It's Just Part of the Treatment (2)
"You seem to be getting used to healing me while I'm under the buff. So today, I was thinking—why not try placing your hands directly on bare skin, Isabel?"
"……Pardon?"
Kim Isabel echoed my suggestion back at me, flustered, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
First things first, I made sure she understood that this wasn't some strange proposition with ulterior motives—rather, it was a suggestion made entirely for Kim Isabel's own benefit, so she could put her mind at ease.
"I don't mean anything weird by it. I heard once that Holy Power works better when it's channeled through direct skin contact. Up until now we haven't been able to go that far because of your androphobia, but I figured while you're under the buff, it might actually be possible."
"……"
"Of course, I could be misunderstanding things since I'm no expert. But if you're okay with it, Isabel, I thought this might be a chance to get a little more used to men while also improving the healing efficiency."
"…I-I see…."
The claim that Holy Power was more effective when channeled directly onto bare skin was, in truth, an excuse.
Certainly, whether there was a thin layer of cloth between my skin and her hands or not did technically affect the healing efficiency of Holy Power. But the difference was so negligible that there was never any real need to treat me with her hands pressed against bare flesh.
What I was actually proposing was, for all intents and purposes, nothing more than an invitation to direct skinship with Kim Isabel. Not placing her hands on my forearm like yesterday, but touching my bare chest itself.
"Sorry if I've got it wrong. It's not that I think your healing method has been improper or anything. It's just something I've heard here and there, that's all."
"…No, it's not incorrect information."
"Really?"
"The difference is slight, but it's true that channeling Holy Power directly onto bare skin is more efficient. That's actually why the church deliberately uses thin patient gowns. When one priest has to care for many patients, it's better to maximize the efficiency of their Holy Power as much as possible."
"I see. I didn't know it went that deep."
"In that sense, there's plenty of logic to what you're saying, Sunho. Even with the thinnest patient gown, there would certainly be a difference between having cloth between us and channeling Holy Power while touching bare skin… directly."
Kim Isabel explained slowly, carefully repeating back the words I'd said to her.
She was already under the influence of Succubus Heart—there was no way she would refuse a skinship proposal coming from my side.
"I-if it's not too uncomfortable for you, I'll proceed with a more efficient treatment as you suggested, Sunho. Though since your discharge is coming up soon, it may not make much difference."
"It's not just about my treatment—it's meaningful for your androphobia too. So if you're okay with it, Isabel, I'd appreciate that."
"…Yes. Then I'll conduct today's treatment that way."
With those words, Kim Isabel moved her hand toward the front of my gown.
Now, I was the one who had proposed the aggressive skinship, but knowing Kim Isabel as she was, there was a good chance things would stop at her unbuttoning a few buttons and leaving my chest partially exposed.
No matter how deeply Succubus Heart had taken hold, it was a Suggestion that amplified curiosity toward the opposite sex and sexual desire—it couldn't thicken anyone's nerve.
'Merely loosening up my collar would be a bit dull, honestly.'
If that halfway measure had been my goal, I wouldn't have needed to suggest anything in the first place. At that level, I could just casually undo a few buttons and play innocent, and Kim Isabel would part my clothes and explore underneath all on her own.
Which was why I needed to be a little bolder. Making her unmistakably register me as a man—that was the true purpose of this skinship.
"It'd probably be easier with my shirt off, right? Could you wait just a moment?"
"Ah, um—"
-Tuk. Tuduk.
"……"
-Hwullreong!
"……"
Before she could even answer my question about whether I should take my top off first, I had already stripped it away.
She had been about to say something like how there was really no need to undress, but the moment I started unbuttoning my gown, her mouth snapped shut, and she remained in complete silence right up until I flung the patient gown's top off with abandon.
For Kim Isabel, currently under Succubus Heart, giving up the sight of my naked upper body was probably a little too much to ask. Even without any Suggestion at all, everyone enjoys gazing at the bare skin of someone of the opposite sex they have feelings for.
"It's a bit embarrassing, but should I lie down like usual?"
"……"
"…Isabel?"
"Ah, y-yes…! You can lie down like… like usual."
Kim Isabel, who hadn't managed a single word since I took my clothes off, hurriedly snapped back to her senses only when her name was called.
Behind that veil, I'd wager she was busy drilling her gaze into my bare body. The lewd temperament she'd kept hidden beneath her androphobia all this time was beginning to surface, little by little.
"Th-then… I'll begin the treatment…."
"Mm."
-Sweuk.
"Hoo, hah… O-Omnipotent Asclepius…"
Kim Isabel began reciting her prayer with her hands resting on my bare chest, once again carrying out today's full-body treatment with Holy Power.
Aside from the slight tremor in the hands touching my bare skin, she recited the prayer faithfully and well. As expected of a Saint Candidate—apparently even with her heart in turmoil, she could push through at least this much and maintain her focus.
What mattered anyway wasn't the prayer itself but what came after, so during the treatment I simply relaxed and waited, savoring the sensation of Holy Power flowing into my body.
"…And so, grant him Your protection."
…There it is.
-Deobeok, deobeok.
"Hoo, hoo… Hooooh…"
And once again, right on schedule, her adorable molestation of me began.
Unlike before, when everything had happened over her clothes, the sensation of her hands touching my bare skin directly seemed to excite her considerably—once she started kneading, her fingers couldn't stop wandering.
Tracing my pectoral muscles with her fingertips, rubbing her palms across the contours, feeling the warmth of skin pressed against skin—it was all quite pleasant, I'll admit.
…But at this distance, I instinctively felt it might be time to push things a little further along.
'With Cha Eunju, around this stage, things had already progressed to groping her chest.'
Though these days, rather than me doing the groping, I was the one being groped.
In any case, she seemed to have grown completely comfortable with touching my bare body under the Suggestion, and at this stage, moving on to the next phase looked promising.
To be honest, Kim Isabel's conquest had already progressed far enough that there was no urgent need to rush—but the biggest problem was that my discharge was only days away.
If I could stay hospitalized just one more day, I could have taken things at a more leisurely pace, but I was scheduled to be discharged right after this afternoon's treatment, which meant I couldn't afford to put things off any longer.
If I simply received my afternoon treatment and left things as they were, the relationship would remain in an awkward, half-finished state.
'At the very least, I need to establish a pretext for summoning Kim Isabel to me separately.'
Coming out to meet me to overcome her androphobia, even outside the church, and touching my body like this—all of it needed to become one familiar routine. Just like how Cha Eunju, even after her practical exam training ended, was still 'doing her hypnosis training' by sucking my cock.
Once the routine was in place, everything after was easy. Keep having her touch my body, and sooner or later Kim Isabel was bound to commit one 'mistake' or another. After that, I could gently work her guilt over that 'mistake,' giving myself the perfect opening to initiate physical contact with her in return.
-Sweuk, suuu-euk.
"Hooooh, hoo, hoo… Hooooh…"
…She's inching lower again.
Was it some kind of instinct born of Succubus Heart, the way her hand kept gravitating toward my cock?
Letting her hand actually make contact with it this once would have been nice, but if I was going to brand a vivid memory into her mind anyway, it was better to let that happen during the afternoon treatment rather than now.
That way, even after my discharge, she'd spend her days replaying the lingering sensation of my cock in her palm while thinking of me. And the guilt of having touched a man's most private parts would make it that much harder for her to refuse whenever I called for her from outside.
I called out lightly to Kim Isabel, who was sneaking her hand toward my lower half like a crawling caterpillar, drawing her attention back to me.
"Um, Isabel?"
-Pat!
"Hyah?! Y-yes…!! The, the treatment's done…! I-I just finished it right now…!"
"Ah, is that so…?"
…I'd felt this same thing while hypnotizing Cha Eunju, but the hardest part of training someone through Suggestion was, unexpectedly, this exact moment. Neither of them had any talent for deceiving other people, so every lie they told was painfully obvious.
Kim Isabel was especially bad—even with her face hidden behind the veil, everything leaked out through her voice, her gestures, all of it. If anything, she was even worse than Cha Eunju.
Sitting there before these adorable girls, trying so hard to keep a straight face—what people would call 'holding back laughter'—turned out to be one of the genuinely difficult parts of conquering heroines.
"I wasn't asking whether the treatment was finished. I just had something to say."
"…What is it, Sunho?"
"First off, how have you been feeling lately? Your androphobia seems to have improved quite a bit?"
"Yes. These days, even when I see you or when we're alone together in this room, I'm not scared the way I used to be. It's still hard to say I've shaken off the fear entirely, but I've come to think of you as someone I can feel safe with first and foremost, so I don't feel that urge to run away like before."
"What about anyone other than me?"
"I'm not sure about other people yet. Almost everyone working at the church is a woman, so I haven't had the chance to meet any men other than you."
"…Hmm, I see?"
It was the answer I'd expected, but I made a point of reacting with a slightly disappointed tone.
That way, when I made my next proposal, Kim Isabel would be able to understand and accept the process without resistance.
"I'm sorry. You've been working so hard to treat my androphobia, and I can't seem to give you a satisfying answer."
"Don't apologize, Isabel. And sure, it's just me for now, but that's still proof you're getting comfortable with men.
Of course, it'd be better if the blind terror you feel toward men in general eased up, but honestly, as long as it doesn't interfere with your daily life, that's enough. There's no need to force yourself to get comfortable with every man you meet for the first time, right?"
"…I-I suppose that's true."
Outwardly, I was playing the good, considerate person—but inside, I was simply hoping this state of affairs continued forever.
A woman who walls off every man except her master is every owner's dream. In that respect, Kim Isabel had a natural, born-in talent for being a broodmare.
"Come to think of it, you always seem to say such kind things to me, Sunho."
"It's not really like that. From where I'm standing, I can see how hard you've been working, Isabel—kind words are just what that effort deserves."
"…Is that so."
"Anyway, about treating your androphobia—this time I'd like to suggest something a little different."
"Something different?"
"I think if you want to get comfortable with men, the first step is getting rid of your aversion to the male body itself."
-Suuu-euk.
With that pretext, I sat up on the bed once more, presenting my bare upper body directly before Kim Isabel's eyes.
At the sight of my bare chest—my exposed back included—Kim Isabel quietly turned her head away. Not completely, though. Just a tiny bit. Just enough that if she stole a glance from within her veil, my body would still be well within her line of sight.
Sensing that gaze faintly, I spread both arms wide, baring myself fully, and took the next step of our skinship.
"If you're comfortable with it—this time, forget about the treatment entirely. How about you just… touch me?"
"……P-pardon?"