“Well, that’s fine. But if it seems too dangerous, you’ll have to pull back. Got it?”
For Jenin, it was just a simple expression of concern, but for Dain, her words came off like she was treating him as if he needed looking after. He immediately frowned. But after Jenin, Kelian stoked the fire even further.
“It’s fine to go by yourself, but make sure you’re clear about when you’ll be back.”
At first glance, it sounded like something a colleague would say to another, but the underlying nuance felt more like a remark toward a younger sibling rather than an equal partner. I could feel it too, so Dain, who had been with them since he was just an adult, must have sensed it as well.
“Are you looking down on me?”
The others didn’t quite understand Dain’s anger. They’d been traveling together since he was very young, and it seemed like treating him like a younger sibling had become a habit. Perhaps they didn’t recognize his sensitivity because they weren’t doing it maliciously.
…Anyway, that was the dynamic in their party. They had a long-standing relationship, and they were close enough that no one would get up from the table before everyone had finished eating. But it seemed that, despite the closeness, there was a lack of understanding between them. They were used to these arguments, but the fatigue that came with them was clearly visible as well.
Since I hadn’t been with them for long, I noticed those things more clearly.
However, I didn’t have any special solution either. Leaving aside my small discomfort from constantly having to read the room during their arguments, I genuinely wished for these issues to be resolved through human goodwill toward each other. But unfortunately, my experience with relationships was too limited to be the one to mediate between them.
I was well aware of this, but the problem was that I couldn’t bear the increasingly tense atmosphere any longer.
I moved my hand. Very carefully.
“Da…”
Kelian, who seemed about to call out Dain’s name in a reprimanding tone, hesitated for a moment. I pretended not to notice and continued to gently place my right hand on Kelian’s thigh. It was only possible because I was sitting right next to him. Jenin, who didn’t know what was going on under the table, gave him a puzzled look.
“Da?”
“……”
Perhaps realizing that I meant for him to stop, Kelian closed his mouth with a faint expression. Only then did I cautiously start to speak to Jenin.
“Is it possible that an SS or SSS-grade rare dungeon could appear in this village?”
“It could happen, but… I’ve never heard of such a thing, so the likelihood is very low. Maybe an A-grade or S-grade one, but not higher.”
“I think you mentioned before that Dain could clear an S-grade dungeon by himself.”
To be exact, Kelian and Seiris could clear it easily, while Dain and Barkrud would need a long time to do so. But still, it meant it was possible. Jenin replied,
“Yes.”
“Then maybe you don’t need to worry so much? Of course, it’s a good thing to worry about your companions.”
I continued while looking at Dain’s gruff face, which seemed dissatisfied with whatever I was doing.
“And if I were Dain’s companion, I don’t think I’d be too worried. Since your level is 71…”
“Flattering me won’t do any good.”
Dain retorted, but I wasn’t really trying to flatter him. Even though my level had surpassed 20 after meeting them, it was nothing compared to the 70+ levels of my companions.
“Anyway, if it doesn’t interfere with the schedule, he’s an adult, so he’ll figure it out himself, right? Whether he goes out and struggles or not…”
Oops. My true feelings slipped out without me realizing. Dain frowned even more deeply.
“‘Whether he goes out and struggles or not?'”
Honestly, Dain wasn’t exactly kind to me like the others, and he always seemed to pick fights whenever he had the chance. Whether he went out and struggled was really none of my business, but that wasn’t what I meant to convey, so I quickly tried to change the subject.
“Anyway, a little more trust…”
“That’s good, Aine.”
Fortunately, Jenin’s reaction was positive.
“I get what you mean now. I was wrong to think otherwise.”
There wasn’t really a need for her to apologize… Jenin made a sound of acknowledgment and lightly patted Dain’s shoulder as she sat next to him.
“Sorry. I know you’ll handle it well. I trust you, so I won’t say anything like that again.”
“What?”
Thanks to that, Dain seemed to forget what I had said and turned to her.
“…You trust me?”
“Yes. Barkrud, Kelian, and Seiris all feel the same, right?”
Barkrud seemed to not hear very well since he was focused on his meal, but he nodded anyway. Seiris didn’t even respond, as if it was obvious. Kelian, on the other hand… when I applied a little pressure to the hand I had placed on his thigh, he responded with a subdued voice, “Yeah.”
By the way, did he have something in his pants pocket? The sensation under my palm, beyond the fabric, felt closer to his forearm than his thigh. But since his left hand was outside his pocket, it couldn’t be his forearm. There was no reason for him to have his forearm inside his pants pocket. What was that about? After a brief moment of curiosity, I refocused on the original topic.
“Then, wouldn’t it be better for Dain to get up first? If he’s heading to the hunting grounds.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
Although his response wasn’t exactly warm, it was much less harsh than before. In fact, he even got up from his seat first in response to my suggestion.
“I’m going. …I’ll be back before midnight.”
He gave his companions a brief glance and then left the inn. I watched Dain disappear through the door before turning to Barkrud.
“Take your time eating. I’d like to enjoy my tea slowly too.”
To my surprise, Barkrud seemed to like that idea even more.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Of course, it wasn’t like it took as long to drink tea as it did to eat, but I didn’t want to rush someone who was enjoying their meal. If it really took too long, I could always get up first.
“Thank you earlier, Aine.”
Jenin thanked me as she mentioned Dain’s situation. It wasn’t like I had done anything special, but hearing her thank me made me feel even more guilty.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have butted in…”
“No, it’s fine. I think we’ve been too lenient on him. We should have raised him more firmly.”
…Huh?
“Like you said, ‘whether he goes out and struggles or not.'”
“Ah…”
That’s when I realized. Jenin hadn’t decided to stop treating Dain like a child, she had just decided to change the way she was disciplining him. It seemed like Dain had understood it completely differently, though…
“I’m glad I could be of help.”
Since the result was good, I decided not to dig any deeper. For someone like me, who only had Malri as a lifelong friend, it was already a lot to get involved this much. Fortunately, it seemed like things had calmed down for the moment.
As the tension eased, the sensation of my right hand resting on Kelian’s thigh became even clearer than before. Actually, it wasn’t my senses that had sharpened, but rather the object in his pocket had grown bigger and firmer. It felt like it was about to burst through his clothes any second, and the question I had briefly forgotten resurfaced.
“Kelian. Is there something in your pocket?”
As Jenin spoke to Seiris, I took the opportunity to whisper the question to Kelian. I gently stroked it with my finger, and Kelian let out a soft sigh. His brow furrowed slightly, making it seem like he wasn’t in a good mood. Was it because of me?
“Uh…”
“Nothing.”
“…What?”
“There’s nothing. In my pocket.”
Kelian responded with a tone even more curt than usual. I was about to apologize, but I paused, thinking carefully about what he had just said. There was definitely something in his pocket. Even now, I could feel something large and long beneath my palm, too big to be held completely in my hand.
“Then what is this…?”
Just as I was about to ask again, I froze in place, my thoughts frozen. If it wasn’t his forearm, and there was nothing in his pocket…
…Could it be that?
“Ugh!”
I let out a somewhat harsh sound, quickly withdrawing my hand from him and jumping to my feet. The rest of the party, excluding Kelian, looked at me in surprise.
“S-sorry… If you’re done eating, I’ll head upstairs first. I really want to wash up quickly.”
Just as I finished speaking, Barkrud, who had finished his meal, nodded, and Jenin stood up, saying she would go with me.
“What about you two?”
When Jenin asked, Seiris and Barkrud said they’d stay a little longer before heading up, and Kelian…
“Go ahead.”
He answered in a subdued voice. Now that I understood what was going on, I couldn’t help but feel how suggestive his voice sounded. What did I just do? No, why was that there? Was it always like that? Isn’t it… way too big…?
Amidst the growing confusion, my legs dutifully carried me upstairs with Jenin.
“They’re probably going to have a drink together.”
“…Won’t you join them, Jenin?”
“I’m a bit sleepy, so I think I’ll just take a shower and go to bed.”
The room where Jenin and I would be staying for the day was small and somewhat dark, but it was fairly clean. Although it didn’t have a window, which made it feel stifling, there was a pot of flowers on the table between the two beds that gave off a subtle fragrance.
“May I take a shower first?”
“Go ahead.”
I was still feeling restless, as if the sensation of touching something lingered on my palm. Even after Jenin left the room to go to the bathroom, I remained agitated for a while.
Of course, I hadn’t directly touched his skin, but this was the first time I had indirectly touched a man’s genitals. I was extremely confused – why had that happened, why had it been there, why was it so big?… But Kelian, who had suddenly had his genitals touched, must have been even more confused than me.
“What am I going to do?”
When I see him again, what should I say first? The situation was completely different from when we kissed. No matter how sudden and unexpected it was, putting my hand on his genitals like that must have been shocking and bewildering for him. I really had no idea it was there…
As I stood there, feeling embarrassed and wanting to pull my hair out, Jenin returned after finishing her shower.
“Haha, what’s up?”
She seemed to think I was just messing around by myself, so she smiled brightly and plopped down onto the bed.
“Ugh, I’m so tired. You can wake me up if anything happens, Aine.”
“Yes, good night, Jenin.”
“You too, Aine.”
I left the room, leaving Jenin behind as she started snoring softly.
“Are you going to take a shower?”
The janitor, who seemed to have cleaned the area once after Jenin left, asked me as I stood in front of the bathroom.
“Yes.”
“You can’t use this one, the bathtub is leaking water.”
“But… my companion just took a shower and came out a little while ago.”
“It just broke now. I made a hole while cleaning.”
Ah…
“Then can’t you just block the part where the hole is and use it?”
I asked because I really wanted to take a shower, but the janitor looked like he was bothered to death.
“If you really want to shower, go to the bathroom on the first floor. It’s one that we use, but if you don’t mind, you can use it.”
The first floor… that means I have to go back down, but I hesitated for a moment because I didn’t have the courage to face Kelian again. Maybe I’ll just shower early tomorrow morning?
“Do you know when the second-floor bathroom will be fixed? Will it be usable by tomorrow morning?”
“I don’t know. My father doesn’t like spending money on things like this, so it might take a month.”
… I guess I’ll just have to shower on the first floor. If what Jenin said is true, my companions will be busy drinking and won’t notice me, so as long as I’m quiet and quick.
I left a thank-you message for the janitor, who was expressing his annoyance with his whole body, and walked down the stairs. The restaurant, which didn’t have many guests, was quieter than other inns’ restaurants, making me more careful with my footsteps.
I had come down the stairs almost on all fours, but when I arrived at the restaurant, I couldn’t even see Kelian’s shadow. For some reason, only Barkrud and Seiris were drinking at the same table as before.
Had Kelian already gone to bed? I was a bit puzzled, but I didn’t feel like approaching them to ask, so I just headed to the bathroom. They didn’t seem to have noticed me either, and were quickly downing their drinks.
The bathroom, which seemed to have hot water already prepared, was filled with steam. Since I didn’t have time to do laundry, I simply quickly took off my clothes and put them in my inventory before getting into the bathtub.
“Ah…”
The subtle mental fatigue and lingering embarrassment seemed to be melting away.
When I see Kelian tomorrow, I should apologize first. What should I say? Should I say sorry for touching him? That might be awkward for both of us. As my mind grew drowsy with such thoughts, I suddenly heard a creaking sound and turned my head towards the door.
“Who is it? I’m taking a shower.”
The figure that was trying to enter stopped abruptly. The steam was too thick to see who it was, but then I heard their voice.
“Excuse me.”
Ah.
“Hero!”
I had thought Kelian had gone to bed since he wasn’t in the restaurant, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. I urgently called out to him as he was about to leave the bathroom.
“Wait, just a minute.”
“What’s wrong?”
I had called out to him like I was chasing after him because I wanted to apologize, but this wasn’t exactly the best place for it. However, I didn’t have time to think about that.
“I’m really sorry about earlier.”
I said that to Kelian, who was barely visible, and then realized that I should probably be looking at his face when apologizing. So I tried to get up from the bathtub, but then remembered that I wasn’t wearing anything and quickly sat back down.
“……”
As I hesitated, Kelian seemed to shrug and stepped back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. I could tell he was facing away from me now. His broad back was vaguely visible through the steam.
“You don’t have to apologize, Aine.”
“But I…I touched you, so I should…”
The more I thought about it, the more I realized what I had done. From now on, I had to remember that a man’s thigh, especially Kelian’s, wasn’t just a thigh. There might be something else there, and I had to keep that in mind. Absolutely…
“I won’t touch you carelessly from now on.”
It was only natural. What was I thinking, touching Kelian like that? I had acted like I owned the place just because we were traveling together and had kissed a few times. And then I had gotten involved in their fight and even touched Kelian’s private area. My body shivered involuntarily in the lukewarm water.
“That’s not what I want,”
Kelian said, and I responded with a foolish question.
“What?”
“Can I come closer?”
I gave another foolish answer.
“Yes…”
Kelian approached me without hesitation, his footsteps confident. As he drew closer to the bathtub, his features became clearer and more defined. He looked down at me with a calm expression.
“You can touch me if you want to. Aine, anytime you want.”
His tone was as casual as someone saying “you can have a sip of my beer if you want,” but no matter how I thought about it, the content of his words didn’t sound light at all.
Perhaps it was because I had just heard Kelian’s provocative statement that I could touch him whenever I wanted, but when our eyes met, my lower body tingled again. I tried to ignore my overheating body and asked,
“Why?”
“……”
“Why can I touch you?”
It didn’t seem like he said this to other women. At least, from what I’ve seen, he didn’t even bother to talk to them, let alone say something like this.
Then what made me different from them? Did he know how deadly it would be for him to say something like “you can touch me” to someone?
“I do.”
Kelian knelt down on one knee, his posture straight like a knight making a vow. He looked me in the eye and continued,
“I want that.”
I stared blankly at the blue-green eyes in front of me. This time, my racing heart wasn’t because of the curse’s pain. If being mesmerized was an attack, then I was already dead. Indeed, he was a dangerous hero.
My face must have been bright red as I asked, barely moving my lips,
“Can I… touch you now?”
Surprisingly, at this moment, the purification of the curse was secondary. Several hypotheses about this phenomenon floated in my mind. First, I had never known a man before, and my lust had erupted late in life. Second, I was perhaps a woman who was weak to men’s faces. Third, the hero was too beautiful. Fourth, the hero was too charming. Fifth, the hero was too lewd. They all seemed plausible.
“You can.”
Even after hearing his low-pitched permission, I couldn’t move for a while, and finally, I managed to stretch out one hand to him. My slightly swollen fingers from being in the water gently landed on Kelian’s cheek.
My stiff hands, which had been frozen like I was touching a precious and valuable doll, gradually became bolder as time passed. I stroked his cheek, touched the corners of his eyes, and ran my fingers through his golden hair…
“Aine.”
“Ah, yes, maybe I shouldn’t touch your hair?”
I stopped touching his hair as if stung by guilt. However, he smiled lightly as if to say that wasn’t what he meant.
“May I touch you too?”
He asked for permission but still yielded to my touch when it resumed. To be honest, I didn’t even know what state of mind I was in as I touched his hair. The only thing that stood out clearly was that the moisture from my hand was dampening his hair.
“Yes… where would you like me to touch?”
“Well…”
Kelian had also given me permission to touch him, so it was only natural that I should grant him the same permission. However, I was flustered because I had no experience being touched by someone, especially a man.
“Did you give me permission?”
Even though he had already heard my consent, he asked again, his eyes fixed intently on me like a hunter watching its prey, making sure not to let it slip away. I knew it was an exaggerated imagination, but for a moment, Kelian really did seem that way. I slowly nodded my head.
Perhaps it was because I had touched his hair so much that I became curious about how someone else’s hair would feel. He gently stroked my black hair, which was floating in the water. It felt ticklish, but I tried to act like it didn’t bother me.
“It won’t be as soft as the hero’s hair.”
“It’s soft enough,”
He replied, taking a handful of my hair and pulling it back behind me. One of my collarbones and my chest, which were submerged in water, became slightly more exposed. His large hand, with its prominent knuckles, brushed against my collarbone and moved down.
“Ah…”
A sound of surprise mixed with embarrassment escaped my lips. It couldn’t be helped. Kelian’s hand, which had sunk into the water, had grasped my breast from underneath and was moving up.
“K-Kelian.”
“Yes.”
“Th-there…”
“Do you dislike it?”
“N-no, it’s not that I dislike it… uh-huh.”
Every time he massaged the soft flesh, my vision seemed to blur and spin. Especially when his thumb pressed down on my nipple.
“Ahh!”
My head instinctively drooped down, but despite that, the hand grasping my breast continued to torment my nipple. Due to his thumb pushing and pulling in the water, my nipple was already erect to its limit. Now, it felt like my legs were trembling with a numbness that went beyond ticklishness.
“H-hero…”
“You’re calling me ‘hero’ again.”
“S-stop, please… stop…”
“Call me by my name.”
I couldn’t withstand the awkward conversation and eventually called out his name.
“Kelian.”
“Yes, Aine.”
His voices were extremely husky. He pinched my nipple with his thumb and index finger.
“Ahh, stop, please… just kiss me now…”
I begged because if he continued to touch me like that, I felt like I would lose all reason. I meant that he should stop touching my breast and just kiss me, something we had done a few times before. But instead of letting go, he kept holding my breast and kissed me deeply, somewhat hastily.
“Ah, hng.”
His tongue went so deep into my mouth that I worried it might scratch my throat. This was our third kiss, and I had hoped he would show more skill by now, but in reality, I was too busy trying to breathe and receive his kiss. His shirt was already half-soaked from touching my wet nipple.
“Huu… Kelian, your clothes… ah…”
I tried to tell him that his clothes were getting wet, but it was harder than I thought to talk while kissing. Especially since he kept swallowing the words that came out of my mouth. Still, I kept trying to pull away and murmur “your clothes are wet…” over and over. He responded in a voice strained with desire.
“It’s okay if they get wet.”
It seems like… My lips were left in a daze for a moment, and then he gave me a short kiss. His head went down along my neck, and when his shoulder brushed against mine, my body trembled involuntarily. I couldn’t predict what would happen next, and this uncertainty filled me with anxiety. Or was it anticipation? I couldn’t even tell what this feeling was. All I could do was watch Kelian’s head as it moved down.
Then, he stopped. Kelian pulled his lips away from my collarbone.
“Kelian…?”
He took a few deep breaths, let go of my chest, and straightened up his upper body.
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You only allowed me to touch you, but I tried to do more.”
The disheveled look in his eyes from earlier was gone, replaced by his usual indifferent expression. He glanced at his wet clothes and said:
“Take your time getting out. I can wash up at dawn.”
He turned around and left the room. The sound of the door closing seemed to snap me back to reality.
I kissed Kelian again!
That wasn’t all – he had permission to touch me as much as he wanted, and I had given him permission to touch me too. And even…
My nipples were still hard from where he touched them. It was as if they were begging for more attention. When I thought about his tongue on my collarbone and how his lips were about to move down further, I felt a surge of excitement again. So I splashed cold water on my face repeatedly until the excitement subsided.
I should be happy that I got to taste the hero’s saliva again, but instead, all these other thoughts kept popping up in my head. What if I had allowed him not just to touch me but also to lick me? What would have happened next? These mixed feelings of fear and longing were confusing.
❖ ❖ ❖
I had just barely managed to push thoughts of Kelian out of my head and fall asleep when the commotion from downstairs stirred me awake.
“Jenin?”
The bed next to me was empty—Jenin, who had been sleeping soundly, was nowhere to be seen. Looking outside the dim window, it didn’t seem like it was time to wake up yet… But with none of the hero’s party nearby, an uneasy feeling settled over me, instantly driving away any lingering drowsiness. I doubted they would leave without a word, but that didn’t stop the nagging worry from creeping in.
I quickly changed clothes, walked down the hallway, and descended the stairs. The noise from below was growing louder.
“I’ll say it once more. Please come with us, Hero.”
Before dawn had even broken, three unfamiliar knights and the hero’s party were causing a scene in the common area.
“We will escort you to the Three Seasons Castle and ensure your journey is comfortable.”
The man in armor spoke politely, but his tone carried an unmistakable air of coercion. He made it clear that, if necessary, they would take the hero by force.
Wait—Three Seasons Castle?
“The lord of that place must not understand human speech,” Dain said coldly.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’ve already refused.”
Dain, who seemed to have returned safely from the hunting grounds, smirked.
The hero’s party had indeed already refused the invitation from the lord of Three Seasons Castle once before. Not only that, but they had ignored his attempts to keep them under surveillance by leaving his territory altogether and coming here. I had thought that would be the end of it—but it seemed I had underestimated my hometown’s lord.
“Do not insult my lord. And I am speaking to the Hero, not you.”
“The hero happens to agree with me,” Dain shot back.
The knight, growing increasingly irritated by Dain’s mocking tone, now carried an even more forceful air about him. His stance had shifted, exuding a firmer resolve.
“We have no need for someone so lacking in propriety. We only require the Hero. Now, please, come with us.”
Dain opened his mouth, likely to throw in another sharp remark, but this time, Kelian was quicker.
“As I’ve already said,” he said firmly.
“We refuse.”
He looked completely different from how he had the night before in the bathhouse. The deep, lust-laden gaze from before was gone, replaced by the cold, impassive expression of a warrior.
“If that is your decision, then we will have no choice but to resort to less pleasant methods,” the lead knight said, his words laced with meaning. He exchanged glances with his two subordinates.
Before anyone could react, the three knights simultaneously drew their swords.
“Hey! If you’re going to fight, take it outside!”
The innkeeper, unfazed by the sight of drawn weapons, scolded them angrily. But the lead knight’s promise of financial compensation silenced any further protests.
The knights advanced, slowly closing in on the hero’s party as if cornering them.
It was true that knights serving a noble house were likely to be of a higher level than ordinary people. But even so, it was hard to believe they were strong enough to intimidate the hero’s party. Judging by the group’s reaction, they didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. In fact, Barkrud didn’t even bother to look in their direction.
“You’ve drawn your swords, so I will take that as a formal challenge,” Kelian stated, his voice calm.
He drew his weapon—not the blade, but the sheathed sword.
Thanks for the updates 🇧🇷 😸