episode_0034

‘······Hah.’

A warm, sweet, and round feeling swelled up inside. Mei Luina felt a sense of freshness that she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Although her body couldn’t actually stretch due to being out of control, just thinking that she could stretch right now made her feel a similar sensation as when she got up from her desk after studying for a long time and did stretching to relax her muscles.

At this moment, even without actually stretching, she might feel as if she had.

With such thoughts, Mei Luina let out a sound as if she had really stretched, making it seem as if her lungs were being squeezed.

“Uhh… Huh-huh.”

Of course, as a plant-human, she couldn’t even move her lips, so she simply thought she made that sound inwardly. However, the lingering freshness in her body gave her the same feeling as when she actually stretched.

“Whew… Hehe.”

Since becoming a plant-human, this simulated stretching gave her a sense of relief that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

The feeling of her body responding to her will, and the subsequent release of her stiff muscles, combined into a sense of liberation. This freshness and coolness merged into a sense of relief, causing Mei Luina to smile.

“Ah.”

At the same time, Mei Luina realized that she was originally a saint who had no reason to stretch, always maintaining perfect condition.

※

“Uh, huh… Uwa?”

It felt like waking up from a dream. When Mei Luina realized that the clarity she felt and the sense of relief and freshness that had just made her happy were actually figments of her imagination, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

She hadn’t actually stretched, and the fact that she had only pretended to stretch during a moment of feeling refreshed turned out to be nothing more than a dream.

“Am I… someone who can’t even imagine stretching?”

The sense of liberation, so small and trivial yet precious to her, turned into emptiness upon realizing it was a feeling that could only be experienced in dreams. The buoyant sensation deflated into hollowness. The weightless space she had been floating in suddenly felt like crashing onto the ground. The sensation of being given something only to have it snatched away, a professional term for it, was inevitably discomforting for anyone, including Mei Luina. “Sigh… I guess. What can I do? No one forced these illusions on me, and I’m the only one disappointed. I should just be satisfied with having had a good dream, right?”

She had been someone who resisted everything and could achieve anything she desired. However, the moment she was cursed and turned into a plant-human, she became unable to resist anything and incapable of achieving her every desire. To deny a reality she had never experienced before, she cried every day. No matter how much she cried, she realized she couldn’t shed a single tear. It was then that she learned to resign herself. Thus, Mei Luina now found herself an expert in resignation. Even if the happiness she once felt was nothing but an illusion she experienced in dreams, she discovered that succumbing to disappointment was… “Wait a minute. A dream? Did I just… dream?” Just before resigning, Mei Luina suddenly realized that the everyday word “dream,” which had casually crossed her mind countless times until just now, felt unfamiliar to her current self. “H-how? How could I have dreamt?”

Because Mei Luina at this moment, trapped within her own body, was fully conscious in the darkness. Therefore, she was in a state where she couldn’t fall asleep. Her body and mind were separated, and her consciousness naturally resided in her mind. The liberated mind, free from the body, was unaffected by the physical and thus did not tire. It simply maintained a clear and sharp state for thinking. However, this clear and sharp mind was more dreadful to Mei Luina than any curse.

Becoming a plant-human, despite wanting to avert her eyes from this reality, Mei Luina, who only retained her consciousness, found it impossible even to fall asleep. That’s why, after becoming a plant-human, one of the things Mei Luina could never give up on was sleep. “I-I, I fell asleep, right…?” When she realized she was dreaming, Mei Luina came to the realization that she had fallen asleep without even knowing it. “H-How?! How on earth could I have fallen asleep…?” Confused by the fact that she had finally achieved the sleep she had longed for in the empty darkness, wishing every day for a month to be able to sleep, Mei Luina was bewildered.

[Now, starting from 10 seconds.]

“Ah.” Suddenly, as if a film that had been cut off due to overexposure, the voice lingering at the very end of her memory played back in her mind.

[S-Sweetheart♥♥♥ Darling♥♥♥]

“Ack! What?!” Memories of recklessly counting seconds while pounding her chest as instructed by an F-grade awakener flooded in like a rushing torrent. “G-Goodness. Did I really say those words, not to anyone else but in front of Saint Stay? This can’t be happening! It’s unacceptable! It’s shameful. If this gets out, I’ll never be able to maintain my revered status as a saint…” A shame so unbearable that if there were a mouse hole, she would want to shove her head into it without any hesitation.

She was hailed as the world’s greatest healer and revered as a saint who had descended upon the earth after hundreds of years. Yet, she found it utterly embarrassing that she, an F-grade Awakener, with nothing but a large, thick, and sturdy hand that felt warm when caressed, and a voice that seemed to draw a line with every word, filled with consideration and sincerity, could exude such confidence in the face of a mere F-grade subject and herself being a saint. The fact that she did as Stae commanded was an event that must be erased from history.

To that extent, Meiruina felt so ashamed that she had played along with his touch as Stae directed.

“No, no. Let’s reconsider, Meiruina. What Stae did to me is undoubtedly a disgrace and humiliation that I may never forget until the day I die, but it was a necessary act, wasn’t it? Right? Yes, it is. It can’t be helped…”

[Yuhook?! ♥♥ Oh, oh… ♥♥♥♥♥ Ohhoook… ♥]

“Aaargh!”

No matter how many times she reminded herself that it was merely a therapeutic act that she had to perform to break free from the curse, there was no relief from the heat engulfing her face. Instead, forcibly reminding herself of the therapeutic nature of the act only made the events leading up to her fainting more vivid, causing her to scream uncontrollably.

If Meiruina were not currently a vegetable, if any part of her body could move as she wished, then the hospital room where she lay would have been a dismantled village instead of a sickroom. To this extent, Meiruina, now, was too ashamed of having been ravished by Stae to remain in her right mind.

‘Ugh… I absolutely can’t forgive this. There must have been another way. To recklessly handle the precious hearts of people, the sacred symbol of motherhood that should only be allowed for a future husband and child. It’s as if you’re handling an instrument, pressing, turning, flicking, hitting with a thud, gently scratching with your fingertips, squeezing tightly, twisting, and tenderly caressing as you please…’

As Mei Luina listed the hardships and humiliations she had endured in order to fuel her vengeful spirit with anger, she naturally found herself reminiscing about what Stei had done to her.

‘…Ugh.’

This soon meant a reproduction of the sensations she felt from Stei’s touch before losing consciousness.

‘W-Well, even so. I have to admit the fact that thanks to Mr. Stei, I was able to get the sleep I desired so much. Should I generously overlook what Mr. Stei did to me, like a true saint?’

As she recalled the pleasure she felt from Stei’s touch, Mei Luina’s anger and vengeful spirit vanished in an instant. The two emotions that had burned like flames disappeared along with a sense of shame, leaving behind only the remnants of humiliation… the aftertaste of treatment.

‘…But still, next time, I should probably tell him not to command me. I am Saint Mei Luina, and Mr. Stei is Mr. Stei. Even if he commands, it’s not appropriate for me to obey Mr. Stei.’

However, despite the disappearance of her vengeful spirit and anger, her core pride remained closest to her essence, and Mei Luina vowed that next time, she would not helplessly fall victim as she had before.

‘Yes. In the future, when Mr. Stei touches my chest, he must do so with the intensity, in the area, and in the manner that I desire. It’s impossible for Mr. Stei to touch my chest as he wishes. Yes! I need to speak firmly, very decisively… Ah.’

While happily imagining how she would take control with her words, Mei Luina suddenly remembered one overlooked fact.

‘…Three days.’

Three days must pass before one can meet with the Stay again and engage in conversation.

“Miss Stay will have to treat Mr. Adamas and Miss Mir Ryuin before it’s my turn. My turn will come after that.”

The moment she realized this fact, Mei Luna felt her once-thrilling heart grow cold in an instant.