Jealousy After Geography Class
Even after geography class, I couldn’t focus on a single lesson. Time flew by in an instant, and before I knew it, lunch break had arrived.
“Arthur~ Let’s go eat—”
“Sorry! I’ve got somewhere I need to be!”
The moment the bell rang, I bolted from my seat, leaving Letia behind as I sprinted full speed toward the dormitory building. Thanks to my decent stamina, I reached my room without stopping to catch my breath.
I paused at the door to steady my breathing, then opened it.
“I’m back—kghk!”
“You’re here!”
The second I stepped over the threshold, Lilith lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me.
“W-wait, Lilith. At least close the door fir—”
SLAM!
…Huh? Was the dorm door an automatic one? Why did it shut by itself?
“Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to hold back?”
“I do, but… right here in the entryway?”
“Hah, hah… I can’t hold it anymore.”
Yeah, her eyes had completely glazed over. There was no point trying to stop her now—I might as well help her get it out of her system first.
Resigned, I obediently parted my lips, and Lilith immediately pressed hers against mine.
“Chuu, chuu!”
From the desperate way she sucked, I could tell just how starved she’d been.
Maybe I should’ve given her more this morning, even if it meant being late.
Just as I was seriously considering skipping class, she suddenly stopped.
“Hm?”
Lilith pulled back, then leaned in again and started sniffing my neck.
Sniff… sniff sniff…
Wait. This situation felt awfully familiar…
“……You smell like a woman.”
First Letia, now Lilith too? How the hell did they notice?!
“Did you get all cozy with some other girl?”
Uh… Lady Outer God? Your tone just got a lot more threatening…
“Ah, it’s Letia… She’s just a friend I’ve been getting along with—”
“A girl?”
“……”
“She’s a girl.”
Because we were pressed so close, Lilith’s face filled my entire vision. Her pitch-black eyes had turned a chilling blood-red.
“Arthur.”
Her voice was low and cold, like a winter blizzard.
“……Yes.”
“Am I not enough for you?”
“Huh?”
“I didn’t think you were like that. So you were craving a woman?”
How did the conversation take that turn?!
“Lilith, Letia and I are not in that kind of relationship. I’ve never even thought of her that way.”
“Hmmm…”
“If you met her, you’d understand. She’s more like a guy than a girl. The gods messed up and gave her the wrong body and mind.”
“Hmmm…”
She clearly didn’t believe a word. This was getting ridiculous. I had no choice but to take drastic measures. If I didn’t, I couldn’t even imagine what Lilith—the Outer God standing right in front of me—might do.
“Lilith.”
Grabbing her trembling chin, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind without any filter.
“I love you.”
“!!!!!”
Lilith’s sharp expression changed in an instant. Her pupils dilated, her face went slack, and she wore what people usually called a “blank” look.
“We’ve only known each other for less than a day, but you’ve already become someone incredibly precious to me. So… don’t say you’re not enough.”
“……”
I told her honestly what I’d felt when I left the dorm that morning. Lilith opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, repeating the motion. She was clearly flustered. There was even a faint blush on her cheeks.
Huh. Was it really that effective? I’d just… wait. Recalling what I’d actually said, heat rushed to my own face.
What the hell did I just say?!
“I-I mean it as family! There’s no other intention!!”
I’d only wanted to tell her how important she was to me… I tried to backtrack, but… maybe it was already too late…
After hearing my excuse, Lilith finally managed to stammer out a reply with meaning.
“R-right. As family… right?”
“Yes!! As family… that’s what I meant.”
“……”
“……”
The mood was completely ruined. What now…? I couldn’t bring myself to look Lilith in the eye, so I stared down at my own feet.
Then a gentle voice reached my ears.
“Me too.”
“……Y-yes?!”
I jerked my head up. Lilith was looking at me with her usual warm gaze.
“I love you too, Arthur.”
“……”
Now I understood Lilith’s reaction. Those words really were violently effective. My mind went completely blank. The irregular pounding of my heart echoed in my ears. It felt like my heart was about to leap out of my throat.
“Of course, as family!”
She added the playful clarification with a mischievous smile, and I managed an awkward laugh of my own.
“Ha, haha.”
“My Arthur is so kind. You wouldn’t let your family starve, would you?”
Lilith tapped her own lips with a finger and closed her eyes, clearly waiting for me to come to her like I had that morning.
I cupped her soft cheek and slowly leaned in for a kiss. But her reaction was different from before. The moment our lips touched, Lilith clung to me but kept her mouth firmly shut, simply waiting.
I tried pushing her lips apart again and again, but they wouldn’t budge, like a locked castle gate.
“L-Lilith? You need to open your mouth…”
At that, a small gap appeared between her lips. I slipped my tongue in through the opening and tried to force it wider…
“Mmph!”
Just as my tongue was halfway in, her lips clamped shut again.
“Li-Lilith. Wha’ are you doin’ all of a sudden…”
Only then did Lilith open her eyes and meet my gaze, smiling sweetly. And then I felt something wet and slightly rough against the tip of my tongue.
“!!!!!”
Remembering the sensation I’d felt against my finger that morning, I jolted in shock. Our tongues tangled once, twice, sending a dizzying sensation straight through my head. Just as my legs were about to give out, Lilith’s hair supported me.
Finally, our lips parted, revealing our intertwined tongues in explicit detail. Lilith’s tongue writhed like a serpent, gripping mine. It was impossibly long by any normal standard, yet I found myself mesmerized, watching its movements.
After a few more wriggles, Lilith’s tongue slowly withdrew, releasing mine.
“Just like you told me I’m the most precious thing to you, I feel the same way. So…”
Lilith’s eyes glowed bright red. It was a chilling gaze that sent shivers down my spine.
“No matter who you meet, I want you to think of me first. I want you to remember that I’m always your top priority. Understand?”
The emotion in Lilith’s crimson eyes was far from normal. It was a twisted, dark feeling so distorted that its original shape was barely recognizable. But because that feeling was directed solely at me, and because I had an inexplicable certainty that it would never harm me, I didn’t feel anxious. Instead, I found it almost endearing.
“Yes, Lilith. I swear.”
The red glow faded from her eyes, returning to their usual black.
“Of course, I’ll have to put in some effort too, won’t I?”
“……Huh?”
“I’ll make sure you don’t even have time to think about other girls.”
“What do you mea—mmph…”
Lilith’s meal that followed was different from usual.
“Slurp…”
“!!!!”
Instead of just pressing our lips together with my mouth open, something new was added. Lilith’s long tongue slipped inside, exploring every corner of my mouth. A thrilling, electric sensation raced through my entire body. The tactile sweetness from Lilith’s devouring lips, and the taste of her saliva on my tongue—both were sensations I had never experienced before.
It was no longer accurate to call this a “meal.”
This is literally a deep kiss!
The issue below my waist had already reached maximum levels. No matter how much I tried to hypnotize myself into thinking this was just feeding, the movements of her tongue shattered that illusion and left me dizzy.
Pop!
After what felt like dozens of minutes but was only dozens of seconds, our lips parted. Lilith smiled at me with a seductive gaze.
“Hehe. See? You’re not thinking about other girls anymore, are you?”
Clutching my spinning head, I protested.
“……I keep telling you, it’s not that kind of relationship.”
“Arthur, how would you feel if I were flirting with another man?”
Obviously I’d want to kill the guy—
“I wouldn’t like it.”
“Right? That’s how I feel too.”
Ah. When she put it that way, I understood. From now on, I’d make sure not to be around other women for at least thirty minutes before meeting Lilith.
“Still, I’ll be taking your first kiss.”
“You already took tha—mmph!”
Hey, Lilith? Could you please stop cutting me off like that? For a moment I felt like arguing, but…
“Hehehe…”
The instant I saw Lilith’s gentle, smiling eyes, my mind went blank. Yeah. If this was how she was going to cut me off, I was all for it.
----
According to Lilith, absorbing too much life force at once could cause various side effects, and in severe cases, even death. That was why we were in this situation now.
“……Lilith. Does it have to be this position?”
“Why not~?”
“It’s just… a little embarrassing…”
“We’re family, aren’t we~”
Was it just me, or did it feel like she was using the “family” excuse as a shield for everything?
“Besides, lying still like this is the best way to recover from the fatigue caused by absorption.”
I didn’t feel particularly tired from the absorption, but since Lilith said so…
Lilith lay down on the bed… with me held in her arms.
“Or… do you not like it?”
A genuinely hurt expression appeared on Lilith’s face.
“No, I like it. It’s the best.”
“Hehe…”
Of course I liked it. Who would refuse such a warm, comfortable embrace? Being held like this made me feel like I was back in my mother’s womb. No thoughts came to mind—only pure happiness welled up.
As she stroked my hair, Lilith murmured.
“Arthur.”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
For a moment, my thoughts stopped. I’d heard it earlier too, but back then Lilith had been in the middle of feeding. Now it was the usual warm Lilith. Hearing her whisper those words while looking down at me in her arms with a soft smile made my heart pound wildly.
“What about you, Arthur?”
“I-I already answered earlier.”
“Say it again~ Please?”
Seeing Lilith’s expectant expression, I couldn’t refuse.
“……I love you, Lilith.”
“Kyaaaa~!”
Lilith squeezed me tightly, as if trying to crush me, and rocked me up and down. The overwhelming softness pressing against my face made it hard to breathe.
Kghk! What is this heavenly softness…!
“Ah, breathe. Breathe. Or should I give you mouth-to-mouth—”
“I’m fine.”
That had been dangerous. If she was given even the slightest opening, she’d pounce immediately. I needed to be more careful with my words.
“Arthur. You understood what I said earlier, right?”
“……You mean about thinking of you first?”
“Yeah. It’s a promise, okay? You have to keep it!”
“Yes, I’ll keep it in mind……”
Lilith’s embrace was so warm that I ended up falling asleep. How was I supposed to resist this… mmnya……
----
I looked down at my small contractor, curled up in my arms. Seeing him asleep with his eyes closed made my heart flutter.
“……So cute.”
Stroking the back of his head, I recalled the first time we met.
After being seriously injured by someone I had trusted, I had lost consciousness in the forest. I had barely managed to transform into a cat just before passing out, but if that person had chased after me… I would have been as good as dead.
When I opened my eyes, someone was holding me. Suspicious that he might be one of that person’s subordinates, I struggled, but he gently stroked me and whispered.
“It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”
Maybe it was the warm kindness in those short words that put my body at ease. I fell asleep as if I’d blacked out.
When I opened my eyes again, colorful fruits were laid out in front of me.
“Eat. Getting proper nutrition is essential when you’re injured.”
By then my mind had cleared a little, so I could recognize his identity.
……A human?
He was an ordinary human. Probably one who had only recently entered Dreamland.
But how did he know which fruits were safe?
Dreamland was not a friendly place for fragile beings like humans. Even this forest, which looked peaceful on the surface, was filled with poisonous plants and beasts.
Yet every single fruit this human had brought was edible.
“Can’t eat? Hmm… Should I feed you?”
Offended by the last part, I took a big bite of the fruit. The sour juice snapped me back to my senses.
“Good job.”
When I hissed at his hand reaching for my head, he awkwardly pulled it back. Under his steady gaze, I eventually ate the fruits one by one right in front of him.
“Want me to bring more?”
……Honestly, I’d been starving for a long time, so I did want to fill my stomach with anything I could. It wasn’t a staple food, but it would help a little.
When I simply stared at him, the human took it as a yes, told me to wait, and disappeared between the trees.
Staring after him, I quietly stood up and followed.
There’s no way an ordinary human could distinguish edible fruits in Dreamland.
Dreamland was filled with poisonous plants that didn’t exist in the real world. No matter how lucky someone was, they couldn’t possibly sort them all correctly.
……Could he be one of Nodens’ subordinates?
Gathering every last bit of strength left in my barely recovered body, I created a small poisoned needle. If he turned out to be a subordinate, I planned to kill him painfully on the spot.
How long had I followed his trail? Finally, I saw his back. He was crouched in a small patch of grass, focused on something.
Moving slowly so he wouldn’t notice, I approached—then stopped when I heard the sounds he was making.
He was……
“Ugh… bleeegh……”
Vomiting.
“Kghk……! This one’s poisonous. Then I have to throw away all the ones that look similar. Next is this one…… It’s fine…… ptoo ptoo ptoo! Ugh, why does this tree fruit taste like shit……”
He had lined up a bunch of fruits and was tasting them one by one. If it was poisonous, he spat it out or vomited immediately. If it was edible, he carefully placed it on a large leaf.
“Cough! Ugh……! Ptoo, ptoo!”
Watching him vomit blood and stomach acid while wiping his tongue, I felt my mind go blank.
……Why is he doing this? Don’t tell me he’s going through all this just to feed me? Is he crazy? Does he think this place is just a normal dream?
Staring at him in disbelief, I failed to react when he suddenly turned around—and got caught.
“Huh? Kitty! You can walk? That’s great~ You must be feeling a lot better. Oh, do you want fruit? Here. These actually taste pretty good.”
Offering me a red fruit with a grin, his lips still had faint traces of blood on them.
It was the first time. A pure kindness that asked for nothing in return was so new and strange to me. As someone whose very existence was a “meal,” I had received countless emotions, but most were calculated favors that expected something in return. The boundless, genuine kindness he showed me stirred something fresh inside me.
“Kitty?”
The man who used to call me that was now sleeping soundly in my arms, breathing softly. Hoping he was having a good dream—preferably one with me in it—I stroked his hair the way he had once done for me.
“Arthur, you’re my family.”
“My beloved family.”
“You’re the only one who’s ever shown me new emotions.”
“……”
“I won’t give you to anyone.”
“You’re mine.”
“My Arthur……”
I pressed a silent kiss to the sleeping Arthur’s forehead and whispered.
I love you.
The meaning behind those words had changed slightly from before, but the deeply asleep Arthur didn’t hear it.