41. The Strange Love Triangle Between Mother and Daughter

“You’re saying that guy is yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah? Just ‘yeah’? Just ‘yeah’?!”

The mother stared at her daughter as if she couldn’t comprehend it.

Moira looked deeply wronged.

“No. I spent months raising his affection level, and now you swoop in and take the juiciest part? Are you some kind of thief?”

“Calling your own daughter a thief?! I worked on raising his affection too, you know?! What do you even know?!”

“No, you-you always linked him with me whenever you saw Shion! Right? Admit it! If you were planning to have him for yourself, why did you keep pairing him with me?”

“W-well… I was too embarrassed to openly say I liked him, okay? That’s why. Yeah, yeah.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?! You used me as a shield?! I thought you were giving me permission to make him your stepdad!”

“Huh?! What are you even talking about? Stepdad? I don’t want a stepdad.”

“You little brat! You were the one who paired me with Shion first! That tiny little kid who used to say she hated stepdads… I thought you’d finally grown up enough to wish for your mom’s happiness. But no. Hah. You ungrateful wench.”

“Mom, no-it’s not like that. Ugh… I just don’t want a stepdad.”

“What? You don’t want a stepdad? Then what about me? What about me?!”

Yuria was flustered by Moira’s rage.

It seemed like Yuria had been blocking Moira’s love life from childhood all the way into adulthood.

In the end, Moira had refrained from bringing a new man into their lives for her daughter’s sake-only for her daughter to grow independent and then steal the very man she’d finally found for herself.

No, now that I thought about it, this was even weirder.

What the hell kind of situation was this?

The bizarre love triangle between me, Yuria, and Moira was more convoluted than the labyrinth.

No matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t find a solution.

At least in the labyrinth, brute-forcing your way through would eventually reveal a path.

But the human heart? I couldn’t even begin to guess its direction.

“No way. I absolutely cannot allow this between you two. He’s my future husband. Back off, Yuria. Even if you’re my daughter, I won’t tolerate this nonsense about making your stepdad your boyfriend. You have to compromise too.”

“B-but… Shion and I have already done everything.”

“Already what? What do you mean ‘everything’? Wait a second. You two. How far have you gone?”

Moira asked how far we’d gone.

For a moment, I couldn’t answer.

Right now, Moira seemed to be under the illusion that Yuria and I were just at the hand-holding stage.

‘We’ve already enjoyed full-on slave play.’

The moment I recalled Yuria’s naked body, Moira glared at me.

“Don’t tell me… you two… have you kissed?”

“Huh?”

“Ew, Mom! Why are you saying such embarrassing things? Of course we’ve kissed.”

“…”

Moira looked like she’d been struck by lightning, covering her face with her hands.

Yuria, for some reason, was squirming in embarrassment.

This situation was getting dangerous.

Moira looked ready to explode any second, while Yuria was just giggling, completely oblivious.

The worst part? Soon, Lady Leah would be joining this battlefield.

‘I’m screwed.’

My brain short-circuited from the absurdity of it all.

I never wanted to be this popular.

And of all people, why did the ones who liked me have to be so… extraordinary?

It felt like walking on thin ice.

“Sigh. Fine. Arguing won’t change anything. At this point, there’s only one solution.”

“One solution? What?”

“A way for you to keep your boyfriend… and for me to finally get married.”

Moira pointed at me with a determined look.

“Let’s share him.”

“Cough! Cough!!”

I choked on my own spit.

Share me? Like I was some kind of object?

“Mom!”

“Yuria. You said you didn’t want a stepdad, right? You must feel uncomfortable seeing me with some unfamiliar man. So here’s the solution-we’ll just have Shion be both your master and your stepdad. How about it? Perfect, right?”

“Wait, hold on. So you’re saying I’d be Yuria’s boyfriend and the Guild Leader’s lover?”

“Exactly. Think about it, Shion. You’re about to become the luckiest man in the labyrinth city.”

So this was what a Platinum-ranked adventurer was like.

To come up with such an answer in this situation…

Truly befitting someone who’s conquered the 7th floor of the labyrinth.

“Shion… what do you think?”

“Huh? W-well…”

I was at a loss for words at Yuria’s question.

Getting both Yuria and Moira?

Honestly, if I thought about it, having both would be great.

But… was it okay to say that to Yuria’s face?

The fiery red-haired mother-daughter duo stared at me intently.

Somehow, the power to decide the fate of this bizarre love triangle had fallen into my hands.

“I’ll leave it to Shion’s judgment.”

“Choose, Shion.”

Both of them were incredibly beautiful.

Their figures were beyond compare.

And if I accepted Moira’s proposal, I’d be stepping into a whole new route.

‘The Mother-Daughter Route.’

I felt like I was losing my mind.

Realistically, a mother-daughter threesome had its complications.

Assuming the daughter was an adult, the mother would naturally be older, which meant…

One of them would inevitably be past her prime.

But what if she hadn’t aged?

What if she still maintained that firm, youthful skin from her younger days?

And given that her only experience with men was her late husband…

This was a clear pass.

“Wait a second. Let’s… let’s talk about this later. It’s too sudden to decide right now.”

“Hmm. Fine.”

My heart was telling me to accept Moira, but Yuria and I had only just started dating yesterday.

Jumping straight into adding other people into our relationship felt wrong.

We hadn’t even gone on a proper date yet-was it really the right time to bring her mother into the mix?

And once Lady Leah joined the fray, it would be absolute chaos.

“Fine. If that’s what you want. Tch…”

“Hehe. See? Mom, you’re out of the picture~!”

“You little-!”

Moira and Yuria looked ready to fight again, so I quickly intervened.

“W-well, I should get going now!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I was planning to rest for the day. It’s almost dinnertime anyway.”

“Is that so? Then come eat at our place tonight.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. Yuria, you should eat at home for once instead of that weird street food.”

“Dinner? Hmm. Okay. Let’s go, Shion.”

“Sure. Eating together sounds good. It’s about time to clock out anyway.”

I hadn’t even agreed, but somehow, I ended up visiting the Guild Leader’s house.

“Oh, heading home?”

“Yeah. Go ahead. Good work today.”

“Yes! You too!”

When we reached the first floor, Edwin-nim saw us off.

The Adventurer’s Guild operated 24/7.

Since you never knew when adventurers would emerge from the labyrinth.

The receptionists worked in three shifts, as far as I knew.

For some reason, Edwin-nim always seemed to be around, but maybe I was imagining it.

‘The Guild Leader lives in the south district.’

Following the Guild Leader, we arrived at an upscale neighborhood in the southern part of the city.

The chaotic, rough edges of the labyrinth city were nowhere to be seen-just clean, orderly streets.

No homeless people.

Hardly any adventurers in sight.

This was clearly where the city’s elite lived.

Most of the houses were practically mansions.

It was a different world compared to Yuria’s neighborhood.

If Yuria’s place was where successful adventurers lived, this was where the real wealthy resided.

Probably merchants and high-ranking clergy.

“We’re here.”

“Wow…!”

As expected, it was a massive house.

At this scale, they must have maids, right?

‘Wait, they actually do?!’

To my surprise, the Guild Leader’s mansion did have a maid.

A maid in an actual maid outfit.

In all my time in the labyrinth city, this was the first time I’d seen a real traditional maid uniform.

This was nothing like the brothel maids in costume.

“Surprised to see a maid?”

“Ah, yes. It’s my first time.”

“The house is too big for me to clean alone. For busy adventurers, slaves are a necessity.”

She had a point.

Yuria’s place was a mess too.

Slaves really were essential for adventurers.

“Welcome back, Moira-nim.”

“Yeah. This man is my guest. Dinner for three tonight.”

“Understood. Right this way.”

This maid was clearly well-trained.

She looked fairly old, but her experience showed.

The most surprising part? She was Eastern.

Black hair, black eyes-an Asian like me.

In this world, she must have come from the Orient.

How had she ended up a slave?

Maybe she had no other way to survive.

Or perhaps she couldn’t pay her resurrection fee after dying in the labyrinth.

Then again, one of the biggest factors in becoming a slave was whether you had relatives.

Outsiders without family to cover their resurrection costs usually ended up enslaved.

That’s why barbarians and Easterners had high slave rates-no connections.

Either way, by this world’s standards, she was my countrywoman.

Well, I was originally from Earth, so not literally, but ethnically, it was close enough.

“Shion.”

“Hm?”

“Should we get a slave too?”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“Yeah. If you want one, we should. A young girl?”

“Uh… I guess a girl would be better than a guy?”

“Then let’s go to the slave market tomorrow.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. Let’s check it out together.”

Yuria grabbed my hand and whispered in my ear.

She sounded like a girlfriend promising to buy me a game console.

She knew I liked slaves, so she was indulging me.

“Okay…”

“Hehe.”

Going slave-shopping with Yuria?

My heart was racing.

I felt a strange mix of guilt and excitement.

I was already looking forward to tomorrow.

---

After entering Moira’s house and waiting a while, dinner was served.

A variety of dishes covered the table.

Stir-fried vegetables, something resembling Dongpo pork(?), and wonton soup with dumplings.

‘Wait, this is full-on Chinese cuisine?’

Not the Western-style food common in the labyrinth city, but the kind you’d find in a Chinese restaurant back on Earth.

Being Eastern, the maid must have specialized in Chinese food.

Who knew I’d get to eat proper Chinese food here?

This was my first time having it in six months.

Sure, with all the races in the labyrinth city, Chinese restaurants probably existed if you looked hard enough.

But I never had time to go restaurant-hopping.

The last six months had been about survival.

No time for gourmet adventures.

“Thanks for the meal. Oh! This is delicious.”

“She’s quite skilled. Especially with this.”

As I dug into the wonton soup, the Guild Leader brought out alcohol from somewhere.

“This is huajiu from the East. You must be familiar with it.”

“Whoa…!”

What she brought out was a distilled liquor somewhere between soju and baijiu.

Perfect for rich, spicy Chinese food.

You can’t drink sweet wine with braised pork, right?

Huajiu was the ideal pairing. The Guild Leader knew her stuff.

“Here, have a drink.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I couldn’t refuse alcohol from the Guild Leader.

Besides, the food practically demanded drinking.

As long as I didn’t get wasted, it’d be fine.

“Yuria, you too.”

“Alcohol? Sure! I’m in!”

And so, glass after glass went down.

“Haaah…”

The heat was hitting me fast.

This was stronger than I thought.

Not quite dizzying, but…

I was definitely getting drunk.

“Haaah… G-Guild Leadeeer… I… can’t drink anymooore…”

“Is that so? You’re a lightweight.”

“N-no… it’s just… your alcohol is too strooong…”

“If you say so.”

Yuria was already half-passed out, dozing off.

This wasn’t good. I needed to head home before I got any drunker.

“Hey, Shion.”

“Yeees…?”

“You don’t look so good. Just stay the night. We have plenty of rooms.”

“Huhhh? Ah, but I can’t…”

“Just sleep here. I won’t do anything. Drink up and rest.”

“Uh… hic. O-okay…”

What should I do? My vision was starting to swim.

This was one of those liquors that hit you all at once.

Dizzy and exhausted.

Didn’t feel like puking, though.

My body felt floaty, and walking seemed hard.

So sleepy. Ah, what do I do…

“There, there. Rin, prepare a room.”

“Yes, Moira-nim.”

Before I knew it, Moira was holding me up.

My eyelids grew heavy.

Sleepy.

Tired.

Want to sleep.

“Asleep?”

“It seems so, Moira-nim.”

“Take care of Yuria.”

“Understood, Moira-nim. Should I avoid the second floor?”

“Yes. Don’t come up unless I call you.”

“Yes.”

The maid, Rin, returned to the first floor.

Moira smirked as she looked down at the unconscious Shion.

“Foolish boy. I warned you to be careful.”

Moira quietly lay down beside the sleeping Shion.

“How dare you kiss my daughter? This is karma.”

Moira clumsily pulled Shion into an embrace.

His firm body excited her more than she expected.

“This little guy… sturdier than he looks. Heh.”

Knowing he was asleep…

Moira lost control.

Her hands slipped under his clothes, groping his muscles.

“Hehehe…”

She spent a long time fondling him, hugging him tightly.

The problem? She couldn’t take it any further.

“Hehe. Easterner… so cute. Black hair… so cute…”

Moira…

Was even more of a fool than Yuria.

And she had a thing for Easterners.

Her maid was Eastern, after all.