Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Sex Education (3)
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"What are caresses?"
Baekya asked, peering at me cautiously over the notebook spread out toward me.
I carefully met her gaze.
Her eyes were as pretty as jewels.
Just looking at them pissed me off.
Beyond those two incompatible impressions.
I couldn't glimpse even a hint of emotions like curiosity or lust.
That's exactly the kind of information I needed most right now.
It was disappointing, but also to be expected.
Up until now, even when Baekya had beaten me to the brink of death, I'd never once read any emotion in her eyes.
"Luke? Why aren't you answering?"
Frustrated by my silence, Baekya tilted her head slightly to the left.
At least I could infer her feelings from her actions. That was a small mercy.
The result? 100% skepticism.
There wasn't even a trace of the lust I'd hoped for, however faint.
"If it's written wrong, just say so. I won't make a fuss about it."
I let out a faint sigh.
Of course, the idea that Baekya could be an erotic novel writer was ridiculous to begin with.
A woman who used sparring as an excuse to beat me senseless and relieve her stress—wanting me to rape her like some beast?
This some novel?
She had to be talking sense.
No matter how suspicious the clues, Baekya seemed best excluded from the list of suspects.
No matter how elegant her handwriting.
No matter that she'd called me to the library alone for sex ed, just like in the novel.
No matter that she seemed to be subtly seducing me by asking what caresses were.
It was too much of a stretch for Baekya to be the author.
"...Caresses are..."
I mentally labeled the 'Baekya' slot in my mind with 'Not the author,' managed my expression, and spoke.
"...gestures filled with love. That's what we call caresses."
A description loaded with implications.
Baekya blinked a few times at my explanation, then pulled the notebook back toward herself.
I only noticed now, but the notebook she'd brought this time also had a reddish-brown cover.
Unlike the one I'd found before, it had fancy decorations, and though the shade was slightly different upon close inspection, they were clearly from the same color family. My thoughts lingered on that point for a while.
Another coincidence.
And foolish lingering doubt.
In the end, I could only label the 'Baekya' slot with 'Author...?'
Baekya's voice snapped me out of my reverie.
"...I think I get it, more or less."
Unlike her words, she mumbled while still tilting her head, looking utterly lost.
"Sex is something lovers do, so they do caresses before that. Right?"
"Yes. That's correct."
Whether she'd truly grasped caresses was another matter, but I let it slide without pointing it out.
I certainly couldn't add that caresses could happen before sex, during it, after it—anytime at all.
Still, she seemed somewhat convinced, so if things stayed this way, I could probably wrap up my time with Baekya safely and get back to training.
That thought vanished in an instant.
"But is it really necessary?"
Baekya wasn't convinced.
She'd just gone through a confirmation step before posing a new question.
"Pardon?"
"Caresses. No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like an essential step before insertion. Why would gestures filled with love be necessary?"
"Well..."
"It might come as a byproduct, but putting it at the very forefront of the sex process feels like something's missing."
This was bad.
I wished she'd just let it go.
Maybe I should have told her from the start that it was wrong and to erase it.
Too-late regret washed over me, but I couldn't take back what I'd said.
Explaining caresses to Baekya, who lacked sex knowledge, might lead to who-knows-what consequences.
She might accuse me of defiling her lover's body or something, dragging out this pointless sex ed session even longer.
The conclusion was simple.
Muddle through.
"You're right, Baekya-nim. It's not strictly necessary. If you think it's unnecessary, you don't have to worry about it."
"Hmm..."
Baekya let out a hum and started twirling her pen between her fingers.
Had I chosen the wrong option? Things felt even more uneasy than before.
Normally, the most I'd seen from her was a flick of the finger.
Was this gesture good or bad?
I tried to think positively, but it didn't seem to carry any good meaning.
As I prayed for this to pass without incident.
"Yeah. This won't do."
Thud. The sound of Baekya setting her pen on the desk echoed softly.
"You must have done these caresses with Kaen last night too, right?"
"No, I didn't—"
"Liar."
A whisper-like voice.
"You did, didn't you?"
"......"
The excuse I'd been about to spit out dropped straight back down my throat at Baekya's firm question.
Come to think of it, last night I'd only received from Kaen, never given—but there was no time to explain that now.
"No answer means you did, huh?"
Baekya had already caught me in last night's act, leading us here.
I didn't know exactly what she'd seen or how much, but at minimum, she'd witnessed Kaen kneeling before me, her tongue at work.
Even if I swore I hadn't caressed her there, would she believe me?
In my mind, that would only fuel her suspicions—the worst possible response.
Better to lie here and say I had, then find another way out.
"Well, I did, but..."
"Give me your hand."
"Pardon?"
"Stop repeating yourself. Give me your hand."
As I'd been scrambling for the best answer, Baekya set her notebook and pen aside and reached toward me.
Impatient, she grabbed my wrist herself and continued.
Maybe because she'd been holding the pen, her palm felt incredibly warm.
"Gestures filled with love, right?"
"Yes, that's right, but..."
"Explaining it so abstractly makes it hard to judge if it's really necessary for sex."
Before my brain could even process what Baekya had just said.
"Explain properly how it's done. So I can judge for sure."
The trial of a lifetime descended.
***
Baekya's logic was more plausible than I'd expected.
First.
When I said to write the sex process, caresses naturally came before insertion, so it must be something she did often.
Second.
But when Baekya received sex ed from her family, she heard nothing about caresses, so vague explanations like 'gestures filled with love' don't tell her exactly what they are.
Third.
And the one explaining caresses happens to be me—the guy with my dick on Kaen's tongue.
So, hypothetically, she might be committing terribly wrong acts out of ignorance.
The result.
"Lu...ke."
"Yes, Baekya-nim."
The air was a bit hotter than before.
The air was far more awkward than before.
Even breathing felt like it required caution.
"G-Gently, just a little... Ngh, urgh......"
"Understood."
My head throbbed.
I wondered if this was the right call, but sadly, no better idea had come to me in that short time.
What could I do?
I had to hope Baekya would buy it.
I swallowed hard and kept moving my hand.
"Hik...?!"
Baekya's shoulders twitched as she let out a short moan.
I'd noticed it earlier, but her unexpectedly sensitive reactions were throwing me off.
How could a woman so rigid normally let out such pleasure-filled sounds every time I touched her?
How could a woman so cold normally heat up warmly wherever I groped?
Was she sending a signal?
Wanting me to realize she was the erotic novel's author?
'...This is driving me insane.'
The fantasy was brief.
Worried about offending her, I stopped my hand at once.
Something in my pants had swollen halfway, causing discomfort, but since I was behind her the whole time, she wouldn't notice.
"Are you alright?"
"...F-Fine, so just... keep... keep going..."
Baekya pressed her body against the chair's backrest, her breathing ragged.
The clock read 9:55.
Only five minutes left— was it okay to keep this up? But a plebeian couldn't argue with a noble.
I swallowed my words and once more applied pressure with my fingertips to stimulate her body.
"Ngh......"
Slowly.
Gently.
Firmly when needed.
I tried to ignore the softness of Baekya blurred through her thin fabric, focusing stimulation on the spots with the best reactions.
Squeeze. As I pressed with my fingers, Baekya's shoulders jerked again.
"It hurts......"
"Does it hurt here?"
"......No. Keep... don't worry about it. It wasn't... that bad."
She told me not to worry, but no matter how I looked at it, her voice wasn't okay.
Interpreting her words my way, I stimulated other areas, avoiding the painful spot.
Stay calm.
If I got as aroused as I had with Kaen last night and lost reason, there'd be no future for me.
The faint body scent from Baekya's nape.
I ignored it as best I could and slid my hand along her shoulder line.
"Hik....... Hiik...?!"
Not long after pressing against the backrest, Baekya's hips began sliding forward on the chair again, bit by bit.
Her head bowed low as if bracing against the unfamiliar stimulation.
Her hands gripped the armrests, trembling faintly—the sight stirred pity.
Why was she like this?
Feeling pleasure from just my hand on her shoulder?
Was she really not the erotic novel's author?
"......!?!"
Baekya suddenly bowed her head sharply, making a strange noise.
I desperately wanted to stop this lukewarm touching and see her face right now.
But I held back.
I bit my lower lip hard and held back.
Because if I didn't, I'd cross the line.
I had to consider the worst-case scenario.
"Heok.... He... "
"Baekya-nim."
"Ung..."
No.
I couldn't endure any longer.
Honestly, this should be explanation enough.
With that intent, I paused my hand, but Baekya just caught her breath and settled her hips deeper into the chair, without saying to stop.
No choice—I took the initiative.
Baekya was flustered by these unfamiliar sensations she'd never known, so she probably couldn't nitpick details, I figured.
"Baekya-nim. I think this is sufficient."
"But it feels like the verification isn't complete yet....... Ah."
Baekya spoke in a hazy tone, as if drunk.
Startled by her own lewd voice, she caught her breath for a moment, then stared blankly in my direction.
Her usual blank expression.
But the faint flush on her cheeks and ears wasn't my imagination.
"...Luke. I have a question."
"Yes."
"Did you... do exactly this to Kaen too?"
"Y-Yeah. Yes."
It never happened, but I went along with it for now.
I'd gotten Baekya's firm promise not to tell Kaen, so a little white lie should be fine.
She'd said a noble meeting a plebeian was trouble enough, but if word got out that she'd licked a plebeian's thing, she'd die of shame.
She wandered around with that listless gaze like everything was a hassle, yet she had consideration in weird places.
"Caresses.... So this is called caresses too..."
"......"
"I still don't fully get why it's done before insertion, but... it definitely feels like it could be filled with love."
Baekya nodded, convincing herself.
I couldn't interject a word.
Best to let her delude herself.
"......"
"......"
As conversation ceased, the atmosphere turned ghostly awkward again.
Feeling like I was on pins and needles, I cautiously spoke first.
"Um... Baekya-nim. Can I head back now?"
"...Already?"
"Well, time's up."
"Huh?"
Swish. Baekya glanced at the clock on the library wall.
She let out an "Ah" of realization, then cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Time's already... "
"Our promised hour is ending soon, so the Librarian will be back any minute."
"Right."
Baekya scratched her cheek sheepishly.
I'd thought I'd seen a wide range of her behaviors so far, but this was a rare one not in her dictionary.
Hard to see often, but good to note as something that emerges when she's flustered.
How to use it? Future me would figure it out.
"No helping it."
Baekya murmured softly, then waved lazily at me.
Another new gesture, but from the limp waving and the vibe, it seemed like permission to leave.
One more for the dictionary.
What a day for seeing new sides of her.
Hiding my relief at finally escaping, I said,
"Then I'll go first, Baekya-nim."
"...See you in three days."
"Pardon?"
Three days.
Exactly until our next spar.
Surely not meaning more of this bizarre sex ed.
Even less likely she wanted more 'caresses.'
I crushed the sudden anticipation of touching that body again and forced a smile.
"You mean the spar... right?"
"No. After that day's spar ends, we'll continue the remaining sex ed, so remember that."
"But after the spar......"
You'll beat me half to death, I'll end up in church, and only have time in the evening.
Instead, silence.
Fortunately, Baekya seemed to grasp what I meant without asking, and replied.
"I'll come by in the evening. Busy that day?"
"I'd need to check the calendar, but I don't remember anything special."
No need.
I had it all memorized anyway.
Baekya probably would never know.
That on spar days, I deliberately scheduled nothing else.
"Good then. Go."
Baekya waved lazily again.
I bowed awkwardly toward her back and stumbled out of the library.
"Hoo......"
The bewildering sex ed was half over.
Results-wise, I'd escaped unscathed, but it felt so slapdash I wasn't sure what happened.
Best to settle for not screwing up with Baekya.
With lingering unease, I paced in front of the library before heading to the western sector.
Looked like I needed to do yesterday's cleaning to cool my head.