Chapter 501: Aftermath
Chapter 501: Aftermath
“Right. Well, I didn’t think we’d be fulfilling that wish today. But you should probably practice building up your tolerance. You don’t want to spend your whole life just wishing for it, do you?”
As I said that and slowly approached Silvia, she didn’t run away anymore.
Though her body was trembling violently, as if she were suppressing something.
“Th-that’s… that’s… U-uuugh…!”
But when I got right up close, as if she couldn’t take it anymore, Silvia started crawling along the wall.
It seemed the strength had completely left her lower body, as she dragged her legs, using only her arms.
“…Hey.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! B-but! But right now…!”
At my hollow voice, Silvia cried out, half-sobbing.
“…Whatever, forget it. Let’s just go practice swimming for now. Can you even stand?”
I had no choice but to decide that this was as far as we’d go today.
It seemed that due to the aftereffects of our earlier kiss, it would be impossible to make any more progress with Silvia today.
Besides, it wasn’t like we’d made no progress at all. No. In fact, you could say we’d made as much progress as I’d expected.
I’d had a proper kiss with Silvia, and I’d told her I got permission from my girls for us to have a deeper relationship.
All that was left was for Silvia to build up her tolerance so she could endure more, and then we could make more progress.
Well, helping her build that tolerance seems like it’ll be the hardest part… but anyway, the mental barrier she’d drawn, the one that said we couldn’t go any further, has been completely demolished.
“M-my legs are a little… Heut! You don’t have to help me! You don’t have to help me!”
As I approached Silvia, who was desperately trying to stand by bracing her hand against the wall, she started trembling again and hastily shouted.
I always think this, but if I didn’t know she liked me, this is exactly how someone would act toward a person they completely despise.
Is this what they mean when they say extremes meet? …Maybe not.
“…You really do like me, right?”
“I really, really dooo!”
“Alright then. Let’s go.”
I gave up on helping Silvia and walked ahead toward the bathroom.
Silvia must have managed to stand up somehow, because she followed behind me.
For some reason, though, she wasn’t following right behind me, but rather hiding around corners and trailing me like a stalker.
“W-with Guwon… with Guwon… Hehehet….”
…I can hear everything, you know.
But well, seeing her so happy made me feel like my desperate efforts to get permission from the girls were worth it.
You should be more grateful to me, Silvia, and work on building that tolerance so this doesn’t all go to waste.
Anyway, in that ambiguous state of going together yet separately, we arrived at the bathroom.
Finally. We’re finally here.
If I open this door, the paradise I’ve dreamed of will finally be revealed!
A scene of peerless beauties all swimming naked together. Who else could ever witness such a sight?
You can see it at a nude beach? Shut up! The important thing is that everyone inside is a peerless beauty!
Most importantly, they’re all my women. It’s a harem! A harem!
…Well, there is about one person in there who isn’t my woman. But one person is within the margin of error.
Besides, she’s also a peerless beauty.
“…You’re late.”
When I opened the door, my heart swelling with anticipation, I found my girls standing there, fully dressed.
Is it just me, or am I feeling a strong sense of déjà vu? I feel like something just like this happened very recently.
“W-what are you guys doing, not practicing your swimming?”
“It’s almost lunchtime. Just as you said, Guwon, we decided not to overdo it and not to skip our meals.”
When I asked in a trembling voice, Leia answered in her warm one.
Only after hearing her answer did I feel the warmth return to my heart, which had been momentarily stained with despair.
Right, it’s a déjà vu-inducing situation, but it’s not exactly the same as before.
Yesterday was dinner! Today is lunch! In other words, another chance will come after we eat!
“Ah, ahh! I see! So that’s what it was! No, sorry for being late. I guess I didn’t check the time. Silvia must have been passed out for longer than I thought.”
I said, completely relieved.
“Haaah…. So, where’s Silvia?”
After hearing my reply, Sara said with a deep sigh.
That’s a little surprising. Since I was so late, I thought she’d suspect me of having sex with Silvia or something.
Surprisingly, Sara just let it go coolly without saying anything.
“Over there. In the corner.”
“…Guwon, you didn’t do anything weird, did you?”
But upon seeing Silvia hiding in the corner, it seemed even Sara couldn’t just let it slide, and she looked at me with eyes full of suspicion.
“Of course not. Don’t you trust me?”
“…Think about what you just asked of us, and then say that again.”
“…I’m sorry. Thank you for your permission. But I really didn’t do anything today.”
That was right. On this matter, I had absolutely no way of winning against them.
Damn it. Why did I have to be an idiot and declare my harem intentions?
“Ah! H-hey!”
As we were joking around like that, Silvia, perhaps feeling sorry that I was being suspected because of her, came out from the corner and started to approach us.
Though she stopped dead in her tracks about three meters away, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
“Lady Diana! Lady Sara! Lady Leia! I… I…!”
And standing there, Silvia tried to say something, her face filled with overwhelming emotion.
…So she didn’t run over for my sake.
And Diana. Come to think of it, you’re here too. You said you weren’t going to swim, but you came along after all?
“…Well then, we’ll go on ahead to the dining hall. Matilda. Vanessa. Let’s go.”
Well, anyway, it seemed she had something to say to my girls, so I decided to be a gentleman and give them some space.
Matilda and Vanessa, who seemed to have grasped the situation by now, followed me without a word.
“Everyone… really…”
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
From behind us, as we walked away from the bathroom, we could faintly hear those voices.
I really did meet some great women.
“…I see. So Silvia, in the end…”
And when my girls were out of sight, Matilda, who had been following silently, finally opened her mouth and muttered.
Her expression was strange, looking both pained and envious.
For the record, Vanessa, who was walking beside me with Matilda, had been glaring daggers at me for a while now.
It seemed she was quite displeased that I had officially accepted another woman.
If I told her I was going to accept Matilda and Rachel too, I wonder if I’d be torn to shreds by an enraged Vanessa before my girls even got a chance to be angry.
She was glaring at me so intensely that the worry came to me naturally.
I shooed at Vanessa, gesturing for her to go on ahead.
Well, she had to go ahead and get things ready anyway.
Vanessa’s expression twitched ever so slightly, and then she strode ahead.
That was a look of indignation, wasn’t it? I can’t be sure because of her deadpan expression, but…
Normally, she’d at least give a light, formal bow before leaving, but seeing as she left without even that, she must be pretty angry.
But since I had no way to appease her, I just let Vanessa go and met Matilda’s eyes.
“…Matilda. Once your curse is broken, I…” “Aah…! Guwon…!”
The moment I said that, Matilda clung to me with an ecstatic expression.
Hey. I wasn’t finished talking. Isn’t that a bit of a quick change?
“Not now, I mean when the curse is broken. When the curse is broken.”
Feeling like a fool for trying to set the mood, I pushed her forehead. Matilda fell back limply and snapped back to her senses with a start.
Then her expression turned gloomy again.
“…Right. When the curse is broken…”
…Sorry, Matilda. You’re making a serious face, but after you were just clinging to me like that, it doesn’t look serious at all.
Anyway, the curse is the problem. The curse.
“In this situation, I can’t be sure of your feelings. You wouldn’t want to be in a deep relationship with me only to have the curse break and find your feelings for me have completely vanished, right?”
“…I wouldn’t… Ugh. Anyway, you’re saying breaking the curse comes first. Once the curse is broken…”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t look like we can do it today…” “No. I also think swimming practice is the priority. …I probably would have refused even if you had asked.”
Matilda said, still with a slightly pained expression.
Even though I said that, is she still feeling this responsible for me getting shipwrecked?
Anyway, it seemed she had her own complicated feelings about the matter.
But seeing her feel so guilty even after I’ve said all this, it seems like trying to comfort her by saying it’s okay won’t do much good.
I thought that rather than offering clumsy words of comfort, it might be better for Matilda if I just helped her learn to swim quickly.
And so, after finishing our meal and waiting a bit for our food to settle, we returned to the bathroom.
Finally! The time has come!
“Guwo…t!”
As soon as we entered the changing room, I ignored Vanessa, who was approaching me for some reason, and stripped off all my clothes.
At that, Vanessa froze in place, in the middle of holding something out to me.
What’s this? It looks shiny and smooth… leather? Fabric?
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get undressed too.”
The only man among so many women.
Unlike before when I wasn’t here, everyone must be feeling shy in this situation.
In that sense, I took the initiative and stripped, but… being stared at so intently was making me a little embarrassed.
I could feel a subtle reaction starting in my lower half… but I circulated my mana to stop the erection and, trying my best not to show any embarrassment, coolly spoke to Vanessa, who was standing there staring at me.
“W-w-w-what are you doing, suddenly stripping naked like that!”
Suddenly, Diana rushed over, stood on her tiptoes to cover Vanessa’s eyes with one hand, and started smacking me with the other.
“Are you a real idiot?! Are you an idiot?!”
And Sara joined in too, delivering smashes to my back.
Leia watched us with a slightly troubled smile.
Silvia was peeking from the corner, vibrating, while Matilda had entered her pink mode.
None of them looked like they had any intention of taking their clothes off here.
“What are you talking about? You have to get undressed to go into the bathroom.”
“We’re not going in to wash, we’re going in to swim! Put on some clothes! Clothes!”
“But even if it’s swimming, clothes…”
“Hurry!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Overwhelmed by Diana’s intensity, I hastily put my clothes back on.
Only then did Diana take her hand away from Vanessa’s eyes, and our super butler, Vanessa, started moving again.
“……Lord Guwon, please go inside first and change into these clothes. We will change and follow.”
Only after hearing that did I realize what Vanessa was holding.
Don’t tell me… that was a swimsuit?!
…Damn it! To think there are swimsuits in a fantasy world! No way! Usually there aren’t!
No. I admit this world is strangely technologically advanced for a fantasy world, but this is just wrong! My dream! My hope! The naked swimming pool!
“I-is that so… Yeah. Okay. But there’s no need for only me to change inside… I’ll go change inside.”
But I couldn’t let my inner thoughts show.
I tried to resist, hoping to at least observe them changing, but that attempt was also futilely shot down by my girls’ terrifying glares.
No wonder. Right. No wonder their resistance was weaker than I expected when I said I’d swim with them.
Then again, if we were going to be swimming naked, there’s no way their resistance would have been that mild.
Let’s think positively.
The naked swimming pool is out of the question, but just being able to see peerless beauties in swimsuits is something, right!
Comforting myself with that thought, I took off my clothes and changed into the swimsuit.
The swimsuit’s material was elastic and waterproof, a garment that seemed to have almost all the functions of a swimsuit from my original world.
The design was the type that competitive swimmers wear, clinging tightly to the lower body.
Personally, I prefer baggy swim trunks, but putting this on actually made my anticipation swell even more.
If my swimsuit’s material is like this, it means the material of the women’s swimsuits will also be the type that clings to the body.
“Guwon. Have you been waiting?”
And a short while later, my girls finally appeared.
“No. What’s there to wait for…”
“Guwon? What’s wrong?”
And upon finally seeing the women in their swimsuits, I couldn’t help but utter those words.