The Second Kiss, But Much Deeper
The second kiss was far deeper than the first. When I opened my eyes again, I felt remarkably refreshed. The same warm sensation still enveloped me. It seemed Ilena had been holding me in her arms the entire time. ….. If it were up to me, I would have gladly stayed wrapped in that comfort forever, but I knew I couldn’t. My body felt lighter now, so I let out a soft groan to signal that I was awake.
“Mmm……”
“You’re awake?”
Ilena’s voice was thick with exhaustion as she asked. It was already growing dark outside, which meant I must have been out for quite a while. And through it all, she had never let go of me.
“Thanks to you, I slept like a log.”
“Do you need more rest?”
“No, I’m fine now.”
It was a good thing I had taken her advice and rested longer. Because now that I was fully conscious, I could sense just how dire her condition truly was. When I focused on her magical power with a clear mind, the situation felt far worse than when I had first woken up. Come to think of it, Silvia had warned me, hadn’t she? The paralyzing poison was so potent that I shouldn’t have been able to wake for at least a week. The fact that I had recovered so much faster meant Ilena had poured her own unstable magic into me, even at great cost to herself.
When I sat up, Ilena looked at me with bloodshot eyes and forced a smile. Her body trembled weakly.
“You should eat something. It’s already evening.”
“No.”
“Why not? You’ve been asleep so long, you must be starving… Ah!”
With just a gentle push, Ilena collapsed backward, completely drained of strength.
“Just how hard did you push yourself?”
“I didn’t push myself that much.”
“Like hell you didn’t!”
I carefully placed my hand on her stomach, and the chaotic twisting of her magical power hit me like a physical blow. It was horrific. It was only because she was such an exceptional mage that she hadn’t already died and gone cold. Any lesser magician would have been a corpse by now.
“Ahh……”
A relaxed sigh slipped from Ilena’s lips. As I gently smoothed out the wild magic raging inside her, the ferocious power slowly began to settle.
“Hehe……”
“What are you giggling about? You nearly got yourself killed.”
“But your touch feels so good. What am I supposed to do?”
Even with her eyes bloodshot, Ilena beamed at me and gently laid her hand over mine.
“I’m sorry. I should have stepped in sooner. If I had, you wouldn’t have lost consciousness at all.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s because Silvia was being stubborn and wouldn’t listen. By the way, where did she go? She was kneeling right there.”
“I sent her outside. She kept forgetting her place and asking all sorts of questions. It was giving me a headache.”
I’d have to give Silvia a stern talking-to later, but right now she wasn’t the priority. Ilena had taken care of me for so long. Now it was my turn to look after her.
“I’m sorry too.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
“If I hadn’t let my guard down, you wouldn’t have had to push yourself like this.”
Ilena gave a small shake of her head and gripped my hand even tighter.
“But I was happy.”
“Happy about what?”
“You said it, remember? That… that……”
She had piqued my curiosity, but the moment I stared at her directly, Ilena turned her head away, avoiding my gaze.
“What’s wrong? What exactly did I say?”
“……”
Her already flushed face grew even redder. But Ilena had no strength left to resist, so I leaned closer, pressing her.
“Tell me. What did I say that made you overexert yourself?”
“When… when that woman tried to take you away……”
“When?”
“You said it without any hesitation at all.”
Ilena glanced at me sideways and spoke carefully.
“You said you already belonged to someone.”
“I definitely said that. And that made you so happy?”
Without denying it, Ilena closed her eyes and gave a tiny nod. It was adorable and lovable. But some things still needed to be addressed!
“Ouch……”
“By the way, it sounds like you were hiding and eavesdropping. Why couldn’t I sense your presence?”
I pinched her now slightly less pale cheek and pressed her for answers.
“I was curious. I wanted to know what kind of conversation you’d have with your old comrade.”
“So how exactly did you hide?”
“I suppressed my magic as much as possible so you wouldn’t notice. I was hiding just outside the storage shed.”
“You suppressed your magic……? Ah, I see.”
Now I understood why her body had ended up in this state. It was like smashing open a box sealed with triple or quadruple locks just to open it faster.
“Even if it turned out like this, I don’t regret it. I managed to protect you.”
Thanks to my touch, she looked much better now. Ilena’s face relaxed into a proud expression.
“Thank you. I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if she had dragged me away……”
“Ugh.”
At my words, Ilena’s body gave a small shiver.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
The way she tried to avoid my eyes told me it was definitely not nothing.
“Tell me. What do you know?”
“I-I can’t say it.”
“You can’t say it? Then……”
At my mischievous tone, Ilena looked up at me with tense eyes.
“What are you planning to…… Kyaa!”
Ilena’s body jerked violently. I had tickled her defenseless stomach with my fingers. Caught completely off guard, she grabbed my hand, trying to pull it away. But she was lying down while I was sitting up, giving me the clear advantage. I mercilessly continued tickling her.
“Kyahaha……! Stop. Stop, please!”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“I can’t say that…… Aah!”
Even as she screamed from the tickling, Ilena refused to give in. She was holding out with incredible stubbornness. As expected of the Demon King! Still, discovering she was this ticklish was rather amusing. But if I tormented her any longer she might actually pass out, so I stopped.
When I finally pulled my hand away, Ilena covered her face with both hands, trembling as she endured the lingering sensation.
“Uuu, haaauuu……”
“You know, don’t you? What Silvia was planning to do after dragging me away. Spit it out.”
“I won’t. No, I can’t.”
She wasn’t saying she wouldn’t—she was saying she couldn’t? Just what did she know that made her react like this……? At this point, my competitive spirit was fully ignited.
I pulled her hands away from her face, revealing her beautiful features: eyes slightly wet with tears, breathing hard.
“I said tell me.”
“Mmm.”
Ilena still refused to surrender, shaking her head. She even pressed her lips tightly together, determined not to speak.
“If you keep refusing……”
I lightly brushed her soft lips with my index finger.
“I’ll have to pry this mouth open by force.”
After hearing my warning, Ilena simply looked up at me quietly. Then she lifted her head slightly and offered her lips.
That reaction caught me off guard instead.
“W-what does that mean?”
“I’ll tell you.”
“You just said you couldn’t.”
“I can tell you. But instead……”
Ilena took my hand and brought it to her own face, then deliberately pressed my fingers to her lips. After that, she offered her mouth to me again.
“Good grief……”
There was no way I could resist an invitation like that. Slowly, I lowered my lips onto hers. They were a little swollen and chapped in places from her overexertion, but they were still incredibly soft. We stayed like that for a long while before I slowly pulled back.
“Now will you tell me?”
“Mmm……”
She didn’t seem entirely satisfied. Ilena narrowed her eyes as she looked up at me.
“Why? I even kissed you.”
“It was too weak.”
“Too weak?”
“Prove it. Show me how much more you cherish me than that woman. If you don’t, I won’t tell you.”
“What are you even……”
This was ridiculous.
“How can you even compare yourself to Silvia? She’s just an old comrade.”
“Hmph, hurry up!”
Ilena didn’t waste any more words. She simply closed her eyes and offered her lips again. I didn’t dislike it, but at this rate, half-hearted affection wouldn’t break through her stubbornness. In that case……
I lowered my head once more and covered her lips with mine. This time……
Ilena’s body trembled in surprise as my tongue gently traced the seam of her tightly closed lips. But her resistance lasted only a moment. Soon she slowly parted them, and my tongue slipped into her completely defenseless mouth.
“Mmm……!”
Invaded so deeply so suddenly, Ilena let out a moan. But whether she moaned or not, having finally gained entry, I had no intention of stopping. I gently coiled around her hidden tongue and coaxed it out, then teased it playfully.
“Mmm, mmph…… Mmm……”
At first Ilena looked utterly flustered, but as I continued slowly and gently, she gradually began to respond. Her stiff tongue softened little by little until she started moving it with growing courage.
……After kissing like that for a long time, I finally pulled away. As if reluctant to let me go, her tongue tried to follow me until the very last second. When our lips finally parted, a thin, glistening strand of mixed saliva stretched between us.
“Haa, ha……”
Ilena gazed up at me with a deeply flushed face, breathing hard.
“Now tell me. What was Silvia planning to do to me?”
“……”
With an inscrutable expression, Ilena stared at me for a moment, then suddenly reached up with both hands and grabbed my face.
“Whoa……!”
She yanked me down and kissed me with fierce passion. A hot, sticky kiss. My mind began to empty out completely. This time it was Ilena who plunged into my mouth first, stirring everything wildly. My curiosity had already vanished long ago.