The Hero's Legal Wife: Mandarin (3)
Darin's mouth was shut tight.
Lucas had intended to bring me into his harem from the very first meeting.
In my previous life, I was the daughter of a chaebol conglomerate, and in this world, I'm the hero's wife.
As the superior male who was superior to everyone else, should I be grateful for the attention he was giving me, a woman who wasn't a virgin?
'This... this is creepy.'
Of course, Darin wouldn't find Lucas's goodwill pleasant. She had a background that made her feel aversion to rationally connecting with men. After all, she wasn't the kind of woman who would have her heart broken by a man with some power.
That doesn't mean she would easily allow a woman to claim her. Darin had lived as a woman for decades, and physically, she preferred men. This was proven by her sex with Akael.
Therefore, she felt great aversion to the saintess who was groping her body.
- Thud!
Even a countess like her would slap the saintess's hand away.
"Oh my, it seems you have no interest in this side?"
"I-It's only natural, isn't it?"
"It's fine. All the other kids were like that at first. Time will take care of it."
"The other kids...?"
"Yes, as you saw earlier, all the harem members Darin met. Lucas doesn't prohibit sleeping with the women he has in his hands. Rather, it was an opportunity for me. Since I like both men and women..."
This was a bombshell from the saintess. I had sensed it indirectly, but to actually be a bisexual. And to have relationships with all harem members? Not even a beast, but a saintess...
"Th-That's blasphemous!"
"...What?"
"A saintess like you acting so wantonly..."
Darin felt a huge gap between the image of the saintess she knew and Astesia's appearance. The shock was so great that she openly pointed with her finger.
"Hahaha, Darin is really cute? It seems you're a naive woman who values virginity highly?"
Actually, the one being pointed at seemed unfazed.
"Sharing love with many people is the will of the benevolent god. The god oversees not only power but also fertility and love, after all. Moreover, I haven't committed adultery, have I? I've only spread 'love' with my husband's permission."
This was a grotesque theory. It felt like a fallen priest or apostate twisting the religion they worship to their own liking?
'Impossible.'
Darin wasn't a religious person, but as a noble lady, she had a grasp of the basic doctrines of the national religion. She had memorized the common saying that one must maintain a pure and chaste body and not fall into heresy.
'...This person seems to have completely different thoughts from me.'
She tried to continue the rebuttal but closed her mouth tightly. Because Astesia was really a different person from her. The woman like her who tries to keep virginity and propriety might be too tightly wound.
- As a saintess, act like a saintess.
She wasn't a religious person, and as a mere countess, she wasn't the kind of person to say such things. Moreover, she was a woman.
Darin swallowed her astonishment and calmed her heart. She had decided earlier to figure out the subject, hadn't she? Whether wanton or not, Astesia was a saintess.
"I understand what you're saying. I made an overstepping remark to Your Holiness the Saintess. I'm sorry."
Therefore, Darin bowed her small head and subtly gave a dismissal as the best option.
"Guiding me to the side room was truly appreciated. But right now, I want to calm my mind and be alone. Since I suddenly arrived here..."
Even though she spoke gently, it was a clear dismissal. Astesia slightly widened her eyes and looked at Darin's small head.
It wasn't anger. It was just regret. After all, Astesia hadn't intended to cover Darin today. It was the first day, and her condition didn't seem good, and most importantly...
"Darin, do you know that?"
"...What?"
"Lucas told me not to touch you at all. Personally, I really like you, but until his permission is granted, I won't lay a hand on you, so don't be scared."
"Lucas...?"
"Yes. This is really the first time. Lucas is a person with strong possessiveness, but he was the first to give such a strong warning. Moreover, if you lose your virginity, he'll naturally lose interest..."
Astesia's eyes swept over Darin's upper and lower body. It was clear she was a special woman. A girl with a lovelier appearance than the princess, the empire's top beauty, and more than the one praised as the goddess's beauty.
But that alone didn't explain getting Lucas's favor. He would only treat a beautiful woman as a womb to be filled.
And Astesia knew that Lucas spoke to Darin in formal speech. For a man who sees women only as holes to be fucked, to pour such respect and care? The identity of the girl Darin became even more curious.
For now, what can be known is that she's the most likely candidate for the legal wife?
If Astesia was like the other harem members, a normal heterosexual, she would have been greatly jealous. But as a saintess, she's clearly bisexual. She only feels joy at a cute girl coming into the harem.
- Swish.
To soothe her regret, Astesia subtly stroked Darin's forearm. It was sad that she couldn't immediately devour such a delicious woman.
But someday there would be another chance. Lucas's warning was there, and if she made this girl dislike her, there wouldn't be a chance to mix bodies.
'Rather, I hope Lucas treats Darin badly.'
Then, the girl who lost her reliance would expect her heart. Breaking the heart isn't hard once the body is broken.
After thinking, Astesia stopped her searching gaze and distanced herself from Darin. Her huddled appearance somehow looked like a frightened rabbit.
"I'm curious how you got his favor, but since you're not in the mood today, I'll stop here."
The saintess winked and said hello, saying she'll see her again soon. It meant she accepted the dismissal.
- Click.
The door with the overly decorated hinges closed.
'Ah!'
Darin dazed for a moment, then peeked through the gap at the top and confirmed that Astesia had disappeared, then could finally relax.
'By the way, Lucas is coming back in the evening...'
He said he had some business, but what was he going to do? Darin didn't think Lucas was a reliable person.
The hero who realized I was not a virgin started treating me roughly. It wasn't that his speech and actions became rough. It was that he groped my body without asking for consent.
'Since I'm already a woman who spread her legs for another man, he judged that there's no need to sexually respect me...?'
Beyond his inappropriate personality and tendency to force women, the fact that he was targeting me as a woman itself became a reason to be cautious.
And right now, while acting like he's taking care of me, what would Lucas want from me? In the end, he wants to mix bodies.
'I don't want that at all...'
A man's love and affection couldn't be separated from sex. Darin was a woman who knew that better than anyone. Her husband, her son. As long as it was directed at her, it wasn't false.
When would the moment come when I had to spread my legs for him?
Next month?
Next week?
Perhaps right today?
"Ah, Count."
Darin unconsciously cried out to her husband quietly. As a countess, she no longer wanted to increase the number of men who would explore her lower parts. She was already sorry for having relations with an unwanted man, and she didn't want to be pointed at as a dirty woman who committed adultery.
I am a woman who gave her virginity to a man she doesn't love. After that, I committed a horrific incestuous sin with my son. Now, I've reached the point of committing adultery with a foreign man I just met.
'Where exactly are you doing...?'
The rising resentment was converted into resentment towards her husband, the count of Bayorn. He had forced a marriage with me, but wasn't he the man who had always protected me solidly since childhood? It wouldn't be unreasonable to recall him at the moment of isolation.
Darin thought. This damn man, if he had forced a woman who refused to acknowledge him as a man to be his wife, he should have protected her from being shamed by other men until death. He didn't know she was suffering outside, but shouldn't he be by her side when it was the hardest? That's what being a couple is.
And soon, the man who appeared in Darin's mind, pushing aside her husband, was, strangely, her son Akael.
'No, no... what am I thinking...'
Darin shook her head, not wanting to think about it, while wishing for the family to reach out to her with a hand of salvation.
What if the real husband comes?
What if the real son comes?
I don't know what kind of person the hero is, but I won't leave the man who came to take the woman I marked alone. He confessed that he treats otherworlders like game NPCs.
Rather, one kidnapped woman could cause the Bayorn family to be destroyed. The hero with transcendent power would turn their crude barbarian territory into ruins in an instant.
"Haha..."
A hollow laugh. Should I feel pride that I protected the family with one empty body? Or should I resent the life where I'm swung around by others?
Still, Darin hoped in case.
The hero is also a human being after all, so if we can communicate, perhaps he won't return me to the Bayorn family unharmed.
After all, the thought that Lucas would imprison me and sexually exploit me might be an overinterpretation.
Darin considered various possibilities in various ways, then stopped thinking.
'Even if I think my head off, what can I do...?'
Because she realized that her powerless self, no matter how much she thought, couldn't have any influence on the future.
The slender body of the girl who gained enlightenment sank into the gorgeous bed. Her motionless figure looked like a pretty doll.
Her eyelids couldn't overcome the approaching fatigue and soon closed with a swish.