Episode 51. Retinel (2)

In the morning, it’s gotta be hot stew. I had it for dinner last night too, but so what? It’s delicious.

Winnie looked at me with a ‘aren’t you sick of it?’ expression, but she had a guilty conscience, so she just pecked at her own food.

“Did I say we’d stay in Retinel for three days?”

“Huh? Yeah… if we go around buying things, about that long?”

Winnie answered timidly, probably because she got caught last night. She doesn’t have to be so scared. If it was something else, maybe, but Winnie was so hot yesterday that I was satisfied, so I didn’t really feel like getting angry. It’s cheeky that she secretly tried to use me like a sex toy, but I’ve done plenty of things where I just used my mouth and ended it, so I have no right to say anything.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“I have a lot to buy, so it would be nice if you could just help me move things.”

“Then buy light stuff first this morning. I’ll take care of my business quickly and come back in the morning, so buy the heavy stuff then.”

I spent more time on the way here than I thought, so this seems like the right way to move quickly. Winnie’s voice brightened, as if she felt better at my calm tone.

“Are we moving separately?”

“No, I’ll finish quickly in the morning.”

“If you can finish it in the morning, let’s just go together. Why move separately?”

“Huh?”

“No, well. You said you’d tell me why you came here. It’s not right if you don’t tell me when the answer’s right around the corner, is it? Or are you going somewhere shady that I can’t go with you?”

“It’s nothing like that.”

I can’t believe she still remembered something I said in passing when we were leaving. It’s not a strange place. If Winnie wants to go with me, there’s no reason not to, so I quickly finished breakfast and got up from my seat.

On the way, I picked up a bunch of white flowers I bought from the old woman and headed to the outskirts of the city. As the number of people dwindled and we reached a barren hillside, Winnie seemed to feel doubtful.

“Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve come here with someone else…”

“Oh, really?”

Even before the regression, I had never come here with anyone. No one in the Eulstein Family knew about this place, and no one in the Mountberne Family had any reason to come here. Winnie smiled brightly, as if she was happy to hear that it was the first time. After walking for about fifteen minutes from the outskirts of the city, we reached our destination.

On the outskirts of this city, there was a cemetery that had existed since Retinel was a small village, not a city. The gravedigger, who looks younger than I remember, is visible. He was a complete geezer before the regression, but now he has far fewer wrinkles.

“What brings you here in the summer, Naeuri?”

“I have something to do. Thank you as always.”

“You can even say cheesy things.”

I handed him some money as encouragement, but he didn’t accept it. He’s the same person in many ways. I passed through the main gate and entered the cemetery.

“Is this a place you come to often?”

“Yeah, every year. Usually I come in the winter. This is the first time I’ve come in the summer.”

It feels like I’m coming in a few months. I remember not being able to come during the last winter before the regression because of the barbarian invasion that was raging. It’s been half a year since I visited again, but it feels like I haven’t been here for two years.

Fortunately, my legs know the way and I move my steps. Just as I remember, a neatly maintained tombstone came into view. I placed the bouquet of flowers in front of the empty tombstone and sat down in front of it.

“…Is this the person you’re meeting?”

“Yeah.”

Winnie hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to me. She read the few words written on the tombstone.

“Diana… no last name. Who is she?”

“My mom.”

“Huh?”

“To be exact, my birth mother. The person who gave birth to me.”

“Why isn’t your mother in the Mountberne Family, but here…?”

I could see that Winnie was embarrassed. I guess I would be too if I heard it for the first time. Vera had told me even after the regression, and I knew it from the documents before the wedding, but Winnie didn’t know it at all. I don’t like talking about this kind of thing, but I felt sentimental, so the story of the past flowed out smoothly.

“Diana died giving birth to me. I heard it was a winter night. A normal village girl dies giving birth to a child… it’s a common thing.”

“But she’s your mother… why do you call her that?”

“I’ve never even seen her face. And there’s someone else who played the role of mother. Otherwise, how would I be a noble? A pitiful child who lost his mother as soon as he was born is taken in and raised by a lord and his wife who lack children… it’s a kind of heartwarming story. On the surface.”

Winnie swallowed at the word ‘on the surface’. She’s listening well.

“The girl who died giving birth to the child wasn’t married, and she was a maid working in the lord’s castle. So who would be the father of that child? Unless it was a virgin birth like the Virgin Mary, it’s obvious. The lord had an affair and had a child, and when the mother died, he couldn’t bear to leave me, so he adopted me. When I think about it now, I’m surprised that my adoptive mother didn’t hit me.”

My father and adoptive mother, who had noble dignity, didn’t treat me carelessly or anything. They were just indifferent. Even when their older only son bullied me, they only stopped him to the extent that it wouldn’t cause any problems. When my father died, that superficial restraint disappeared, and the tyranny of my half-brother became even worse.

“But it’s not like we’re not family. Look at the wedding, no one came. No one takes care of me, so I come here alone and do this. I used to come only on bad days like my birthday, but this is the first time I’ve come for something else.”

“Why is your birthday a bad day…?”

“…It’s the anniversary of her death.”

“…”

I could feel Winnie not knowing what to do at my gloomy answer.

“Um, don’t you have anything you want to say to your mother? Like a story you tell in front of the tombstone.”

“I’m too embarrassed to do something like that.”

“If you’re embarrassed, I’ll stay far away. I won’t listen.”

It seems like Winnie has only heard things from somewhere. Who actually says that out loud? Everyone just does it in their heart.

“It’s okay. It’s not bad to leave a bouquet of flowers for the first time.”

“You haven’t done it before?”

“Where are flowers in the winter? She must have received a lot of snowflakes instead of flowers.”

“…There are flowers that bloom in winter.”

I didn’t know there was such a thing. I thought she only knew about medicinal herbs, but it seems like she knows a lot about flowers too.

“I’ll bring them next time I come.”

“…”

Does that mean she’ll come to Retinel with me next time too? It would definitely be better than coming alone, but I hesitated to bring it up because of the distance. It could also mean that she’ll give me the flowers when I leave.

“No, but if you’re going to come to a place like this, you should have told me. My clothes are too bright.”

“I didn’t think I was going to come here in the first place, so it’s okay.”

I’m grateful that she came, so what does it matter what she’s wearing? Her bright clothes with a mix of blue weren’t that flashy. There’s no one else coming except me and the cemetery caretaker, so Diana would be happy if a pretty woman came to say hello.

“Mom, having that, it’s not that good.”

Winnie suddenly said something out of the blue. She didn’t seem to be holding back a laugh or being playful while watching my reaction, so it seemed like she was saying it to comfort me seriously.

“My mom was a completely crazy woman. I was so tired of living.”

Winnie’s mother must be the former Baroness Melbourne. I’ve never seen her.

“I don’t mean she was really crazy, she just did weird things. That old hag is the reason why our family is called witches. She should have just stayed still, but she had such a bad temper…”

“Witch?”

“She didn’t do anything bad, that old hag. She’s just mean-spirited.”

I guess she’s treated that way because she knows a lot about strange medicines.

“When she was always meeting men when I was young, I couldn’t even hold my head up. I was so happy when she gave me the barony and left that I even screamed? And…”

Winnie started to badmouth her mother, the former Baroness Melbourne. The part where she barely managed to curse as if she was squeezing her memories, suddenly the intention of saying that seemed too transparent, so it felt more comforting. It was already something that happened to me forty years ago, so I didn’t need comfort.

“Are you bragging that you have a mom to me now?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“I know. You don’t have to badmouth her for my sake. I’m not a child… it’s been decades.”

“Oh, really? No, I didn’t make it up. It’s what I usually think…”

I was too sentimental. I think I made Winnie worry about me unnecessarily. At times like this, Vera would just hug me silently and comfort me. This was Winnie’s own way of comforting me. It’s like a friend, so it’s not bad.

“I’m done with my business, so let’s go buy some medicinal herbs.”

“Okay…”

I turned around and left the cemetery first, and Winnie followed me after a slight time difference. I was hungry because I had been climbing the mountain since morning. I should tell her to have lunch.

Episode 52. Retinel (3)

As I opened the door to the inn, the unique smell of medicinal herbs that lingered in the Melbourne mansion wafted out.

“Oh… you’re here?”

“Ventilate it a little.”

I put down the box of medicinal herbs and opened the window. As autumn approached, a cool breeze blew in.

“When you do it, your nose gets used to the smell… I forgot.”

“Where did you get that?”

“They lent it to me on the first floor. Next time, I should carry my own personal brazier. To lend something like this for money…”

Winnie was boiling something with a personal brazier that seemed to have been borrowed from the inn. As I stared at the mysterious color, Winnie cleared up my curiosity.

“I’m making what I can make here in advance. After I process everything, the volume is reduced several times, and since I have time, I should reduce the luggage.”

That time was all time that was created because I moved the luggage. At Winnie’s request, I took out a root of grass from the box I was holding just now and handed it to her. The appearance of the nameless grass that went into the opaque pot soon disappeared.

“You didn’t say it would take three days just to do this, did you?”

“No, no. It really takes three days? There’s something that I reserved yesterday that will come out tomorrow.”

Winnie said, stirring the pot quickly. After going to the cemetery yesterday, I was busy going around buying all kinds of medicinal herbs until today. My nose seemed to be pickled in the unique scent of the medicinal herbs. Every time Winnie’s ladle disturbed the surface of the water, another scent leaked out from the gap. Hmm, I feel like I can taste the bitterness just by smelling it. Who will eat that?

“It’s done~”

Winnie tasted it in a bowl and smiled with satisfaction. She scooped another ladle into a bowl and handed it to me.

“Here, try it.”

“…This?”

My mouth… no, my thoughts are the problem. I just thought about it once in my head, and it turned out to be me. Seeing my hesitant expression, Winnie urged me on.

“This is really good for your body. Especially for men. Since there’s no other man to verify the effect, I’m specially letting you eat it.”

“Ugh, my body’s still fine.”

“They said you should take care of things like this when you’re young so you don’t suffer when you’re old.”

I remembered my body before the regression, which I had forgotten. The strength that was falling as time went by, the aching body.

‘Yeah, I should take care of it when I’m young.’

I didn’t want to use my body recklessly just because it was young again thanks to luck. I closed my eyes and swallowed the liquid into my throat, feeling like I was taking medicine. No, it is medicine.

Even though I tried not to focus on my tongue as much as possible, it was so bitter that I shuddered at the passing taste.

“Cough, cough.”

After finally emptying the bowl, I felt a little wronged.

“So what’s this good for?”

“If it’s made well, the effect will come out soon!”

In the midst of the confusion, I was led to my bed by Winnie’s hand. I kept coughing, but Winnie even pulled up the blanket and covered me, so I looked completely like a patient. It’s late, should I just sleep like this? There was no place to swing my sword while staying in Retinel. I can’t be lazy with my training.

I could see Winnie tidying up the room after laying me down. Winnie usually lives alone in that big house, so the way she’s cleaning up now looked quite natural. I stole glances at the bare skin that was slightly visible every time she moved her body in comfortable clothes. We’ve seen each other naked and had sex, but stealing glances like this through clothes had another charm.

“Being like this…”

“Yeah?”

“Um, it’s hot.”

I vaguely mumbled. I decided to stop thinking about ‘marriage with Monica, proposal to Vera, common-law marriage with Winnie’ just as a thought. I couldn’t really guess how Winnie would react if she heard this. Would she like it? Or would she feel guilty thinking about Monica? It wasn’t a box I wanted to open. My relationship with Winnie is just right now. This state where I have a slight advantage.

“What, boring.”

Hoo-

When Winnie turned off the big light, darkness fell in the room. The brazier that had been moved far away was still simmering the medicine and emitting a small light without turning off. Thanks to that faint light, Winnie’s smooth thighs, which were not wearing anything, reflected the light. Unlike the first day, Winnie was closing her eyes to try to sleep on the adjacent bed that was placed right next to mine, as if she was tired.

I wanted to have another round today since we put the beds together, but I wasn’t enough to say I was sorry first. I can’t be the first to ask, looking pathetic. I imagine myself clinging to Winnie, and Winnie using that to control me. Hmm, I don’t think it’ll turn out that way because of her personality.

I said it was hot because I had nothing to say earlier, but now I was really hot because my body was heating up. It felt different from when I had a fever when I was sick, it really felt like I was full of energy and my whole body was getting hot. I kicked off the blanket and even took off my top, but it was still hot. Eventually, I got up from my seat and headed to the window.

I picked up the kettle and drank water. The sudden surge of energy completely drove away my sleep.

‘Is the effect of what I ate earlier this good?’

I guess the medicine worked faster because I kept it hot enough to sweat. It felt like it had been about an hour since I ate it, but the effect was already this good. I admired Winnie’s ability in my heart and looked at her, and our eyes met.

“…”

“…Isn’t that hard?”

I thought she was sleeping. Winnie’s eyes were directed at the bulging front of my pants, which looked like they were about to burst. There are times when your penis feels bigger after taking medicine, and this was one of those times. The penis, which seemed to have twice as much heat gathered in it than other places, as if it was really good for men, had grown to a size I had never seen before.

“It’ll go down if I leave it alone.”

Winnie gave a mysterious smile, as if she knew everything, at my answer.

“Instead of that, shouldn’t you take it out once? It’s going to be hard to hold back soon?”

Under the rolled-up clothes, I could see light blue underwear that seemed to shine in the faint light.

“Is it similar to what I ate last time?”

“That was because it was an unprocessed raw material at that time, and this time the side effects have been eliminated and the amount has been increased, so the effect will be even better…”

Then that’s a relief. Last time, I passed out after cumming a few times, so I couldn’t use the increased stamina. Winnie got up and pulled down my pants. I felt a sense of liberation as my penis came into contact with the cool air. Winnie also took off her clothes and became naked.

“I got a little hot after eating it too…”

Saying that, Winnie grabbed my hotter penis with her hand. She looked up at me with pleading eyes, as if asking me to do it, and started moving her hand back and forth. I could feel her small, cool hands, as if she was rubbing ice on me.

Isn’t this the same as asking me to do it? More than anything, it seemed like the effect of the medicine wasn’t going down as time went by, but getting stronger. I put my arms behind Winnie’s knees and lifted her up. Winnie, who was looking for a place to hang on to, wrapped her arms around my neck. Because of her buttocks that naturally fell down, her moist vagina naturally met my penis.

“I’m putting it in.”

“…Okay.”

My penis goes inside Winnie, who has become accustomed to accepting my thing easily. Winnie’s body, which was looking for a place to support itself, clung to the stick that had entered her, tightening it tightly. I could feel a different kind of tightness than usual, perhaps because of the tension of not having a place to support herself on the ground.

Chup-

Winnie, who was hugging my neck, kissed me. I continued to have sex, kissing both up and down, until the effect of the medicine wore off.

Chomp-

Edward doesn’t kiss her after using her vagina. After learning that, Winnie preferred to suck his penis as if she was cleaning it after sex. This way, she can kiss him and suck his penis.

“With this much, Vera Ajumma won’t suspect me even after doing it with you, right?”

“I think she still will.”

Winnie’s vagina was still dripping white liquid. She was also lucky to have taken the medicine, otherwise she would have been exhausted from the number of times we had sex. After cleaning his penis, she lay down next to Edward and snuggled into his arms. She felt a little sorry for her friend, but,

‘She didn’t really like him anyway.’

She wouldn’t have any feelings for Edward, so she decided to think that she wouldn’t hate it too much even if she was like this. She felt more comfortable thinking that Edward would have chosen Vera instead of Monica even if she wasn’t there.

“I’ll go to the grave one more time tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not like I can come often, so I’m going to go one more time.”

“…Can’t you not go?”

I didn’t want her to feel bad about what was going to happen tomorrow. But Edward’s mind seemed firm.

“I’m going alone, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, let’s go together.”

She wouldn’t get hurt, but it would be better to have her next to him.