Ch.229Duel (6)

When Melody opened her eyes, she felt no pain.

However, her memories were full of holes, and she couldn’t understand why she was lying neatly in this bedroom.

‘A bedroom… right?’

She traced her last memory. In it, she had collapsed, unable to withstand the continuous lovemaking.

Even as she collapsed, the pleasure hadn’t subsided. If she had to guess, Llewellyn probably continued to use Melody even after she had fainted and lost consciousness.

It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. A somewhat proud feeling. Melody shrugged her shoulders and focused on the intense warmth she felt beside her.

She thought it was Llewellyn. She tried to embrace her lover’s arm, but—

“…Ugh.”

She stiffened after flinching from the fierce pain in her waist. A powerful pain that made her eyes widen, even though they couldn’t see anyway.

Moreover, as she became aware of it, the pain spread. It traveled up her waist, through her spine, filled her pelvis, and reached her groin. Melody unconsciously swallowed a gasp and gritted her teeth.

It stung. It hurt. It throbbed as if she had twisted something, and it was incredibly painful when she tried to apply pressure.

But she couldn’t help applying pressure. Her groin felt as if it had been torn apart.

Melody’s brain was weak in the morning, so she failed to recall the obvious fact that one shouldn’t touch an injured area.

She brought her hand to her groin but had to swallow a scream that escaped with a “heek.”

It hurt. Terribly so. The stinging pain that swept through felt like being grated with a grater.

Of course, it wasn’t really like that, and probably didn’t even reach that level of pain.

Melody’s eyes rolled around, filled with tears.

‘Am I bleeding? It feels like I am. Ugh, it stings. It hurts.’

With a sniffle, unconsciously swallowing her tears, Melody realized she shouldn’t touch it anymore to reduce the pain.

Quietly keeping her legs still to avoid straining her groin, Melody buried her head in her forearm.

She hoped Llewellyn would comfort her like a proper lover and make a fuss asking if she was okay. After all, they had exchanged such intense passion last night.

There’s no way he wouldn’t. She was certain, but—

Silence. Or rather, not even the slightest movement. Melody slowly reached out her hand and touched the forearm.

It was thin. Not Llewellyn’s thick, muscular forearm. Melody’s pupils shook violently beneath her eyelids.

Then who was this? From the thin forearm that anyone could tell belonged to a woman, Melody slowly moved her hand to trace the outline.

Moving inward from the forearm. She could feel the armpit, but there was no hair. That alone wouldn’t be concerning, but already at the armpit, there was an enormous presence.

What’s commonly called the side breast. The softness touching her hand was considerable. A softness impossible without the mass to support it.

It could even be described as embracing, maternal. Melody touched the breast with a sense of disbelief.

A breast so full it overflowed her hand. The enormity, incomparable to Melody’s modest ones, was there with a familiar fullness.

Following that breast downward. There was sweat that had accumulated during the night under the breast, and passing that underbreast to reach the waist, she felt a sensual waist that was somewhat thin but not skinny.

No belly fat, but pleasantly voluptuous. Melody stopped her hand when she reached the lower body, beyond the skin that felt damp.

Now there was no need to check anything else. As Melody withdrew her hand, her fingertips touched hair.

Long, thin hair with good texture. Straight hair. Probably black.

‘Big sister.’

Lucilla. The Guardian General, the Annihilator, and a wanton woman who rolled in bed with her own younger brother and lover, called Llewellyn.

Melody’s unseeing eyes momentarily clouded with negative emotions, but no one noticed.

Even Melody herself didn’t know. As she tried to withdraw her hand—

“Mmm…”

As Lucilla mumbled in her sleep and pulled her in, Melody was lightly drawn into her embrace.

Voluptuous. The sensation of breasts against her cheek was ecstatic. Melody remained still, blankly feeling the weight of the breasts burying her face, while Lucilla breathed softly, holding Melody in her arms.

‘…Where’s Llewellyn?’

She dozed off briefly in that embrace and woke up again. When she awoke, her position hadn’t changed much, and Melody was still in Lucilla’s arms.

A warm embrace that naturally evoked maternal feelings. Despite the negative emotions she had felt earlier, Melody’s expression softened as she rubbed her cheek against Lucilla’s chest.

She felt like being spoiled. It would have been better if it were Llewellyn, but since they were siblings, they were quite similar.

Melody quickly resigned herself, and—

She was startled by the door suddenly bursting open.

“Oh.”

A familiar voice.

Melody desperately tried to pretend she was asleep, but there was no way she could fool Llewellyn with his 24 points in agility.

“Are you awake?”

“…Yes.”

Melody quickly gave up and sighed.

*

“Last night… I was a bit excessive, wasn’t I?”

“Yes.”

“But you enjoyed it, right?”

“No.”

“…Really? I tried pretty hard.”

Melody couldn’t walk.

It wasn’t a permanent injury, but at least for now, she couldn’t walk.

She couldn’t even be carried on his back. Her groin was excessively sore, and her waist felt dislocated, making even movement difficult.

The few available methods were the “princess carry” as Llewellyn called it, or the “fireman’s carry” that a friend had once shown her, learned from his father.

Since Melody had adamantly refused the latter when asked for her opinion, Llewellyn had no choice.

Llewellyn walked while carrying Melody. Though Melody couldn’t see, she felt good being carried like this, as if she were being shown off.

“Actually, I did enjoy it. I cried because it was too rough, but I believe you’ll be gentler next time.”

“…I’ll try.”

This was the most uncertain Llewellyn she had ever seen. Melody decided to think it was because she was that attractive.

‘To think it would be resolved so easily.’

Even when he was helping her dress earlier, he was so attentive when she said it hurt. Melody chuckled, thinking she should have pounced on him sooner, but—

She quieted down, concluding that she wouldn’t have had the courage anyway.

As Melody grew quiet, all that could be heard was the sound of footsteps on the grass.

Walking in silence wasn’t bad. Melody unconsciously hummed a tune, and the magic contained in that humming spread gently, urging Llewellyn’s steps.

Thinking this wasn’t so bad and that she should suggest going for walks together occasionally—

“Hey, Melody.”

Llewellyn suddenly spoke.

“Yes?”

“It’s a bit out of the blue, but there’s something I want to ask.”

His voice was unusually troubled.

“Sure. If it’s within the range of my knowledge…”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s about knowledge. Anyway, I do need advice.”

This ambiguous speech was unlike Llewellyn. Melody tilted her head in confusion, and feeling Llewellyn’s gaze, she smiled unconsciously.

She could guess what it might be. After what they did yesterday, he might be asking what they would do if she got pregnant.

That’s probably what he wanted to ask. She thought so and preemptively said:

“I’m fine with it. I don’t think I could find a better husband than Llewellyn, and I’ve always thought I’d marry my first man.”

That’s why she had been so careful in choosing men until now. Her own feelings were important, but even more so was the “investment value.”

She was fortunate to have caught perhaps the most important man in the world. Having his child seemed like it could create the happy family she had dreamed of in the distant past.

“There are issues about how I would regard your sister’s and Isla’s children, what my position would be to them… and various other inheritance matters. Fortunately, the Temple has the most capable financial minister in the world. We’ll manage somehow.”

She smiled, wiggling her legs. If there was any concern—

“Hmm, I am a bit worried about childbirth. I didn’t think about it yesterday because I was being held, but since I’m smaller than Llewellyn… I’m worried I might not be able to deliver well.”

But thinking about how her mother had given birth to Melody, it seemed like it would be fine. So she tried not to worry too much.

It had already happened, and last night alone was more than enough to get pregnant.

It was a future that would come, so all that remained was to wait. She fidgeted with her hands around Llewellyn’s neck and realized he was being unusually quiet.

“So, when will we hold the ceremony? Since your sister and Isla need to be there too, should it be a big one? Though a big ceremony takes longer to prepare…”

“That’s an important matter too, but there’s another important issue.”

A quite definitive and serious tone. Melody tilted her head with her arms still around Llewellyn’s neck.

She could feel Llewellyn’s hesitation. He was clearly hesitating greatly, wondering if it was good to say this.

What could it be? Was he going to say he couldn’t accept Melody after all?

Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes, but she knew Llewellyn wasn’t that kind of person.

If he were that decisive, he wouldn’t have accepted her in the first place. Melody barely contained her emotions that were about to run wild and looked up at Llewellyn.

Though her eyes were closed and her pupils couldn’t be seen, Llewellyn could tell that Melody was waiting.

“The world is going to end.”

“…What?”

Such an unexpected statement. To Melody’s belated question, Llewellyn gave a bitter smile.

A sigh followed the bitter smile, and a lament followed the sigh. Melody knew Llewellyn wouldn’t make such an unfunny joke, yet she was certain that what he had just said was not a joke.

So, it was true?

Melody, who had stiffened, felt her body descending. It felt like Llewellyn was seating her on a suitable stump.

He wouldn’t leave her here, would he? As if sensing the momentary, contextless distrust that arose, Llewellyn was holding Melody’s hand.

A hand trembling faintly. For Melody, it reminded her of last night.

Thinking about it, last night was excessive.

Even for Melody, who had glimpsed his time with Isla, she questioned whether this was normal intercourse.

But due to the intense act, her reason quickly blurred, so she couldn’t object.

She knew there had been something that bothered her.

Melody belatedly pondered this. Llewellyn was clearly anxious.

But why?

How could the world be ending?

Even before the Empire, when the Empire didn’t even have roots, countless disasters couldn’t bring humans to their knees and kill them, so how could he speak so definitively?

As Melody waited for Llewellyn’s words, he massaged her hand and said with a sigh:

“If you want to prevent it, let’s meet once.”

“…Who?”

Someone who could prevent the world from ending, or who had information on how to prevent it. Melody was already thinking of someone, and Llewellyn smiled awkwardly as if he had read her thoughts.

“The Empress.”

She was an unfamiliar existence despite having already heard information about her.

One of the three heads of the three clans, and the transcendent powerhouse presumed to have pushed Llewellyn into the trap of being the God of Night.

“Just the two of us.”

Such a being wanted a private audience with Llewellyn.