Chapter 326: Guwon’s Counterattack
Chapter 326: Guwon’s Counterattack
First of all, I had a justification.
A much stronger one than with Silvia, in fact.
To be honest, even if I hadn't taken Silvia in, it wouldn't have been a major issue.
She just couldn't feel pleasure; it didn't affect her daily life at all.
That's why I was so cold to her at first.
But Matilda is different.
Not only is she forced to live her entire life practically imprisoned in a place men cannot enter because of her curse, but countless men are forced to live in a state of impotence.
This isn't just for Matilda's sake; I need to keep her with me and treat the curse for the sake of all those men, too.
Of course, it's not like I absolutely have to have sex with Matilda to break the curse; Leia will be able to do it once she reaches level 250.
The problem is, no one knows when that will be.
Leveling up has already started to slow down a bit past level 100.
It would be too cruel to just tell them to wait indefinitely, neglecting Matilda and the countless men affected by the curse until some unknown future.
So the justification was solid, but there was still a reason I was anxious.
The situation was completely different from Silvia's case.
Back then, I had stubbornly refused at first, then said I would only let her travel with us as a party member.
It was only after my girls told me it was okay to have sex with Silvia that I reluctantly agreed to do it occasionally.
But this time, I was the one who declared it from the very start.
That I would not only keep her with me, but I would also have sex with her.
“Hmm. Is that so? As expected, this is not a simple matter.”
Diana nodded with her arms crossed, as if she had anticipated this.
“Uh, huh? You're not mad?”
“Of course, the thought of you embracing another woman is unpleasant, but I am not so childish as to get angry in a situation like this. I told you before, did I not? You may hold another woman if the circumstances are unavoidable.”
“That's right, Guwon. Please don't be so anxious. I think I understand just how much you've agonized over this.”
As Leia spoke, she took my clenched, sweat-drenched left hand and buried it between her breasts.
Then, after gently unclenching my fist, she carefully took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from my palm.
Me, agonize? On the contrary, I could only imagine how much they must have agonized in that short time between my declaration and their response...
And yet, seeing them comfort me like this, I couldn't help but be moved.
“You... you guys...”
“You're such an idiot. Or what? Did you do something that would actually make us angry?”
“N-No! It's not like that!”
“Really? Suspicious...”
Sara was probably just trying to reassure me, saying this with an amused smile that made it obvious she was joking.
“W-Well, that's...”
But I couldn't help but trail off.
“Huh? What? Don't tell me it's true?”
My reaction made Sara's expression turn to one of genuine alarm.
“Don't tell me you've actually fallen for Matilda?!”
“No. It's not like that. Not right now, anyway, but...”
Right. As of this moment, I certainly didn't feel any love for Matilda.
The only reason I'd spoken up about taking her in was because of the guilt and sympathy I'd felt earlier.
The reason I felt so guilty toward the girls, though, was because this was exactly what had happened with Silvia.
I didn't have any particular feelings for Silvia at first, either.
Sure, I thought she was pretty, but that was it.
But what about now?
Whenever I have a spare moment, I'm hugging her because I'm 'bored,' teasing her, playing with her, finding her so adorable I could die.
There was no guarantee the same thing wouldn't happen with Matilda.
No, to be honest, I wasn't confident my feelings wouldn't change if we kept sleeping together.
I trailed off mid-sentence, but they all looked like they understood what I was trying to say.
After all, they had watched my relationship with Silvia change firsthand.
They knew better than anyone how my feelings for her had transformed.
“I know what you're trying to say. And like Diana said earlier, I'll be honest, it doesn't feel good.”
Sara stared straight into my eyes as she began.
“But, Guwon. The Guwon I love isn't the kind of man who would turn a blind eye and abandon people when he has the power to save them. And he's not so cold-hearted that he could sleep with someone and feel nothing at all. ...So, just promise me this one thing.”
As she spoke, Sara took my right hand and wrapped it around her waist.
No, to be more precise, she guided my hand behind her body as if to wrap it around her waist, but placed it on the spot just above her butt where she had the Apostle's Seal.
“In your heart, I'm number one. Right?”
“Sara... Of cour—”
“Waaaaait just a moment!”
Just as I was about to answer, deeply moved, Diana suddenly shouted.
“Miss Sara! What was that just now?! To think you would try to cut in line at a time like this!”
“Tch.”
At Diana's shout, Sara clicked her tongue, looking slightly disappointed.
“That's right, Sara! That was unfair!”
Even Leia got angry, clenching her fists and shaking them.
She was cute even when she was mad.
Plus, every time she shook her fists, her breasts bounced.
“And you! What were you about to say?!”
Diana turned her anger from Sara to me.
“Huh?! I, I just... Didn't Sara say ‘us’ earlier?”
“Miss Sara said I'm number one! In the singular!”
“I-I must have gotten swept up in the mood and misheard.”
“How could you possibly mishear ‘I’ as ‘us’?!’
“Wait. In this situation, shouldn't you be mad at Sara for saying it that way on purpose, rather than at me for mishearing it?”
I decided to deflect the arrow of blame onto Sara.
“Guwon?!”
“Of course, the three of you are number one for me. It's not like I like one of you more than the others.”
I averted Sara's gaze and decided to defend myself first.
At least in this matter, I wasn't the one at fault!
“Hmph. I see! Miss Sara! How about you and I have a little chat?!”
“Yes! I'd very much like to have a word with you, too!”
“Wait, don't be so angry. I was just joking around a bit. Guwon seemed so tense, so...”
“Are you Guwon now?!”
Wait. Wasn't that a little harsh?
I admit I tend to make a lot of jokes to lighten the mood, but that sounded like a straight-up insult. It's not just my imagination, right?
“I'm sorry. I've spent so much time with Guwon, I think it's rubbed off on me.”
It's not a disease! Don't talk like you caught a virus!
“Are you subtly bragging that you've been with him the longest?!”
“Wha—?! N-No, that's not what I meant this time...”
“Come with me! You and I need to have a long, thorough discussion!”
“No! The three of us!”
With genuinely angry expressions, Diana and Leia dragged Sara out of the dining hall.
They could have just done it here. To think they'd go so far as to drag her out.
Were they going to talk about something they couldn't let me hear?
Well, if they did it somewhere else, I wouldn't get caught in the crossfire, so I was actually grateful.
Sara must have felt a little sorry, too, as she let Diana and Leia drag her away without any resistance.
“Phew. Looks like we're over one hurdle. What a relief. Right, Silvia?”
“Wha—? Hiuuuuugh!”
She wasn't completely uninvolved, but she must have felt she had no right to intervene.
Watching our commotion from a corner of the dining hall like a third-party observer, Silvia had completely let her guard down. When I casually walked up and pulled her into a surprise hug, she was drawn into my arms without being able to put up any real resistance.
Perhaps because the surprise attack dealt extra damage, Silvia trembled even more than usual, completely flustered. I paid her no mind and just rubbed my cheek against the crown of her head.
“Haaaah. So animal therapy really does work. I feel my spent mental energy recovering.”
“Waaaah... I-I'm... not an... animal... Awooo...”
“What are you talking about? You're my pet. My cute little puppy.”
Yep. I said it in a soft, plausible-sounding voice, but the content of my words was pure trash.
But the problem was, it was effective on Silvia.
“Waaah... Awooo... Uwaaaah...”
Silvia stretched both hands out in front of her as if trying to escape my embrace, but her fingers began to twitch and squirm at odd angles, like a broken machine.
Her body was also shivering, as if she were on the verge of orgasm.
“You want to be my pet too, don't you, Silvia? If you admit it, I might just dote on you even more in the future.”
“A-Any more... doting... I-I'll really d-die...”
“So you don't want it?”
“I-I'd... like that...”
Silvia answered, her body going limp as if in half-resignation.
To say she'd like it even as she's about to die.
She's like a moth drawn to a flame.
Well, that just makes her cuter.
I continued to enjoy my pseudo-animal therapy, rubbing my cheek against the crown of Silvia's head.
“You...!”
When the three of them returned to the dining hall a short while later, their expressions immediately turned indignant at the sight of me, completely relaxed while hugging Silvia.
Ah, this is bad.
I hastily pushed Silvia away.
“Who do you think we were just having that discussion for, and here you are... Just what did you do to Miss Silvia?!”
Diana shouted as she approached me, but then she suddenly looked past me and started getting angry for a completely different reason.
Huh? What's wrong?
Following Diana's gaze, I saw why.
Silvia was trembling, weakly crawling on all fours toward the farthest corner of the room.
Just looking at her, she looked like she'd been thoroughly ravaged. Sexually, I mean.
“Wait, it's a misunderstanding! I was just hugging her for my mental and physical well-being!”
“I'm sure you were! While getting your ‘thing’ all warmed up, too!”
Sara. Weren't you the one who just got dragged off for a scolding?
You're still full of energy.
“It's true! Should I take them off and show you? Not a single drop of...” “Why don't you take a look at your own crotch before you speak?”
At Diana's words, I looked down.
...It was wet.
“Silvia!”
So she wasn't just trembling like she was having an orgasm, she was actually having one?!
“Should we really allow this womanizer to have Cardinal Matilda, too? I'm starting to feel anxious.”
“Indeed. Perhaps we should reconsider our decision.”
It seemed they hadn't just gone off to scold Sara.
I see. So that's why they left me behind and went to talk somewhere else.
“Please wait a moment.”
Just then, Leia moved between my legs, knelt, and brought her face close to my crotch.
“L-Leia?! Showing it to someone else is against the doctrine—!”
I shouted in a panic, but she hadn't knelt between my legs for that reason.
Bringing her nose so close to my pants that it was almost touching, Leia twitched it cutely and sniffed.
“Guwon is telling the truth. I don't smell any scent of male arousal at all.”
She stood back up and said this with a bright smile.
Strange. It was the same angelic smile as always, and she had just proven my innocence. So why did I feel a little scared?
“I-Is that so...”
Diana, looking a little flustered herself, accepted my innocence.
“In any case. We have something to tell you.”
She composed her expression and looked me straight in the face.
“After our discussion, we have decided to approve of you taking in Miss Matilda. Honestly. If we refused in a situation like this, it would make us the villains, would it not?”
So that was their conclusion.
Just as I'd expected, they chose to save others rather than insist on their own desires.
I had wanted to set things up so they wouldn't have to make this choice.
But in the end, this is how it turned out.
“Sorry. It must be tough, falling for such a capable man.”
But if I acted all gloomy and apologetic here, it would only make the mood heavier.
Besides, I felt it would be rude to Matilda, who they were agreeing to accept.
So I deliberately spoke in a slightly teasing tone.
“Don't get so conceited! Honestly. And let's make one thing clear. For you, the number one is m—”
Diana gave me a light rap on the head, then took my hand and placed it on her lower abdomen.
“—us. Understood?”
“Diana. You hesitated for a second there, didn't you? Wondering whether to make that plural?”
“I-I did not! More importantly, are you avoiding the question?!”
“No. Of course, you guys are number one for me. That will never, ever change.”
As I answered, I pulled not just Diana, but all three of them into a group hug.
“Oof... Ch... Ugh...”
Once again, Diana, squished in the middle, looked like she was in pain because of her chest, but she must have known that saying anything would ruin the mood, because she swallowed her words.
“Thank you for accepting Matilda. I'll thank you on her behalf.”
“By the way, why hasn't Cardinal Matilda come back yet?”
“Huh? She's probably still passed out, don't you think?”
“Guwon! Just how many times did you—!”
“H-Hey, it couldn't be helped! Doing it multiple times was unavoidable to properly investigate the curse! W-Well then, I'm off to tell Matilda I'll be taking her in.”
“What?! You haven't even told Miss Matilda yet?!”
Ignoring the shout from behind me, I hurried toward the room where Matilda was sleeping.