Chapter 869
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 869
To get straight to the point, Sara had indeed known beforehand. No, not just Sara; it seemed everyone had known. However, Matilda wasn’t the culprit who made them aware. Well, that’s not to say Matilda hadn’t mentioned the morning’s events to the others. Regardless, the important thing was that Matilda wasn’t the reason everyone knew about the subtle current flowing between Felicia and me.
So how did they find out? It was because of…
“I can’t believe she confessed herself.”
“I’m sho shorryyyy…”
…Silvia, who was currently being subjected to the ‘rub-rub punishment’ on my lap.
Remember that time before? When Silvia was secretly scheming to get Felicia and me together, got caught by me, and apologized. Even then, I thought she was quite conscientious, even though it wasn’t really something she needed to apologize to me for. I never imagined she’d feel so guilty that she’d confess everything she’d done to the others herself. Because of that, everyone found out that Felicia genuinely liked me, and they’d all been keeping a close eye on me. I knew something felt off. It’s true that our girls often read my feelings just by looking at my face, but this time, it was far too much.
In the end, Matilda suddenly bringing up Felicia this morning, Sara immediately grasping the situation the moment she saw my face, and then congratulating Silvia right after understanding everything—all of it was possible because they already had a rough idea of what was going on. And not just that, but all of our girls’ actions from even before then. I should have realized it back when Sara went all the way to the Royal Palace for Felicia.
“No, it’s fine that you confessed. But then you didn’t even tell me?”
“Hyaah?! I-I’m sho… Heeh?!”
“Don’t torment innocent Silvia for no reason, you idiot. We were the ones who told her not to tell Guwon.”
As I rubbed my cheek against Silvia’s soft, mochi-like cheek, Sara stepped in to protect her.
But Sara. Do you really think I’ll back down just because you’re stepping in this time?
“Do you think I’ll let you off the hook for that? In fact, you’ll pay dearly for deceiving me too…”
“So. You’ve taken in another woman?”
“I’m sorry…”
Tsk. What a coward. To stab at my weakness like that. And you call yourself a Hero? Of course, I didn’t have the confidence to say that out loud, so I could only apologize meekly.
“Haaah… I knew you were weak to affection from the start, so I had my suspicions, but to think it actually came to this.”
And seeing me like that, Sara let out another deep sigh, as if to make sure I saw it.
“Hey. Don’t you think you have too little faith in me? When you say it like that, it sounds like you never trusted me from the start.”
“Well, that’s how it is. Just think back on everything you’ve done so far.”
Think back on everything I’ve done, she says. Still, I don’t think I’ve done anything recently to deserve that kind of judgment. After all, if we’re talking about the incident with another woman right before Felicia…
“I firmly rejected Alicia…”
“The woman who forcibly took your virginity, leaving you with nothing but bad memories, and whom you only ever saw occasionally passing by in the Adventurer’s Guild or Dungeon—even when you rejected her, you still moped around depressed for a while.”
“…No, that’s because it was my first time rejecting a woman. And honestly, losing my virginity wasn’t a bad memory…”
No, honestly, just think about it. Alicia, with her straightforward and tomboyish personality, it’s easy to forget she’s a woman, but as a high-level adventurer, she’s truly beautiful. Such a stunningly beautiful woman, right? She dragged a virgin, who would light up at the mere mention of sex, into bed and taught him the pleasures of a woman. Honestly, what man would dislike that? It was, in fact, the ideal way for a virgin to lose his virginity… or so I thought, but of course, I couldn’t possibly say such a thing out loud.
“What?!”
“I’m sorry.”
To Sara, whose eyes were now blazing, I bowed my head and apologized once more. You’re scary, you know. No, I mean, I know how much you regret that we weren’t each other’s first when we first did it, but still.
“Hmph… Anyway, since you were like that even with that woman, I thought the one you met regularly might be dangerous. You philanderer. And I even tried to interfere so much.”
Huh? Interfere? Did she do that? Ah, right. Now that I think about it, she did say I did well when I subtly rejected Felicia before. So she knew everything and was interfering. Now that I knew the truth, all her past actions connected and started to make sense. Still, I had no intention of blaming Sara. After all, looking at the outcome, it was true that I was a philanderer, and from Sara’s perspective, it was certainly something worth interfering with. In fact, calling that ‘interference’ was almost cute.
“Ah, but don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I just took her in out of pity because we met regularly and grew fond of each other; I genuinely…”
Anyway, putting that aside, I felt a little uneasy that Sara thought I’d accepted Felicia just because I got swept up in my feelings. I’d thought a lot about Matilda’s earnest advice, and more than anything, if she thought that, she’d probably think I wouldn’t be able to reject any woman who confessed to me in the future either.
“Hey, Guwon. Are you trying to tell me how much you love that woman right now?”
That’s what I was thinking when I spoke, but perhaps my way of starting the conversation wasn’t very good, because Sara’s eyes blazed again as she glared at me.
“No. What I mean is, I don’t want you to think that I’ll get swept up in my feelings and take on another woman again later.”
This time, it was a rather serious matter for me too, so I didn’t shrink back playfully like before. Instead, I met her gaze head-on and continued speaking.
“Well, I suppose a guy who just took on a new woman won’t have much credibility saying this, though.”
“…Honestly. Haaah… How did I end up with such an idiot…”
And when I finished with a slight joke, Sara let out a deep sigh and muttered that.
“Hey. Don’t sigh so openly. It makes it sound like you regret falling for me.”
“Regret… Don’t look at me like that, you idiot.”
And when I teased Sara like that, she was about to retort without thinking, but then she saw my eyes and seemed to realize the meaning of what she was about to say, so she shut her mouth. No matter what she said or did, Sara was someone who couldn’t say things she didn’t mean. She’s just too cute, honestly.
“You don’t, do you?”
“S-Shut up!”
When I asked with a sly grin, Sara lightly slapped her palm over my face, as if covering it, and pushed me back.
“Anyway, I’ll only acknowledge your relationship with that woman after you’ve told everyone and gotten their permission!”
“Of course. I know.”
“Why are you so confident, you idiot?”
Well, that’s because I already overcame you, the final hurdle, first. To give her a kiss as a sign of my gratitude, I reached for Sara’s neck and pulled her towards me. But Sara stiffened her neck and waist, resisting, and didn’t let herself be pulled closer.
“And.”
“Hm?”
“Now, seriously, let go of Silvia. She’s starting to look genuinely in danger.”
“Hnyaa… Guwo… Felishia… G-Goodbyee… Mommyyy…”
“Gah?! Silvia! Don’t die!”
The vibrations had become so familiar to my body that I completely forgot I was still doing it! Truly overjoyed that her best friend Felicia’s feelings had been accepted, Silvia looked as if she had no more regrets in life and was about to ascend to nirvana.
Anyway, after being found out by Sara first in the lobby, I revealed my relationship with Felicia once more when everyone gathered that evening after Elder Sister Rachel had returned from work.
“Is that so. So it finally came to this.”
And everyone, though expressing it differently, ultimately showed a reaction similar to Sara’s. In other words, while their feelings were complex and subtle, they still understood. Well, I don’t know when Silvia confessed, but they must have known about Felicia’s feelings and been keeping an eye on things for a long time, and it seemed Matilda had also roughly told them about the conversation we had this morning. So they had more than enough time to prepare themselves mentally, and thus the shock was less.
“Ah, but don’t blame Matilda. It’s not Matilda’s fault at all. Even if Matilda hadn’t told you that this morning, it would have ended up like this anyway. So…”
“We already know that much, so you don’t need to explain in detail how much you love Princess Felicia here.”
Lightly cutting off my mouth, just as I was about to make a similar mistake as with Sara, Diana made a thoughtful expression, then shook her head and said this.
“If your and Princess Felicia’s feelings are truly thus, then I have nothing more to say.”
She probably had plenty to say, in truth. Diana. I love you.
“To be honest, it’s true that I can’t be entirely happy, but I still think it’s a good thing. Really. I was in a similar situation to the Princess, after all.”
Especially the Angel, she even said that with an apologetic tone, as if she was sorry she couldn’t be purely happy. She had absolutely no need to apologize. In fact, the Angel was so angelic that I felt like dying from embarrassment.
“But on the surface, things will remain as they are? Princess Felicia is also choosing a difficult path, it seems.”
“That’s right. Her situation is different from mine.”
Huh? Her situation is different from Matilda’s? Well, Matilda is a Cardinal, but… Ah, I see. She’s the Pope’s granddaughter, so if you really think about it, Matilda is in a position that could be considered a ‘religious princess,’ isn’t she? At least the Pope isn’t hereditary, and though it doesn’t feel real, I’m also treated as a very high-ranking person in religious circles, so even if someone came in as a concubine or whatever, it wouldn’t cause a big problem, I suppose. …I see. So Matilda isn’t entirely unlike a princess, if you think about it. No, it’s not like that changes anything, though.
“What do you think she’ll do?”
“I don’t know either. She’s always been one to do unexpected things, so I just hope she doesn’t do anything unnecessary…”
“I-It’s fine! A-Anyway…”
Silvia. If you’re going to defend your friend, at least speak with confidence until the end. Well, even I didn’t feel like defending Felicia, who had become my woman. It couldn’t be helped. It was true that there was no telling what that girl would do next.
“But if that’s the case, then the Princess won’t end up coming to live here, or you going to live in the castle, will she?”
“Huh? Of course not. No, even if we openly announced my relationship with Felicia, I don’t think that would happen, would it?”
It would be strange for a princess and a lord to abandon her castle and come live here, and for me to go live in the castle… that also feels a bit…
“You’re thoughtless.”
“Hey. You just subtly dissed me for being thoughtless, didn’t you?”
“Hm? What are you talking about? I said it quite openly.”
“Y-You little…!”
To retort with such a calm expression! For a brief moment, I thought about touching her butt or chest to embarrass her, but I suppressed the urge and held back. Patience, patience. Even though she approved of my relationship with Felicia, it’s natural to still be angry. This humiliation is a just price I have to pay.
“Hmm? What did you just say?”
“No, I was just thinking how incredibly broad-minded our Diana is, not only accepting things but even considering Felicia’s position.”
“Hoo-hoo-hoo. Indeed. Indeed. You may praise me further.”
“Beautiful face, brilliant mind, generous heart…”
“You. You like me too much.”
…No, that’s true, but still. There’s nothing wrong with what she said, but still. I’ve decided. I had planned to do it anyway, having already laid the groundwork, but now my resolve is even firmer. Next time it’s Diana’s turn, I’ll really give it to her. Well, anyway, before that.
“Anyway, thank you, everyone.”
It’s probably best to thank our girls first.
“Huh? What are you talking about? It’s not over yet.”
But as I bowed my head in thanks, Sara suddenly said that.
“H-Huh?”
“Guwon. Turn around for a moment.”
Turn around? Why suddenly? Is there something you need to discuss among yourselves? No, if that’s the case, shouldn’t I be leaving for a bit instead of just turning around? Even as I thought that, I obediently turned around as instructed. And immediately after.
SMACK!
“K-KYAAAAAAH!”
Sara’s fiery smash landed squarely on my back.
“Phew. This philanderer, honestly. I feel a bit refreshed now. Anyone else want a turn?”
Don’t go inviting others, you wicked Hero of the Demon God! No, I mean, it’d be a relief if it just ended with one back-smack each!