Ventorino Kingdom - Fall or Collapse (3)
"No way."
"Pardon?"
"Ah, n-nothing. My sister's just a little sick. J-just like you heard."
Mari knew even as she said it that the excuse was flimsy. But that only mattered to people whose heads were stuffed full of filth and who knew far too much about the sort of things she and the others had been up to.
"Ah… you came to visit her…."
"Huh? Ah, y-yeah. That, that's right."
He bought it…?
Alfonso's easy acceptance left Mari more flustered than the lie itself. Still, since it was working, she decided that all's well that ends well and quickly adapted.
Then she started adding flesh to the lie she'd just told.
"My sister is the chief representative of the delegation, you know? So she's been swamped with work lately. Because of that…"
"Mmm… ah, ahh…♡ Ah, hngh!"
"……."
But then another moan drifted from behind her, and Mari snapped her mouth shut, her expression hardening.
"S-She's really very sick… r-right, sis?"
Alfonso, who had genuinely been worrying about Mercede, blinked when he saw Mari's stiff face. It was the first time he'd ever seen his sister wear such an expression. And just like that, whatever he'd been thinking a moment ago vanished without a trace.
"A-are you really that worried, sis?"
"…Huh?"
"I mean, you seem really worried about your sister, Mercede-sama… no, the princess. Your face looks awful…."
"Ah…."
"Should I get a royal physician?"
"Huh? Ah, no. There's no need to go that far."
Mari waved her hands furiously and refused at once.
After all, Mercede wasn't actually sick. If they really brought in a royal physician for no reason, that could cause problems. Though Alfonso looked disappointed, he still nodded.
If it had been anyone else in the royal family, he would have secretly summoned a physician out of concern for diplomatic complications. If a foreign royal got sick in his country and something went wrong, that was no small matter. They'd already endured enough trouble from the demon attack and had already been forced to yield plenty; he didn't want to create another problem on top of that.
But if the sister he liked said everything was fine, then he could only accept it, however reluctantly.
Sis really likes her sister… She even seems to be taking care of her personally. Hehe, Mari sis really is kind. She's got such a pretty heart. But… should I try getting closer to Mercede sis too?
While Alfonso was busy filling his head with praise for Mari and turning all sorts of thoughts over in his mind, Mari was growing increasingly irritated, even if she showed nothing on her face.
"Haah, yeah… ah, yeah, Va-ld, a little more… haah… harder, hngh, h-harder…♥"
It was because of the faint moans slipping from her sister's lips behind her.
These two are insane!
In truth, she'd been uneasy from the start.
There was no way Valdes, who had been paying close attention to the outside, hadn't sensed Alfonso as he approached the door. The two of them had gotten so worked up that they'd hurriedly thrown their clothes off on the bed without even posting a proper guard in the hallway. And then they'd started spending their time in ecstasy.
Of course, if it had been Valdes, he would have been fully aware of his surroundings even while he was using his strength. He had definitely noticed, and the odds were high that he'd simply pretended not to notice, probably because of some playful scheme of his.
For one thing, there had been the strange contrast between her sister, who had panicked when Alfonso called out to her, and Valdes, who somehow seemed relaxed on his own. It was only because they had been in such a hurry to get dressed that she hadn't paid much attention.
And my sister too! This is her own room, and when I said someone was looking for her, she just stood there without even putting clothes on!
Mari was fuming inwardly by herself.
As she said, Mercede quickly regained her composure. Then she sent Mari out alone, while she herself still lay naked on the bed.
Meanwhile, Mari had been in such a rush to dress that she'd forgotten both her upper and lower undergarments, and she hadn't even had time to tidy up the clothes she'd thrown on. It had been an emergency then, but now that she thought about it, the fact that the other side hadn't noticed anything was stranger than the situation itself. If Alfonso hadn't been young and rather clueless about these matters, he would have absolutely realized something was off.
Ugh, what on earth are those two doing in there to make those kinds of sounds….
The moans weren't as loud or as blatant as before, but little sighs still kept brushing against her ears. When she glanced at Alfonso, though, it didn't seem like he could hear them at all.
Mari couldn't tell whether that was because Valdes was meddling with something, because she herself was concentrating too much on the other side, or simply because he was standing a little closer to the bed. But the heated voice and the sound of flesh meeting flesh kept tickling her ears, and that alone was enough to stir her.
Hah… haah….
A big part of it was that, only a minute or two ago, Mari had been right there on that very bed with them.
Mmm… I still hadn't… gotten properly off yet….
After all, it hadn't been just the two of them sharing affection. There had been two women, and they had taken their time with foreplay and service. Thirty minutes or so wasn't enough time to bring about a proper release, even if they had managed a few small climaxes. If anything, it had only heated their bodies all the more.
"Haaah, ah, aaah, h-hngh… ah, ahn, nngh!"
The sultry moans of her sister, turning into a shameless little female in heat, were something Mari had heard countless times before. They were more than enough to stir the younger girl's own warmed body.
"Haa…."
"S-sis?"
Mari's face reddened again, and her expression turned faintly lewd.
Alfonso could feel the tension below his waist stirring back to life.
And I hadn't even finished sucking it…♡
She'd been happily licking and sucking his member together with her sister when she'd heard the sound. It had just been the moment Valdes came, so instead of spilling into her mouth, the semen had burst out into empty air. As a result, some of it had ended up on the corner of her lips.
It shot up pretty high before coming down, so… haah… maybe it got on other places too?
What if it ended up somewhere Alfonso could see before she did? That innocent boy wouldn't even know what it was. The moment she imagined that scene, for reasons she couldn't quite explain, the space between her thighs began to itch even more intensely.
"Nngh…."
A small moan slipped from Mari's lips.
She had, inconveniently, forgotten to put on her underwear. More precisely, she hadn't had time. That went for both the top and the bottom. As a result, there was nothing to stop the female juices dripping down from her arousal-soaked sex. Feeling the slick moisture slide down her inner thighs, Mari trembled all over.
"A-are you all right? Could you have caught something while taking care of her…?"
Alfonso's voice rose.
That jolted Mari out of her spiraling arousal. No matter how she looked at it, this was getting dangerous.
"N-no, I'm fine. It's just… my sister wasn't feeling well, so I warmed the room up a little. Now it's kind of hot. W-should we talk in the hallway?"
"Huh? Ah, yes…."
The prince's face was openly disappointed for a moment, then immediately changed. It wasn't that he thought Mari might find it strange, or that he felt he shouldn't act that way. He simply indulged in a little fantasy that maybe, after talking in the hallway for a while, he could create an excuse to go somewhere else with her.
As Alfonso stepped back a little, Mari came out into the hallway from the threshold and carefully pulled the door mostly closed. She was trying to prevent anyone from accidentally catching a glimpse inside.
"So… what did you need?"
"Huh? W-well, that is…."
The boy's eyes rolled around helplessly.
W-what was it again?
He couldn't remember.
There had been so many things on his mind that he'd completely forgotten. To begin with, he'd come here with no particular business at all—just the desire to see her. He had thought up various excuses and little things they might do together along the way, but since it had all been improvised on the spot, there was no way he'd remember any of it for long.
Watching Alfonso stand there in panic, stammering and at a loss, Mari's brow creased slightly. Not because she wanted to pressure him or because of all the feelings she'd accumulated; it was simply that her mood had genuinely soured.
"You just came here on your own?"
"W-well, so, I…."
"……."
"……."
An awkward silence drifted between the boy and the girl.
The tension, the embarrassment, the faint irritation from the girl he liked, and on top of that, the strange discomfort in his lower body—it was more than enough to leave the young prince's mind completely blank. Thanks to Katarina's close supervision, Alfonso was decent enough when it came to studying and dealing with prepared situations, but improvisation was sorely beyond him.
"Th-that is, I, um, so, hngh…."
"…?"
Before long, tears began to well in the boy's eyes.
"A-Alfonso?"
"S-sorry, sob…."
"…Haah."
At that ridiculous sight, Mari let her expression soften and sighed.
She understood. He was still young, a spoiled heir who had never really done anything on his own, smothered beneath his mother's care. But setting that aside, Mari was in a terribly foul mood.
It had been a disturbance in the middle of a lovely time with the man she loved. And not even for a good reason. No, she knew the reason: he simply liked her very much. But being pursued so one-sidedly by a man she didn't love was the last thing she wanted.
Normally, she would have soothed him and told him not to cry. But with her sister and Valdes's sticky sex still flickering behind her like a shadow, and with all the feelings she'd been holding back for so long surging up inside her, she found herself doing something else entirely. Just then, Alfonso had actually been asking Valdes for help today because he'd called it troublesome.
In that case, this was help too, in its own way.
"Hey, Alfonso?"
"S-sob… hic, y-yes…."
"I know you like me."
"Huh? Ah, ah, oh…."
At that blunt strike, Alfonso looked flustered at first, then his expression brightened. It was the boy's hasty assumption, the dream of a brighter future. But his face was soon destined to turn back into the tearful thing it had been a moment before.
"I'm sorry, but there's someone I love."
"Huh… y-yes?"
What did that mean?
Alfonso was dumbfounded.
"If this conference had gone well, I was going to give up on my love."
"……."
"But it didn't, did it? I think… maybe Lady Goddess doesn't want the two of us to be together. Maybe she wants me to make my true love come true instead."
With the prince staring at her in a daze, Mari casually piled lie upon lie. The fact that she loved someone was true, but everything else was false.
She had known from the beginning that the conference could never go smoothly, and she had no intention of giving up her love either. The Goddess she'd lazily dragged in at the end to prop up her story was no different. Even while shamelessly deceiving the innocent boy, Mari felt not the slightest bit of guilt.
"I'm sorry if it feels like I led you on."
"……."
Alfonso couldn't answer. His mind simply refused to turn after the shock of her words. Even the part of him below the waist that had been uncomfortable because of Mari now felt limp and shriveled.
Just then, a man's voice came from inside the room.
"Mari? Are you still not done?"
"Ah, o-older brother?"
Valdes pushed the half-closed door open and emerged, his upper body bare. The unexpected sight startled not only Alfonso, but Mari as well, along with the maids nearby who had been sneaking glances from the corners of their eyes.
They had known Valdes was inside, of course, but they hadn't imagined he would appear in such a shocking state. In the end, their loyalties belonged to the two princess sisters and to the Ulsro royal family. They did feel sorry for young Alfonso, but even so, they couldn't tear their eyes away from this deliciously entertaining scene.
"Ah, um, th-that… Va-Valdes… sir?"
Valdes was one of the hottest names in the capital lately. He was also the knight who had saved Alfonso's life. Naturally, the prince recognized him too.
"Oh, so our guest was Prince Alfonso."
Valdes greeted him as though he knew nothing at all, while casually wrapping an arm around Mari's waist.
A half-naked man. Mari's appearance up until now. And that arm around her waist.
In Alfonso's mind, every kind of speculation and deduction burst into chaos. At the end of that tangled collision, the prince trembled and stammered before finally finding his voice.
"C-could it be that Sir Valdes…?"
"Hm? I'm not sure what exactly you mean…."
"…Is Sir Valdes, uh, Mari sis's… lover…?"
"Ah… y-yes. That's correct. I'm sorry to say this to you, Your Highness, but…."
But Alfonso didn't hear the rest of Valdes's words.
"Aaaah!!!"
The boy heard only that much before immediately turning on his heel and sprinting down the hallway, shouting loudly and rejecting reality with every ounce of his being.
He couldn't bear to look at Valdes's face, much less the two of them together.
As the young prince ran down the corridor,
Thud.
The door shut behind him.