The Kiss That Sets the Mood
A kiss to set the mood. In some regions it might be used as a greeting or part of a religious rite, but that was strictly a cheek-to-cheek affair. Even that custom had lately softened into a mere touching of cheeks, and after the plague it vanished entirely. Kissing on the lips was reserved for parents and children or for lovers. And the act of tongues intertwining after lips met was the exclusive privilege of those lovers.
Until now, I had never understood the meaning of any of it. What kind of erogenous zone could a tongue or lips possibly be? Wasn’t it just swapping spit? Yeah… past tense.
A slick, foreign softness tangled with mine. My own tongue no longer felt like it belonged to me. Who was it that said your first kiss would taste sweet and you’d hear bells ringing? Bullshit. All I could hear was the frantic pounding of my heart, and the only thing that filled my senses was the rich aroma of rum. So that’s why people say not to kiss after eating fermented soybean paste.
When the kiss that had lingered for a long moment finally broke, a thin string of saliva still bridged us.
“Wer…ner…”
Without thinking, my right hand moved to her right breast. It was neither too large nor too small—perfectly sized to fill my palm. The sensation was maddeningly teasing, neither too firm nor too gentle.
“…Can I go further…? Sister?”
“…My name.”
“What?”
“…Right now, I’d like you to call me by my name.”
“Camellia.”
No more words followed. Our lips and tongues had sealed each other’s. They tangled, twisted, and wove together, breathing out hot vapor. After the opening skirmish had gone on long enough, my hands naturally drifted to her clothes. She wore an Eastern-style robe; one tug on the sash and the garment fell open instantly. Her bare skin peeked from beneath the half-discarded fabric—a body like white jade, in stark contrast to her usual cold demeanor. The sight only fueled my desire.
“Camellia…”
Our lips met again with wet, obscene sounds. Our tongues sought each other’s heat. The one that had been steeped in rum no longer carried that scent; instead, a faint floral fragrance began to bloom. For a second I worried my own smell might disgust her, but the flush on her face told me the concern had been needless.
Honestly, I had no idea how to proceed from here. But there was no need to worry. Countless sex constellations were backing me up.
The loser who commands women across countless stories, the Harem King Siu who always uses the same name. The Sun God Geum Taeyang, who defeats his opponents with pure skill and never resorts to dirty tricks like hypnosis or drugs. The spearman who wields humanity’s strongest lance, the demonic monk Gregory Rasputin and his colossal spear for the female special forces. The god who spent half his reincarnated life in bed with women alongside his endless romantic conquests. The one who became the father of the gods—God of Gods Zeus.
All of you, lend me your strength.
Doing the deed on the dining table would have been poor etiquette, so I lifted Camellia into my arms. Her naked body was now visible in even sharper detail. Perhaps even she found the exposure embarrassing; she turned her flushed face aside and spoke.
“As expected… this kind of appearance is quite embarrassing… Could you not stare quite so intently?”
Her tone was stiff, yet her voice trembled enough to prove her shyness. The sight was so adorable I let out a small chuckle and carried her to the bed in her room, gently laying her down.
The position would have allowed for a perfect muscle buster, but I held back. That technique was something I had sworn to save for the day I met Geum Taeyang.
“Should I… turn off the light?”
Thinking she might feel self-conscious, I reached to extinguish the magic lamp.
“No, it’s fine… Just keep looking into my eyes, will you?”
Under the soft glow, we studied our own reflections in each other’s pupils. Both of us had long black hair and blue eyes; a stranger might easily mistake us for real siblings. Perhaps those very traits were why Camellia had never seen Werner as a little brother.
“Camellia, there’s one thing I want to ask.”
“What is it…?”
“What’s about to happen… Will it be the start of a new relationship? Or just a one-night fling…?”
I needed to hear it from her. Did she want to begin something real with me, or was she simply defining this as a night’s amusement? I wanted to give her the choice. This decision belonged entirely to me—not to Werner.
“Well…”
Surprisingly, she let her answer trail off. It was unlike her; she usually handled everything with decisive rationality. She rose gently and wrapped me in a soft embrace. Her hot breath brushed my neck, and the warm body heat radiating from her bare skin enveloped me.
“That’s your choice, Werner.”
“You’re really okay with that…?”
“Whether our relationship becomes nothing more than a single night’s dream, or the first step toward all the days that will follow…”
Camellia brought her soft hand to my cheek, close enough that it barely grazed the fine down.
“I’ll be very happy recalling today before I die… So it doesn’t matter to me. I’d like you to steer the story in whatever direction lets you be happy.”
“…All right.”
I kissed her once more. My hands traveled over her body. When our tongues had tangled again and a thick strand of saliva connected us, I began shedding my own clothes piece by piece. And let me say this upfront—Werner possessed an excellent spear of his own. If he died and joined the ranks of the heroic spirits, I was certain he would qualify as a spearman.
“Whether what happens from now on will be nothing more than a night’s entertainment or the beginning of everything… I suppose we’ll only know after taking this step.”
With those words I licked the side of Camellia’s neck. A cute “Hng…” slipped from her lips. So even someone like Camellia makes sounds like that. She desperately covered her mouth to hold it back, but the noise was like a slippery loach—no matter how hard a champion wrestler pressed down, it still wriggled free.
I ran my tongue along the line of her shoulder and down toward her chest. When I licked the pert peak rising from her breast, a moan escaped that made me fear it might be heard outside. “Hnngg…”
My right hand stayed busy as well, continuing to toy with her most sensitive spots. Then I stopped using my tongue and lightly bit the sharp point of her ear. She grabbed my waist, openly pleading that she could no longer contain her excitement. It seemed her ears were indeed quite sensitive.
Now that both the mood and our bodies had grown hot and slick, it was time to move on to the long-awaited main event. Before raising the Great Wall, I conveyed my intent with a look. She seemed to understand and gave a small nod.
“…It’s rather embarrassing to admit, but this is my first time too, so I’d appreciate it if you were gentle.”
That wasn’t embarrassing in the slightest. And I was certainly not the kind of trash who would treat an innocent woman roughly.
Just as Werner’s spear was about to pierce the shield—
Iris’s voice rang out through the entire corridor.
“Master! A mouse came out!”
“Huh? He’s not in his room…”
Yeah, a mouse really had appeared.
As the sound of Iris’s footsteps heading toward my room grew louder, an indescribable terror seized me and I snatched up my clothes first. Camellia seemed to click her tongue, but that wasn’t important right now. The footsteps drew closer. The terror felt like it was slapping a horror movie across both cheeks. Camellia had also thrown her clothes back on in a hurry, yet the situation itself was perfectly primed for misunderstanding. Actually, thinking about it, it wouldn’t even be a misunderstanding.
Iris’s footsteps stopped. Then came the knock on Camellia’s door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Um… is our master in there too?”
Yeah, he’s right here. This was no time to hesitate—I had to escape immediately. Or somehow gloss over the situation. I squeezed every last drop of brainpower I possessed to wring out my available choices.
1. Kick the door hard enough to send Iris flying and knock her unconscious. Downside: if her memory doesn’t vanish, Zeke will kill me.
2. Strip naked and insist we were having a fair, honorable duel. Downside: Iris is human; she might not understand the custom if she belongs to the alliance.
3. Use magic to collapse the house.
4. Jump out the window.
Option one meant staking my life, which was unacceptable. Option two felt too risky since Iris was human. Option three… I simply didn’t want to destroy my own house. That left only one clear choice.
It was cold outside, so I grabbed a coat that could serve as an outer layer and leaped through the window. In this reality where family was crumbling, relationships were collapsing, and the master-disciple bond was being reduced to ruins, I had no choice but to jump.
After landing safely, I ran without once looking back. Only after my breath had climbed all the way to my throat did a thought finally surface.
I’m an adult. Is sleeping with a woman really such a terrible crime? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer. Returning now felt awkward, so I decided I would buy some freshly baked bread from the bakery at dawn before heading back.