Side Story: Beni, I Was Wrong (2)

It took Benny a long time to return to her usual self. Even after that, she needed quite a while to remember exactly what question she had been asked. Still dazed, she finally answered.

“Uh… a blood-circulation improver. Grape flavor. I dissolved it in the water cup and gave it to you before you went to wash up, remember? Anyway, is the stitched area okay? No bruising?”

Only then did the memory click for Nathan. The water Benny had handed him hours earlier had tasted strangely sweet.

“Blood… improver? What is that?”

“Just a tonic tablet. It improves circulation dulled by stress and reduces fatigue. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but it has the same effect on sexual intimacy.”

Nathan’s pupils trembled. Benny pulled the blanket higher and let her eyes sparkle with mischief.

“So, did it help with the healing?”

“…The Rune of Kelsa lit up, so I thought it was poison.”

“Rune? Poison? If you packed two full bowls of the powder and ate it, you’d clutch your neck and collapse, so I suppose a tonic could count as poison too.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. I added it just in case. After everything you’ve been through, I thought it might… not work. It’s not some nasty aphrodisiac or stamina drug that forces arousal. It’s just a little everyday pick-me-up…”

If no shady substance had been involved. If Benny truly bore no blame. Then the sudden exhaustion would have been nothing more than the accumulated weight of hardship, and the sudden surge of desire would have been simply because he wanted her.

Which would mean he had spent all this time blaming everyone else for his own surrender to temptation.

Suddenly he recalled something his fellow knight Till had once told him: fifteen was an age when it was natural to be a bit of an idiot, but seventeen was an age when you could become an absolute fool. So watch yourself.

It was exactly the kind of observation you’d expect from a certified lion-winged moron.

Nathan, now in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠danger of becoming the second-place candidate for that title, dragged a hand down his face.

“The roughness at the beginning… was that…?”

Benny, answering absentmindedly, finally noticed the strangeness in his question. She clapped a hand over her mouth.

“Wow. I really was stupid. Of course you’d be sensitive about it.”

“…No. I’m the one who should apologize.”

“I told you there would never be any injuries inside the hospital. It might not be much of an excuse, but it really was my first time. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t have the presence of mind to watch your reactions while making excuses.”

First time? Nathan sat up and studied the traces left on the bed with painful attention. His face took on the expression of someone about to faint.

He gazed at the ceiling with the eyes of a man staring at ruins. What had he done to someone for whom it was the first time?

“You should have at least told me.”

At his criminal-like tone, Benny let out a small laugh. She thought back over the situation and reached a simple conclusion.

“You definitely said you’d never done ‘this kind of thing.’ How did that sound to you? I thought you meant you’d never done it this roughly before?”

“Sorry. I was too—”

“Lacking in consideration? You don’t need to be sorry.”

“Still—”

“Is that what matters? Did you hate it?”

Hate it? Nathan blinked. No way. It had been good. So good it became a problem.

The elf narrowed her eyes, reading his expression, then gave a wicked smile. It was full of victory and satisfaction. She buried her face in the blanket like a caterpillar and mumbled.

“If it was good, that’s enough. I went crazy from how good it was, too.”

Having shaken Nathan’s brain one last time with those words, Benny irresponsibly slipped off into dreamland, leaving only him behind in reality.

She’s sleeping? Just like this?

What about round two? It was a situation the inexperienced Nathan had never anticipated. He had assumed a second time was only natural. But Benny was not Aspen. The civilian Eleim whose stamina had bottomed out simply powered down and fell asleep.

The inner selves that had been quiet for a moment split sides again and began to bicker. Nathan agonized amid unresolved passion, then finally forced his eyes shut.

Sleep. Just sleep. Don’t wake the suffering child.

Benny, eyes half-lidded and drowsy, studied the side of Nathan’s face as he tried to summon sleep.

I thought we would never meet again.

Repeated frustration. Passion and drive stolen from her. Thanks to that, the endlessly pitch-black days that often swallowed her whole. Nathan would never know how many times he had pulled her out of them.

In two hundred years of pitch-dark life, the time she had known and spent with Nathan amounted to merely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three or four years. That was all.

Yet to yearn for someone, even a single instant was enough.

The sound of a knight’s horse hooves reaching those who had fallen into hell. The ray of light shining through a hole onto a prisoner in a dark solitary cell. To Benny, Nathan had always been that kind of existence.

Therefore, this situation that might be a tragedy for Nathan was, in one sense, an unexpected miracle for her.

So she had gone through with it. While the Nathan she held to her chest was dripping with blood, if she had spent the moment wondering whether this meeting was a dream or reality, that would have been too cruel.

She wanted to help carry even a little of that heavy burden. She wanted to give him at least a few good memories. Just as she had always imagined while watching him from the heavens.

…No. Miracle? Don’t make me laugh. It was pure selfishness. I forcibly seduced you even though you still have feelings for Aspen.

But if the person Nathan loved was no longer by his side. If she had hurt him and left regardless of the reason.

Then maybe there really is a chance for me. Maybe I can wedge my way into you as much as I want.

If there was no empty space, she would push everything aside by force to make one. That was the nature of Hedonic philosophy.

Do not set limits on desire. Always follow the path your heart takes.

Benny unconsciously reached out and stroked the wound on Nathan’s side. Then she took the hands he had clasped over his stomach and held them.

His breathing gradually calmed and grew quieter.

A stroke of luck she would never experience again. A person who should never have been within reach was right here.

Therefore, she had no intention of letting go easily.

I won’t let go. Ever.

The light of my darkroom. The knight who guarded my dreams.

Whether because she was exhausted or because the dream had come true, she didn’t know. In any case, Benny fell asleep at a proper hour for the first time in a very long while. Without dreaming at all.

Recalling the above events with a blissful expression and writing them down in meticulous detail, Benny suddenly jolted, crumpled the paper, and hurled it behind her.

No. The apology letter she needed to write and present immediately was not this—

After Benny became able to declare that with confidence, the next morning arrived.

Lucy Ohenna, the reporter who supplied footage to the media outlet Voice of the Heavens, studied Benny’s complexion instead of the editor-in-chief’s, flinching with every glance.

She had no choice. Until yesterday, Ohenna had tailed a black-haired Sapiens for money and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠captured video of the man assassinating the northern prince, relaying it to the heavens via tablet. The moment Benny learned of it, she had seized control of most servers for twelve straight hours.

All simply to distort evidence of the murder scene.

A Sapiens sent to assassinate the northern prince, an unidentified Eleim who manipulated communication networks worth hundreds of billions of credits. What could such a being do to her?

Fortunately, Benny’s expression looked remarkably bright. Though her limbs lacked strength, her complexion was excellent. Lucy, who had roughly guessed the situation, offered a cautious smile.

“You must have spent a truly wonderful night—”

“Grrrrrk.”

A grotesque creature that had dropped from somewhere shoved its bared teeth right beside Lucy’s cheek.

“Kyaaaaaaa—!”

“Shh.”

Lucy whimpered and fell silent. Benny chewed her sandwich and mumbled.

“I’ll overlook it once. So, did you get the footage I told you to take?”

Reporter Lucy glanced nervously around the hospital. The clanging of metal being hammered echoed everywhere. The illegal clinic was noisy with so-called emergency repairs. One never knew.

For a brief second Lucy imagined herself becoming part of those “emergency repairs” and being buried beneath the hospital. She hurriedly pulled out her tablet and nodded vigorously.

“I filmed it properly.”

Born with the element of light, Lucy could distort objects and render them transparent. She was skilled enough to tail Nathan from a distance and record him without ever being detected.

The transparency technique that had been a lucrative source of income for Lucy. While threatening her, Benny decided she might as well make use of the ability herself.

She received the video and photos through the tablet’s messaging system, then used administrator privileges on Lucy’s device to erase all related records.

The video was short. It ended the moment Benny seduced Nathan and laid him on the bed, the screen switching abruptly.

And the photograph was—

“It’s really well taken. Very professional.”

It captured the scene of Benny laying Nathan down and embracing him. She had subtly turned to look in Lucy’s direction, even sneaking in a V-sign with her fingers. Meticulous indeed.

Benny wore the sly smile of a crime boss.

“You took this and left immediately, right?”

Before giving the order, Benny had warned her: do not film their naked bodies for blackmail purposes, and do not linger to eavesdrop.

Lucy swallowed hard. Benny’s question was not mere suspicion. It was a routine probe from someone fully capable of verifying the truth.

Lucy swallowed again.

“Yes! I only filmed that! Really! Absolutely! I swear!”

Having achieved her goal, Benny gave a satisfied smile.

If Aspen had truly betrayed Nathan out of pure rejection and completely ended their relationship, then someday Benny intended to send her this photograph. Of course, thoroughly edited so the target of her revenge could not be identified and any identifying features removed.

I never liked you, you foul-mouthed redhead. Go film your regret-soaked trash alone.

Some time after that incident, inside Benny’s mansion.

Aspen sat on the sofa, carefully dissecting the reflection essay she had demanded. Watching the back of her head, Benny wore an expectant smile.

After dozens of revisions, this was the best handwritten apology Benny could produce.

The reason Nathan immediately confessed that the relationship was consensual was, first, because he had already noticed from the signs alone that I knew. Second, he made himself a shield because he feared what I might do to you. Understand?

I see. Please just spare my life.

That had been their conversation only four hours earlier.

Of course, a few sheets of paper could not easily mend the relationship between romantic rivals. However, from an engineer’s analytical viewpoint, the probability of forgiveness was high.

Although the apology for the unfortunate incident had come a little late, hadn’t they already promised to ride in the same boat? Hadn’t they sworn to set aside the conflicts of love rivals and treat each other with friendship under the greater cause of Nathan’s survival?

So please. Anything but an ending like a trashy bloody novel disguised as romance, where an awkwardly meddling two-timer gets stabbed—

“Due to a certain incident experienced the night before.”

Aspen lifted her head from the letter. Benny quickly wiped the smile from her face.

“Hands trembling and unable to distinguish objects… my friend.”

“Uh, why, friend?”

“So the reason you sent the photo was Nathan’s fault?”

The smile on Aspen’s turned face carried a predator’s killing intent.

Hic. Benny began to hiccup.

“Was it that good? Good enough to confuse the send button?”

“No, hic. That’s—”

“Hoaaaak—! Mommyyy—!”

“That’s my favorite music. The wail of an adulterer caught red-handed and ruined like a dog.”

Thud. Crunch. Mixed among the inter-floor noises coming from upstairs was Benny’s faint scream.

Ramkaf, who was cleaning the lower floor that the family moving from the Grave House would use, giggled in a damp, sinister way.

“Remember this, wicked employer. Those who clumsily steal love always drown to death in pure love.”

“I wasss wroooong—!”