12. Rationalization

12. Rationalization

Priscilla was heterosexual.

Or so she thought.

For 20 years, she had believed that to be true, but due to a series of recent events, she had begun to harbor strong doubts about her own sexual orientation.

When Skadi came close, she felt shy, and when her hair was touched, she felt even more embarrassed. Most of all, the intoxicating scent of Skadi’s tail kept lingering in her mind, driving her mad.

Even so, the reason she couldn’t confirm her feelings was simply-

“W-wolf beastmen do that often, you know…!”

Yes, it’s common. Touching, hugging, kissing-these are all normal things among wolf beastmen, so she couldn’t possibly have strange feelings about it.

The other party had no ulterior motives, and she was making all sorts of worries about being gay or something, which was ridiculous. Skadi clearly thought of her as a close friend, so she acted that way, and to have sexual feelings towards her actions felt like a terrible mistake.

Therefore, Priscilla dismissed her feelings as mere delusion and lay down on the bed. She repeatedly told herself that she liked men. Lying down, she slowly opened her eyes and saw the white ceiling of the dormitory.

The faint sound of the bathroom next to her.

Although it was hard to hear due to the soundproofing, it was surely the sound of the shower.

Priscilla, who was blankly listening to the sound of water flowing, gradually began to close her eyes, and soon fell into a deep reverie. The gradually fading image of the bathroom filled her vision.

White tiles.

A mirror and a shower.

And in front of them…

Skadi’s bare white body-

“Hyeok!”

Perhaps it was obscured by the hot steam, so her figure wasn’t clearly visible. However, the faint silhouette only made it more alluring to Priscilla.

Priscilla shook her bright red face back and forth.

“N-no! If you think such strange thoughts…”

Why is she acting like this? She had seen women bathing countless times in her life. So why did her face turn red when she thought of Skadi?

Priscilla recalled the images of other women from her memory. However, none of them made her face turn red.

Only when she thought of Skadi. Only then did Priscilla react. So, what did that mean?

“N-no, I like men normally…!”

Priscilla began to search for a plausible excuse to justify her feelings. What was the difference between Skadi and other women in her memory, what was making her face flush like this…?

Eventually, Priscilla, comparing the wolf beastman Skadi with ordinary women, came to a rather grand conclusion.

“Her tail!!! T-this is all because of her tail!! That’s it!”

The incredibly addictive scent emanating from Skadi’s tail. She concluded that it was the cause of her distress!

Yes, the strange and peculiar feelings she had whenever she saw Skadi were all due to her tail. It wasn’t because she was homosexual or anything!

She was indeed heterosexual! The reason her face turned red every time Skadi approached was simply because the scent of her tail was addictive! It was a perfect excuse.

Having finished her rationalization, Priscilla clenched her small fists in triumph. A satisfied smile spread across her face.

“Hehe… Yes. This is all because Skadi’s tail smells so good, so it’s not my fault.”

Priscilla, happily looking around, then noticed Skadi’s school uniform jacket lying on the opposite bed. She could see a faint white fur clinging to it.

And thinking about where that white fur might have come from…

Gulp.

Priscilla swallowed saliva down the back of her neck.

“R-right. Tidying up a friend’s clothes is a normal thing to do…”

As she muttered this and gently approached to pick up the clothes, something rectangular fell out of the pocket. Priscilla, who had been burying her face in the clothes and rubbing them, tilted her head and picked it up.

“A book…?”

Wolf and Lily

Beneath the title, there was a drawing of a black-haired wolf beastman girl and a blonde girl embracing each other very closely, gazing into each other’s eyes. The art style, which seemed to sparkle as a whole, was impressive.

“What is this?”

Fortunately, Priscilla, who still had enough reason left to overcome the addiction, put aside thoughts of the tail and surrendered to her curiosity about the unfamiliar book.

Due to her nature as a mage, Priscilla read many books, but they were all professional texts. Therefore, Priscilla lacked knowledge about novels like this-especially erotic novels.

Thus, she opened the book without knowing what it was, and as she read the words…

“H-hiek! W-what is this!”

Soon, her face turned bright red at the blatant actions of the characters, and she threw the book down. Priscilla covered her flushed face with her rolled-up hair and exclaimed.

“W-what kind of scandalous content is this…!”

To think such a book existed in the world, wasn’t this an insult to knowledge itself! Priscilla recalled the content of the book and thought: the wolf beastman and the girl entangled together, rubbing their bodies, hugging, and kissing-

“H-hiek!”

Even if she conceded that hugging was a wolf beastman habit, the subsequent events were entirely different!

“T-this, this book should be burned! It’s blasphemous! It’s an insult to paper! Let’s find the author and pass judgment from the Louer family…!”

As Priscilla thought this, she recalled the book’s content once more. Touching, hugging, biting, licking, and then…

The barrage of onomatopoeia and vulgar adverbs describing the situation, as if they were enjoying it, were too intense for Priscilla, who had never read an erotic book before.

Priscilla immediately took out her staff and aimed it at the book. The magic she intended to use was Fire, a basic fire spell.

As she brought the staff to the book, Priscilla froze, unable to cast the spell.

Why? It’s a book that needs to be burned. It’s a bad book. She could just burn it with a flash, like she normally used magic.

Even so, strangely, she was curious about the next part of the scene she had just read. She knew she shouldn’t, that this was clearly wrong, but she still wanted to keep reading.

Gulp.

Priscilla swallowed and thought in her mind, as if making an excuse to someone.

“T-to pass judgment, one must know the evidence well! Who knows! Maybe only the part I saw was strange, and the rest of the book is normal…!”

It’s natural to examine the evidence carefully before passing judgment on a criminal. This book is no different.

Priscilla made this excuse to herself, put down her staff, and gently picked up the lewd book. It was purely to examine the evidence closely. Of course, it was.

Page after page turned. The descriptions became more detailed, her face and the characters in the book flushed red. Priscilla read the book in a daze. Soon, Priscilla exclaimed.

“T-this, can they do this to each other…? No, how…!”

This author has great creativity. Things that Priscilla had never imagined in her 20 years of life were unfolding in the book.

With the author’s excellent writing and descriptions, the characters’ appearances were automatically drawn in Priscilla’s mind, and those drawn images contained not only their actions but also their emotions, feelings, melting expressions, and their happiness.

A body and face softened, tails entwined.

Characters calling each other’s names desperately. Perked ears…

Priscilla read the book with a “Awa-awa” sound. At some point, her mind, which had been criticizing the book with praise disguised as criticism, was instead filled with thoughts like, “Is this really that enjoyable…?”

What kind of feeling would make them make such expressions and make such sounds? Is it that enjoyable? So enjoyable that they melt and smile blissfully, surrendering their bodies to each other?

Priscilla was now reading the book, gently rubbing her thighs. It was an instinctive action. And it showed that she was aroused by the content of this book. Though she didn’t know it.

The reason Priscilla was engrossed in the book wasn’t just the erotic descriptions and content. Along with the author’s excellent writing, which painted pictures on a canvas, the thrilling story and the vivid descriptions of the battle scenes made her focus so intently on the book.

Priscilla wondered if this author would have become a literary giant if they had written ordinary novels instead of erotic ones.

As Priscilla was reading the book in a trance, suddenly-

“Priscilla?”

“Hiek!!”

The owner of the book appeared.

… Later, Priscilla was forced to hold onto the book by Skadi. Perhaps it wasn’t forced, but only she knew the details.