Grant Me One Wish – 1

“Haa, huut! Mikhail, it’s too fast. Just a little slower…!”

“Just a bit more!”

Hestia’s harsh breathing hit my ears. She clutched her chest, gasping for breath.

“This is really the end! The last one!”

“Huuh, haaa, I’m going to die at this rate!”

She continued to make excited moaning sounds. I moved enthusiastically to help her reach the finish.

“That’s the end!”

Hestia reached her original goal with a short scream. Her legs seemed to give out as she staggered like a newborn calf.

She spoke in a dreamy voice, still immersed in the afterglow.

“Huut, that was really too much.”

“But it feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Well, a little, I suppose.”

Hestia’s expression wasn’t too bad, as if it was better than she expected.

“It always hurts a bit at first. As you get used to it, it gradually feels better.”

“Just now, hunk, it wasn’t that bad.”

Hestia smoothed her chest and caught her breath.

“What on earth are you two doing?”

Cordelia, who had been watching our conversation with an incredulous expression, asked.

“What do you mean, what? We’re exercising.”

“I mean, yes, you’re exercising, but…”

Well. If you thought this was strange, that’s your dirty mind. With my confident attitude, Cordelia seemed embarrassed to speak and mumbled hesitantly.

“Did you have some inappropriate thoughts?”

“I didn’t! And what’s this about? You asked me to help, but you’re just doing it by yourselves.”

Cordelia pouted and grumbled.

“We never asked for help.”

Let’s be clear about this. When did we ask for help? To be precise, Cordelia volunteered to help after hearing that Hestia and I would be exercising in the mornings from now on. If anything, Hestia seemed reluctant about it.

“Anyway, I came to help! What should I do?”

“That’s for you to decide. I’m telling you, we never asked for help in the first place.”

I mean, if you insist on helping people who don’t need it, you should at least think about how you’re going to help.

“Is that so? Give me a moment.”

Cordelia seemed to have come without any plan and began pondering deeply.

I left Cordelia to her thoughts and approached Hestia. She was still having trouble steadying herself. I wiped her sweat with a handkerchief.

“Good job.”

Hestia, who had been dazedly accepting my touch, flinched and pulled away from me, asking,

“Don’t I smell bad?”

Despite the morning chill, Hestia was sweating profusely, perhaps from running with her heart pounding. She seemed concerned about her smell and kept slowly moving away from me.

But she didn’t smell at all. And honestly, even if she did smell of sweat, I’d like it just fine. I stepped closer to her.

“You don’t. But you’ve sweated so much that you should take a shower. You might catch a cold.”

It’s the changing season, so we need to be careful about colds. I took off my coat and draped it over her shoulders. Staying still while sweaty in this weather is not only uncomfortable but also likely to cause a cold.

“But before we go, let’s do one last stretching exercise.”

“Ugh.”

Hestia expressed her reluctance with her entire face, making strange noises as if showing off her stiffness as she began stretching.

First, she tried to bend at the waist to touch the ground with her fingertips. Last time it was just a test so I didn’t help, but this time it’s stretching, so it should be okay to assist a little, right? I gently placed my hand on her waist.

“Wh-what are you doing!”

“Just trying to help.”

Without hesitation, I applied a little pressure to the hand I had placed on her waist.

“Kyaaaaang!”

The reaction was immediate. A terrible scream burst from Hestia’s mouth. Sorry, Hestia. But I hope you know this is all for your own good.

I counted from 1 to 10, then removed my hand from her waist. As soon as my hand left, her waist sprang up like a spring.

“Mikhail!”

She put her hand on her waist and glared at me. But if I didn’t do this, it would take too long. Someone once said that exercise should be difficult and painful. And it’s not like I split her legs apart or anything, I just pressed down on her waist a little.

“Come on, just bear with it a little. Did you think wishes come so easily?”

Still, I can’t leave her angry like this. I tried to soothe her with the bait of a wish.

“…Really. I’m looking forward to it.”

It’s a bit scary when she says it like that. I wonder what she wants to ask for, using it like a cheat key that makes her so docile whenever it’s mentioned. I casually asked Hestia:

“Hestia, what exactly do you want to do with that wish?”

“It’s a secret. It wouldn’t be fun if I just told you.”

She winked slightly. I shuddered with an inexplicable chill. It can’t be that. I believe in Hestia’s common sense.

“Wish? What are you talking about?”

Cordelia, who had approached without us noticing, asked.

“Have you decided how to help?”

“Yes. I just saw Hestia stretching, so maybe I could help with that?”

Oh. I was surprised by her unexpectedly sensible idea. Pressing down on her waist slightly, like I just did, is something I can do without reservation, but having Cordelia help them do couple stretching by holding hands would be good.

I could do that too, but positions like sitting facing each other with legs spread apart would be a bit embarrassing.

“What do you think?”

“That sounds good.”

“I—!”

Whoa, that startled me. Hestia, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, suddenly shouted. Both Cordelia and I turned our heads simultaneously.

“I, I’m fine. Mikhail can just help me…”

Hestia seemed surprised by her own outburst and quickly lowered her volume.

Cordelia, unusually using a nickname, asked Hestia. The name she called her was sweet, but the aura was not sweet at all.

“Tia, do you dislike me?”

“No. It’s not that I dislike you, but considering how much Cordelia exercises normally, it seems a waste of your time to spend it on me.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m doing anything special, just running. Helping with your exercise is much more important, Hestia. When I suggested exercising together before, you absolutely refused.”

Both were smiling outwardly, but I caught Hestia’s eyebrow twitching momentarily. Cordelia’s mouth was also trembling slightly.

What exactly turned these two good friends into this? Was it me? What did I do wrong?

“How about both of us help then?”

Unable to bear it any longer, I stepped in to mediate. Cordelia seemed satisfied with my suggestion and didn’t say anything more, but Hestia seemed displeased as she stared at me.

But there’s no helping it, right? I grabbed Hestia’s hand. Let’s just do it this way. You know she’s not the type to leave even if we tell her she’s not needed and to go back and exercise on her own.

“Alright.”

As if my telepathy had worked, Hestia reluctantly agreed. Cordelia clapped her hands happily.

After smiling broadly for a while, Cordelia brought up the wish conversation from earlier again.

“So what was that about a wish?”

“Oh, I just told her I’d grant her a wish if she exercised with me.”

Cordelia’s eyes lit up sharply at my answer.

“Really?”

“Why would I lie about something like this?”

“Hmm.”

She made a strange nasal sound and looked Hestia up and down. Feeling her gaze, Hestia covered herself.

“What?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking, my friend wouldn’t listen no matter how much I talked to her, but she came running to exercise as soon as Mikhail offered to grant a wish. Not that I’m thinking anything like that.”

Hestia trembled, but unfortunately, since it was true, she couldn’t refute it. Cordelia thrust her face toward me.

“Me too, grant me a wish too.”

I pressed her forehead firmly to prevent her from coming any closer.

“Why should I do that?”

“Why are you only granting Hestia’s wish!”

What’s wrong with her? I was dumbfounded by her boldly assertive attitude.

“Conversely, why should I grant Cordelia’s wish? Hestia is my fiancée, and I forced her to exercise against her will. So there should be proper compensation.”

Cordelia was struck speechless at my words. You need to talk sense. And even if I had dragged Cordelia to exercise instead of Hestia, I wouldn’t have given her a wish. Honestly, I can’t trust her. Who knows what she’d ask me to do?

“I-I’m helping Hestia!”

“We don’t need it!”

When Cordelia picked on herself, Hestia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, interrupted. Cordelia, once again rendered speechless by Hestia’s words, pulled out her last resort.

“I don’t care! I don’t care! Anyway, grant me a wish too!”

“Come on, you’re not a child, what is this?”

When a grown woman started throwing a tantrum, there was no way to deal with it. Hestia and I tried to calm her down, but it didn’t work.

I decided to try talking it out.

“What wish do you want from me so badly that you’re going to these lengths?”

“Will you grant it?”

“It depends on what it is.”

“Mikhail!”

Cordelia smiled at my answer. The smile of a victor. So I’ve been had again. Conversely, Hestia shouted loudly.

Why are people going so far for my wish-granting power? It’s just a fancy way of saying I’ll do one favor. It’s not like I’m the type to refuse requests normally, so I never expected such an extreme reaction.

I held Hestia’s hand firmly and tried to soothe her.

“Let’s just hear what it is first, okay? It’s not like Cordelia will ask for something impossible.”

“Ugh. Then grant me one more too.”

“I’ll decide after hearing that one too.”

Once again, Hestia reluctantly nodded. Actually, granting one more wish is silly. It’s not like I would refuse if Hestia asked me for something anyway.

Cordelia, who had been waiting for our conversation to end, smiled mischievously.

“Are you done?”

“Yes. Please tell us.”

“This weekend, let’s go practice swordsmanship together.”

That’s more sensible than I expected! I was impressed by her wish, which was useful, reasonable, and sensible.