Drunken Truths #6
Drunken Truths #6
"You mean alone with Mongma-nim?"
Kate let the words trail off, her tone ambiguous. She must have been worried about what might be said while she wasn't there. But right now, there was no way Kate could refuse Rebecca's request.
"I understand. I'll wait in the hallway."
Kate dusted off her clothes, stood up, and left the room. A moment later, the door closed, leaving only Rebecca and me. Facing Rebecca alone, I couldn't help but feel tense.
So she did have something to tell me in private.
Honestly, I'd wanted to be alone with Rebecca too. I wanted to confirm her true feelings while Kate wasn't around—how she really felt about me dating Kate.
I had her permission.
But that was all it was. Permission.
I still had no idea how Rebecca herself felt deep down.
"Luke."
Rebecca gazed at me quietly. I'd been worrying about what to do if she started cursing me out the moment Kate left, but surprisingly, Rebecca was completely calm. Unshaken, like a still lake.
"I really didn't expect you to come back with Sister Kate."
"Sorry."
"I was so shocked. I only meant to congratulate you on passing the promotion match, and suddenly you're telling me you want to date a nun."
Rebecca's voice was composed.
But her words stabbed at my heart like an awl. Guilt over Rebecca pressed down on my shoulders.
"What do you want to say? If there's anything you want, I'll grant it."
"Really? Any request?"
"Yeah."
I nodded at Rebecca, whose eyes lit up. Since she'd given permission for me to date Kate, I wanted to do something for her in return. An expensive gift, maybe.
But unexpectedly, Rebecca didn't ask for anything material.
"Then will you promise me something?"
"What kind of promise?"
"If you bring home another woman in the future, be honest with me about it, just like you were today."
"Br-bring home another woman?"
"Maybe it won't happen, but it's better to make the promise now. I told you before, didn't I? That women are bound to flock to a capable man. Honestly... I was glad you asked me how I felt about the nun. In my homeland, that kind of thing never happened."
She meant asking his girlfriend for consent?
So in the Zakarta Kingdom, it was fine to add more women without even asking your wife? It sounded like a society that revolved around men in more ways than one.
I started to understand how Rebecca could be so composed.
I swallowed hard and spoke.
"Is that really all it'll take?"
"What else is there to ask for here?"
"I mean, you don't want anything else from me? Even something small."
All I had to do was be honest whenever I brought a woman home.
It was such a modest request that I was the one left flabbergasted.
She wasn't even telling me not to bring more women. And there was no guarantee I'd bring any besides Kate, was there?
Maybe I was just coasting on Rebecca's kindness.
"I'm fine with you just being honest with me."
"You'd be fine if I was just honest? Even if I form relationships with other women? Would that be okay?"
Me forming relationships with other women. Not just platonic ones, but relationships where our bodies intertwined. Rebecca's eyes wavered, as if she understood the question. Ripples spread across the surface of that once-calm lake.
"I don't know."
After a long hesitation, Rebecca finally spoke.
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"Back home, I thought these kinds of relationships were natural. I thought it was natural for women to follow a mage like you. But earlier... when you said Sister Kate liked you..."
Rebecca placed a hand over her chest, her expression sinking into melancholy.
"My heart was churning so much I couldn't calm down at all. Did my mother feel this way too? Every time she saw my father being loved by other women."
I could do nothing but shut my mouth in front of her. Of course, a dreamlike scenario where Rebecca purely celebrated my relationship with Kate could never exist.
Anyone born human must feel a desire to monopolize their lover. Even Rebecca, with her unique upbringing.
"Rebecca."
"Ah. I guess I can't do it after all..."
Can't do it?
Was she telling me to break up with Kate?
All I could think was that my reckoning had come. If Rebecca demanded it strongly, the three of us would be finished.
No—if even one person showed reluctance, this relationship could never last.
In the end, all three of us would need to be of one heart to live together peacefully.
"No, I guess I can't settle for just one request. Besides asking you to be honest, there's something else I want from you."
"What is it?"
Rebecca's expression grew serious as she spoke.
"No matter what woman you meet in the future, always think of me."
Her voice echoed in my ears.
At that very moment, Rebecca reached out and gently stroked my cheek.
Her touch was as warm as if she were touching something precious.
"Never forget me. When you meet any woman, think of me first. Remember that I'm the one who loves you more than anyone."
That one sentence lodged itself deep in my heart. A line I would never be able to forget.
I raised my hand and covered Rebecca's fingers, which still rested on my cheek. The warmth sent my heart pounding. Our eyes met.
Smooch.
Without warning, Rebecca pressed her lips to my forehead.
Then she pulled back, a bashful smile crossing her face.
"That's enough! That's what I wanted."
"Okay."
"And... I love you, Luke. I'm so glad you came back safely."
That was the end of Rebecca's request. I resolved to always keep her words close to my heart. As I sat there, turning them over in my mind, Rebecca suddenly gave me a meaningful look.
"Sister Kate is waiting in the hallway, you know."
"I'll bring her inside."
"Ah, no, not that! Just go out with her. She'll want to be alone with you more than being here with me."
"You want me to go out with Kate?"
"You have permission to date her, don't you? You granted my request, so... just for today, I won't mind whatever you two do. Hurry up and go take care of her."
I stared at Rebecca, confused.
"Then what about you?"
"I'll just rest in the room. I already finished all the pet-finding work yesterday."
"Alright. I'll go take care of it quickly and come back."
"T-take care of it?"
"Kate."
I sprang to my feet.
The moment I heard Rebecca's words, it felt like I'd finally been freed from a deep seal.
Words couldn't fully describe how much Kate had tormented me all this time.
Inside the carriage.
On a hill in the dead of night.
Deep in a dark abandoned mine.
Kate had seduced me at every opportunity. She had unilaterally toyed with my manhood, which I'd kept restrained because of my girlfriend. Looking back, I was proud of how much I'd endured. The time had finally come to pay that blonde nun back.
"I'll be off."
"Yeah."
After saying my goodbye to Rebecca, I stepped into the hallway.
*
"Is your conversation finished, Mongma-nim?"
Kate had been standing still, leaning her back against the hallway wall.
She looked up at me with a face full of curiosity, which told me she hadn't eavesdropped on my talk with Rebecca.
"Yeah, you could say that."
"What on earth did you talk about in there? Did you happen to gossip about me?"
"Nothing like that. On the contrary, Rebecca told me to take good care of you."
Kate looked surprised at my words.
Had she been bracing herself for Rebecca to badmouth her?
"What an amazing woman! She seems even kinder than a nun like me."
"She said you and I should be alone today."
"Rebecca said that?!"
I nodded silently.
Right then, Kate knocked on Rebecca's door and called out.
"Rebecca! I'd like to thank you—may I come in?"
Rebecca's voice rang out from beyond the door.
━No need to come in.
"Pardon?"
━Enjoy yourselves together today. You've only just started dating, and it'd feel weird if I intruded on your very first day. Spend some time alone, just the two of you.
"Ohhh."
Rebecca preferred we spend time alone rather than receive any thanks. No matter how much she knocked, the door wouldn't open, so eventually Kate and I ended up outside the inn.
"I suppose I'll have to say thank you later."
Even after stepping outside, Kate murmured to herself while staring at the inn building. Then she suddenly turned her head and looked down at her wrist.
The wrist I was still gripping tightly enough to hurt.
"What are you doing? Let go."
"I don't want to."
"Huh?"
I let out a sigh and looked at Kate.
"We're officially dating now. There's no way I'm just going to leave you alone."
"And what will you do if you don't leave me alone?"
"Do you know how much I've suffered because of you? Do you have any idea what it feels like to have a woman seducing you with her body right in front of you, and not being able to lay a single finger on her?"
"How would I know?"
The moment Kate shamelessly threw the question back at me, I brought my lips to her ear and whispered.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know. Because now I intend to lay my fingers all over you."
At my words, Kate's face flushed bright red all the way up to the nape of her neck.
She looked at me with a thoroughly heated face.
"You intend to?"
"Obviously."
I heard no refusal.
Kate just looked at me, emboldened, and nodded.
"Now you're finally acting like an incubus."
"And what did you think I was before?"
"A softie wearing an incubus mask?"
She didn't seem to have any intention of running, so I released her wrist. Kate cleared her throat awkwardly and added.
"W-well, if Mongma-nim intends to do it, I suppose there's no helping it. Having seduced you this much, I'll have to pay you back with my body. So where should we go? Do you have a place in mind?"
"An inn nearby? Somewhere besides here. It would be disrespectful to do it where Rebecca is."
"No inn. Let's go somewhere better."
"Where?"
"━My house."
"You don't mean the church, right?"
Doing it at the church?
Just imagining it made my heart pound. If the faithful caught us, I might be cut down on the spot for the crime of defiling a nun. Fortunately, the house Kate meant was not the church.
"My adoptive parents' house is near the church. They happen to be away right now, so no one's home."
"Ohhh."
No one's home!
That single statement made my heart race. Doing it at a house would be far more comfortable than renting an inn room. The same was probably true for Kate, who was about to have her first experience.
"Follow me."
Kate took my hand and began walking through the city.
I matched her pace and walked side by side with her.
"Please be gentle."
As we walked, Kate's cheeks reddened and she spoke.
"It's my first time, after all."