Ch.109Chapter 109. You’re the Only Man in My Life

“Rabin! Rabin!”

Lin desperately ran after Rabin.

After seeing the kiss mark, Rabin had been fuming, fanning herself before finally losing her temper and storming out.

Startled, Lin immediately chased after her.

Fortunately, Rabin didn’t seem to genuinely want to lose him, as she wasn’t using her thief’s ability to conceal her presence or running at full speed.

“Rabin!”

“Let go!”

At a distance where he could barely reach her, Lin mustered all his strength and managed to grab her, but Rabin roughly shook him off.

Lin was relieved that she at least stopped, but her next words made him feel ashamed.

“How could you do this when you knew I went to the Gutter Alley with Arsil?”

“I’m sorry…”

“No, it doesn’t matter whether I went to the alley or not. Ah, seriously…”

She tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths, but Rabin simply couldn’t.

Instead, the longer time passed, the more hurt she felt.

“Do you know how precarious a thief’s life is? Especially a female thief? Every day, I could be defiled at any moment.”

Rabin bit her lip hard, breathing roughly as she paused mid-sentence.

Her gaze was still directed elsewhere, while Lin stood before her with his head bowed.

“But I wanted to be a dignified woman for you, so I rejected every advance and seduction. Anyone who tried to touch me is either dead or missing at least one hand below the wrist. If there’s one thing I wasn’t honest about, it was hiding that I joined the Demon Knights. I truly have no excuse for that. I never dreamed it would cause such sacrifice for the Church.”

“The Demon Knights… they deceived you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Anyway!”

The conversation almost veered off topic.

The Demon Knights issue was strictly different from Lin’s current mistake and would be another matter they’d need to resolve later.

“I decided that you would be the only man in my life. Even if things didn’t work out between us, even if our feelings cooled and we broke up, I never intended to let any other man into my life!”

Unable to hold back her sorrow, Rabin burst into tears.

Lin froze completely as Rabin covered her face with both hands and sobbed.

It was shocking to see her—always so carefree and tomboyish—reveal her feelings and show her wounded heart as a woman.

Though he had felt their relationship growing closer, the affection he thought would develop naturally through their playful, comfortable relationship was now crumbling helplessly.

“Do you take me for granted? Is that why you think I won’t do anything when some woman leaves such an ugly mark on you? And so visibly on your neck!”

“No, it was because the outpost was completely exhausted from the succubus, and Lucy suggested training to counter—”

“Lucy? Lucy did this?!”

Rabin sharply raised her head, revealing her keen cat-like eyes, making Lin flinch and lower his head again.

“You’ve gone too far. How could you… with the woman who tormented you the most… Do you have any sense at all?”

“I’m sorry, truly sorry.”

When he tried to embrace her, Rabin twisted her body to escape.

She pushed against his chest with her arm and sobbed.

“After we parted in the alley, I lived only for the day I’d see you again. But when you finally returned, Lin, you were broken from all the torment and contempt you suffered, and even your arm was rotting with demonic energy! You know what’s funny? Despite all that, I was still so happy to see you.”

Her fist struck Lin’s shoulder.

It didn’t hurt at all.

“I could meet other good men if I wanted to! Rich men, handsome men, strong men—I could have my pick if I went back to Valtercrois right now!”

The punch didn’t hurt, but her words pained his heart.

They were words he didn’t want to hear.

He hated them, even though they were true.

“But I don’t want that. Because you wouldn’t like it. Because it would be wronging you. If you dislike something, I hate myself for it too. That’s why I’m angrier at you now. Knowing I can’t do anything… knowing I can’t do anything you’d dislike and can only look at you, I wonder if you’re doing this on purpose, and it makes me so angry.”

“It’s not like that, Rabin.”

“You have to take responsibility for me. You’ve made it so no one else catches my eye but you. You have to take responsibility. Since the alley days, you’ve trained me and made me dependent on you, so you absolutely must take responsibility.”

This was terrible. She never imagined confessing her feelings in such an outburst.

As Rabin closed her eyes and cried again in sorrow,

Lin embraced her tightly.

“Let go!”

“No.”

“I said let go…!”

“I don’t want to. I’m afraid you’ll disappear if I do.”

She struggled desperately, but her body had no strength.

Was it because of her tears or her hurt feelings?

She wanted to be angry.

But this embrace, holding her so firmly without mercy, was melting her heart.

She wanted to stay angry a little longer, but the moment she felt Lin trying for her sake, seeking forgiveness, Rabin found herself with a racing heart.

“I really hate you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I really do hate you.”

“What can I do to make you feel better?”

“I don’t know.”

After a moment of silence, Lin asked in a trembling voice.

“…Do you really hate me?”

The tremor in his voice made Rabin’s hurt feelings melt away like snow.

“No… I don’t hate you.”

Thanks to her arms slowly wrapping around Lin’s back, the porter could feel considerable relief.

Their eyes met.

Even with tear-stained cheeks, Rabin’s beauty remained.

Lin’s face, gazing at her in a daze, moved very slightly closer to Rabin.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But Rabin avoided it by turning her head slightly.

“Uh… did I misread the situation?”

Isn’t a kiss the right answer at this moment?

“You let Lucy suck on you and leave a kiss mark, and now you want to kiss me?”

Rabin narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

Suddenly, she bit Lin’s neck.

“Urgh?!”

Crunch—her canines dug into his neck, and Rabin sucked on the spot.

He could vividly feel the slight pain and the soft movement of her tongue.

Like a vampire, she sucked several times before finally pulling away.

“Puha!”

The instantly reddened bruise ruthlessly covered the kiss mark Lucy had left.

Rabin, looking extremely satisfied, stuck out her tongue and licked Lin’s neck slowly.

Then she whispered intimately into Lin’s ear as he flinched.

“Go show them. Show them who you belong to, what kind of woman you have by your side.”

Rabin walked forward, holding Lin’s hand proudly.

She looked no different from a victorious general entering the city.

Returning to where the worried hero party members were waiting, Rabin pulled out a soft cloth and wiped Lin’s neck once more for everyone to see.

“…Did you do it?”

“Are you crazy?”

When Arsil asked in shock, Rabin rolled her eyes and denied it.

The saint was relieved, but also couldn’t help feeling envious.

Lin had always been by her side when they were young.

Looking at the porter standing awkwardly beside Rabin because of his irreversible mistake and foolishness, Arsil sighed with moist eyes.

Lucy was also experiencing a crushing feeling.

She wanted to protest that her kiss mark had been mercilessly overwritten by Rabin.

However, when Rabin approached her with an intimidating aura, the hero unconsciously swallowed and tensed up.

“Hey.”

“W-what?”

“You’re brave. Is it because you’re a hero? It’s really brave how you act without thinking.”

That was the composure of a victor.

Rabin poked Lucy repeatedly with her index finger.

“If you have time to leave marks like that, think about how to earn Lin’s forgiveness instead. Got it?”

“Ugh… I’m sorry…”

Forgiveness—Rabin was the only one free from those two syllables.

At the same time, she was the only one besides Lin who could wield that word.

It’s cowardly.

No one but Lin should say that word.

It shouldn’t be used as a weapon like that.

Lucy quickly scolded herself for thinking this way.

All of this happened because of her own mistakes.

Recalling the events in Lowellina, Lucy continued to berate herself.

Nothing would change if she kept acting this way.

Nevertheless, the reason she was making more excuses than usual was because it was hard to accept this complete defeat by Rabin.

However, this rebellious spirit was easily settled by one statement from Rabin.

“You left a kiss mark, didn’t you?”

“I-it was for succubus defense training…”

“Don’t talk nonsense, okay? You’re banned from any skinship with Lin for the time being.”

“…?!”

“Why are you surprised? Did you think I’d let it slide after what you did?”

Lucy knelt down on the spot.

“Please, anything but that! I was wrong. I really can’t sleep without hearing Lin’s heartbeat—I only have nightmares.”

“That’s why you should have behaved properly.”

Only after throwing away all pride and begging desperately did Lucy receive permission to sleep with Lin.

But on the condition that Rabin would sleep with them too.

Occasionally, Lucy looked at Lin pleadingly, but the porter remained silent, being a sinner himself.

Instead, Rabin scolded her, asking where she was looking, and Lucy had to beg again.

“It’s unfair…”

And now someone finally realized that Rabin had started from a different position.

Tigria gritted her teeth and stared intently at the bruise on Lin’s neck.

“If I get angry and leave… will Lin chase after me…?”

The magician’s fists trembled under her robe sleeves.

The doll who had embraced love now wanted to possess it.

More desperately than anyone, a love that existed only for her.