Ch.346Side Story: Alcohol and Sleep

A refreshing scent tickles my nose.

Every time Deia’s hair sways gently, her fragrance washes over me, triggering something addictive inside.

She had her legs on my thighs, but now she turned around and approached me.

She plopped her head on my thigh and subtly snuggled into my arms, looking just like a cat.

“What are you doing right now?”

Looking down at her from above, I asked, and Deia answered with an unwavering voice.

“It’s a lap pillow. I’ve done this before, so what’s the problem?”

I do remember doing it occasionally in the carriage.

“Put on proper clothes first.”

“It’s my room, so why does it matter?”

Our conversation runs in parallel lines.

I rub my eyes firmly and sigh, feeling a fatigue that shouldn’t be possible with this artificial body.

A stirring sensation from below.

Before I knew it, Deia had climbed onto my thighs and was staring at me intently.

“Mmm.”

Erika, sleeping beside me, let out a faint breath but didn’t wake up.

Because she’s tightly holding my left hand, afraid I might go somewhere, it’s difficult for me to move freely.

Taking advantage of this situation, Deia places her hands on both my shoulders and stares at me blankly.

I silently met her gaze, but her response was sharp.

“Huh, what are you looking at?”

I can’t just blame it on the alcohol.

“Your face.”

“What?”

“Your face is red. If you want to hide your embarrassment, you need to do better.”

“Ugh!”

Deia hurriedly placed her hands on her cheeks. Even though she tried to act nonchalant, I could see she couldn’t hide the burning sensation.

Instead, I could maintain my composure even more.

“Move aside now. Don’t act in ways that don’t suit you just because of some strange stubbornness.”

“It doesn’t suit me?”

“No matter how close siblings are, sitting on your brother’s lap dressed like that is something you shouldn’t do.”

There was a chill in my voice that surprised even me. However, this couldn’t be helped.

Even if Deia hadn’t sorted out her feelings for me yet, those are feelings she shouldn’t have.

Even if this wasn’t Deus’s body, I’m still her brother.

I warned her with that meaning, but…

“You’re… my brother?”

Deia seemed upset as she raised her hands from my shoulders to grab both my cheeks.

She applied some force, and even though I wanted to pull away, one hand was caught by Erika, and the other wasn’t strong enough.

“How are you my brother?”

“…”

“You’re Shinwoo Kim, not Deus Verdi. Right now, we’re not connected by blood, and we don’t even share the same surname.”

“Deia, you know how much those words hurt me.”

When I answered bitterly, Deia’s eyes trembled. The joy I had felt about having a new family seemed small now.

But.

“You… bastard. What about me? What am I supposed to do?”

“…”

“I hated all men. I thought I’d spend my life buried in work with the family.”

It wasn’t just a simple tremor.

Deia’s sobbing unconsciously made my head ring and my thoughts stop.

“You bastard… it’s my first time. The first time I’ve wanted to be close to someone, to be with them. It’s my first time.”

Deia brought her forehead against mine with a thud. The trembling from her fingertips transmitted through my cheeks.

“How much you value family? I know that all too well. I was happy to have a proper brother too.”

Deia’s eyes were moist as she slowly met my gaze. The desperate plea in her eyes was truly heavy.

“Then you should have stopped there. Why did you come in deeper? Why did you make me open my heart?”

“…”

“We could become family in a different way too, right?”

Slowly.

Very slowly, Deia’s lips approached.

As if asking for permission, her hands holding my cheeks slightly lifted my face to make our lips meet.

Smooch.

“…”

Deia’s eyes widened.

Her expression contorted as she saw my finger between her lips and mine.

“I can’t do that.”

“Ha, haha.”

Even though I rejected her kiss, Deia didn’t let the tears in her eyes fall.

The tears that hung there as if suspended were truly pitiful, but…

“Even if you don’t accept it, I’m your brother. This kind of relationship isn’t right.”

“…”

“Meet many people. There are much better people out there than someone like me. Right now, you’re mistaking your feelings because I’m the only man close to you.”

“I… see.”

As if she had given up.

Deia’s hands slipped from my cheeks. I thought she would get off me, but…

She suddenly grabbed my right hand, which had been blocking her lips, with both hands and pulled it down.

And then came the kiss.

My eyes widened at the sudden situation as I looked at Deia.

However, contrary to me, Deia had her eyes tightly shut and was trembling.

Even though I tried to push her away and twist my body, it was difficult to struggle due to Erika beside me and Deia’s weight.

My right hand was firmly held by her, so I couldn’t move it.

I tried to resist somehow, but the kiss continued.

“Phew.”

Deia, who seemed unable to breathe from tension, looks at me with a flushed face while catching her breath.

“That was my first kiss.”

“Deia…!”

I was genuinely about to get angry, but the tears that had been hanging in her eyes finally rolled down her cheeks.

“Tomorrow.”

Deia said as she slowly moved away from me and turned around.

“I’ll go to the arranged meeting.”

* * *

The next day.

Originally, I should have gone straight home, but for some reason, I found it strangely difficult to leave.

“Hmm hmm.”

So I was spending some time in Professor Per’s empty research lab.

“Here you go!”

Professor Per approached with her pink hair fluttering and offered me tea. Since I couldn’t taste anything with this artificial body anyway, I drank it without much thought.

“You seem excited.”

When I asked Per, she was startled, brought both hands to her chest, looked at me, and then awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

“Yes, it reminds me of the old days. I have many pleasant memories of the time we spent together with the professor…”

It was quite bustling with Findenai, Owen, and Illuania around.

I always thought she was easily swayed by the flow, but if she remembered those times fondly, I was grateful.

“Oh, by the way, did you know? I heard Owen is taking tests from the bishops to inherit the position of Spiritmaster.”

“Is that so?”

Living in a remote area of the Republic of Clark with no signs of people, news naturally reached me slowly.

So Owen is finally following in my footsteps.

It wasn’t a bad feeling.

Even if I couldn’t help, I could at least cheer him on in my heart.

“Yes! They say the capital is buzzing with talk about Owen. Hehe, I feel proud even though I didn’t do much for him. It feels like just yesterday when he was practicing here.”

Per had a contented expression, perhaps recalling Owen doing odd jobs in the lab and practicing with the melodica.

“He’ll do well.”

“I’m sure he will! I’d like to help if there’s anything I can do!”

In the midst of our conversation…

When lunchtime came, Erika opened the lab door and entered. She seemed to have rushed here as her breathing was a bit heavy, but a faint smile formed on her lips when she saw me.

She must have been worried that I might have left while she was conducting her lecture.

“You’re… still here.”

“I said I would be.”

“Thank goodness.”

Erika, who was trying to hide her grin by pulling her lips inward, strode towards me.

“Let’s go quickly, I’ve made a reservation at a restaurant.”

“A restaurant?”

“Yes, let’s hurry.”

At that moment, Per raised her hand beside us.

“Ah! Me too…!”

“Hmm?”

Erika’s expressionless face returned, that of a professor and Mage. As her cold gaze shot out, Professor Per awkwardly smiled and exclaimed:

“I should go eat too! I’ll have the school cafeteria food today!”

Whether she was quick-witted or slow, Professor Per seemed to sense the danger and naturally changed the subject before leaving the lab first.

“…She could have eaten with us.”

“Are you serious? Then I think we’d need to prepare another artificial body?”

Crack.

Erika loosened her hand and subtly gathered golden mana in her right hand.

Even if I tried to pretend it wasn’t a threat…

“That’s just a threat.”

At my words, Erika covered her mouth and chuckled.

“You’re right, it is a threat.”

Then she took my hand and headed straight outside.

Just the two of us going into town already drew attention. Before, it was because I was the Spiritmaster, but now it’s because Erika is a candidate for Grand Mage.

“It’s dangerous to walk around holding hands like this.”

Despite my warning as I was being pulled along, Erika didn’t loosen her grip at all.

“I don’t care.”

“Bad rumors will spread. Already because of me, your former fiancé…”

While she was exceptionally capable and had achieved a lot in other areas, which somewhat buried the issue…

Being engaged to Deus Verdi, who was a great evil, would always be an inseparable label for Erika.

“So what?”

But conversely, Erika showed a bright smile.

“That’s why I like it more.”

The fact that she was Deus Verdi’s fiancée might be something others would gossip about, but not for her—such determination.

If this had been a normal body and not an artificial one, it wouldn’t have been strange for my heart to race at those words.

“Don’t worry about others. When I thought I had lost you, I realized.”

That other people aren’t important.

Following Erika’s words, we headed to a rather upscale restaurant.

I thought it wasn’t a bad place, but I can’t taste anything anyway.

I figured I’d just sit across from Erika and drink water, and Erika probably knew that too, but…

The moment we entered, I understood why she had forcibly brought me here.

“Umm!?”

Deia’s eyes, who was drinking water at a distant table, widened.

She barely managed to stop herself from spitting out the water. The man sitting across from her, her arranged date, handed her a handkerchief with concern.

“Erika?”

Despite my confusion, she forcibly seated me at the reserved table and then smiled brightly.

“You were worried, weren’t you?”

“…”

“That’s why you didn’t go back. Findenai must be furious.”

She must be raging, saying I stayed out all night. She might have even ruined the vegetable garden.

“You’re her brother, so use dating me as an excuse to keep an eye on Deia.”

The devoted woman rests her chin on her hand and looks at me with a pleasant smile.

Just as I was about to express my gratitude…

“Yesterday, she looked…”

Erika’s smile takes on a bitter tinge.

“She looked sad.”

“Erika?”

When I called her name with a doubtful heart, Erika avoided my gaze and muttered:

“I… I didn’t even drink that much.”

I see.

I thought she was holding my left hand a bit too tightly.