Chapter 234: Milia (2)

“Is time travel even possible?”

Milia tilted her head at Sylvia’s question. She looked down at Sylvia with a gentle expression and asked back.

“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“Because time travel came up here.”

Sylvia said, unfolding the paper she was reading. The paper was written by some unknown mage from a small magic tower, talking about how getting caught in a mana explosion with a complex circuit could send one to the past or future. Milia scoffed upon reading it and tossed the paper aside.

“Those kinds of stories are just tricks merchants use. They know their stuff doesn’t sell, so they write outlandish tales that might pique the interest of non-experts.”

“So, is everything written in there a lie?”

“Hmm? Probably so?”

“Ah…”

Even without Sylvia saying it aloud, Milia could tell she was disappointed. She gently stroked Sylvia’s cheek and said,

“It’s good for mages to be curious, but it’s not good to get interested in things outside your field of study. Especially for mages just starting advanced theory, it’s easy to end up finding your current studies boring.”

Sylvia stomped her feet with a look of regret, then unfolded another document and asked,

“Then is this here also a lie? It says there were instances where people claiming to be time travelers appeared hundreds of years ago. There’s even a story about a woman who suddenly appeared in the capital square, asked for the time and year, and then ran away screaming.”

Milia simply laughed as she read those accounts. A mage with centuries more experience than Sylvia wasn’t swayed by mere paper documents. She neatly folded the paper, put it in her desk drawer, then took Sylvia’s hand and said,

“She could have just been a crazy person. You know, even now, if you go out on the street, there are people claiming the Hero is coming on a white horse?”

“But that’s real! Our Evan-nim is going to become a great Hero and go with us to the capital!”

Milia blinked for a moment upon hearing Sylvia’s statement, then pointed to her chest and asked,

“A white horse?”

“Yes!”

“…..Even so, I don’t think he would have made such a vulgar prophecy…”

Milia said that with a confused expression, and Sylvia replied with an even brighter one.

“No! Evan-nim is the Hero! The white horse must surely refer to me and the other ladies!”

“…..Then what exactly is he riding?”

Sylvia, who had been jumping excitedly, suddenly blushed and avoided Milia’s eyes.

“Th-That… I can’t say it here.”

“……I wonder if people won’t see Evan as a Hero, but as a demon of lust.”

Sylvia’s eyes sparkled again as she said,

“Can’t he be both?”

“Hmm… I wonder if that’s possible?”

Milia watched her bright demeanor with a fond smile, saying only that she didn’t know. Milia turned her head towards the hallway, listened intently, and shook her head. She closed her book and said,

“Sylvia. Let’s call it a day here and rest for a bit.”

“Ah, yes.”

Milia closed her eyes and said,

“I think Evan is coming? I hear footsteps.”

“Ah, you’re right. Those are Evan-nim’s footsteps.”

Sylvia nodded, and a knock sounded. A short, fast, and light knock. Evan had been deliberately modulating the intensity of his knocks ever since he realized Lilith’s knock sounded ominous.

“Milia. Are you inside?”

Sylvia nodded, and Milia said with a smile,

“Oh, Evan. What brings you here? Do you perhaps want to learn magic?”

Evan didn’t react to the joke. He hesitated for a moment, then said in a slightly lower voice,

“……There’s something we need to settle.”

Milia got up and opened the door. Her smiling face held a strange mix of anticipation and excitement. Was it the joy of finding a strong man? Or perhaps a deeper affection than that? Milia’s feelings, which Evan would never know, subtly flowed into her movements.

As the door opened, Evan unconsciously took a step back. Milia looked down at Evan slightly and said,

“Evan. So, what is it you want to talk about? I don’t really understand when you say ‘something to settle’.”

Evan thought she was pretending not to know what he meant. Evan gestured towards his room.

“Let’s go to the room first.”

The room with the plush bed. Milia knew very well what Evan usually did in that room. This was because Evan wasn’t the type to refrain from sex just because there were other women in the house. He was the kind of man who flirted with women every day, and sometimes even pulled down his panties while saying ‘Let’s go to the room’ right in front of Milia.

“Okay.”

And Milia readily offered her hand and moved towards the room. Realizing a beat later that Milia wanted him to take her hand, Evan awkwardly clasped hers. The two walked down the short hallway like that. It was like a bride and groom spending their wedding night, or perhaps like strangers on a mixed-gender trip sharing a room without trusting each other.

*****

“You live surprisingly neatly. I thought I’d smell a strong masculine scent the moment I walked in.”

“When you live in a messy place for a long time, you start to pursue neatness.”

Evan was the type to pursue neatness. Milia said with a bright smile.

“That’s cool. So, Evan, what did you want to talk about?”

Evan took a deep breath at her words. It was a conversation that had to happen eventually, but it felt awkward trying to bring it up so suddenly. Milia stared at Evan with wide eyes, wearing a low-cut, tight-fitting dress. She was deliberately leaning forward as if to seduce him, and her smooth breasts, large in size, overwhelmed Evan.

Evan, unable to tear his eyes away from her chest, said,

“What do you want to do with me?”

“….Asking a woman that question will just make her hate you?”

Milia tried to brush it off with another joke. Faced with her evasive attitude, Evan spoke in a slightly firmer tone.

“You know this isn’t a matter to be glossed over with jokes like that. Both you and I lead our own factions, after all.”

“…..Right. It was something we definitely had to settle eventually.”

Milia nodded as she said that. Then, she leaned sideways on the bed, rubbing a pillow with her fingers. Evan said,

“I think this is a matter that can only be settled now. What do you want to do with me? Did you really come this far trusting me because of that… marriage promise?”

“Our Evan is still not very demonic.”

Milia said that and straightened up again. Her lovely dress clung to her body, revealing her curves and seducing Evan, while the smile on her face and her faint, knowing eyes stirred his desire. Milia faced Evan and said,

“Evan. I always… say I believe in love and justice, but still, I think we need to clearly decide how we should appear to others. For example, who ranks higher between the two of us. And what the hierarchy is among our subordinates. You know, those complicated issues.”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to say.”

Evan said to Milia, who was circling him like a chick. Milia nodded and said,

“Right. But, Evan, your way of speaking is still not demonic enough. Demons, you see. They don’t have these bothersome conversations when it comes to things like this. It’s about establishing rank, isn’t it? Evan. You and I are here as leaders of demonic factions. Before we’re allies sailing in the same boat to defeat the Hero, we’re in a kind of competitive relationship, a relationship of eat or be eaten.”

Milia said that and unbuttoned her dress. As her arm moved fluidly, there was a sound like the ticking second hand of a clock. In the time it took to snap her fingers a few times, her soft clothing cascaded down along her body’s contours like a waterfall.

Evan couldn’t help but hold his breath at the stark nakedness unfolding before his eyes. Milia stood naked before Evan, her face flushed, barely covering her breasts and private parts with the falling fabric. Evan couldn’t tear his gaze away from between her legs, visible through the thin fabric, and her faintly protruding nipples.

Still in that state, Milia kissed Evan’s neck, then lightly licked his ear.

“Hoo…”

Evan already felt his cock hardening. Milia’s voice was soft and sweet, like a hypnotist’s.

“Evan. This is how demons talk when it comes to things like this…”

Milia’s voice echoed in his ear.

“They say… ‘I challenge you to a sex battle.'”