Ch.146Aria and Leona – 2

In the end, the first meeting with Leona’s family concluded rather hastily due to the late hour and Leona’s desperate attempts to hold Sylvia back.

Sylvia gave me an entire top floor with four rooms. She mentioned that it was originally built for guests, but since they rarely had visitors, it remained empty most of the time.

Besides, even when Aria comes to visit, she sleeps in the same bed as Leona, so there’s no need for the extra space.

“You must be tired from your journey. Get some rest. I’ll wake you up tomorrow morning.”

With those words, Sylvia disappeared with Leona, and Aria also bid me goodnight with a polite bow before leaving. Naturally, I was the only one left on the third floor.

I unpacked and lay down on the bed, but sleep wouldn’t come, so I reflected on the conversation between mother and daughter earlier. Leona’s father had gone on a subjugation mission alone, and Leona herself had participated in such missions before.

‘It’s probably similar to the original story.’

I guessed it was likely similar to the monster outbreak incident from the original work. Both of them seemed more resigned than worried about the person who had left, suggesting that the type and number of monsters were probably the same as in the original story.

Of course, this is just my speculation, so I can’t be certain. At this point, finding similarities to the original story seems more likely than finding differences. Anything could change.

‘Maybe I should offer to help.’

Both Leona and Sylvia would probably refuse, saying they couldn’t trouble a guest, but asking is better than not asking at all. It feels unsettling to rest while monsters are on the loose.

—Knock, knock.

As I was contemplating ways to eliminate those creatures, I heard a careful knocking at the door.

“It’s me, Leona. Aria is with me too. Can we come in?”

“Sure, come in. The door’s open.”

I could ask why they were here after letting them in.

When I gave permission, the door opened without a sound. Leona and Aria entered confidently, wearing loose pajamas and carrying pillows. Aria seemed a bit hesitant though.

“Wait, you can stay as you are.”

“Yes, please stay as you are.”

As I tried to get up since the two had arrived, both Leona and Aria stopped me simultaneously and promptly climbed onto the bed. Then, regardless of my bewilderment, they calmly placed pillows on either side of me and pulled at my arms.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and lie down. You won’t fall asleep if you stay sitting up like that.”

I ended up lying back down as they pulled my arms. Naturally, just like when we were walking around town, the two positioned themselves on either side of me, each claiming one of my arms.

“What’s this all about? Is this why you came?”

“I’ve always wanted to do this.”

“Do what?”

“This.”

“What’s ‘this’?”

“What we’re doing right now.”

“…”

I wanted to ask what exactly we were doing, but seeing how they were talking in circles, it was clear they wouldn’t give me a straight answer no matter how many times I asked.

I gave up and stared at the ceiling. Somehow, I felt I shouldn’t turn to either side. It would be awkward anyway, with each of my arms being held.

“I’ve always wanted to do this, but you can’t do this with just anyone, right? That’s why I’m doing it with you, Mira.”

“So I’m not just anyone?”

“Of course not.”

“Of course not.”

Both of them gave the same answer. After briefly considering how to respond, I decided to just let them do as they pleased.

It’s not like things would progress any further, and if it was just sleeping in the same bed, I’d experienced much more intimate situations with Priscilla and Beatrice.

Especially Priscilla, who had a habit of sleeping in just her underwear or wearing nothing but a shirt, which was incomparable to these two. Compared to those times, this was child’s play.

“From tomorrow, you’ll be able to explore the village. Is there anywhere you’d like to visit, Mr. Mira? It’s a bit embarrassing to call it sightseeing… but if there’s somewhere you’d like to see, I’ll take you there.”

“Well, I don’t know the geography here, so nothing specific comes to mind. Maybe just walking around the village and relaxing by a lake or river would be best?”

“That’s a good idea.”

A sweet laugh came from right beside me. Startled by the breath tickling my ear, I turned to look. Aria was leaning in close, her face filling my vision as she giggled.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

This time it was Leona. She too had moved in close, whispering with her lips nearly touching my ear. It was as if she had made a resolution not to lose to Aria.

‘What’s with both of them?’

Did Sylvia put them up to this?

“Is he… asleep?”

“Seems like it.”

Aria and Leona carefully raised their upper bodies to examine Mira. He was lying perfectly centered, eyes closed, not leaning toward either side.

Aria waved her hand in front of his eyelids. There was no response.

“Maybe he’s just pretending to sleep?”

“Hmm… I’ll check.”

“Check? How—?!”

Before Leona could finish speaking, Aria suddenly straddled Mira’s abdomen. Then, placing both hands on his chest, she slowly lowered her head. Leona, startled, covered her face with her hands.

When those fingers parted a few seconds later, their faces were close enough that their noses almost touched. It seemed like she might wake the sleeping Mira.

“…”

But his closed eyes and the regular rhythm of his breathing remained unchanged. Mira stayed exactly as he was.

“Yes, he seems to be asleep.”

Though it had been less than 30 seconds in reality, it felt like an eternity had passed. Aria climbed off Mira with a grin. Leona tried to suppress her pounding heart.

“I-I… I want to check too.”

The words escaped her before she knew it. Aria’s smile grew even brighter at those words.

With her mind too heated to think clearly, her body moved on its own. Just as Aria had done, Leona straddled Mira’s stomach and placed her hands on his chest, then leaned down.

Their noses touched. Too focused to even register the contact, Leona frantically checked Mira’s condition. He was still breathing evenly with his eyes closed.

Her entire body squirmed as she moved lower. Sitting with her legs spread over Mira, she felt a slight friction between her thighs and his firm muscles.

Her golden eyes, pupils fully dilated, looked past his closed eyelids to his tightly closed lips.

“Haa, haa…”

Memories from before resurfaced. It had been like this in the carriage too. She had almost kissed him while checking if he was asleep.

Her mind grew increasingly hazy. By now, Leona’s thoughts had completely changed from her initial intention. She wondered if this time might be different from her previous failure.

If now—

“You’re going to actually touch him if you keep that up, Leona.”

“Hyaah?!”

Brought back to reality by Aria’s words, Leona jerked upright. She hurriedly adjusted her clothes and climbed off him. Her cheeks burned red at the sight of Aria chuckling.

“So? Does he really seem to be asleep?”

“Y-yes. He’s definitely asleep.”

Fortunately, Aria didn’t seem inclined to press further. Leona nodded vigorously, unable to admit that she had been too distracted to properly check.

Having completed their verification, the two began to carefully observe the sleeping Mira again.

“He seems to be sleeping really deeply, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah…”

The reason Leona and Aria had come to Mira’s room was because of Sylvia. She had advised them to barge into his room, share the same bed, and observe his reactions.

If there was a reaction, that would be ideal, but even if not, he seemed to have some basic attraction to them, so they might at least make him conscious of them.

The best outcome would be if he showed desire rather than just a reaction, but neither of them had expected that much to begin with, so it was fine either way.

“Well… Mira doesn’t usually show his emotions anyway.”

Leona had never seen Mira display any sexual desire.

Even when Senior Priscilla would engage in skinship that could hardly be called appropriate in front of others, even then…

‘Pain too…’

Leona paused as she recalled past memories.

When they faced the Demon King, or when they went to hunt the dragon called Mahvatra, Mira had always remained composed no matter how badly he was injured… but those were memories she never wanted to revisit, regardless of his composure.

There was nothing good about recalling the image of Mira so severely wounded.

“Hmm… is that so?”

Aria tilted her head with a finger on her cheek. She was so cute and charming that even another woman’s heart would skip a beat.

“Then shall we just sleep here tonight? Both of us.”

“Huh, what?”

As if determined to follow through with what she’d said, Aria lay back down beside Mira, causing Leona to fluster.

“Are you really going to sleep here? Next to Mira?”

“It’s not like we’re going to do anything strange, right? And he won’t do anything strange to us either. Actually, it would be better for us if Mira did do something strange, so what’s the problem?”

“…”

Unable to argue that it wouldn’t be good, Leona hesitated. Aria added with a giggle:

“Why, were you planning to do something strange to Mira? Should I leave? I can go sleep in your room?”

“Of course not!”

“Then it’s settled?”

It was simple logic, but Leona was completely convinced by that simple reasoning. Perhaps she never had any strong intention to refuse in the first place. Or maybe she just needed an excuse to share the same bed.

Leona gently lay down next to Mira and pressed close to his arm. She felt as if she could smell Mira’s scent. Trying to divert her increasingly strange thoughts, she spoke to Aria.

“…It was quite unexpected, by the way.”

“Hmm? What was unexpected?”

“That you’d come here together.”

“Ah.”

Of course, Sylvia had only advised her own daughter, Leona. No matter how playful Sylvia’s personality was, she wouldn’t meddle in another family’s daughter’s affairs.

Aria smiled, slightly raising her upper body to look down at Leona.

“Say, Leona. Do you believe in fate?”

“Me? Hmm… I suppose I do believe in it.”

From an ordinary country girl to becoming a hero—that could be considered fate, if anything. It was a bit ambiguous to fully affirm, though.

“But why do you ask?”

Aria didn’t immediately answer Leona’s question. Instead, her blue eyes sparkled as she displayed not her usual cute smile, but an incredibly seductive and beautiful one.

A breeze blew in, making her short golden hair that reached her shoulders flutter, and the reflected moonlight melted into her golden eyes. After a brief silence as they both gazed down at Mira, Aria spoke:

“Because I believe in fate.”