Ch.326Chapter 326. Evidence Needed

“……Why am I like this?”

Thump.

Thump.

I certainly had no particular thoughts when I entered.

I came in simply out of curiosity when the door opened, without any ulterior motives.

Neither I nor Irene said anything, just keeping our heads down, scanning the floor.

Feeling like I might get caught up in strange emotions if I stayed any longer, I quickly put on a smile and spoke to Irene in a tone trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Sh-shall we head out now? It doesn’t seem like anyone lives here, but someone who manages the place might come… And it’s not our home anymore. Let’s gather what we need and leave quickly.”

After saying that, I hurriedly tried to take a step.

No. To be precise… I tried to take a step. If only someone hadn’t grabbed my wrist from behind.

“…Irene…?”

When I turned my head… Irene was looking at me with her lips tightly pressed together, as if she had made some kind of resolution.

“……”

“Um… wh-what’s… the matter…?”

I deliberately put on an expression of confusion.

But Irene spoke in a strong tone, as if she had no intention of giving me any leeway.

“Swen.”

“Yes?”

“You… know… what I’m… trying to say… don’t you?”

“Uh….”

“You’re smart… so you must know. …Right?”

At those words, my heart went thump, thump again.

Unlike my rational mind, it began beating more fiercely than at any other moment.

I know because I’m smart? No, even an idiot would understand.

What she was implying to me now, what two people, a man and a woman, could typically do in this kind of situation.

We had essentially confirmed our feelings for each other.

I had told her many times. Please wait for me. She had answered many times. She would wait.

So, perhaps it wouldn’t be strange to achieve the “fruition” of love a bit quickly…

I carefully looked at Irene.

Her chest. Of all things, her most powerful weapon that no other woman could match entered my view.

Quite audaciously, I found myself thinking that with that chest alone, the long night would be incredibly enjoyable. I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep. In many different ways.

“……”

We didn’t say anything to each other.

The heat from the dark torch barely giving off light, and the brightness of the moonlight pouring through the window illuminated Irene more beautifully than ever before.

What should I do?

What would be the best thing to do?

Would it be okay for me to… cross the line with Irene?

It’s not like I’d be forcing her, and if she wants it too… then I…

“…I.”

That’s when it happened.

She who never trembled on the battlefield… confessed her true feelings with a trembling voice.

“I’m not feminine like Reika… and I don’t possess the extraordinary beauty like our lord. All I can do… is just… give you… what you want, what men want… I don’t know where to start or how to…”

“…!!!”

I flinched.

I clearly felt something piercing my heart.

“Soon, you will marry Reika. After that, you might meet many other women. Women who are very modest and beautiful like Ioline will constantly court you. Because you’re a wonderful man.”

“In the midst of all that, somehow, Swen, to convey my feelings to you, I… I.”

“I’m… okay with anything… giving you my everything…”

“If I don’t do this, someone as unfeminine as me might not be able to keep you by my side…”

It was strange.

A situation where a beautiful woman like Irene was saying things like “I’ll give you my everything.”

Normally, I would have felt an intense attraction and sexual signals along with the sound of my heart about to burst… to put it crudely, I would have felt crazy with desire.

Apart from my affection for Irene, it was a natural physical response for me as a man to feel a fierce attraction to a woman and to want to “do things” to her.

But what I felt now was clearly different from that.

Pity, and… sadness.

“Irene.”

I approached Irene and embraced her tightly.

To calm her as she flinched slightly, I gently stroked her back.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to do this. I won’t leave you. I won’t look down on you or take you lightly. No matter what moment, no matter who I’m with, I’ve never forgotten for a single moment that you’re always by my side.”

“Swen…”

“I’m truly grateful for those feelings. But I… don’t want Irene to force herself to accommodate me just because she feels desperate, when she doesn’t really want to. You know my feelings well, don’t you?”

“……”

I slowly stroked her hair until Irene, who wasn’t answering, would respond.

It’s okay. You can talk when you want to, as much as you want to… I wished my feelings would be conveyed silently.

Finally, she slowly nodded.

“So, it’s okay even after we get married. When everything is settled, in a more splendid place. It will be an unforgettable day for both of us… let’s prepare nicely and have a day that’s second to none. Okay?”

“…Yes.”

Of course, a night with Irene was an offer I never wanted to refuse.

To be honest, it would be a lie to say I had never imagined defiling her in my mind.

Her overwhelming chest had stirred my manly heart more than dozens of times.

If I followed my desires, I would have wanted to pour all my instincts into her right now.

But I didn’t want it like this.

I wanted to do everything properly with her, in a situation where we could both be at ease.

I didn’t want to take advantage of her anxious feelings… to hastily take her.

That was my true feeling.

Irene seemed to understand my feelings as she slowly looked up at me.

“You… won’t abandon me?”

“No.”

“No matter what happens?”

“No.”

She was usually quite obedient to my words.

I thought she might be reassured now after this much talk, but-

“Proof.”

“…What??”

“I need proof.”

“……”

I thought about pretending not to understand what she meant by “proof.”

But I didn’t want to ignore that either. It was closer to my own will rather than consideration for her.

And so I…

pressed my lips against Irene’s.

“Mmm… mmph.”

Chu, chuup… chubp, chububp.

The vulgar sound of lips rubbing against each other filled the house where we used to laugh and talk.

In the place where we had sweated together, talked about our past and future together… the two of us were only sharing a vulgar stickiness close to instinct.

It was just lips meeting and interlocking… but a thrill I had never felt on any battlefield filled my entire body.

Unlike when I was suddenly taken under the falling flower tree, this time I took my time savoring her tongue.

Irene kept colliding with me intensely.

As if trying to erase all the memories this tongue originally had and dye it completely with her own color, she dug in strongly.

The more we mixed our tongues and exchanged saliva… the presence of Irene within me grew larger and larger, replacing Reika or Serpina who had once crossed my mind.

She made me a man. Similarly, was I making her a woman rather than just a general or knight?

The more I hoped for that, the more I realized.

“Haah…♥”

Finally, we slowly separated our lips.

Drip, saliva flowed down. We were still connected. Even after separating our lips, we were still connected by a string of saliva.

I looked into her purple eyes as she stared at me with a completely flushed face.

Her eyes were as relaxed as if she had been drinking.

As soon as our eyes met, we pressed our lips together once more.

“Mmph… mmph… mmm… mmph… chubp…♥”

An even more vulgar sound than before filled the empty room.

I sucked on her lips, sucked on her tongue, ran my tongue over her teeth… exploring every corner intensely.

When I slightly opened my eyes, I could see Irene focusing on our kiss with a dazed expression.

And I realized.

That only I could see Irene Juliette melting like this.

That the always strict and solemn female knight in front of others becomes just one, no, a female animal in front of me.

Just as I noticed that――

“Irene…?”

“……”

Irene grabbed my arm…

and pushed me backward.

“Huh…?”

Thud!

After stepping back a few steps, I fell onto the bed where we used to sleep.

What?

What’s going on?

Did Irene… push me back?

Before I could even understand what was happening-

“…!!!”

Irene climbed on top of me.

I admit the expression is very strange. But there was no other sentence that could explain this bizarre situation.

“Irene…?”

I uttered in a trembling voice out of surprise… and only then did I notice that my arms were restrained by her.

No matter how much strength I tried to use to move, it was useless.

There was no way I, with my low physical stats, could overcome the strength of a female knight trained on the battlefield.

Irene… was restraining both my arms, on top of me, looking down at me.

‘…?’

I sensed hot droplets falling on my cheeks.

Sweat.

These were Irene’s sweat drops.

The sweat beading on her face or cleavage was falling onto my face.

Her breathing, the soft breasts that inevitably touched my chest due to their enormous size, her purple eyes, face, red hair were all so close that…

‘What… is this?’

Just as I was about to have the foolish thought that I might be devoured by her-

“Swen.”

She finally parted her lips.

“Ye…heh…?”

A very stupid-sounding response came out, but she didn’t comment on it, and with a flushed face, looking straight into my eyes―

“This is the last time.”

“…?”

“Swen… thank you so much for your consideration… I like your kind heart that makes me feel you care for me. Because you’re like that, I truly believe I can trust you more.”

“But.”

“I think… this will be the last time. If, just if――”

――If a similar situation comes again. I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back then.

Only after hearing Irene’s voice did I realize it too.

This is the last time.

If a similar situation comes again, my will would never be able to overcome Irene’s will like today.

No, it wasn’t even a matter of overcoming. When that time comes, both she and I…

―Gulp.

“Understood?”

“What? Oh… y-yes!”

At that moment, what filled my eyes was- her face dyed bright red under the full moonlight, her pressed lips, her two breasts beaded with sweat.

But what caught my eye first before all those things was- her purple eyes. Those eyes that were raised to protect only one person, so loyal and upright, eyes that made me want to protect her.

Only after seeing those eyes first, before her beautiful figure or face, did I newly realize and ask myself inwardly.

Do I… love Irene?

Instead of my brain with 100 intelligence that naturally didn’t answer since it wasn’t directly questioned, I slowly nodded.

I love Irene.

And I will never forget this scene until the moment of my death…

And so, our “night before the final stage” was coming to an end.