Ch.216Side Story: Prepare for Seduction

“Haaah…”

Standing before the massive door separating the mansion’s interior from the garden, I took a deep breath. Just thinking about what I would have to face from now on made tension rise within me automatically.

I checked the bag in my left hand. It was filled with chocolates, a specialty from the city near the forest where I had met Kartina. They were gifts for those children.

Since I’d been away alone for nearly a whole day, it would be good to bring them something.

If they had followed my instructions not to monitor me and hadn’t fought among themselves, I planned to praise them and give these as rewards.

Serena loves sweet things, Christine would like anything I give her, and Olivia always nibbles on chocolate bit by bit.

Charlotte could probably pile up mountains of these mere city specialties if she wanted, but for her, the meaning behind my gift would matter far more than the chocolate itself. So that wasn’t a concern.

No, all of those children would feel that way.

“The number is… good. It’s a multiple of four.”

To avoid the disaster of accidentally giving someone one too few or one too many, I checked the number of chocolates in the bag several times.

Exactly ten pieces per person. Forty in total.

“This should be enough for the scent.”

I cast a recovery spell on myself once more and liberally sprayed expensive perfume all over my body. A subtle fruity fragrance enveloped me.

This wasn’t for my sake, but for Kartina’s.

Who were those children, after all? The same ones who could precisely track down even places I had stayed a day before just by smell, and then fight over telling me not to wander around carelessly.

If something went wrong, they would calmly perform all sorts of bizarre feats that would make you wonder, “How is that even possible?”

If they caught even a whiff of Kartina’s scent on me, there was a high probability they would immediately hunt her down and kill her after terrible torture.

They might maintain a precarious balance of power among themselves because they’re all so strong, but Kartina was different. No matter how she had merged with that otherworldly being, she could never win against those children.

No, it would actually be fortunate if she could simply die.

‘I can’t just leave her like that.’

Kartina decided to wander the kingdom. She no longer needed to belong anywhere. Those fanatics had summoned her by sheer coincidence, she said.

As long as she had human blood as a medium, she could remain in this world without needing any particular faith.

She said that as long as she didn’t do anything foolish like using up all her power from the blood she absorbed here, she would be fine for the next hundred years, so there was no need to worry.

Still, wanting to help her somehow, I gave her my entire money pouch, keeping only enough to buy these chocolates.

I also told her the location of one of my mansions in case she needed a place to stay, saying she could freely take all the assets inside.

By my estimation, the treasures in that mansion would be several times the wealth Kartina had possessed when she was a lord. With no tendency for wasteful spending, she should live quite comfortably with that.

Even the money pouch I handed her when we parted contained an amount that ordinary people wouldn’t see in their lifetime.

That pouch was filled entirely with platinum coins. Charlotte had forced it into my hand when I said I would be going out alone for a while.

Kartina had frozen in shock, uttering a small “Huh?” when she saw the double-digit number of softly gleaming platinum coins.

“Oh, Abel? You’re back?”

While recalling her expression, I heard someone calling me. Turning my head, I saw Olivia approaching with a shopping basket in hand, smiling brightly.

“What’s that basket for?”

“What else? Groceries, of course. Can’t you tell at a glance?”

“But Charlotte should have bought all the groceries already.”

Right after the cooking competition, Charlotte had gone shopping to refill the empty dimensional storage. That was just a few days ago. There should still be plenty of food in the kitchen.

Moreover, I’d been gone since yesterday. There was no reason for those children to prepare meals in the mansion without me, so the contents of the dimensional storage would hardly have diminished.

“The stuff she bought? I threw it all away, of course. You think I’d let Abel eat anything after whatever she might have done to the food?”

Olivia answered that she had discarded all the groceries Charlotte bought as naturally as if I’d asked what was for dinner tonight.

“Are you trying to start another fight with Charlotte?”

“If you knew who started it first, you wouldn’t say that.”

So Charlotte started it.

While I was pondering how to handle Charlotte to reduce her provocations, Olivia had approached close enough to bury her face in my chest.

“Sniiiiiff…”

And she began smelling me.

As Olivia nestled in my arms inhaling my scent, I maintained my composure as best I could. I had done everything possible. Now I could only pray she wouldn’t notice.

I felt anxious about whether Olivia might detect Kartina’s scent, and also whether she would find it strange that I had suddenly used perfume.

Of course, I had prepared explanations for both scenarios, but wouldn’t it be better if she just didn’t notice?

After deeply breathing in my scent for a while, Olivia peeked up at me. With her chin pressed against my chest, her cheeks were pushed up toward her cheekbones.

“Abel.”

“I’m listening.”

“Don’t use perfume anymore.”

“…Why?”

Had she figured out why I did this?

“Why? Because the perfume masks your natural scent.”

Thankfully, she hadn’t. While I was inwardly sighing with relief, Olivia sniffed again.

“This is quite expensive perfume, isn’t it? I can tell just by smelling it. How much did it cost?”

“Um… 20 gold coins? Maybe 30? Something like that.”

Hearing the price, Olivia lightly tapped my chest. It was more like a gentle pat with no strength behind it, just a playful protest.

“Abel. Whether it costs a hundred gold coins or a thousand, it means nothing between us. Why use perfume in the first place? People only use it when they want to hide their scent or make a good impression on someone they’re interested in. You don’t need to hide your scent, and you don’t need to try to make a good impression, so why?”

“But don’t you think the fragrance is nice? I liked it.”

“I prefer your natural scent over this fruity smell. The scent from your body is much sweeter than this perfume. Incomparably so.”

Wait. Doesn’t this mean she thinks I smell? That felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Alright. I won’t use it again. I just bought it along with the city’s specialty chocolates and tried it once. By the way, you all didn’t fight while I was gone, right?”

“We didn’t even run into each other. Why would we meet when you weren’t around?”

That’s a relief then. Having confirmed they hadn’t fought, I took out a box of chocolates from my bag.

“Speaking of which, here’s a gift.”

“Oh my?”

Olivia’s eyes widened. Her gaze was fixed on the chocolate box in my hand. Her slender fingers quickly snatched the box. She turned it over in her hands, examining it with a growing smile.

“I tried a few pieces and they’re delicious. They’re expensive, but definitely worth the money.”

“Thank you, Abel. I’ll enjoy them.”

Olivia hugged the chocolate box to her chest and smiled sweetly. It was an incredibly pure and radiant smile. I thought how nice it would be if she could always be like this.

“Let’s go inside now. It’s odd to just keep standing out here.”

“Yes, Abel. Let’s go in.”

Olivia opened the mansion door while sticking close to my side. Her face was blooming like flowers in full bloom.

I hope she’s not going to brag about being the first one to receive a gift.

“Hee hee hee.”

After parting with Abel, Olivia returned to her room in the mansion, tossed the shopping basket onto the bed, and beautifully displayed the chocolates Abel had given her in her dimensional storage, freezing their time.

There were probably three more identical boxes in his bag, so she wasn’t the only one getting a gift, but she was the first to receive one, and that was enough. Today was a very lucky day.

With a happy smile, Olivia looked at the chocolate box once more before picking up the shopping basket she had carelessly thrown on the bed.

She didn’t want to lie to Abel. But if he noticed now, the sweetness of eating it later would be diminished. Sometimes it’s more delicious to eat something without knowing.

The one being eaten was, of course, Olivia.

With pleasant anticipation, Olivia turned the basket upside down. The groceries inside spilled onto the bed. At the very bottom was a piece of clothing.

“Hee hee hee hee hee.”

She couldn’t contain her laughter. Yes, she had said she would step back for those other girls. She had already had her fill, so she would yield to the virgins this time.

“But if Abel makes the first move, what can I do?”

If he desired her body first, who could possibly object? Olivia had only said she would step back, not that she wouldn’t make Abel aroused.

Humming a tune, Olivia threw off her shirt and skirt, and began trying on her prepared outfit.

It was research on how to appear more seductive without seeming like she was deliberately trying to seduce him.

So, even if it was a bit revealing, it couldn’t be helped.