Chapter 11: What is love?
by fnovelpia
Chirp, chirp.
I opened my eyes to the sound of birds chirping.
My head hurts.
“Did I drink too much…?”
Now that I think about it, I really drank like a madman.
But I couldn’t help it.
The beer from this other world, blessed by the god of alcohol, tasted so good it felt like a whole new world.
‘How could I resist that?’
…Just thinking about it makes me want to drink again.
“Sigh…”
“If the beer is this good… I bet the other drinks would be amazing too…”
[In the world of <Prophecy RPG>, where the god of alcohol exists, a wide variety of drinks can be found.]
“Wine probably tastes great too… I’d like to try mead… maybe even some monster-infused liquor… or the elves’ drinks…”
At this point, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do a drinking world tour.
…Just thinking about it made me laugh.
Squish!
I felt something soft.
“Hehe…”
“I like you, Master…”
A soft sensation enveloped my body.
“Huh?”
Startled, I turned my head.
Then, I saw Ria clinging to me with a goofy smile.
Up to this point, it was fine.
Sharing a bed with a woman was already problematic enough.
But if it was just this much, I could somehow manage.
However, there was another problem.
‘Why is she naked…?’
That was the problem.
Ria, lying next to me, was completely naked.
‘What the…? What happened last night?’
I desperately tried to recall.
The grilled orc meat was delicious, and the beer was so good that I kept drinking.
Ria was also downing beer like water.
And then…
‘Um…’
‘I don’t remember?’
Crap.
I drank too much and made a mistake.
We were both drunk and ended up in bed together.
‘Had a passionate night…’
‘Wait.’
I’m still wearing pants.
I took off my top, but at least I was still wearing my pants.
‘Does that mean we didn’t do anything?’
‘If we’d done something inappropriate, I wouldn’t be wearing pants.’
Wearing pants is proof that nothing happened.
‘No marks or traces either.’
‘If we’d done something, there would be some sort of evidence.’
The scent of flowers at night, a sticky feeling, or something that leaves an uncomfortable residue.
But there was nothing.
No traces at all.
Proof that we didn’t do anything.
‘Phew…’
‘That’s a relief…’
‘Just sleeping naked next to Ria is already a huge problem, but if we just slept, I can deal with it.’
…Thinking that, I tried to put on my clothes.
But Ria was holding onto me tightly.
“You’re awake.”
“Hehe…”
“Hehe? What’s with the ‘hehe’!”
“If you’re awake, put some clothes on!”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why!”
“A grown woman shouldn’t show her naked body to someone else!”
“Why ‘someone else’?”
“Master is my husband.”
“???”
“My mom said so.”
“It’s okay to be naked in front of family.”
Ria said with a smile.
“It’s okay for Master to see.”
“??????”
For a moment, my mind went blank.
‘What?’
‘Since when am I her husband?’
‘When did we get married?’
‘Don’t tell me…’
‘Did I drunkenly say something stupid about marriage?’
I asked cautiously.
“My mom said so.”
“If you sleep together in bed, you’re a married couple, and you’ll have a baby.”
Ria said with a bright smile.
“Master.”
“Do you think our baby will be a boy or a girl?”
For a moment, I pondered.
‘So, just because we slept together in bed, she thinks we’re married?’
‘Goddess of Light Serena.’
‘Just how did you handle teaching your daughter about this?’
…I thought about it seriously.
“Ria.”
“Yes?”
“Sleeping together in bed doesn’t make you a married couple.”
“Wh-what?! No?”
“No.”
“But… but…”
“But Mom said…”
“What did she say?”
“She said if you find a man you like, you should drag him to bed first…”
“Then let the man handle the rest…”
“When you wake up, you’re married… and you’ll have a baby…”
Not entirely wrong.
[In the <Prophecy RPG> world, marriage is quite simple. Once both confirm their love and share physical affection in bed, it’s done. The next morning, they’re considered a married couple. That’s the wedding.]
[Nobles tend to have extravagant weddings, but commoners don’t have that luxury. Spending the first night together is enough to be considered married.]
So, by the standards of this world, what we did was practically a wedding ceremony.
However, something important was missing.
…As I was about to say that, Ria blinked and asked.
“Something important?…”
“Huh? What is it?…”
“Um…”
‘Wait a second.’
Should I really explain this myself?
‘Since Ria is an adult, is it okay to explain?’
I hesitated for a moment.
“Hmm…”
“Just say it.”
‘What even is sex education?’
‘It’s teaching you how to have proper sexual relations, right?’
So, I explained everything.
Thinking of her as a completely clueless, pure human, I carefully explained each detail.
“Got it now?”
“Yeah!”
“You also understand that we’re not a married couple, right?”
“Yeah!”
“Good.”
“Then, if we aren’t a married couple because we haven’t done the important thing…”
“I know that doing the important thing makes us a couple!”
Ria said while clinging to me.
“Hey!”
“I already explained what that means!”
“Yeah!”
“So, let’s do it!”
“What the hell are you saying, you crazy girl!”
“Didn’t I tell you several times that both marriage and sex should be approached cautiously?”
“I did think it through carefully!”
“If you really thought it through, you wouldn’t be trying to do it!”
“No!”
“You’d make a great dad, Master!”
“No way! Absolutely not! Get away from me!”
“Master!”
“Let’s make a baby!”
Wow…
The magic spell they taught in Korean sex education classes to fend off sex offenders isn’t working.
So, I tried a different spell.
“Lady Serena, Goddess of Light!”
“Your precious daughter is about to pounce on an innocent man!”
“Please help! Help! SOS!”
“Mom would support me!”
“If you find a really good man, just go for it—that’s what Mom taught me!”
‘Ah.’
‘So, that’s what her mom taught her.’
‘Of course.’
‘If it’s the words of the Goddess of Light Serena, I guess I have to listen…’
***
As I was thinking that, I found a loophole in Ria’s logic.
“Ria.”
“Yeah!”
“Did your mom say this?”
“If you meet a guy you really like, just drag him to bed.”
“Yeah!”
I could roughly guess what had happened yesterday.
Ria dragged my drunken self into the double room, assuming we would get married after spending the night together.
Well…
I’ll think about that part later.
The important thing is this.
“She also said this.”
“Once you drag him to bed, leave the rest to the man.”
“Oh!”
Ria suddenly calmed down.
“Master!”
“Here!”
“I’ll leave the rest to you!”
With a bright smile, Ria spread her arms wide.
So, I did what I wanted.
“Put on your clothes, you crazy girl!”
I threw her some clothes.
***
After getting dressed, we came out.
“Ugh…”
“Master rejected me…”
“Ria.”
“This is the right thing to do.”
“Why?”
“Marriage is something you do with someone you truly love.”
“You don’t even feel that way.”
“I do…”
“I really like you…”
“Liking and loving are different.”
“They are?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re different.”
Ria doesn’t love me.
She just wants to be around me, and she just wants to play with me.
She didn’t propose marriage to the man she loves, she just wanted to hang out with a good friend.
…I explained that to her.
“Aren’t they the same thing?”
“If you think friends and boyfriends are the same, you’re already out.”
“But they’re both friends.”
“No, they’re different.”
“What’s different about them?”
“When you meet someone you truly like, you’ll understand the difference.”
“But I really like you, Master!”
Ria pulled me into a hug, looking into my eyes.
“Ria.”
“Yeah.”
“If you truly loved me, the moment our eyes met, your face would turn red, and you’d look away.”
“But you’re looking at me straight on.”
“Huh?”
“That’s proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“Proof that you don’t truly love me.”
“How is that proof?”
“It just is.”
In the <Prophecy RPG>, one of Ria’s signature reactions when falling in love is blushing and avoiding eye contact.
So, the current Ria doesn’t know what love is.
Thinking that, I rented a carriage.
“A carriage?”
“We’ll take a carriage to the next city.”
A carriage.
It’s a mode of transportation that’s faster than walking to the next town.
Here are the types:
[Standard Carriage]
The most affordable and typical carriage.
[Express Carriage]
Faster than the standard but more expensive.
[Magic Carriage]
Moves extremely fast using magic but is the most expensive.
The carriage we’ll be using is the <Magic Carriage>.
The horses are enchanted for increased strength, and the carriage is magically lightened for maximum speed.
Though it costs a lot, it’s the best for saving time.
“Yeah!”
“We should arrive around evening, so just read the guidebook until then.”
“Okay!”
Ria took out the guidebook I made for her and started reading.
I took out a beginner’s magic book.
“When it comes to fantasy, it’s all about magic.”
Thanks to Kain, I can use fire and water magic, but I can’t use any other magic yet.
So, I’m taking this chance to learn all elemental magic.
Meanwhile, Ria was deep in thought.
‘Why do people blush and look away when they meet the gaze of someone they love?’
Mom never did that.
[My dear~]
[Mom really, really loves you~]
Though Mom loved me sincerely, she never blushed or looked away when we made eye contact.
‘Then…’
‘Was Mom’s love not real love?’
‘That can’t be right…’
‘Then…’
‘Does love mean something different for Mom and Master?’
‘Is that how it is?’
‘If they mean different things, In what way are they different?’
‘It’s so confusing…’
For Ria, who had never experienced friendship or love, It was too difficult to understand.
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