Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Coming On Strong
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In the end, the departure schedule got pushed back by a day.
If it were just the knights heading out, we could leave right away without issue, but with Aurora tagging along, there were quite a few things to consider.
Even setting aside that we weren't the ones preparing her carriage, we had to reorganize the escort, marching speed, and schedule, which naturally meant more work piled up.
Of course, that wasn't my job. It was Laksia's.
She'd told me herself that it was far better for her to handle everything from start to finish than to watch some incompetent superior bungle the situation, and to just stay out of it.
That "incompetent superior" clearly referred to the captain of the Golden Twilight Knights, but since I was a total amateur at management and command myself, it hit a little close to home.
Still, she said it was way better than being under that guy— at least now, things that were running smoothly wouldn't get ruined on a whim.
I left the vice-captains to their heated debate in the castle about who would join the expedition and headed back to Aurora's mansion alone. She'd said there was something we needed to talk about.
As soon as I entered the mansion, Rana was waiting and guided me to another of Aurora's rooms on the top floor, as if she'd been expecting me. It was decorated almost identically to the one she usually used.
Just a bit smaller in size.
As always, Aurora had placed an antique desk and chair right in front of the massive window, and she was sitting there in her black city-miss look dress.
She glanced up as I entered and shoved the documents she'd been reading to a far corner of the desk.
"You said there was something to talk about—what is it?"
"Have a seat first. This isn't the kind of story you stand around for."
"There's no place to sit, though?"
I glanced around. Aside from the antique chair Aurora was in, there wasn't anywhere obvious to park my butt. The bed was the only option, but it was too far from the desk.
"I know. Sit here."
Aurora stood from her seat and pointed to the object beside her. It was the chair she'd just been sitting in.
"......Are you serious?"
"Do I look like someone who'd lie about something like this?"
Aurora perched her butt on the edge of the desk right in front of the chair and nodded toward it again with her chin. I approached her with a dubious look on my face.
The chair was still warm.
"So, what's so grand that you have me sitting here?"
"Hmm? Nothing in particular. No real goal—I just called you over to kill time before we leave. You don't have anything to do in the castle anyway, right? Now that you're here, tell me something fun."
It felt a little off. She seemed to be saying the right things at a glance, but I could clearly see her avoiding my gaze bit by bit. She wasn't making proper eye contact.
It didn't feel like she was really just killing time. There had to be another reason.
"Well... what kind of fun story could I possibly have for you?"
"Why not? You've got plenty. For example... that time you got it on with Lize."
*Cough cough.* I hacked violently, like I'd choked on water.
I'd known Aurora took after her aunt with that blunt personality, but I hadn't expected her to straight-up say something like that to my face.
"Why bring that up here?"
"I actually found it hilarious. More exciting than your average adventure tale. Or wait, maybe it is an adventure story? Exploring a place no one's ever been before—"
"......"
She must've caught the bewildered look in my eyes because Aurora smirked and shut her mouth. But while it was a little better, she still wasn't meeting my eyes properly.
That just made it feel even weirder. Her actions were the same, but if she was only dodging my gaze like something was up, the odds were high that something really was.
"Yeah, yeah, got it. I'll pretend you didn't say that, so why don't you get some early rest, wake up early tomorrow, and prepare for departure? I'll head out now."
"It's barely 4 PM. You want me to sleep now and wake up in the middle of the night?"
I glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. She was right. It was just past—no, not even 4 yet. Too early to cut the conversation short by saying I should sleep.
"So, you're just gonna keep making those jokes instead of sleeping?"
"Who said I'm joking?"
Luckily, she didn't seem intent on putting me in an even more awkward spot. She just wanted to kill some time—
"From now on, we'll do it with our bodies."
"......Pardon?"
A dumb echo slipped from between my lips.
I thought I'd misheard, but one look at Aurora's expression told me I hadn't. Do it with our bodies? Do what?
'No way.'
The panic was brief. My head cleared quickly. Yeah, I'd had a hunch ever since she was so insistent on going out with me. It was basically a date with the labels swapped.
I'd noticed emotions in the way she looked at me before, too. I'd brushed it off each time, half-wondering, half-focused on Lize, but maybe the dam had finally burst.
Surprised by my reaction, Aurora's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Not as shocked as I thought? You've had that pensive look since earlier—what's up?"
"......Can I just say what I'm thinking?"
"Go ahead. I can guess what you're gonna say anyway."
"I'd sort of figured you had feelings for me. I didn't think much of it before, but lately I'd been wondering."
"That's about what I expected. But listen, Delta... hearing it straight from you feels so absurd, you know?"
"I won't deny it. It means I knew and deliberately ignored it."
"Wow, that's some trash talk right there."
The words were harsh, but Aurora's face was all smiles as she said them. It felt like just a perfunctory toss-out.
Or maybe confirming I'd known about her feelings all along made her that happy.
"Then why the sudden aggressiveness, my lord? You were even using a fake name a few days ago."
Aurora flinched like I'd hit a nerve, then forced her expression to smooth out.
"I saw potential."
"Potential?"
Instead of answering, Aurora gripped both my shoulders firmly with her hands, then climbed onto my lap, straddling my thighs step by step.
It reminded me of when Lize pounced on me in the Holy Kingdom—similar situation, minus me being flat on a bed and her on a chair.
Aurora knelt with her legs spread wide on either side, slotting my thigh between hers. The chair was ridiculously huge, leaving space to spare in that position.
Naturally, her crotch pressed against my groin. She pulled her hips in tighter. Her knees slid up near my pubic bone. She was definitely doing it on purpose.
'......I could get out of this if I really wanted.'
Back in the Holy Kingdom, Lize had overpowered me for real, but now I could shove Aurora off and stand up the moment I decided to.
But I didn't.
Or rather, I chose not to.
My lower half was starting to react, after all. Half of it was not wanting to reject her harshly, and the other half was my desire winning out.
Felt like I was getting better at rationalizing this by the day.
"Yeah. Potential. Delta, you've been no ordinary guy since we met. First thing you said was, 'Don't you want to be lord?' Then, 'Don't you want to kill that filthy pig bastard?' Who else could've said that?"
"......"
"Well, back then I was just a body with nothing else, but my pride was sky-high, so I spouted crap like 'How can I trust you?' without knowing my place... Uh, just to check, you're not mad about that, right?"
Aurora's cheeks flushed a bit as she glanced at me, gauging my reaction. I figured she meant when she'd yelled at me about trust at our first meeting.
I'd glossed over it since it matched the game exactly. Her reaction made perfect sense.
When a lifeline drops in front of you, you test if it's a rotten rope that'll snap or a sturdy one you can rely on.
Though, yeah, the way she'd said it was pretty brazen. If I hadn't seen it hundreds of times in the game, I might've gotten annoyed, even if not outright angry.
I shook my head side to side, and Aurora sighed in relief, hand to her chest.
"......Good, you're not mad. You succeeded in the end, right? And you got sweet revenge on that pig. Honestly, that's when I started catching feelings. But it felt awkward to butt in, so I just circled around it. Lize the knight captain had already staked her claim."
Our heads drew closer. Aurora twisted slightly, burying her face in my left shoulder and pressing her head against my cheek. I felt her cheek rubbing my shoulder.
Our upper bodies touched. The soft give of her breasts came through from her chest. The hands gripping my shoulders slid around to hug my back tightly.
"But listen. You beat a dragon this time, right?"
"......Well, sort of."
I answered with some hesitation. God only knew how far the misunderstandings from that one thing would spread.
"Beating a dragon qualifies you to add one more woman, doesn't it? Right?"
"Uh...... I don't think so?"
"Nope. It does. I just decided."
"Can you really decide something that important on your own, my lord?"
I hesitated on where to put my hands, then shrugged and hugged her back. The moment my palms touched her back, Aurora jolted. Her legs clenched slightly.
As expected, no underwear—stroking down her back slowly, there was nothing in the way. Just the smooth feel of bare skin.
"Delta. Big trouble."
"Bigger than this situation?"
"You hugged me and now I'm a little wet. What do we do?"
"......I'll pretend I didn't hear that, so just keep going with what you were saying."
I tightened my arms around Aurora. She shuddered for a good while longer before finally calming down enough to continue haltingly.
"So, yeah, I saw my chance and went for it."
"What about when you went around the city with me as 'Aurora'?"
"Th-that was......"
Aurora mumbled into my shoulder, whispering.
"I was embarrassed."
"Embarrassed about what?"
"Y'know... I originally planned to do this the first night back from the palace, right? That's why I told you to come to the mansion late at night."
I tried to keep a straight face, but I couldn't stop my arms from tightening around her. The soft press of her breasts felt much stronger now.
No wonder she'd insisted I come no matter how late.
"But when I actually called you, I chickened out from embarrassment?"
"......Yeah. And the fake identity thing while wandering with you? Rana was so frustrated with how hopeless I am at this stuff that she suggested maybe acting like someone else would let me be more honest."
"But then—"
"Some witch showed up and ruined it."
Nix's visit really had been out of nowhere. I'd never imagined she'd have that weird mental issue.
If she hadn't timed it perfectly that day, I might've ended up in bed with Aurora then instead of now.
"Honestly, I'm still mortified enough to die. But if I miss this chance, who knows when it'll come again. I'm really pushing through the embarrassment here."
"You're usually so bold, but you turn all girly when it comes to me. Surprising."
"You know you just said the exact same thing as Rana, right?"
"Did I?"
If I'd echoed the head maid like that, Rana must've been pretty baffled too.
"If you don't like this, say so. I won't listen anyway."
"You won't listen? Not 'hear me out'?"
"What do I care? If you don't like it, push me off. You could shove someone like me away easy, right? This is all my selfish move, so even if you do, I won't mind."
"Really?"
I released my hug, slipped my hands under her armpits, and pushed her back. With my strength stats pumped, shoving one person was a breeze.
Aurora, lifted by her upper body with her armpits gripped, pulled back abruptly—her eyes went wide like she never expected me to actually do it.
"You really don't mind?"
I leaned back against the chair's backrest, hands positioned under her armpits like I could lift her any second, and watched her steadily.
"......"
Then, seeing tears welling in her eyes, I pulled her back in and hugged her tight. Aurora groped at my back fumblingly before wrapping her arms around my neck this time.
"See? You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
"You jerk...... You scared me...... I thought you were really gonna leave......"
Her voice trembled. She'd clearly had a real heart-stopping moment.
"My lord."
"......Yeah."
"You know I already have Lize, right?"
"I know. I'm doing this fully aware. If she has anything to say, I'll take full responsibility."
I eased Aurora's body back a bit, cupped her cheek in my palm, and wiped the tears from her eyes with my thumb.
"That's not what I mean by making you take responsibility."
"......Then what?"
"I'll make the effort. It's not impossible for one man to marry multiple women."
"Delta, you......"
Aurora's eyes widened. She stared at me like she'd never seen that coming.
By the time I took down all the bosses, fame and achievements would follow naturally anyway. No point clinging to outside-world common sense and hesitating here.
Getting isekai'd into Bren 4 wasn't exactly normal to begin with.
"And I've already crossed the line once—why not twice?"
As I hugged her again, Aurora processed it for a second before letting out a shocked yelp.
"What? Wait. You've already done it once? Hold on, Delta—don't tell me there's another woman besides Lize? For real? I'm not second, I'm third?"
"Who knows."
I grinned slyly. Aurora wiped her tears with the back of her hand and straightened up with a 'just you wait' look.
"Tch...... You should've said so earlier. You're in for it now."
"In for it how?"
Aurora's body pressed even tighter against mine.
"I'll squeeze out more than that other girl did."