he likes a beastkin who's over a hundred years old?"
"That's because she's a beastkin~"
Karen Unni skillfully deflected my questions.
It felt like she was saying, "No matter what you say, it won't work on me."
"But listening to you, isn't the problem actually Aron-ssi? You're feeling insecure because he keeps meeting other women."
Before I could continue questioning, Unni interjected first.
Hearing that, she had a point.
"Why am I suddenly getting the blame... Haha."
Aron habitually averted his gaze, but Unni didn't pay any attention to that.
"Just how many other women have you been meeting to make our Mia feel so insecure? You're not... sleeping with other women while putting Mia to bed or something... are you?"
"...That couldn't be. Haha."
With an awkward laugh, Aron's gaze turned completely toward the window.
He's acting like that because of what happened with the Northern Duke.
"I don't plan to say much since Mia likes you, but I can't help feeling a bit displeased. You take away the little sister I raised so prettily, and you're still fooling around with other women."
"It's not like I did it because I wanted to..."
"Then did the thing hanging down below just fall off and move on its own? Well, then I'd have nothing to say."
"Ha. Ha. Ha."
From Aron's perspective, Karen Unni was practically like a mother-in-law.
Especially since Unni's love for me is actually on par with parental love.
'She's been raising me since I was about 15.'
Having raised me for over ten years since then, from Unni's perspective, I must seem like a daughter.
By medieval standards here, it's about the age difference between a mother who had a child young and her daughter.
"Should we just leave him and live together? I'll take care of you like in the old days."
"Should we? I'd be fine living with Unni forever."
"How about that, Aron-ssi?"
Unni skillfully looked at Aron while curling just one corner of her mouth.
"Th-that is... I'll try to keep my lower half better in check."
And Aron couldn't say a word back to Unni.
What can you do when your mother-in-law says that?
"Yes, use it properly and get Mia pregnant as soon as possible. That way I can spend my old age watching my cute Mia daughter."
At the pregnancy comment coming up again, I reflexively looked at Unni.
"Why does the conclusion always go there! I said it's not at that point yet!"
"Do you know why you're feeling insecure?"
"Why?"
"It's because you haven't completely claimed that man. Just close your eyes and go all the way to pregnancy, that's the end! Would someone called the First Hero really get you pregnant and then abandon you?"
"That's not it."
Unni nodded vigorously.
"Exactly. So just close your eyes, make a baby, and tell him to take responsibility."
"That does kind of make sense."
If I hadn't been a man in my previous life, I might have done just that.
But the fact that the pattern on my stomach hasn't disappeared means I'm not ready.
'Eri definitely said that. If I truly want to get pregnant, it will disappear on its own.'
Truthfully, I'm still thinking about going back.
I don't want to get pregnant and make a fatherless child for no reason, so I have to endure.
"Should I just close my eyes and pass out for one more night tonight? Then you can push him down on the bed and do it a whole lot."
"That's enough. I'll do it myself when the time comes."
"Alright, alright."
Unni laughed playfully and started fiddling with me again.
In the process, her hands naturally went toward my chest.
"They've gotten huge? Before, I couldn't even tell if it was your back or chest."
"Ahem! It's proof that I've become a proper woman!"
"I can't call them black cliffs anymore. What a shame."
"Why is that a shame!"
Unni answered while holding my cheeks with both hands and fiddling with them.
"It was funny how Mia would somehow gather her chest with both arms when I called them black cliffs."
I was really angry, but I had to endure it because Unni was holding me tightly.
If I use force carelessly, Unni might get hurt.
"Dragon Meat really is effective. I didn't expect this much recovery from just eating it once."
"That's the best advantage of Dragon Meat. I'll send it to you regularly."
"You don't have to go that far."
Despite her words, Karen Unni's eyes were blazing with desire and joy.
"Since you're practically like a mother-in-law to me, I should take good care of you."
"Right, right. You shouldn't think that way about Unni. That would be a real problem."
Just as peaceful time seemed to be passing, the door suddenly burst open from outside.
Black hair and black eyes.
A woman wearing pure white clothes entered and smiled widely.
"But you can think that way about me."
The woman slowly looked around the room before finally gazing intently at Aron.
"Right, Aron? Long time no see."
At her greeting, Aron also looked at her with surprise.
"...Kyla?"
It seemed this person was likely the final harem member.
That person of concern.
I had finally met the Saintess, known as the essence of obsession.
*
The Saintess's first impression was more ordinary than I expected.
Black pupils that seemed to swallow all light, and black waterfall-like hair that reached down to her ankles.
Her figure was also more ordinary than I thought.
Compared to the bombastic fox Seoryeong and Eri with her World Tree fruit, she's actually closer to me.
'Chest is ordinary and appearance is... oh my.'
Not easy.
Her appearance is completely different from the two I met before.
Seoryeong Unni with her expressions shifting between vivacity and allure, Eri who's always like an older sister.
Compared to them, this one is cute.
Overwhelmingly cute.
"Wow... so it's you? The new woman Aron chose."
While I was admiring her appearance, the Saintess approached me.
She softly touched my cheek, examined me from close enough to feel her breath, and then smiled.
Even that smile is genuinely cute.
"Quite cute. Cute enough to want to pamper in bed. Should we go right now?"
"Wh-what are you talking about!"
"What do you mean? I'm saying let's go to bed and rub against each other a lot. Don't tell me you've never done it?"
"There's no way I'd do that with a woman! Especially when we just met...!"
At my flustered expression, the Saintess stared blankly at me, then smiled with satisfaction instead.
"Your reactions are cute too? I see why Aron likes yooooou?!"
Finally, Aron, who had been watching, lifted Kyla up and separated her from me.
"What are you doing as soon as you meet? Trying to take her to bed like Ryeong-i and Eri?"
"Of course. She's a woman Aron likes. Doesn't that mean I can taste her too? We're all going to be piled on the bed together anyway."
"Sigh, more importantly, how did you get out of the Church? In your last letter, you said it would take a bit longer to recover your power."
"I just left? I heard Aron keeps tasting other women, so I couldn't stand it and came."
At that moment, the atmosphere changed slightly.
Her black pupils seemed to suck in everything around them.
"I came to check for myself. So what is that woman? A new toy? Or the real thing? But are you meeting other women while abandoning us? You always refused when I confessed so many times. You said we'd be fair. Was it all a lie?"
Her skirt was slowly melting too.
More precisely, black liquid was flowing from her pure white clothes, making the floor soggy.
The humidity in the room seemed to rise instantly.
"We promised to marry each other since we were kids. You said I could bring other women too, but that you'd get me pregnant first. Are you abandoning me now? Is it because I couldn't break the curse? Or because we haven't seen each other for so long that you want to do it with other women?"
Kyla's questions didn't end.
Aron looked at her intently as if familiar with this, then quietly kissed her.
"Mmph! Mmm... smack... chuup..."
At the sudden kiss, Kyla, who had been staring with wide eyes, immediately pulled Aron tightly and continued the kiss.
Then the blackened liquids turned into holy light that filled the space.
The air that had become humid returned to normal.
'So this is... why they call it obsession?'
I thought they were just trying to scare me because she looked cute, but it feels like facing an abyss.
After the long kiss, Kyla and Aron's lips separated.
"G-good. Should we do more? No, let's just go to bed like this. I can take Aron's penis a whole lot. It's childhood friends playing childhood games. The situation is a honeymoon until pregnancy. Okay? Mmkay?"
Watching Kyla cling tightly to Aron as she spoke, Aron answered leisurely.
"If you keep that up, I won't do it. Do you want to end it with just a kiss?"
Kyla shook her head vigorously.
Her long hair swayed left and right a beat later.
"No! Don't! I've been good! I kept my promise, so why are you like this! I hate you! No, I love you. I love you! I don't hate you!"
Just from that brief glimpse, I felt I somewhat understood Kyla.
Then, belatedly, the door opened again and a man entered.
"Oh, you've finally met. But... there are people I know here too."
The man's gaze turned toward me and Karen Unni.
"Huh? Wha-what?"
"Hey! You!"
Surprisingly, it was someone both me and Karen Unni knew.