Ch.43Comfort (2)

*

Warm and sweet.

Not just her lips, but also the soft tongue entering me, her rough breathing, and even her excited sighs that occasionally escape while our breaths frantically intertwine.

Miss Sylvia was holding my neck and face firmly with her stone-like arms, yet moving carefully as if worried I might feel pain or discomfort.

Her lips carefully parted mine, and very gently, we shared each other’s saliva and breath.

Unlike her firm body, her chest pressed tightly against mine was as soft and pliant as our careful kiss.

In the middle of the soft flesh melting on top of me, something like a firm core tickled my skin slightly.

Already dizzy from just kissing, that sensation was so ecstatic it made me lose my mind, so I tightly embraced her back.

Miss Sylvia slowly pulled away from my lips and caught her ragged breath.

Make me warmer.

Please give me more of that warmth, the warmth that would melt away all these terrible memories and guilt that creep in at the slightest gap.

I tightly grasped Sylvia’s hand, almost pleading.

She, feeling my touch, immediately approached as if about to devour my lips again.

It was a clearly different, greedy kiss compared to the gentle one from earlier.

She firmly pressed her tongue, which had been soft before, and stirred inside my mouth.

Like a dagger, her kiss licked and stabbed thoroughly between my lower lip and front teeth, all the way to the back of my upper teeth, as if imbued with the desire to taste everything of me.

I teased her tongue with the tip of mine, tapping it lightly as if to tantalize her, and accepted everything as she entered.

She slowly moved her lips to my cheek and then began to descend to my neck.

“Ah… mmh,”

I tried to push her away slightly from the unbearable ticklishness, but her firm shoulders felt my resistance and instead pressed me down more, gently scratching my neck with her front teeth.

Perhaps thinking my lips would feel empty, or maybe not wanting to hear even my faint sounds of resistance,

She gently traced my lips with her thumb while slowly pulling her own lips downward.

I felt like I would lose consciousness, swept away by waves of sensation that frantically wandered between ticklishness and ecstasy.

My vision flashed.

I lightly bit Miss Sylvia’s thumb.

Miss Sylvia gently inserted her thumb into my mouth while she moved further down.

Her teeth and tongue lingered briefly on my collarbone.

She lightly held my protruding collarbone between her upper and lower lips.

And then, downward.

Further down.

Her lips slowly descended to my chest.

And her chest was moving down toward my lower body, which had no covering.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Haah… Syl…via…”

Forcibly swallowing my rough breathing that simply wouldn’t calm, I desperately gasped for air and called her name plaintively.

At that moment, she stopped abruptly.

*

While Ash might feel the same, this was also Sylvia’s first experience of this kind.

It felt strange yet peculiar.

Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it might burst, goosebumps covered her skin, and an unidentifiable sensation, both electrifying and ticklish, spread like lightning throughout her body.

A certain sense of fulfillment that stimulated the feeling of being alive slowly colored her mind, making her insanely happy, while simultaneously feeling a thirst that couldn’t be quenched no matter how much she drank, a hunger that couldn’t be satisfied no matter how much she ate.

Though she was clearly looking at Ash, she wanted to look at him more.

Even though they were kissing, she wanted to kiss him more.

Though she loved him, she wanted to love him more.

Every time she brought her lips to his skin to fulfill that desire, happiness poured out like fireworks exploding in her mind, but at the same time, this unfulfilled longing also grew larger.

It felt like pouring water into a bottomless jar.

It’s good.

Rather, it’s good.

If I can never be satisfied no matter what I do, then I can continue doing this.

Because I can share love with him forever.

I hope my mind never gets used to this happiness.

I hope this burning desire of mine doesn’t compromise and retreat at this point.

I want to love Ash forever.

From the moment Ash wanted her and kissed her first, that had been the reason Sylvia’s life had continued until now.

All that training, all those journeys.

From the terrible slaughter committed under the curse, to the decision to imprison herself in this place out of guilt and responsibility.

All that time of asceticism and hardship, sadness and loneliness existed for this very moment.

That’s what Sylvia realized.

Sylvia left Ash’s lips in search of another happiness and stimulation.

Yet not wanting to let go of his lips, she traced Ash’s lips with her finger.

Bewitchingly, Ash lightly licked that thumb.

Her heart pounded violently.

To put it bluntly, Ash was sexy.

She didn’t know if Ash did it knowingly.

Probably not intentionally.

Was it instinct then, or innate?

Ash had an exceptional talent for driving Sylvia crazy.

Is it just me?

Really?

Could all women in this world withstand such a sexy and cute man?

Sylvia was confused about what to do with Ash.

She wanted to kiss him, hug him at the same time, and simultaneously lick every inch of his body.

She was already doing one of those three, but she wanted to do all three at once.

It was so regrettable that she couldn’t do that with just one body.

In the past, Sylvia had sometimes teased Ash by showing her naked body in front of him, or unbuttoning her nightgown to reveal her large breasts to him,

But she realized with her whole body that Ash’s sensuality was on a different level from such one-dimensional seduction.

She couldn’t explain it, but rather than obvious and explicit seduction like exposure, Ash’s expressions, gestures, breathing, and voice were unbearably sexy.

His sensuality made Sylvia’s clumsy attempts at seduction seem like childish pranks that only innocent kids would do.

And in the midst of all this, Ash was even exposed.

He was completely naked without a thread on him.

The sweet scent emanating from his skin was too violent.

Sylvia moved her mouth and nose following the deeper sweet scent.

His neck, collarbone, and further down.

The fatal sweet smell intensified as she went lower.

It felt like her brain was melting.

Down there, a bit further down.

Sylvia knew what was there, where her chest would soon touch.

Though no one had ever taught her, she instinctively knew what to do.

Sylvia slowly descended there.

She wanted to reach between his legs in one go, but she bit her lip and held back.

Because she wanted to hear his increasingly urgent, sexy breathing.

That’s when it happened.

“Haah… Syl…via…”

Ash called Sylvia’s name.

It was almost inaudible, close to a whisper buried in rough breathing, but Sylvia caught and heard that voice.

At that moment, Sylvia stopped all movement.

‘Is this really okay?’

Why does Ash want me?

Until yesterday, I couldn’t even imagine sharing such happiness.

I certainly wanted it, but it still felt so far away.

But why today, suddenly, does Ash call for me with such a plaintive voice, and embrace me with such desperate hands?

The answer was obvious.

Because he couldn’t endure without doing so.

Unlike me, who has lived a life of harsh training and tragedy, he was a boy who had lived an ordinary life.

For him, in the past two months, the most severe trials and tragedies in this world had struck.

He lost his family, lost the little sister he wanted to protect, was trapped in the forest, and nearly lost his life.

His strong spirit, which had steadfastly endured through all those tragedies,

Seems to have been unable to withstand the cruel killing of three innocent people caught up in the curse.

Then, why did Ash kill people?

‘I led him to do it…’

It’s because of me.

It’s because of the curse Sylvia passed on, and because Sylvia led Ash to kill people.

Both indirectly and directly.

In the end, what broke Ash’s strong spirit was Sylvia’s wicked desire.

Until just a moment ago, she was so happy to have gained his heart this way, but now one corner of her heart was stinging.

‘Do I dare… is this really okay?’

Sylvia found herself terribly disgusting for satisfyingly embracing the man she had broken.

Does Ash love me, or did he just need someone to comfort him?

And, do I truly love Ash?

Am I, like Ash, simply wanting him to soothe my loneliness and pain?

No.

Sylvia shook her head.

No matter how much she thought about it, she truly loved Ash.

Because she had never felt such emotions before, she could be even more certain.

Sylvia slowly raised her head to look at Ash’s face.

His face, wet with sweat and saliva, showed no resentment or question about Sylvia’s sudden stop of caresses.

He was just slowly regulating his breath to calm his not-yet-settled breathing.

When Sylvia placed her hand on his cheek, Ash slowly rubbed his cheek against her hand.

When she slightly withdrew her hand, Ash closed his eyes again and slowly caught his breath.

At that moment, Sylvia realized that what Ash wanted was not her, but merely the warmth of another person.

Ah,

I see.

Only then did Sylvia realize the nature of this unfillable thirst that had settled in one corner of her heart.

‘I want to be loved.’

Not this kind of mischief, not him permitting me because he needs comfort.

The kind of love where Ash wants me just as desperately as I want him.

Of course, she wanted to devour him right now.

She could tell without looking.

That his thing was already standing firm.

She wanted to grab between his legs right now and lick every corner.

But what would be the meaning of that?

Sylvia smiled dejectedly and self-deprecatingly.

Mixing bodies because one needs comfort, isn’t that no different from being a prostitute?

Time is probably the most abundant thing we two have, so why was I so impatient?

Fiancée?

Didn’t Ash say,

It was merely a verbal promise with the Count who looked after his family, and he had no feelings for her at all, didn’t I hear that clearly?

A woman he can’t meet anymore anyway, why was I so impatient that I made him suffer like this?

Is this, really what a hero should do?

Sylvia suddenly felt a wave of guilt washing over her entire body and couldn’t raise her head, resting her forehead on Ash’s chest.

Just as Ash needed Sylvia to survive, she now absolutely needed Ash to live in this forest.

For Sylvia to continue being a hero, for her to die after living a full life while bearing this curse, she needed him to be her companion.

Ash willingly agreed to that.

But why did she go this far?

Out of greed for Ash, who was already her companion, she abandoned her belief as a hero to protect innocent people.

This was the first moment Sylvia couldn’t be proud of herself.

As sweet as her first love for Ash was, her first disappointment in herself was terribly painful.

Whether knowing Sylvia’s feelings or not, Ash gently patted her head.

Ash felt his chest getting warmer and warmer.

At first, he thought she was licking his chest, but it was a bit different.

“Miss Sylvia… are you crying?”

“…”

Sylvia silently buried her head in Ash’s chest and tightly embraced his waist.

Ash slowly stroked Sylvia’s hair and said,

“It’s okay.”

What could be okay?

Without knowing anything.

Without knowing why you went through such a terrible experience.

Sylvia, suppressing her sobbing voice as much as possible, whispered very softly.

“I’m sorry.”

“…?”

“I’m sorry, Ash.”

“No… I enjoyed it too.”

“That’s not it.”

“…Then?”

Sylvia closed her mouth.

She didn’t have the courage to reveal her sin to Ash.

A hero should be braver than anyone else.

Sylvia clearly heard that at the ceremony when she was officially appointed as a hero.

Ah, Ash.

I… I guess I’m no longer a hero.

Sylvia silently shed tears and tightly embraced Ash.