Preparing for the Rivalry Tournament
"Good. That's as good as a firm commitment."
"...No, it's not."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Veronica nodded slowly.
"...We could fail, you know. And besides, I haven't even told you everything I want."
In truth, that wasn't quite right. All she really wanted was to escape her suffocating family—and nothing more, at least not right now. But her innate pride wouldn't let her say it straight out like that.
"Hm? That's disappointing."
"...What is?"
Aren replied as he slid his fingers over her pussy through her panties.
"I thought we'd shared all our secrets by now. It stings a little that you've still got some hidden from me."
Her response was one of sheer disbelief.
"...Do I have to tell you every secret I have? We're not... lovers or anything."
"Of course not. We're something even closer. We've shared the same womb, after all. Trust is the core of a contract like this. No holding back."
"......"
Veronica thought Aren was as shameless as ever.
"And what about you? Got nothing hidden from me?"
"Of course I do."
"...Ha."
See? He keeps his own secrets but expects me to lay everything bare. What kind of twisted logic is that?
Of course, she'd already bared just about everything anyway—but that wasn't the point right now.
"...Fine, whatever."
She shut her mouth after that, her words signaling she didn't want to talk anymore. But everyone knew it was just embarrassment talking. Aren knew it. Veronica knew it.
He just chuckled softly and went back to teasing her with his fingers.
Thinking about it, the whole situation was absurdly funny. They were doing something far more intimate than sharing secrets, brazen as could be—so what did a little secrecy even matter?
It's ridiculous, isn't it?
Like a masquerade ball.
Everyone knew each other's true faces, their true feelings, but they wore masks and pretended ignorance, hiding from one another. Just like Aren and Veronica right now.
On the surface, it was a contract. But peel back the layers, and it was just a sticky tangle of man-woman relations.
Which was why Aren kept up his "training" excuse, his hands wandering freely.
"Veronica. Think you can deploy and hold at least ten spells steady in this state?"
"Hng... In this state?"
"Yes."
She had her doubts, but she followed his lead anyway. There was always some ulterior motive in his requests, but they'd never led to bad results.
As he kneaded her ass and rubbed her pussy through her panties, she conjured more than ten spells into the air.
"D-done..."
A tremor leaked into her voice. Was it from holding the spells? Or from his fingers on her secret spot?
"Perfect. Now hold them like that for at least ten minutes."
"T-ten... minutes?"
"Yes."
"Wh-why... hng...?"
She had questions—and rightly so. Everything Aren had done so far involved linking their mana directly to teach her something. Just moments ago, he'd been imprinting more efficient mana circulation methods straight into her body.
But now...
"It's to ensure your focus never breaks, no matter the situation."
Snow or rain falling. Or, in the extreme, even if loved ones died right in front of you and your sanity shattered.
"It's training your body to keep the spells up no matter what."
"I-is that... so."
"Yes. So from now on, ignore everything else. Just focus on the spells."
With that, Aren slipped her panties aside.
Her eyes flew wide as she whipped around to look at him—but
—press.
"Hnnng...!"
His fingers pressed firmly against her pussy—more precisely, her clit—sending her body jolting. Her legs nearly buckled, and the spells flickered unstably for a moment.
He murmured into her ear with a laugh in his voice.
"No, no. I said the spells can't break, no matter what."
"Y-you bastard...!"
She hadn't expected him to touch her directly like that, panties or no. They weren't married or lovers, and as a commoner and noble, this was utterly unforgivable—but
"Worried about that now?"
She bit her lip hard at his whisper in her ear.
Yeah. She knew she'd gone too far to turn back now.
Unable to find any retort, she refocused on the spells as he instructed.
Aren grinned like a victor and ramped up his teasing. He stroked her outer and inner lips, flicked her clit like before. He snapped his fingers against it, rolled it in circles like a ball.
Each time, a sweet moan escaped her, and the spells wobbled on the verge of collapse.
"......Hng."
"Focus, Veronica."
"Y-you're the one... moving your fingers... like that... hng... how am I supposed to—"
"You still have to focus."
Otherwise, this wouldn't be training—it'd just be skinship between a man and woman.
Right?
"........."
"Good girl, my Veronica."
"Sh-shut... up... hnnng...!"
Squelch—
Ignoring her sharp retort, he slid a finger inside her pussy. Just one index finger, and only up to the first knuckle.
Squelch—
"Haaah...!"
Her moan came with soft inner walls wrapping around his finger. Aren slowly pushed deeper, murmuring,
"Hold them steady, Veronica."
"Grr...!"
She clenched her lips tight. Letting a man who wasn't even her lover into her most private depths—something she'd never allowed anyone. No way she could focus now.
Hell, just maintaining the spells was impressive.
But that was her problem.
"Raising the intensity."
"N-no...!"
Ignoring her protest, he began moving his finger slowly. Her slick, velvety walls clung smoothly. The wet squelching sounds mixed beautifully with her muffled moans.
Squelch—squelch—squelch—
"Hng... haaah...! Ng...!"
"They're wavering."
"I... kn-know...!"
His relentless fingers gave no quarter to her pleas. Gritting her teeth, she ignored the rising pleasure and poured her focus into the spells.
But if that were possible, they wouldn't need this training.
Her pussy kept leaking more nectar. Squelch— it soaked the panties pushed aside and trickled down her trembling thighs.
She was already biting her lip from his fingering—now the slick trail down her thighs felt impossibly vivid.
This...! Nooo...!
It was driving her mad. Touching herself was one thing; being touched by another was worlds apart.
She hadn't realized it alone, but with Aren doing it, she felt herself getting wetter, more sensitive than ever. She wondered if she was actually this lewd deep down.
"Ugh... y-your fingers... hng... too muuuch..."
She couldn't even form proper words. His probing touch inside felt too damn good. Pure ecstasy that threatened to blank her mind.
Utterly different from when he'd toyed with her breasts before. She'd pretended otherwise, but even that had felt good.
But this... this was on another level.
Squelch—squelch—lick.
"Hnnng...!"
Her body shuddered violently as Aren suddenly licked up her neckline with his tongue.
"Wh-what... hng!"
"Stay still. The spells are wavering."
"You're the one... using your tongue...! Gr... haaah."
Veronica trembled, moaning as he teased her from above and below. Her body went limp, leaning fully into his arms, surrendering completely.
Squelch—squelch—squelch—squelch—
Up... per...!
She's gonna cum. Gonna cum in a stranger's arms, letting him touch her most forbidden place—something no one had ever done.
The thought alone sent chills down her spine, and the last shred of her reason screamed no.
But rejecting it mentally changed nothing. Aren sensed it and fingered her even rougher.
Even as he did, he whispered sweetly,
"Hold on, Veronica."
".........!.....!...!.........!...!"
She wanted to snap back, but no words formed in her head.
Spells? Who cared anymore.
Her mind just went white—
"————...........................!...!.........!"
She came.
Gushing her juices, her legs gave out—but Aren held her up.
He whispered into her panting ear,
"Well done, Veronica."
"........."
"You held the spells for ten minutes. Success."
...Huh...?
Veronica's eyes went blank.