Chapter 694: Daily Life
Chapter 694: Daily Life
“Phew. Well then, shall we get going? Ah, since I'm here, I might as well grab that.”
After pulling on my pants, I put the still-glowing bracelet battery from the corner into my inventory.
“Haah… haah… Why are you taking that?”
Diana, who seemed exhausted from shouting at me all morning, asked with a suspicious look, her shoulders heaving as she gasped for breath.
“Hm? Oh, no reason… Heh. You never know, I might have a use for it again.”
“What is with that smile?! A use for it? What kind of use?! With that, what on earth did you and Leia…!”
When I replied with a deliberately meaningful expression, Diana’s face flushed red as she reflexively shouted again.
“Want to know? It was a night of frenzy your mind couldn't possibly imagine…”
“Aaaah! Don't tell me! Don't tell me! Aaaaaaaaaah!”
Well, the moment I opened my mouth to answer, she must have realized the implication of her own question, because she started slapping her ears with both hands and making meaningless 'Aaaah' sounds, as if determined not to hear me.
Honestly, Lady Archmage. Are you a kid?
Not that I mind. It's cute.
It would be a pretty cold response for an Archmage to just cast a silence spell without a word, right?
When you think about it, I guess you could see this as Diana's own way of being charming.
Anyway, I should probably stop teasing Diana for now.
She's taking it playfully at the moment, but if I push it any further, I might actually make her angry.
“Alright, let's g—What? What is it? Why?”
I was about to head to the dining hall, patting the head of Diana who was still slapping her ears and yelling 'Aaaah' to drown me out, but Vanessa’s cold expression stopped me.
Well, Vanessa's expression had been cold ever since I first saw her, but now her gaze seemed even colder… like she was looking at me with contempt. That's not just my imagination, right?
Overwhelmed by her expression, I froze with my hand still raised to pat Diana's head and quickly spoke.
“...”
But Vanessa didn't respond.
She just continued to send that cold gaze my way.
W-What? What did I do… Ah.
Under Vanessa's silent pressure, I decided to review what I had just said.
And I quickly realized why she was making that face.
That was it. It was hard to tell because of her cold expression, but Vanessa was actually jealous.
Honestly, she could stand to be a little more open with her feelings, like Diana here.
“Hey, no. The whole 'night of frenzy you couldn't imagine' thing was just me teasing Diana.”
“...”
As I made my excuse, Vanessa finally relaxed the intensity in her eyes a little.
“Hah! …Kgh!”
Her eyes widened slightly as if she'd realized something, and then she glared at me with even more hostility than before.
What?! What is it now?!
I didn't say anything weird just now… Wait a minute.
Is she seriously getting angry now because I was teasing Diana?
Hey. It might look like I'm just messing with her, but this is our own way of being affectionate.
If Diana were truly angry, she would've started slinging spells by now.
If I had explained that, Vanessa probably would have relaxed her gaze, but after a moment's thought, I deliberately chose not to.
“Why? Are you telling me not to tease Diana now? You think glaring at me again after letting your guard down for a second is going to have any effect?”
“Kgh…”
As I spoke with a shameless grin, Vanessa let out a low groan, as if admitting her mistake.
“More importantly, the fact that you relaxed your gaze for a moment means your jealousy briefly outweighed your loyalty to Diana, doesn't it? Is that right? Have I become that precious to you, Vanessa? Honestly, this charm of mine.”
Looking at her, I gave a triumphant smile and threw that line out.
I know it sounds shameless, but sometimes you need to come on strong.
Besides, with Vanessa, it's especially necessary to make her conscious of these things.
The reason the Apostle Appointment hasn't happened yet might be because Diana still holds a larger place in Vanessa's heart than I do.
Of course, her feelings for Diana aren't the same kind of love she has for me, but you never know, right?
And even if it's not related to the Apostle Appointment, it would be a good thing for Vanessa's dependence on Diana to lessen a bit.
Her reliance on Diana isn't entirely unrelated to her reluctance to reveal her Dragonian form, after all.
Of course, I'm not telling her to abandon all her respect and loyalty for Diana, but a healthy balance is best.
“...Please keep your nonsense to a minimum.”
Anyway, I had my reasons for responding that way, but it seems Vanessa still saw it as me just messing around.
Well, her reverence for Diana has likely solidified over generations, almost like a trauma.
No matter how much she likes me, I guess it won't be resolved that easily.
“Don't be so cold. You can answer honestly. It's not like Diana can hear you anyway.”
Even as I thought that, I didn't give up, pointing to Diana beside me.
For the record, Diana was still slapping her ears and shouting 'Aaaah'.
Though she did seem to be darting her large eyes back and forth between my face and Vanessa's, as if trying to gauge when it would be safe to stop.
Since Vanessa looked angry and I looked playful, she probably thought we were still talking about last night's frenzy.
So cute.
“Enough nonsense. Let's go eat. The others are waiting.”
But our difficult butler simply spun around, faced away, and strode out of the room.
Ah, she's running away.
She could at least admit she was a little jealous.
“Alright, Diana. Let's go, too.”
Even so, I didn't feel like pushing Vanessa any further.
I placed my hand on Diana's head.
“Aaaaaaah… Haah… haah… I-Is it over?”
Only then did Diana finally take her hands off her ears, panting heavily as she looked up at me with a pout.
“Yeah.”
“What on earth were you doing that took so long—Don't tell me! Don't tell me! I am not curious!”
“No, if you're not curious, that's a little disappointing in its own way. I'm telling you, Leia and I had a night of frenzy. Aren't you jealous?”
“W-Well, it's not that I'm not jealous at all, but…”
“But it's too embarrassing to hear what happened.”
“O-Of course it is!”
“Then I guess I'll just have to teach your body directly later.”
“Mm. That sounds goo—W-Why does it have to be like that?!”
Diana, who had reflexively nodded at my casual remark, hastily shook her head and looked up at me, bewildered.
Her expression perfectly captured that of someone who'd walked right into a trap, and honestly, that look alone was more than satisfying.
But I'm not the type to be satisfied and stop here.
A man's got to aim higher, right?
Hm? Didn't I say I should stop teasing Diana before she gets really angry?
Haha. I had a little break while talking to Vanessa, so it's fine.
“I mean, it makes sense. You said you were curious and jealous. So you don't lose to Leia, how about you and I have our own night of frenzy…”
“I-I'm fine!”
“Whaaaat!?”
“W-Why are you so shocked?!”
“F-Fine? ...The love is gone!”
“How did you reach that conclusion?!”
“You're love rivals! You should compete for me more!”
“The person who should be mediating the fight shouldn't be the one instigating it!”
“Of course, if you started physically fighting, I'd throw myself between you to break it up, but this is a friendly competition. So, with that, it's decided: a night of frenzy for your next turn, Diana.”
“I did not agree! Can't we just do it normally?! Normal is good! You can feel plenty of love! Isn't that good enough?!”
“Hm? You want a lovey-dovey night of frenzy?”
“Listen to what I'm saying! What on earth is a 'lovey-dovey frenzy'?!”
“Honestly, Diana. Are you that curious? Should we delay going to the dungeon by one more day?”
“We are going to the dungeon tomorrow, no matter what!”
As if sensing a threat to her very being, Diana shivered and shouted with desperation.
Anyway, I continued to banter with Diana like that as we followed Vanessa to the dining hall.
“...Hey. Guwon. What on earth did you do to Leia?”
But that banter came to a halt the moment we entered the dining hall.
As soon as I walked in, Sara's cold gaze pierced right through me.
Come to think of it, Leia had run off to the dining hall first.
Which means everyone must have witnessed her running away in embarrassment.
“What?”
“I don't intend to meddle in what you do with other people at night, but don't you think it's going too far to do something that makes Leia run away?”
In fact, it had become an unspoken rule between us not to mention how I spent the previous night with one of the other women.
In a way, Diana covering her ears and refusing to listen just now was part of that.
Well, when they were on their own, it seemed they shared information with each other—Diana had even tried to take the lead by acting like an older sister, maybe something she learned from Leia. And it wasn't unheard of for Sara and Diana to bring it up as ammunition when they argued.
But at least in front of me, the topic of my nights with the other women rarely came up.
And certainly never in such a serious atmosphere.
Not that I don't understand.
It's the first time someone who spent the night with me has run away alone in the morning.
Sara must have taken it seriously.
But Sara, Leia probably didn't run away for the reason you're thinking.
“S-Sara. It's okay. It's really nothing.”
Indeed, Leia was right beside Sara, blushing as she held her arm and tried to stop her.
At the same time, she was making intense eye contact with me.
Her eyes were screaming, 'You're not going to tell them I got excited about wearing the bracelet, are you?'
“No. Leia, you're too soft on Guwon. If someone doesn't put their foot down once in a while, that pervert will never learn his limits.”
But Sara maintained her serious expression, glaring at me as if to say she would do it on behalf of the soft-hearted Leia.
Sara is usually the one who gets the most jealous of the others, but I guess at times like this, she steps up.
This makes her seem like a real Hero, doesn't it?
Though I'm sure there's a bit of jealousy mixed in with this, too.
Besides, she's only acting this serious because she's completely barking up the wrong tree.
No, more importantly, Sara. Just how much of a pervert have I become in your mind?
It's true we've done a lot of perverted image play… Yeah. Okay. I guess I have no room to complain if you think I'm a pervert.
“Hey. Diana. Can you tell her for me…”
“Ugh… Frenzy…”
But it seemed like clearing up this misunderstanding would be faster if it came from someone else's mouth.
So I looked to Diana, who knew the gist of the situation, but she was frozen stiff, her face bright red as she stared at Leia.
She's useless. Then maybe Vanessa, who knows a bit more detail…
“...”
Hey. Are you still mad?
No choice. It seems the only person who can defend me is me.
“Yeah. Heh. It's nothing. Just a fren—”
I started to say it in the same playful tone I'd used with Diana.
But a certain fact flashed through my mind, and I had to cut myself off abruptly.
“Fren?”
“No. Um… Sara. The thing is.”
“...You did something you can't even talk about, didn't you? Apologize to Leia.”
“No. I don't know what you're imagining, but I promise I didn't do anything weird like that.”
“Then what did you do?”
“No, I mean. It's… I'll tell you later when we're alone.”
“So you did something you can't talk about in front of others?!”
“No! I'm telling you, it really wasn't anything perverted…”
“Then what was it?!”
“Ah, damn it! We just got too fired up last night! Leia's just embarrassed about how forward she was!”
It seemed I couldn't clear up the misunderstanding without saying it, so I squeezed my eyes shut and confessed the truth.
“Hauugh…!”
I didn't mention the bracelet, but revealing an embarrassing enough reason was sufficient to make Leia cover her face and collapse to the floor.
“Huh? Eh? Ah, no. Leia. I mean, I… I-I'm sorry. I never would have thought…”
Sara, finally understanding the situation, bowed her head to Leia repeatedly with a bewildered expression, apologizing.
“It's okay. It's okay, so please don't say anything more…”
As if she would die of embarrassment if the topic continued, Leia kept her face buried in her hands and shook her head desperately.
Honestly, Sara's sense of justice is too strong for her own good sometimes.
She's usually so sharp it's like she can read my mind, but then she does things like this.
“You made her cry. You made her cry.”
Anyway, seeing Sara flustered, I teased her in a joking tone.
Turning it into a joke was the best way to break the awkward atmosphere, and there was another situation I wanted to avoid.
“I-I didn't make her cry! L-Leia? You're not crying, are you?”
“That was the defendant's statement.”
“I told you, that's not it! Besides, anyone would misunderstand if she ran out like that in the morning! How could I possibly have guessed?! That kind of… so fired up… that she had to run away in the morning… Haah… Just how fired up were you…?”
As she spoke, Sara's expression gradually shifted from that of a flustered person to that of an excited one.
Her breathing was growing ragged, too. It looked like her engine was already revving past the point of no return.
Ah, just as I thought. I was hoping I could brush it off as a joke, but it seems things were not going to be that easy.
This is why I didn't want to say anything. Honestly, who's the real pervert here?
“Hey. Guwon…”
Sara called my name, her eyes burning with jealousy, her lower lip trembling as if holding something back.
Seeing her like that, I let out a deep sigh and said to the others,
“I'm going to go talk with Sara for a bit. You all go ahead and eat first.”
Then, I quickly grabbed Sara's wrist and rushed back to the room.
Before she could get fully activated.