16. Interlocking
The early winter dawn in Bellua.
A small restaurant tucked away at the dead end of a deserted alley near the city walls had welcomed two customers since early morning. The cozy establishment was so warm that heat from the fireplace seeped through the windows.
The elderly owner was performing bizarre stretching exercises right outside the shop, emitting "Huff, huff" sounds with each movement. He gave off the vibe of those muscular old men commonly seen in subcultures.
Thanks to this, only Noah and Isabella,
could quietly share their meal with just the two of them.
On the table sat mashed potatoes, hard rye bread, and steaming thin lamb stew. Though not a feast, it was a decent spread for a simple breakfast.
Yet neither of them could bring themselves to properly lift their utensils. They timidly tore at their bread, chewing once, twice... ten times before tentatively scooping stew to moisten their dry mouths, then taking a bite of potatoes.
All while stealing furtive glances at each other.
"......."
"......."
...It was suffocating.
They couldn't even taste the food.
As the restaurant gradually grew warmer, Noah removed her stuffy robe and draped it over the adjacent chair. The outfit revealed beneath was the same one she'd worn yesterday.
A deep navy long skirt dress.
Its most notable feature was the completely exposed upper chest area.
In contrast, Isabella's attire felt utterly drab. Of course, this was her best choice for concealing her femininity as much as possible.
Though their outfits were polar opposites... the situation beneath their clothes was remarkably similar.
Even after magically removing all traces of the semen that had been pumped into them,
the time was far too short to erase the memories etched into their bodies. When bowing their heads to sip stew or moving hands to tear bread, accidentally brushing against the sides of their breasts...
Each touch reignited those hypersensitive sensations.
—Thump, thump...
Every time Noah instinctively flinched and twitched her buttocks before Isabella (male form), a tingling tremor ran through her groin where it met the chair. Her panties were undoubtedly soaked through, and her hardened nipples kept rubbing against her breast cover, receiving constant stimulation.
Thus, Noah kept crossing and recrossing her legs beneath the table.
And Isabella was no different.
'These are the same clothes as usual, but today they feel unusually... indecent!'
Images of her Master's buttocks from last night flooded her mind. The texture of that skin, the vaginal folds, the moans heard through the wall...
—I'm cumming but keep going...!
Lewd. This person was lewdness incarnate.
Those pointed elf ears were lewd, that perky nose was lewd, those cherry-red lips were lewd, those round eyes were lewd. Even her jawline was lewd, continuing down her neck to the fully exposed cleavage...
Twitch!
Her underwear tightened abruptly before the dining table.
She'd gotten erect. Pre-cum was leaking out. Similarly, her underwear was getting soaked. Isabella crossed her legs tightly while repeating internally that she shouldn't be like this in public.
Additionally—as she possessed female genitalia too—this meant two areas were becoming moist. Such unnecessary TMI.
Flustered, Isabella shoved a piece of rye bread into her mouth. But the parched throat couldn't properly swallow the dry bread,
"Cough! Ugh, hack-hack...!"
Noah, who'd been blankly stirring her soup, startled and quickly filled a water glass for her.
In that brief moment, their fingertips touched. A spark seemed to jump between them—zap...!
Noah pulled her hand back in surprise. Scratching her cheek while pretending nonchalance, she spoke.
"...You'll get indigestion. Eat slowly."
"Ye-yes..."
Gulp, gulp—
Noah found herself unconsciously staring at Isabella's Adam's apple. That delicate, snow-white neck seemed far too refined for someone claiming to be a mercenary or adventurer...
Noah swallowed hard.
"Pwah!"
"......."
At least the water exchange helped shift the atmosphere, allowing Noah to finally think somewhat calmly. As the Master, as the adult, she should speak first...!
Hmm, but what to say?
I'm sorry. Of course I'm sorry.
But what exactly am I apologizing for that has me this flustered? Her stupidly frozen brain teetered between starting up or not...
Right. It's true I've been toying with Isabella all this time. But there was no malice, right? When called "Master?" I couldn't respond properly because my mind went blank from being discovered!
Recalling this kid's words...
She seemed quite fixated on me having relations with other men? But Isabella and I don't have that kind of relationship!
We just fooled around with handjobs and kissed out of 'casual interest.'
Kissing a pretty girl. What's wrong with that?
As for handjobs, well, customers at the brothel request those often enough that it's nothing special. Especially since watching Isabella's expression when cumming is somewhat entertaining.
And sex... that was just a one-night thing under the influence of alcohol.
If anything, we're probably at the stage right before becoming fuck buddies.
(Though first and foremost, we have a Master-disciple relationship.)
Still, I couldn't tell Isabella "You're just one of many sex partners." Except when suddenly turned on like last night, this pure disciple kid...
I simply couldn't bring myself to be harsh with her.
Noah knew. She knew the fault lay with herself. She was just panicking uncontrollably after being caught.
Putting on an intentionally solemn expression, she spoke.
"...Ahem. Ibel. Or... your real name is Isabella, correct?"
"Please keep calling me Ibel... I abandoned that name when I left my family."
"Oh, I see."
Another layer of flusteredness added here.
Noah fidgeted with her fingers beneath the table before speaking again.
"Right... Ibel. About that. The reason I was working there... was due to certain circumstances. Explaining would take some time..."
Even while speaking, last night's events kept resurfacing.
Why was it so hot? Despite removing her robe near the fireplace, she kept sweating. Noah unconsciously fluttered her dress around her cleavage.
"Haa, so... anyway... I just hope you understand there were unavoidable circumstances."
She couldn't bring herself to say it was simply for easy money.
And when speaking ambiguously like this, people tend to interpret things their own way.
"Circumstances...? Don't tell me that brothel owner has some hold over you?"
Isabella's shocked eyes.
She was asking—was that owner some vicious exploiter who deserved to be torn apart? And if so, what would she do...
Noah briefly imagined Marian Lowell.
'......She's just a perverted young lady.'
Leaving this misunderstanding uncorrected would let her play the victim role... but that would mean framing Marian Lowell.
Noah's conscience wasn't quite that rotten.
Having already corrupted that innocent noble girl into an incestuous voyeuristic pervert was enough—she couldn't paint her as some villainous exploiter forcing people into brothel work...
"Ah, no. It's not like that......"
Noah trailed off while glancing sideways at Isabella's reaction.
When their eyes met, Isabella exhaled, lowered her shoulders, and straightened her posture.
"...Master. First, I want to apologize again for last night. There's no excuse. After a certain point... I couldn't stop myself..."
"......."
Noah laughed bitterly internally.
'Fault? If anything, I'm the root problem. And seriously—last night you completely ignored my pleas to stop, yet this morning you put on this innocent face and say this...?'
In some ways it was infuriating, yet also somewhat endearing.
If there was one thing she couldn't possibly say to this kid while sober...
It was that both the drunken sex and last night's hours-long forced sex had felt fucking amazing.
Twirling her silver hair while feigning composure, Noah spoke.
"Well... let's say we both made mistakes. I deceived you, and you... well..."
"The mistake of forcibly violating Master."
"Uh, well..."
Right then.
A booming "Hohoit—!" came from outside as the restaurant door burst open.
"Hoho, enjoying your meal?"
"......."
"......."
The muscular old man who entered sweating paid no mind to the strange atmosphere between them, heading straight to the water bucket to gulp down huge swallows.
Noah and Isabella.
As if by agreement, both bowed their heads and mechanically spooned stew into their mouths. But their appetites had long vanished.
Noah abruptly stood up.
"Owner. Leaving payment here. Ibel, let's go."
"Safe travels—!"
Noah tried pulling Isabella up by the wrist. But Isabella vigorously shook her head!
"......?"
Noah pulled harder.
"R-right now is a bit..."
"Let's talk outside..."
Mid-sentence, Noah suddenly glanced down at Isabella's pants. The drab-colored adventurer pants. The bulge between the thighs—
Gulp...
'After cumming so much last night, you're already hard again?'
Just recalling that magnificent cock made her crotch burn.
Ah, screw it.
Noah forcibly hauled Isabella upright. Though Isabella was far stronger, she couldn't bring herself to shake off her Master's hand, allowing herself to be awkwardly dragged out of the restaurant.
Since it was still early morning,
the remote alley remained deserted.
Noah immediately pushed Isabella into the narrow alley behind the restaurant.
"M-Master...?"
Instead of answering, Noah pinned Isabella against the wall. Then without hesitation reached for Isabella's pants...!
Whoosh~
"Huh? H-here...?"
"Your cock. Must be hard to endure. Just helping you release once."
The mindset of a female servicing her male.
Noah knelt before Isabella. Gazing up with desperate eyes at the cock that had pleasured her all night long.