Chapter 193: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord’s Castle
Chapter 193: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord’s Castle
I mulled over what Diana had said.
You can stay with Sara and Leia, but don’t get attached.
This wasn’t because of Diana’s own possessiveness, but for my sake.
And kissing Diana was tantamount to gaining eternal life.
Putting it all together, this is what she meant:
If you give your heart to Sara and Leia, you’ll be the one who suffers when they, with their limited lifespans, eventually leave you. So don’t get attached, and look only at me.
She was a truly admirable one.
But I couldn’t do as she asked.
Even after understanding her intentions completely, I had answered that I would treat Sara and Leia with sincerity as well.
“Wh-What! Do you not comprehend my words!”
“I understand them perfectly. You’re saying that if I get serious with Sara and Leia, the eventual farewell will be more painful, so I shouldn’t give them my heart, right?”
“Y-You know that and yet…!”
“And knowing that, I’m saying I’ll still be sincere with them, Diana. Of course, I might be sad when Sara and Leia’s lives come to an end and we have to part. But…”
“It is not a matter of ‘might be sad,’ you will certainly be sad! You think so lightly of it because you have not experienced that pain! It is far more…”
“You’re right. Like you said, I haven’t experienced it yet, so all I can do is imagine. It might be far sadder than I can imagine, and it might be unbearable. But I don’t want to give up on my feelings for Sara and Leia now just because I’m worried about being sad in the future. You don’t love a coward like that, do you?”
“But! Still!”
“Besides, when the time comes for me to suffer, I won’t be left all alone like you were in the past, will I?”
“Ugh!”
“Right? It’s not just me staying by your side. You’ll continue to stay by my side too, won’t you?”
“Ugh… Ugh… Uwaaaah!”
When I asked her so directly, Diana seemed too embarrassed to answer. Her face turned bright red again as she let out a strange noise.
She looked so mortified that she wanted to escape this very spot, but since her hands were still in my grasp, all she could do was flail helplessly.
“Where do you think you’re going? What? Don’t tell me you’re planning on abandoning me then?”
“Are you a fool! Of course not! An elf’s kiss is an eternal vow to look upon only one person for a lifetime!”
“And you were going to do that with a woman?! As I thought, Diana, you…!”
“I told you it is not like that! It means that parting with someone you have grown so fond of is so difficult that I would even consider making such a proposal to a woman!”
“Still, I’ll be fine because you’ll be by my side.”
“Ughhhh! Do you have any idea how shameless you are being right now?! You are asking me to comfort you when you are sad over breaking up with other women!”
Diana shouted, but to me, it just looked like a final, desperate struggle.
It seemed her heart was already completely convinced.
“I’ve always been a selfish and shameless guy. Didn’t you know that much when you fell for me?”
“Uuugh. P-Perhaps I need to reconsider kissing you…”
“Aha. I don’t think so.”
I let go of Diana’s hands and instead cupped her face, holding her cheeks.
“Not only am I selfish and shameless, I’m also persistent. It was over for you the moment you confessed that you liked me. It’s too late now. I’m not letting you go, even if you say you want to reconsider.”
I brought my face close to hers.
“W-Wait a moment! Think carefully, one last time! If you kiss me, there is no turning back! Truly, for all eternity…!”
“You know, it really sounds like you’re trying to convince me not to kiss you.”
“That is not it! This is a decision that will affect your entire life, so I am telling you to think it over carefully! Even if you regret it later, it is not something that can be undone… Mmph.”
I sealed Diana’s cute, chattering mouth with my own.
Right before me, I could see her large eyes trembling as if they were vibrating.
As I looked into those eyes, the memories I’d made with Diana flashed before me like a panorama.
It had been such a long time. Just how long had it taken to get to this point?
Overwhelmed with emotion, I stayed like that for a while before slowly pulling away from her lips.
Though our lips had been pressed together for a long time, it was a kiss where I hadn’t used my tongue or even moved my lips—we had literally just been touching.
“Since this is the first time, let’s start light. I’m going to teach our dear Archmage, who’s new to kissing, all sorts of different kisses from now on, so you’d better learn well.”
Even after I pulled away, Diana remained with her mouth slightly agape, a dazed expression on her face.
Then, in a tone that felt somewhat detached from reality, she spoke.
“Now, there is truly no turning back. This is a curse that even my magic cannot break. No, even if I could break it, I would not. You must now live with me for all eternity.”
“That’s what I was hoping for.”
As I said that, I pecked her lips lightly again before pulling away.
At that, Diana finally seemed to realize we had kissed, and she began to flail about, her face blushing.
“We’re going to be doing this a lot from now on. How are you going to handle it if you get this embarrassed?”
“B-Be quiet! Do you have any idea how many long years it has taken for me to finally have my first kiss!”
“How many long years has it been?”
“Three…! As if I would tell you! Are you a fool?!”
“We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives, so what does it matter? So what unit comes after three? Thousand? Ten thousand?”
“Be quiet! Just be quiet!”
“I told you, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. No matter how old you are, Diana…”
“Did you not hear me tell you to be quiet?”
“…My apologies. I got carried away.”
Diana’s cold voice, filled with the intent to not let it slide if I said another word, left me with no choice but to apologize.
It seemed that no matter how old a woman was, talking about her age was taboo.
“Hurry and get dressed. Now that we have settled things, let us leave this place.”
Come to think of it, we were still naked.
As I took some clothes out of my inventory and got dressed, I spoke to Diana again.
“You’re surprisingly timid, you know. So the reason you couldn’t kiss me until now was because you were afraid I’d refuse? There’s no way I would’ve refused, you know?”
“B-Be quiet! Do you know how hurt I was when that friend of mine rejected me! It is not strange for me to be a little scared!”
“For someone who says that, when we had sex last time… Ah, so that’s why you were angry enough to run away. I was trying to properly refuse the harem, but you forced me to accept it.”
“That is right! Do you see how great your mistake was?!”
“Still, since it all worked out this well, wasn’t it fine in the end?”
“What do you mean, fine! It was not fine at all!”
“In what way?”
“I-I would have preferred a confession in a situation other than that… Anyway, it was not fine at all! You know nothing of a woman’s heart!”
Trying to trail off after saying practically everything.
She was probably pretending to be vague while openly stating her desire, right?
That she wanted to be confessed to in a proper setting, not while having sex.
Alright. Then I’ll do just that. If the woman I love wants that, of course I should do it for her.
I took one more item out of my inventory.
“Diana.”
“What is it?”
“Will you accept this?”
I approached the pouting Diana, knelt down on one knee, and opened a ring box, holding it out to her.
“Th-This is…!”
There was no way I would have bought a ring for Sara and not for the others.
I had wanted this kind of relationship with all three of them, after all.
I had properly bought three.
“Will you give me your hand?”
“……”
Without a word, Diana quietly extended her left hand.
I took her hand and, still kneeling, gently slid the ring onto her ring finger.
“I love you, Diana. Please stay with me, always.”
Diana lifted her hand to her face and stared blankly at the ring, then she abruptly turned her back to me.
“Wh-What’s wrong? You don’t like it?”
I had acted immediately, thinking it would be more awkward if I missed this chance. Should I have set up a proper location first?
Still, I thought doing it in the lord’s castle, which was as well-decorated as a luxury hotel, had a certain charm.
“Th-That is not, that is not it.”
But from Diana’s voice that followed, I realized why she had turned away.
“Diana. Show me your face properly.”
“J-Just, hic, wait a moment.”
“No. Show me now. I want to see your happy face.”
At my words, Diana slowly turned back around.
Her face, as expected, was a mess of tears.
But she was still too embarrassed to show it, so she clung to me as if her life depended on it, burying her face in my chest.
“It’s beautiful, why are you trying to hide it?”
“…As I thought… you know nothing of a woman’s heart.”
After saying that, Diana didn’t let go of me for a long time.
Just as her trembling shoulders finally seemed to calm, Diana spoke abruptly.
“…Let us go. I wish to return to the mansion as soon as possible.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
I lifted Diana into my arms and walked out of the room.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Felicia’s face, as if she had been waiting outside the whole time.
“Ah! Lady Diana! And y—Guwon. …It seems things went well.”
Felicia’s face, as she said this, was filled with a clear look of disappointment.
Was it just my imagination, or was her gaze directed not at my face, but at my crotch?
No. It definitely wasn’t my imagination.
This damn sex-crazed princess. How can you be thinking about that in a situation like this?
“Thanks to you, it went well. As you can see. Well then, we’ll be going!”
If a beauty like you had come onto me for sex right after I arrived in this world, I probably would have lost my mind and fallen head over heels for you.
Blame your own bad luck for meeting me so late.
Thinking that nothing good would come from getting more involved with Felicia, I hurriedly headed outside.
I felt like I was forgetting something, but if I couldn’t remember it, it probably wasn’t that important.
Leading the heads of the Mage Association, who had been waiting just like Felicia, we boarded the carriage driven by Vanessa, who was waiting outside, and the group returned to the mansion in no time.
Diana, who had remained in my arms the entire time, tried to lead me by the hand to her room as soon as we returned to the mansion.
Of course, there were others who blocked our path.
“Guwon!”
“Guwon-ssi!”
It was Sara and Leia, of course.
They both looked as if they hadn’t slept properly, they must have been that worried about me.
Come to think of it, from their perspective, I had run out at night saying I was looking for Diana, and then they hadn’t heard from me until the next day.
It was only natural they’d be worried.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Leia, perhaps out of instinct as the party’s healer, began checking my body, touching me here and there.
She did so without a care, even though my hand was linked with Diana’s.
“I-I’m fine. I’m sorry. I was suddenly dragged to the lord’s castle. You were worried, weren’t you? But everything’s fine.”
“Thank goodness!”
Leia said as she hugged me tightly.
I could feel Diana’s grip on my hand tighten.
Of course, due to the difference in our Strength stats, it didn’t hurt at all, but I was afraid to look at Diana’s face.
“L-Leia? I’m okay, so could you let go for a sec…”
“No.”
Leia refused, shaking her head vigorously while still hugging me.
Ugh. Leia. When you shake like that, certain things shake along with you, and that’s dangerous.
Seriously dangerous. I think I’m getting hard.
If I got an erection now, Diana, who already looked like she was at her limit, would probably explode.
Hold on, my son. Not now!
But Leia, as if she knew how I was feeling, spoke with a slight blush on her cheeks.
“It’s okay.”
“Wh-What is?”
“Did you forget what I said before you left?”
“Uh, sorry. Things were so hectic at the lord’s castle that I can’t really remember…”
“I reserved tonight, you know. You can’t stand me up just because things went well with Diana-ssi.”
…I remembered.
Every last bit of it, including how I had confidently replied, “Of course!”
…What am I going to do?
Of course, I had to keep my promise, but if I went to a room with Leia now, I was too scared to look at Diana, whose grip on my hand was growing stronger and stronger.
While I was hesitating and breaking out in a cold sweat, it was none other than Diana who acted first.
Diana pushed her way between Leia and me, forcing us apart.
“Kyaa. D-Diana-ssi. Your turn was the night before last. Today is my turn…”
“I know nothing of the sort! Hmph!”
Diana spoke like a pouting child, then suddenly used some kind of unknown magic.
“Eh?! Kyaa!”
While Leia flinched from the spell, Diana grabbed me and ran straight out of the mansion.