3. A Night Akin to Juliet's Magic
Vallancien Territory's acting lord.
And the eldest daughter of the previous Baron of Vallancien, as well as the older sister of the next baron.
Yuli de Vallancien.
"...What the hell is this...?"
She was clutching a single book in her hands, utterly lost in its pages.
It was the book where her little brother had revealed his previously hidden name—his pen name—from his last work.
And like before, it had captured everyone's attention with its shockingly unconventional style.
Juliet's Night Like Magic
"...Isn't this insane?"
Ever since she'd secretly read the manuscript in Adrian's room, she hadn't been able to tear her eyes away.
She'd wanted to steal it away, but that would just advertise the fact that she'd snuck in and out of his room—impossible.
For Yuli, who valued appearances above all due to their somewhat lagging status compared to central nobles, it was utterly unthinkable.
So this was the book she'd waited so impatiently for once it hit the shelves.
"...Punching the lower belly?"
Hard to imagine.
A woman's lower belly was home to the womb, after all.
Even from her light martial arts training long ago, she knew it was one of a woman's vital points.
Not as instantly debilitating as a man's groin, sure, but it left massive aftereffects.
Adrian, who'd graduated top of his class at the Imperial Academy, surely knew that better than anyone.
And yet he'd described striking the lower belly like it was some huge turning point.
...If only that description hadn't veered into such bizarre territory, Yuli might have bought it easily.
...The throbbing ache in her lower belly made it impossible to stop trembling.
Juliet held back the urge to vomit up everything inside her and glared up at the slave.
That slave, now looking down at her with insolent eyes.
"Y-You rotten...!"
"Such pointless pride."
The slave stomped down hard on the back of Juliet's head as she clutched her belly and bowed her head.
Forcing herself to endure the sensation of her forehead splitting open, Juliet hid her shame-distorted face.
"...How dare you, y-you... slave...!"
"You'll end up begging for cock like all the other sows anyway. Letting you have it first isn't so bad."
"...What?"
She barely managed to lift her head, but she never saw the slave's face.
...Instead, something even sharper, thicker, and larger loomed before her.
The slave's manhood itself, no different from flesh on a stick.
"Serve it. With that venomous mouth of yours."
Kyuuung...
Along with a tingling buzz from deep in her lower belly, Juliet's heart pounded...
Yuli simply couldn't comprehend that "kyuuung" tingling expression.
Even after countless losses in spars with her brother, she'd rarely felt pain there while honing her martial skills.
Adrian had always known it was a woman's vital point without anyone telling him, so he'd avoided it.
For him to use "lower belly tingling" anyway...
Especially since he didn't use it just once or twice.
...Juliet's lower belly still seemed to throb, yearning for that man's touch...
...It had to mean there was some secret only Adrian knew.
That was the conclusion Yuli's overactive imagination had reached.
And it immediately shoved a hypothesis forward.
'So that's why hitting the lower belly—er, the womb directly—leaves aftereffects like this?'
Her swordmaster teacher had only ever said the aftereffects were severe.
She remembered that clearly from childhood.
But if those aftereffects meant a rampage of sexual desire...
There was only one way to prove it.
"...Should I try getting hit once?"
Yuli hastily wiped away the drool trickling from her lower lips down her thighs and stood up.
Hoo, I let out a sigh to shake off the muscle fatigue.
I set down the iron weights burdening my whole body and gave myself a light stretch.
Mana cleanly dissolves any strain, so it's pretty much pointless.
I've felt it before, but this body is way more efficient than you'd think.
If this world were just a straight fantasy adventure instead of a romance fantasy, I'd have crushed the demon king before even hitting adulthood.
"Adrian!!!"
...Of course, since it is a romance fantasy world, I can't even take down my sister, who's worse than any demon king.
"Adrian! You're here, right?"
"...Yes, sis."
The moment she senses me, sis kicks open the training hall door.
Looks like she came straight from desk work, judging by her relatively casual clothes.
"You wrote a new book, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"...Huh?"
"I knew about your last book, so why not tell me? Don't you remember how I figured it out?"
"...What the hell are you talking about?"
"Y-You know... Sade Zahermazoh? Why didn't he tell me about the new release—"
"No, sis. Aren't you jumping to some weird conclusions?"
"...Huh?"
Something in my words must've triggered her, 'cause her face flushes bright red.
"Why would I need to tell you I wrote something new?"
"...Huh?"
"It's not like I wrote it for you to read."
"...".
"Even if I started writing to show people—"
"Hey!!!"
Yuli jumps straight to anger, as usual.
"I-I just wanna read it, is that so hard?!"
"...I never said it was."
"Just! Just let me read it quick, okay?!"
"...You wanna see it that bad?"
"Uh...".
She suddenly clams up.
"...H-Huh? No! Why would I wanna read your crap?"
"...You did until a second ago."
"That was just...! Just pride that my brother's book is hot in high society, okay?! Why!!"
"...".
"I'm stuck in this cramped rural barony playing acting baron, no fiancé, just waiting to become an old maid, so can't I at least feel good reading some trendy society novel?! But you keep blocking me like this, making my life hell! I should've never sent you to your coming-of-age with all that 'cool' praise, should've been harsh from the start so you'd ask permission for everything and we wouldn't be here...!"
"...".
Sis has more pent-up stuff than I thought.
Makes sense—most girls her age would've been married off by now, but she's stuck acting lord.
Not sure what 21st-century Korea's "girls can do anything" crowd would say, but in this patriarchal romance fantasy world, a woman's peak success is marrying well.
A baron's daughter wedding a marquis or duke's son counts as a win.
Of course, marrying the crown prince is the ultimate jackpot...
'No way in hell that's happening for sis.'
This is a romance fantasy world. The heroine's a commoner, distant descendant of fallen nobles.
So the male lead? In romance fantasies where Cinderella's not just cliché but canon, he's gotta be filthy rich.
Northern grand duke, border duke, monster duke...
And the crown prince.
In this world, the guy who ends up with the commoner heroine is the crown prince.
Plus, the border duke and northern grand duke are either old geezers or barbaric types, so sis has zero shot there.
'Who's gonna take her?'
They might pair her with a sub-male-lead if they wanted, but those guys wouldn't appeal to her anyway.
A sub-lead for a commoner heroine from fallen nobles? Just another commoner.
No way my authority-loving sis would go for that.
"Got it, sis."
"I just wanna... What?"
"I'll show it to you first when the new one's out."
"...For real? N-No, that's not... Hmph. Ahem... Anyway, the reason I came."
Yuli opens her mouth, forcibly hiding her good mood.
"...Does getting punched in the belly really feel that good?"
"...".
Looks like sis needs common sense before marriage lessons.
But seeing her bring up belly-punching out of nowhere, I get why.
"...You read the book?"
"Of course...!"
She starts to say yeah, then dodges.
Yeah, it's too awkward to admit reading this stuff straight-up.
So raw with desire, it'd get an author fired if publishers existed here.
Doesn't matter how popular—embarrassing is embarrassing.
"Look, first off."
"...".
"Do you know what it means to punch someone in the belly?"
"...Duh, isn't it obvious?"
"What does it mean, then?"
"Female switch flick?"
"...".
"...??"
Who the hell taught her that crap?
"N-No... How else do you explain Juliet flipping like that? So I just—"
"O-Okay, can you not yell it?!"
"...Worried someone'll hear?"
"If you get it, lower your damn voice."
"...".
First thought: gotta fix sis's twisted common sense.
After dealing with my fiancée's "outdoor exposure feels great" lunacy, this feels mandatory.
"Sis. Punching the lower belly means hitting a vital point."
"...Yeah, I know."
"And do you know why it's a vital point?"
"...Sensitive?"
"'Sensitive' doesn't cover it. Way worse."
"...Huh?"
"One good hit can rupture your bladder. Blood in your piss, or worse, blockages that leave you in agony forever. And for women? Even worse. Direct shock to the womb makes childbirth impossible. It's not even female-exclusive. That's why it causes panic."
"...N-No, but you wrote—"
"Sis."
"...Yeah?"
"Fiction is fiction. Try separating it from reality."
That day, Yuli's world crumbled.
Despite Adrian's thorough explanation, Yuli had no intention of taking it at face value.
She'd already concluded in her head before coming. This was just confirmation.
Not here for a lecture on bladder infections or infertility.
...Can't accept it. Hitting the lower belly just hurts?'
She couldn't trust Adrian, but she trusted his writing.
Utter contradiction, but siblings were natural enemies anyway.
The problem was Adrian taking it so seriously.
If he'd just said, "Yeah, sis is always right. Go on living with your 'female switch' talk," she wouldn't have gotten defiant.
Ironically, his genuine concern sparked her recklessness.
"...You're just hogging all the fun again? Think I don't know you went down on your fiancée at her coming-of-age?"
Of course, no such rumors had reached Yuli.
Just the princess's ceremony, with the empress standing in for the ailing emperor.
Impossible to expect normal thinking from Yuli, whose brain was melted by dirty books.
She probably knew it herself—this was just an excuse. All lies.
But since when did that matter?
"I'll... I'll feel good too...!"
She wouldn't forgive them keeping the fun to themselves.
Perched on the bed, Yuli slowly lifted her shirt and stared at her own lower belly.
...Should I work out?'
Suddenly, images of the knight order members' bodies flashed in her mind.
Muscled hulks, men and women alike from relentless training.
Not to that extreme, but Yuli did want to tone up a bit.
Solid abs would be nice.
With no time to exercise, should she be grateful her belly fat hadn't ballooned like her chest?
"...Hoo..."
Worrying about no workout time was brief.
First, she'd do what she craved.
Start light. No hard hits.
Too strong from the get-go would scar and hurt.
Pang-
"...".
Too weak, apparently.
Next, add a bit more force—
Thud-
"Eut...".
Something. A feeling.
Not the exact "kyuuung" buzz from the book, but still.
Feeling something in her lower belly was a good sign.
She knew she couldn't stop here.
So, add a little more power...
Smack-!
"Eueut?!"
It's coming. Definitely a sensation.
This distinct tingle in her lower belly, like something separate was there.
A few more hits at this strength...
Smack-!
One, two—each belly punch brought an unbearable surge from somewhere.
A bursting urge. Like everything would spill out.
Just a bit more...
Smack-
As Yuli's hand met her lower belly, the sensation she'd held back poured out.
Spiiiish...
"...Ha?"
...As urine.
Plain old urine, no pleasure or anything.
"...Haa?"
Yuli de Vallancien.
Age 21.
Pissing herself wide awake on the bedcovers.