Ch.247Side Story: Concerns

“……Huh?”

I responded with a slightly confused voice. Olivia was still looking down at me with a bright smile on her face. When our gazes met—her black eyes so similar to mine—I felt my breath catch in my throat.

Did she catch me in the middle of that fantasy just now? Really? Olivia seemed to find my reaction quite amusing, chuckling softly.

“No need to be so surprised, Abel. I just took a little peek at the dream you were having. You kept twitching while you were unconscious, so I was curious about what memories had captured you.”

“……How much did you see?”

“From beginning to end.”

Cold sweat ran down my back. That meant she had seen everything—from the moment she herself shared my semen mouth-to-mouth with Christine, to what Serena and Charlotte did afterward.

I couldn’t begin to imagine how she felt watching herself desperately craving my semen while entangled with other women she supposedly despised.

“Just you alone, Olivia?”

“Oh, come on, you think that’s possible? Of course not.”

“……”

Olivia smiled brightly after shattering my last hope to pieces.

I avoided her eyes. Whatever the situation, the fact remained that the dream I had while unconscious was nothing but an absurd, ridiculous fantasy.

There was no need to ask how they had looked into my dream. These four would certainly know how to do such things. Children who could create entire worlds at will would have no trouble stealing a glimpse of a mere dream.

“It’s okay, Abel. I was actually very happy to see it.”

What was she trying to say now? Anxiety crept up my spine.

“It means you have positions and situations you desire, right? Like having women share your semen between them, or stacking two women together to penetrate them?”

Her voice remained gentle, but each word hit with weight. Since all the acts she just mentioned were positions from my dream, I had nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.

Olivia, who had casually shredded my mental fortitude, leaned down and whispered so only I could hear.

“If that’s what you want, I could create doppelgangers of myself for you to enjoy. Ten or a hundred—as many as you want. What do you think? Doesn’t just imagining it make your lower half burn with desire? Maybe you want to strip me right here and now? I wouldn’t mind.”

“…I don’t have a habit of doing such things outdoors. Besides, you know that wasn’t my conscious will.”

“Of course I know. It was just your subconscious desires manifesting themselves. I’ve always known that the proper, conscious Abel would never do such things. But who knows what you unconsciously desire?”

That was the killing blow. Realizing that anything I said would only disadvantage me, I closed my mouth. Olivia gently caressed my tightly sealed lips with her index finger.

“Abel. Aren’t you curious why you had such fantasies while unconscious?”

“…Are you going to tell me if I am?”

“Why ask such an obvious question? If you’re curious, why wouldn’t I tell you?”

This time she brushed my bangs aside, touching my forehead and the bridge of my nose. In the distance, Serena, Christine, and Charlotte were radiating murderous intent toward Olivia, but they couldn’t approach carelessly.

Given their personalities, they should have been hurling magic, sword strikes, or holy power at us by now, screaming about what nonsense this was.

“Why are they just standing there?”

I casually asked Olivia, who was now stroking my cheek with her palm. She answered as if it were obvious.

“Can’t you tell from the mansion being completely gone?”

“Ah.”

So they’re like that because they already fought and blew away the mansion.

The situation became clear in my mind. It hadn’t been long since I earnestly asked them not to fight, yet they’d growled at each other and ended up like this. They must be keeping their distance because they felt guilty around me.

“After you lost consciousness from the overlapping emotions in their Words, they fought like crazy, blaming each other. Fortunately, they got distracted peeking into your dream—otherwise, space-time might have collapsed.”

I looked around. Stars twinkled brilliantly in the night sky, and the full moon, now slowly descending, still emitted a bright yellow light.

The forest surrounding the mansion looked intact. The weeds and grass covering the ground showed no damage. There were no signs of a fight fierce enough to collapse space-time.

“We’ve already turned back time and restored everything. You won’t find any traces of the fight no matter how much you look around. Except for the mansion—we haven’t restored that yet.”

Olivia spoke first, as if reading my thoughts.

“Why leave the mansion as is?”

“We were distracted watching what dream you were having. Then you woke up, so it got pushed back again. We could do it right away if you want—shall I fix it now?”

“……”

I wasn’t sure whether to be happy about this or not. It gave me chills to think that Serena, Christine, Charlotte, and Olivia had stopped fighting each other to watch that ridiculous fantasy.

Olivia removed her hand from my cheek and spoke.

“You seem to have quite a few questions, Abel. Where should I start explaining? Why you had such fantasies? What happened while you were unconscious?”

“I’ll hear everything anyway, so the order doesn’t matter. But first, let’s change locations. We can’t just keep standing here like this.”

I raised my upper body. Perhaps the aftermath of being swept up in emotions was still lingering, as my heart continued to pound. It was definitely beating much faster than usual.

I beckoned to Serena and Christine, who were fidgeting in the distance, and Charlotte, who stood confidently. Charlotte’s expression showed no hint that she thought she had done anything wrong.

Serena and Christine hurried toward me with small steps, while Charlotte teleported instantly to my side.

I looked around at Olivia, who had risen with me, Serena who was cautiously watching me, Christine who was praying with closed eyes, and Charlotte who had naturally moved to my side.

“So, who’s going to fix the mansion?”

“Let me summarize what you’re saying, Olivia…”

In the reception room of the perfectly restored mansion, I sighed softly after hearing Olivia’s full explanation. Serena and Christine flinched at the sound of my sigh.

Christine sat far away from Olivia, and Serena sat far from Charlotte. It seemed to be an effect of looking into my dream. Not that I had any intention of making them do such things.

Despite trying to distance themselves from each other, they also tried to stay as close to me as possible, resulting in a rather awkward seating arrangement.

“So that dream I had wasn’t a projection of my unconscious desires, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“I only wanted you all to maintain a relationship where you might not be close, but at least wouldn’t fight each other. But because the emotions in Serena, Christine, and Charlotte’s Words were too intense, my emotions were amplified accordingly and manifested as that strange dream?”

“That’s right. Your wish for us not to fight was extremely amplified, and when you lost consciousness, the dream fully reflected those absurdly magnified emotions. If we’re being fair, it’s not your fault, Abel. It’s the fault of those who recklessly used their Words with their emotions.”

Olivia coldly scanned Serena, Christine, and Charlotte one by one. Having no reason to avoid Olivia’s gaze rather than mine, the three met her look head-on.

This was truly fortunate from my perspective. If it had really been my subconscious desire, I wouldn’t have been able to face them again.

‘…Wait.’

While organizing my thoughts, I suddenly felt something off. There was something different from the explanation I’d heard outside.

“Olivia.”

“Yes, Abel. Do you have more questions?”

“Outside, you said it was my subconscious desire. Why is the explanation different now?”

“Oh, that?”

A meaningful smile appeared on Olivia’s lips.

“That was a joke. I just wanted to tease you a little.”

“……”

I silently flicked her forehead. Olivia clutched the spot and made a sad face.

It was just a token punishment anyway, and I should actually welcome her treating me more familiarly like this. It would be even better if Christine or Serena would act this way.

“Well, now I understand why I had that dream. It was content that never actually happened and never will happen, so that’s the end of it. Don’t mention it again.”

After finishing, I gave Serena, Christine, and Charlotte each a glance. Seemingly unable to bear my gaze, Serena slightly averted her eyes, and Christine gently closed hers.

Charlotte, however, boldly met my gaze with a smile.

“So, why did you all fight?”

“I am not at fault, my lord. When I first used my Word, you were still able to endure it sufficiently. But those fools, blinded by jealousy, used their Words without any regard for your well-being. So whose fault is this? Clearly those fools’.”

Serena and Christine turned their heads, seemingly irritated by her words. I gestured for Charlotte to be quiet and lightly restrained Serena and Christine.

I wondered what method I could use to make these three fight less.

Serena and Olivia wouldn’t start trouble unless provoked first, but Christine and Charlotte were the problem—especially Charlotte with her unmatched arrogance.

I could forcefully suppress them using our relationship and focus on punishment rather than rewards to prevent fighting, but I didn’t want that approach.

They had already made significant concessions by accepting my declaration that I wouldn’t choose just one of them but would keep all four by my side.

‘…What should I do?’