Chapter 128: Honey, I'm Sorry... (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128: Honey, I'm Sorry... (1)
"Sigh..."
Today, as usual, Irene returned to her mansion with a shallow sigh.
The scenery of the estate remained unchanged.
Small golems wandered throughout the house, performing nothing but simple commands like cleaning.
Beyond that, there was only a silence devoid of any human presence.
And then there was the subtle chill, unique to an empty house, that settled over her skin.
Normally, that coldness would have felt as if it were freezing her chest until it was stifling, but today, Irene found that chill a little—just a very little bit—welcoming.
'Merlin is... as expected...'
At some point, her daughter had started wandering, and once she left the house, she rarely returned.
Sometimes it was for a week, sometimes for fifteen days. Occasionally, it was even longer.
On the rare occasions she did return, she would leave again shortly after.
Each time, items from the mansion's safe or warehouse would vanish one by one. Yet, Irene couldn't bring herself to confront and question her daughter, the only suspect.
Her daughter found even the sound of her mother calling her name disgusting.
'It's gone again...'
The disappearing items were mostly gold, silver, jewelry, or precious metals—simply put, money or things that could be turned into money.
Since all the truly dangerous items were kept in the laboratory within the Imperial Palace, she didn't mind if such wealth disappeared.
If only it meant her daughter would come home.
Soothing herself with an excuse she knew was pathetic, Irene closed the empty gold coin chest.
"I still have enough to maintain this house..."
The night was growing deeper.
Having long since given up on waiting for a daughter whose return was uncertain, Irene lay down in a bed that was far too large for one person.
Perhaps it was because of the empty space on the pillow she could never get used to, or perhaps there was another reason...
Before she knew it, Irene had pulled the covers over her head and gripped the vibrator she had received from Leon.
—Vrrr...
"Ugh... Ah...!"
Two months had already passed since she first met Leon.
Now, the only thing that comforted Irene as she fell asleep alone every night was this token of friendship from him.
—Vrr-vrrr...!
"Ha...! Ugh...!"
The act of self-comfort—masturbation.
The reason Irene held onto the vibrator every night until her magic power was completely exhausted wasn't simply to satisfy her sexual desire.
It was because she couldn't fall asleep otherwise.
Because without it, she couldn't warm this freezing bed alone.
Because if she didn't comfort herself until she collapsed from exhaustion, she would have to spend this terrible night wide awake and alone.
—Vrrrrrrrr!
"Kuh... Ah...!"
And so, Irene poured even more magic power into the vibrator.
It vibrated so violently now that it was almost painful, yet she pushed even more magic power into it.
However.
—Vrr...
Suddenly, Irene tossed the vibrator aside near her head and let out a dry sigh.
"Haa... What am I..."
What am I doing?
No, that's not it.
This isn't right.
This isn't enough. This alone isn't enough anymore.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Irene's hand moved downward.
—Slide...
"Mm..."
If she couldn't soothe herself, she had no choice but to borrow the hand of another...
Unfortunately, the husband who should have comforted Irene had passed away long ago.
Furthermore, the memories of sharing a bed with him had already faded completely.
The person who surfaced in Irene's mind was a man who had newly entered her dry, monotonous daily life.
—Squelch, squelch...
"Ah... Ha...! Mnh...!"
Before she knew it, Irene was touching herself while picturing someone.
Thinking of him, to whom she had surrendered her body again today.
Thinking of him, who had so carefully teased her body again today.
*
"Welcome, Irene. You look truly beautiful today as well."
"Pfft... Leon, you never forget to say that."
"Haha, I don't offer such praise to just anyone. Please take it as a greeting reserved only for someone so lovely and beautiful."
It was something Irene herself couldn't understand.
To think her heart would flutter so much at being called beautiful and lovely.
Since it was a greeting she heard every day, she should have been used to it by now, but whenever Leon offered such words, she couldn't help but blush.
Even though she wore the wedding ring from her departed husband on her ring finger.
"Now then, before we begin... how is your body feeling, Irene?"
"It's not bad. No... it's more than not bad, it's very good. Those terrible headaches have mostly vanished, and the pain in my shoulders and back has improved a lot."
"I see. I'm truly glad to hear you're recovering. However, the most important things are your lifestyle habits and posture correction."
"Fufu, yes. I'm well aware. I'm also making good use of the reading stand you gave me. It was a bit awkward at first... but now it's actually uncomfortable to read while sitting normally."
"Hahaha, thank you. Matthias will be very pleased to hear you're using it well. Shall we head to the esthetic room then?"
"Ah... yes. Um... by any chance... are we doing the inguinal region massage today as well...?"
"I intended to... but if it makes you uncomfortable, we can skip it. It is a sensitive area, after all."
"O-oh, no, um... I was just wondering... there's no need to skip it..."
"Haha, I see. Then I'll see you in the esthetic room."
And so, Irene laid her body down on Leon's spiderweb once again today.
The refreshing scent of flowers tickled the tip of her nose, and the bright, clean room, without a speck of dust, was always pleasant.
Also, because she lay in that room, on that bed, every single day, Irene had stopped noticing something at some point.
The fact that the towel that used to cover her body was gone.
No, she knew, but she pretended not to.
She looked away and acted as if she hadn't noticed.
"Are you ready, Irene?"
"Yes. Phew... my heart always pounds when I lie down here..."
"Hahaha, there's nothing to worry about. I would never do anything to harm your beautiful body."
"Pfft... calling an old woman's body beautiful... compared to Lady Helena, Lady Natalia, Lady Andrasta, or Lady Valeria..."
"Irene. I've told you many times, you are a beautiful woman. Lovingly so."
To hear those words.
To feel that hot gaze over her entire body.
Irene pretended not to notice, over and over again.
Even when the towel Leon removed under the pretext of massage was never placed back over her body.
Even when the hands that touched her feet, shoulders, hands, and forearms gradually moved toward deeper places.
Each time, Irene looked away and acted as if it were fine.
She desperately tried to maintain her connection with him.
"Mnh... Kh... Ah...!"
When Leon's hands tantalizingly stroked her ears and the nape of her neck, her whole body writhed.
With her body heating up like wildfire and her heart pounding forcefully, she couldn't even tell what kind of sounds she was making.
"Ah...! Ha, hah...! Ah-haang...!"
When his hands delved into her armpits, she willingly spread her arms to welcome him.
She hoped he would go a little lower, and she hoped he would go a little deeper.
The moment Leon said he would begin the chest massage, Irene was moved to the point of shedding tears without realizing it.
"Ah, ah...! Kuh... hng...! Ah...!"
She didn't even have the leisure to savor the hot body heat settling on her breasts like a brand.
Without a word, Leon's hands flowed naturally down Irene's abdomen and toward her flanks.
"Ugh, mmm...! Uggh...! Kh...!"
"Hm? Was that uncomfortable?"
"Haa, haa, n-no... please... please... continue..."
"Haha, yes. I understand. Now... next is the inguinal region. Could you spread your legs for me?"
"Yes, yes..."
Finally, when Leon's face rose like the sun between her legs, Irene swallowed hard.
So we're doing that again today.
That wave of indescribable sensation is going to crash over me again.
The place she had never allowed anyone but her husband to touch.
The place she would never allow anyone else to touch.
Irene spread her legs wide and accepted the hands of a man who was not her husband.
'This is... treatment... it's research to improve the circulation of magic power...!'
She endlessly repeated that pathetic excuse in her head—one that even Leon had likely long forgotten.
And finally, the moment Leon's hand touched her groin.
"Hah...!"
"Hmm, I feel some fatigue here. It seems some tension has built up from your habit of standing with correct posture."
"Ugh...! Ha, hah...! Haa, haa, kuh... hng...!"
"So... I think I'll have to work on this for quite a while today..."
"Ah, aaa...! Mnh...! Kh...!"
"Haha, I'll take that as a 'yes'."
Irene moaned before Leon for a long time like that.
Being touched all over her body, she panted and cried out like an animal.
Even so, she thirsted for a craving deep inside her body that could never be soothed.
She suffered from a hunger that could never be satisfied alone, feeling an endless sense of regret.
"Now then, we'll stop here for today. Good work."
"Yes... haa, haa..."
That was how Irene had hurried back to her empty home.
To soothe the stifling, burning sensation in her chest.
Praying that today, too, no one would be there.
*
—Squelch, squelch, squelch...
"Haa, haa...! Kuh... hng...! Ah-haang...!"
Before she knew it, Irene had kicked off all her blankets and was thrusting between her thighs.
Recalling Leon's touch, she kneaded her own breasts and twisted the nipples he had never touched.
Recalling his touch, she stroked her groin and delved into the vagina he had never entered, over and over again.
—Vrrrr...!
Even the vibrator she had tossed aside began to tremble again.
Crushing the clitoris that peeked out shyly with the vibrator.
Frantically digging into her vagina, which was dripping with love juice.
Irene soothed herself like a madwoman, comforting herself again and again.
And finally...
"Hah...! Kuh... haaah...!"
The long-awaited moment of climax arrived.
Only after exhausting all her physical strength and magic power did Irene's eyelids finally begin to close.
However, all that remained was emptiness.
No matter how much she soothed and comforted herself, she couldn't obtain what she truly wanted.
"Honey... Merlin..."
No matter how much she called out, the echo did not return.
No matter how desperately she cried, she could not receive it.
The love she so desperately wanted, the affection that left her so agonizingly thirsty.
'You are a beautiful and lovely woman.'
With an echo that seemed to drift from somewhere far away, Irene finally fell asleep.
Atop a cold bed, soaked and damp.