Chapter 27 : But we are lovers

There are things in the world that can be taken back, and things that cannot.

And a prime example of something that cannot be taken back is words once spoken.

“Lover?”

The Godmother stammered, her gaze alternating between me and Amiter.

There was quite a height difference between us, so she had to move her head diagonally.

That’s right. We are lovers.

I desperately stared straight ahead, refusing to turn my head.

I didn’t want to endure the gaze I felt from my side.

Perhaps, excuse me, but that…

The Godmother trailed off, glancing down at my lower body.

Even for someone at the top of Reinz, asking about the Duke’s daughter’s preferences and the presence of ‘that’ was extremely rude behavior.

It could even become a political issue.

“What are you glancing at? Of course, I’m a woman.”

‘Though that might not actually be true.’

‘My own gender is like something inside Schrödinger’s box, hard even for me to pinpoint.’

‘Still, my outward appearance is definitely female.’

‘And I identify as female for now.’

“Um, well.”

The Godmother looked at Amiter, extremely flustered.

‘What kind of face is she making right now?’

‘I’ll probably never know what that expression looked like, even until I die.’

“Ah, Ami. Is what she said true?”

“Yes.”

Amiter barely managed to squeeze out the word in a voice as faint as a crawling ant.

‘She must know herself that agreeing with me here is beneficial, so she has no choice but to endure it, even if it feels disgusting.’

“Do you have proof?”

From behind, Teperi kept projecting feelings of agreement, ‘That’s right, that’s right’.

‘Hey, we’re on the same side, could you please not be so distracting?’

‘Proof, proof, huh.’

‘I could brazenly respond here with, ‘Why should I have to show you proof?’.’

‘But to prevent rumors from spreading later, it’s better to settle this decisively here.’

‘Proof of being lovers.’

‘Even saying that, I’ve never even had a proper relationship in my previous world.’

‘Even between friends, a sudden kiss would probably make them want to kill me.’

‘Let’s think… what kind of precarious display of affection doesn’t cross the line?’

“Will this be enough?”

I approached Amiter and firmly clasped her hands.

Even when she flinched back in surprise, our intertwined hands didn’t separate.

‘Interlocking fingers.’

‘I know it’s something lovers often do.’

“That’s still not enough. With just that…”

“Is it a little lacking? Alright.”

‘Well, this was indeed a bit insufficient.’

‘Holding hands with interlaced fingers is something close female friends might do.’

‘I have no choice but to push the ambiguous boundary allowed between friends.’

I whispered in a small voice only she could hear.

“Your arms.”

“What are you trying to do now…!”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“Honestly, I don’t.”

‘How harsh.’

‘But it doesn’t matter.’

‘Whatever her reaction, I was going to do it anyway.’

I grabbed both of Amiter’s wrists and lifted them up high.

It was like the train game I played with friends as a child.

The motion of making a bridge with our hands.

I slipped through the gap and turned my body around.

Our arms were still held up in the air, but below, our waists were close enough to touch at any moment.

In that state, I slowly released the arms I was holding.

Her two arms settled onto my shoulders without resistance.

Instantly, it looked like she was hugging me from behind.

Her awkward hands had nowhere to go, hovering uncertainly over my body.

They were in a position where they might accidentally touch my chest.

“This seems more than sufficient.”

‘What we did felt like a very clumsy play.’

‘One with only deceivers and no one being deceived.’

‘But none of that mattered.’

‘The important things were that the Duke’s daughter had formally declared her lover, and that they had done something that could be

described as scandalous outdoors.’

‘Yes, a back hug. First time seeing one?’

‘As expected of Teperi, the country bumpkin, she probably grew up without ever seeing a back hug.’

‘I heard that in the countryside, where there’s nothing to do, people often get physically close, but the author-certified virgin heroine is

different right down to her core.’

‘To be like this just from seeing a back hug once.’

Fortunately, Teferi’s flustered emotions didn’t spread to the others.

“Ah, sorry. But don’t move.”

Thump.

My body accidentally touched Amiter’s.

‘Seeing how she’s always alone, she probably dislikes being touched by others.’

‘Well, what can you do? It wasn’t intentional.’

‘In such a close position, it’s unavoidable for my back to touch her stomach.’

‘It’s fortunate I’m not the one doing the hugging.’

‘If I had hugged her from behind, the height difference would have just had the opposite effect.’

‘While Amiter’s tall stature could effectively embrace my small frame, if I had hugged her, my stomach would have reached her buttocks.’

‘That would just look ridiculous.’

‘Her body was surprisingly warm.’

‘Did they say wolves have a slightly higher body temperature than humans?’

‘Even though Amiter is a therianthrope, she doesn’t have much fur, yet her embrace was warm.’

“Then, can I assume I have some right to speak as well? As her ‘lover’.”

‘This should be enough groundwork laid.’

‘It means I can join this conversation without issue.’

‘But why is her heart beating so fast?’

‘I heard canines have slightly faster heart rates than humans.’

‘Was the difference this significant?’

‘They say stress raises blood pressure; I worried if that might be the reason.’

‘Getting hit on the head by those large front paws is something I’d rather avoid.’

“Yes. That seems sufficient.”

The courtyard in front of the building, which had momentarily frozen, regained its flow of time.

The people who had been staring blankly at us also snapped back to reality.

“You’ve made quite an amazing friend…”

The Godmother muttered this as she led us into the building.

Amiter had kept her mouth shut tightly since earlier, seemingly angry.

Since I was also partly at fault, I deliberately avoided meeting her gaze.

‘Did it go well?’

‘It seems to have worked out reasonably well.’

‘They don’t seem intent on harming us right away.’

For some reason, Teperi glared intensely at Amiter as she entered the building.

“We are a cartel named Tales.”

The Godmother had us sit at a large dining table and spoke.

‘In any case, as we were guests in our own way, we received exceptionally attentive treatment.’

The table was laden with delicacies that even most nobles would find difficult to taste.

‘It reminds me of when I lived at the Duke’s estate.’

‘I’m not particularly picky, but since the region I lived in was in the west, seafood was rare.’

‘As for Teperi… what reaction would she show if I told her this spread costs more than her house?’

‘A cartel, huh.’

‘Doom, Katana, Candy, and this place, Tales.’

‘According to them, Tales mainly operates in the tourism sector.’

‘In reality, while the name sounds plausible as tourism, it’s an organization specializing in illegal fighting rings and catering to the whims of

the powerful.’

‘A peculiar point is that the proportion of therianthropes within the organization is the highest.’

‘Overwhelmingly so.’

‘Therianthropes discriminated against elsewhere gathered to form Tales, and it gradually grew into its current form.’

“Ami was our organization’s top fighting dog.”

‘Since they operate fighting rings, they offer various kinds of shows here.’

‘They make monsters fight, pit gladiators against each other, and take bets.’

‘Among those many matches, there exists a ‘fighting dog pit’ where the participants consist solely of therianthropes.’

‘Stronger than humans, sturdier, and the dregs of society who can be used as consumables.’

‘True to the therianthrope instinct craving blood, their fights were particularly brutal.’

‘And brutality always sparks interest.’

‘Therianthrope gladiators became popular spectacles, called fighting dogs.’

“Not just any fighting dog.”

“A genius fighting dog who never lost her top spot after reaching it.”

‘Listening to the Godmother’s story, I got the gist of it.’

‘They basically captured the wild Amiter as if using a monster-catching device, didn’t they?’

‘These poor wild ‘pocket monsters’ have their homes held hostage and must risk their lives fighting forever.’

‘Until they die.’

‘I couldn’t tell if Teperi’s surprised reaction was from hearing Amiter’s story or from seeing the rock shrimp the size of her fist.’

When the attendant serving beside her peeled the rock shrimp, the plump flesh emerged.

‘…Eat up.’

“So, what was it you originally intended to say?”

I cut my food with a knife and chewed slowly.

Regrettably, the person most knowledgeable about dining etiquette at this table was me.

“To return to the fighting dog pit…”

“From what I hear, she doesn’t want that.”

“And I cannot permit that either.”

“Because I’m her lover.”

I pointed my fork towards where Amiter was sitting.

When I sent a glance her way, she sharply turned her head away but nodded.

‘Are you still sulking?’

Her previously silent lips opened.

“What I always wanted was freedom.”

“…Right. It does seem like you’ve found a partner.”

The Godmother said this, glancing furtively at me.

‘This world doesn’t support same-s*x relationships, but cases where people secretly take same-s*x concubines while hiding their status

weren’t nonexistent.’

‘Fortunately, the woman called Godmother didn’t seem entirely unreasonable.’

‘She seems to want to respect Amiter’s opinion to some extent and find a compromise.’

‘Looking at it this way, it’s kind of like watching a grandmother and granddaughter.’

‘Is it because this is an organization for therianthropes?’

The deliberating Godmother opened her mouth.

“One match.”

“Just fight one match, and I will permit you to leave.”