Me Too, Kiss
Me Too, Kiss
I cried for nothing.
My emotions got the better of me, and I cried in front of Iomene.
It must have been quite a shock—ever since then, Iomene had been clinging to my side constantly.
It was burdensome.
No, seriously.
Trying to follow me even to the bathroom was a bit too much, wasn't it?
But what could I do?
I couldn't exactly push away the future Saintess of the White Order and daughter of the current Emperor just because I said no.
I didn't have a choice in the matter.
I had to keep her at my side, teaching Iomene this and that about common sense.
The term "emotional stabilization" sounded impressive, but it wasn't really any different from what I had been doing with her at the Detached Palace.
Playing with her, reading books to her, staying by her side when she slept, eating meals together.
"Together! Together!!"
Refusing when she wanted us to wash together.
"Together! Together!!"
Refusing when she wanted us to sleep in the same bed.
"Marriage! Marriage!"
Refusing when she pestered me like crazy to marry her after I said I couldn't. That was how things went.
Whenever I refused, she'd glare at me full of dissatisfaction, but if I stroked her head, her expression would ease up right away and she'd go back to chuckling.
How to hold a fork and knife. How to deal with people. How to speak. I taught her everyday things like that, while things a man would find difficult to teach—like how to bathe or keep her body clean—she learned from the female priestesses of the White Order.
While spending time with Iomene like that.
I hurried my preparations to escape the Order.
I had received 10 kg of gold bars from His Majesty, so the slush fund problem was now solved.
As for Time Stop, once the Unicorn necklace was complete, I could use that to replenish my mental energy.
Now, all that remained was figuring out a way to evade the Tracking Miracle.
"You mean a method to evade the Tracking Miracle?"
There were always battle priests and holy knights from the White Order guarding Iomene around her.
And Iomene was always glued to my side, which meant a priest from the White Order was always stuck near me as well.
Since they were an Order specializing in dealing with Evil God worshippers and demon worshippers, I figured they'd know this field well, so one day I casually asked.
"The Tracking Miracle is placed upon the soul itself, so it can never be evaded unless one employs powerful curses or black magic."
"Is... that so?"
I was screwed.
It can't be evaded?
"Yes. However, for all its formidable effect, it has many drawbacks as well. It consumes a tremendous amount of holy power and is greatly affected by distance. Normally, it cannot detect a target beyond a one-kilometer range. Furthermore, in order to specify the soul, the caster of the miracle must have personally witnessed the target they are trying to find."
What a relief!
I wasn't screwed after all!
"I wasn't aware it had such characteristics."
"If it were all-powerful, every Evil God worshipper and Demon Cultist in the world would have been rounded up long ago. Personally witnessed. And the distance limitation. Because of these two factors, battle priests and holy knights periodically patrol rural areas where public authority or temple influence is weak, or high-crime areas where collecting Resentment is easy, inspecting whether any Evil God worshipper or Demon Cultist they've witnessed in the past is present."
"You always work hard."
"It is nothing compared to what the Saint has done."
A one-kilometer range limitation.
And rural areas or high-crime districts that the White Order or priests from other temples would periodically patrol.
So it meant I had to run while considering these two factors, right?
Which meant, in other words...
I had to flee to a large city.
Not a rural area, and not a high-crime area because the public order was well-maintained.
And a place so ridiculously large in size that even if multiple priests used the miracle simultaneously, it would be hard to find me.
And the kind of large city traditionally hostile to religion, where holy knights and priests would find it difficult to visit easily.
I'd go to such a place, buy a modest house, change my face, and live as quietly as a mouse before leaving.
Let's see.
A few names of large cities that fit the conditions came to mind, but which one should I pick?
While I was mulling it over.
"Saint. Erpa has come to see you."
Erpa had come to find me.
Normally, she used to come see me every day.
So much so that her not visiting for a few days after the Fragment of the Evil God incident was the stranger thing.
"I'd like to speak with her alone for a moment. Could you give us some space?"
At my words, the White Order members and the Imperial Guard knights who were standing watch over Iomene carefully exited the room.
After that, without much thought, I invited her into my room, and Erpa, entering my room just as always, smiled at me...
...She wasn't smiling?
"Good! Good!!"
Iomene was sticking to my side as always.
Erpa didn't greet me warmly or blush like she usually did.
She was merely staring at Iomene with an expressionless face, silently.
"Welcome, Erpa."
I greeted her, but she still gave no answer.
Her gaze was firmly fixed on Iomene.
"I greet Your Highness."
Erpa directed this toward Iomene, politely.
But after greeting her with an attitude that seemed to draw a cold line in the sand, she turned her gaze toward me.
"...It seems you are treating the Princess?"
Her voice was quiet and deeply subdued.
I nodded.
"I am conducting emotional therapy. They say once she stabilizes, they will perform a procedure to restore her mind."
"I see."
Perhaps sensing the gaze, Iomene turned her eyes toward Erpa.
The two women's gazes collided in midair.
It felt like sparks were flying.
This was...
It looked like jealousy.
"Kyaaaaa..."
Had she read something in Erpa's expressionless gaze?
Iomene bared her teeth and hissed.
I hastily stroked Iomene's head to calm her down, then approached Erpa.
When I decisively left her side and stood up, Iomene looked quite flustered, but what could she do?
To me, Erpa was a woman I'd known far longer than her.
"The treatment is said to end tomorrow. After that, she will go to reside at the Imperial Palace. She is by my side for treatment only until then."
At my words, Erpa's expressionless face relaxed a little.
Then she carefully approached my side.
"...Me too."
"Pardon?"
"I want to be by your side too."
At those words, Iomene hissed even more fiercely.
I hastily stroked her head.
And at the same time, I took Erpa's hand and went to sit together on the bed.
Erpa, with a look that anyone could see was jealousy, rested her head on my shoulder.
Thanks to having as many as four hands, she was capable of holding my hand while simultaneously wrapping one arm around my waist and gripping my arm tight.
Iomene's hissing reached its peak.
Iomene bared her nails to attack Erpa's hand, but I carefully blocked her attack.
Soon, I was going to disappear.
Leave the Order, quit playing fake Saint, and live quietly as a mouse.
So before that, it seemed I needed to create the best memories possible for Erpa.
But Iomene, who could not possibly know my inner circumstances, opened her eyes wide and stared at me as if reproaching me.
Please understand, Your Highness.
Erpa was a woman who would have to live without me forever once I vanished—soon.
Before that, I had to make her as happy as possible before leaving.
"Not long ago, you told me to love myself more than I love you, Saint, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did say that."
"When you were fighting the Fragment of the Evil God, I recalled those words, so I didn't go to save you. Because I believed in you, Saint. I believed you would return to my side safely."
Erpa fidgeted with her fingers.
She pressed herself even closer against my arm.
A pleasant scent washed over me.
"I did well to listen to your words. As my faith expected, you returned to my side."
I'm sorry.
Actually, it would've been normal for things to end there, not coming back.
Even thinking about it again, it was strange.
A Fragment of the Evil God.
Not just any ordinary fragment, but a Fragment of the Evil God.
But why did it enter my body and suddenly start screaming...?
Even when I studied the fragments at the White Order, I had never heard or seen anything like it.
I'd read stories about renowned heroes or Saintesses, Saints who suffered from an Evil God's Fragment and died in agony, or eventually went mad and became corrupted—but I'd never heard a story of one suddenly dying just because it entered their body.
What was the real reason for this?
I wanted to ask the Order's people, but I couldn't do that either.
It was obvious they'd just revere me as a Saint all over again.
For now, the best course of action was to cool down the attention directed at me as much as possible.
Just thinking about it pissed me off, so I stopped thinking.
"I don't doubt anymore. Because now I know that even if you leave me for a little while, Saint, you'll come back to my side."
Erpa answered with a happy smile.
Hearing that made me even more depressed.
Even though she had four arms, here was a woman who liked me and loved me, right next to me, yet I had to leave to disappear soon.
A sense of injustice surged up from deep in my heart.
I don't want to stop at just holding hands.
I don't want it to end after only a kiss.
More than that.
I want to share even better things with her.
But I can't.
If I went that far, I might not be able to hold back my own feelings any longer.
Yeah, fuck.
To be honest... I think I like Erpa.
No, if a woman comes to find you every single day with such starry eyes and blushing, isn't it natural for a forever-alone virgin bastard like me to react this way?!
In my imagination, I was already living a married life with Erpa and had seen our grandchildren.
But for her sake, I had to leave.
Goddess Lilia, really...
I really hate you.
Why are you doing this to me, really.
Why.
"I am only a staff, at most. A staff to be used for a moment and then discarded, for the sake of your stability."
I stroked Erpa's head, just as I did for Iomene.
"Don't obsess over me. When we're together, be joyful together, and even if I disappear, you should take care of yourself and live healthily and splendidly. Understood?"
Erpa nodded.
She took hold of my face and soon pulled it toward her.
A kiss.
A soft, shy kiss followed.
Along with the happiness, unhappiness came as well.
It was sad.
Truly sad.
Why, when I like her and she likes me, couldn't we choose to be together?
I had to stop at a kiss.
If I went beyond this, really...
I really thought it would be too hard when I left.
Erpa's kiss was long, and longer still.
I could feel Iomene, frozen solid as if in shock, watching the scene.
After a kiss lasting about thirty seconds.
Erpa, wearing a melted expression, pulled away from me.
"Saint..."
"...Erpa."
"By any chance... by any chance, um..."
With one hand, she fidgeted with her pocket, hesitating.
What is it?
Did you bring a condom in there or something?
Do condoms even exist in this era?
If it weren't for that goddess, I would've been the one to suggest it first, but now I was in a position where I could not cross that final line with her.
I clenched my fist.
I couldn't take things any further.
I'm not Shimyeong, my limbs are all perfectly fine, and I even modified that part, so it's no less than the male leads in Toptoon... (Early content change notice: Added content of experimenting on my own body right after obtaining the skill.)
To have to act like this, like some frustrating eunuch.
"I'm sorry, but please return for today, Erpa."
"What? But, but..."
"Iomene's treatment is not yet finished."
At my words, Erpa made a disappointed expression.
It felt like my heart was being torn apart.
I'm not a eunuch.
I want to do it too.
But I can't.
Then, because of my choice, you will definitely become unhappy.
I don't want that.
Erpa, having suffered so much already, fully deserved to become a little happier.
For now, pushing her away was right.
Erpa, her face full of shame and embarrassment, hung her head low, then soon rose to her feet.
Without even a farewell, Erpa quietly left the room.
After she left, I bowed my head in sorrow and guilt.
But without time to dwell in such emotions, Iomene grabbed my head.
When I turned my head toward her, Iomene's face was full of anger.
"Kiss."
She demanded it firmly.
As if giving an order.
"Me too. Kiss."
She tried to pull my head toward her.
I hurriedly blocked her.
"Iomene. Don't do this."
"Kiss!! Me too!!"
She rarely yelled.
At her behavior, which was practically trying to pounce on me, I had to hastily push her away.
"You, you're still sick! Your mind is sick! We can't do this while you're sick!!"
At the words I blurted out in desperation, she stopped trying to pull my head.
"If not sick?"
Her eyes were dead serious.
"If not sick!! Kiss?"
At those words, I laughed awkwardly.
Yeah.
I'd at least give you a kiss on the forehead, Iomene.
"Yeah. I'll do it."
"Promise."
Iomene huffed.
"Promise."
Anyway, the moment her mind was restored, she was going to live as the Imperial Princess.
And live as the Saintess of the White Order.
Since I was going to disappear entirely, there would probably be no chance to meet me.
So, before leaving, I could give her a kiss on the forehead as a goodbye.
It's the same for you too, Iomene.
You have to live diligently, even without me.