episode_0128

How much time had passed since they had sex again?

“Haaah… haaah…”

“How… how is that… an Asian?”

Jessica and Julia, who had spent nearly half a day entwined with me, weren’t just tired; their energy was so depleted that they could only twitch their fingers while lying in bed.

Watching the two of them, I soon went into the bathroom to wash up.

After quickly washing my body with hot water, I dried my long, bothersome hair.

─Whoosh.

‘I really need to cut this, or something.’

Normally, Ayaka’s mom or Yuka’s mom would dry it for me, which was fine, but even so, managing long hair was utterly annoying.

Takuya thought that and diligently dried his hair. After drying his hair, he put on the white bathrobe and slippers provided in the villa and headed to the terrace.

The reason he went to the terrace was nothing special; it was simply because the view was nice.

Incidentally, this was strictly speaking a villa located in the mountains, but it was also quite close to the city, making it a prime spot from which to see the city’s night view clearly from the terrace.

Takuya sat on a chair on the terrace, where such a beautiful landscape was visible, and thought as he looked at the night view.

‘Indeed, one truly needs money. To see a sight like this.’

That one truly needs money.

Even before his transmigration, he had always felt this way: how do rich people manage to find such prime locations?

As he thought that, how much time had passed while he leisurely admired the night view?

─Scrape.

Someone roughly opened the terrace door and entered, and that someone was…

“So you were here.”

“I was admiring the night view.”

“May I sit in front of you?”

“Well, I don’t mind.”

It was Lunako, who had passed out while having my cock inside her, and then had disappeared at some point.

The reason she reverted to polite speech was that the sex (business) was over.

I looked at Lunako-ssi, who was entering wearing a gown similar to mine—no, to be precise, entering with a can of beer in her hand—and tilted my head, asking.

“Alcohol?”

“Yes, it was in the fridge.”

“Are you offering me some too?”

“If you need it.”

“Then just one can.”

Receiving the beer, I looked at the can with a somewhat complicated expression.

And for good reason.

‘Wow, it’s really been a long time since I’ve had this.’

Because after transmigrating, he hadn’t drunk alcohol.

No. He hadn’t smoked cigarettes, nor drunk alcohol.

Of course, even before transmigrating, he wasn’t one to touch alcohol or cigarettes much.

Originally, he only used alcohol or cigarettes when something shitty happened.

‘In other words, there were a lot of shitty things happening before my transmigration.’

Anyway, if asked why he hadn’t drunk, he could honestly say that he rarely experienced significant stress here.

Even if he did, it would quickly resolve, or there were many pleasant things happening.

Of course, the biggest reason was that it was hard to buy alcohol, and perhaps because his body was young, he just didn’t crave it.

But why was he suddenly drinking now?

It was simply because, seeing alcohol after a long time, the thought, ‘Hmm, maybe just one drink?’ crossed his mind.

He was also slightly curious if his alcohol tolerance was different now compared to before his transmigration.

He gulped down the alcohol for a moment.

“Hmm, I’m not really getting drunk.”

“…But your face is so red?”

This body was surprisingly weak to alcohol.

Before transmigrating, he would only get drunk after downing four bottles of soju straight, but now he was getting tipsy from half a can of beer.

Damn it. From now on, I won’t touch it.

“This is my first time drinking it too. I didn’t know it would be like this.”

“Hmmmm…”

What’s with that suspicious gaze? Is she doubting me?

Well, it’s understandable.

‘Even I would have thought it was a lie if someone said they hadn’t done it.’

Anyway, as he sipped the alcohol, he felt his mood lift.

Before transmigrating, his mood would usually drop, but this was the opposite too.

As I thought inwardly about the differences between myself before transmigration and Takuya, I continued to sip the alcohol for a while.

I spoke to Lunako, whose eyes seemed to hold a story.

“May I ask a question?”

“What kind of question?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much, I was just curious about that ‘favored person’ remark I heard earlier.”

At my words, Lunako was silent for a moment.

It seemed she had some kind of story.

Judging by her expression, she seemed to be wondering if she should say it.

After watching Lunako’s troubled expression for a moment…

Lunako soon seemed to think it didn’t matter if she spoke, and answered my question.

“First of all, I should say that I don’t particularly receive any favor.”

“Then?”

“It’s just that I was taken in by the Gaju-nim, and I serve as his secretary, so I suppose it’s because of that.”

“In other words, you didn’t do anything specific, but you’re called that just by being by his side?”

“Exactly.”

At Lunako’s words, I nodded as if I understood.

I had experienced that too. I also moved according to my superior’s orders, but there were frequent times when I became my superior’s proxy or extension at some point.

As I drank, moderately empathizing, Lunako, now slightly drunk, spoke in a moist voice.

“There’s no favor to begin with, because I was sold.”

“Sold?”

“Yes, my parents, whose business failed and who were borrowing money, accepted Yuzuke-nim’s offer that he would give them money if they gave him a child.”

“……”

I couldn’t say anything at Lunako’s words.

I never imagined that she had been used as collateral to borrow money.

“Actually, I understand up to that point. Selling a child is something that can happen often enough.”

Although her voice was full of tears for someone saying such a thing, I didn’t point it out.

Because it was certainly something to get tearful about.

“But at least if they sold their daughter, they should have had a minimum amount of guilt—no. Even that isn’t necessary. I just… I just wanted them to love me a little.”

Saying that, Lunako slightly raised her head, looked at the sky, and mumbled with eyes full of resentment.

“But, when I later went home, it was as if I barely existed. They only showed favoritism towards my younger siblings. I suppose it was because my usefulness had decreased.”

Saying that, Lunako looked at the sky for a moment, then lowered her head and turned to look at me, letting out a small laugh.

“Isn’t it really funny? I worked my whole life to pay back my parents’ debt, but it seems those very parents didn’t even consider me their child.”

Lunako, who was letting out a laugh that could have been from drunkenness or self-deprecation, soon began to mutter weakly.

“Now I’ve paid off all the debt, and I’m old enough to be free from my parents’ grasp…”

As if she was asking herself a question, not me.

“What exactly should I do… having lived half my life without freedom…?”

And the moment she said that, the image of Lunako, who had seemed endlessly stiff and cold in my eyes, transformed into that of a fragile girl.

A girl who had been hurt, overcome those hurts, but now didn’t know what to do.

Was that Lunako’s true self?

‘Probably, it is her true self.’

To be precise, it seemed that her acting and true self had become half-synchronized because she had lived too long pretending.

How did I know that so well?

Because I was similar to Lunako before my transmigration.

To talk a bit about before my transmigration, I was actually a middle school student full of eccentricities until I went to the military.

In short, I was a kind of mood-maker who got along well and played with my classmates.

But once the war started, my personality completely changed over decades.

No. It wasn’t just a change; I had almost become a different person.

When the war ended and I started politics, I had already half-forgotten how to smile and would always walk around with a stiff, hardened expression.

No. My actions also changed.

I used to like to show off because I had a tendency to seek attention, but later I disliked being alone and most of all, receiving people’s attention.

It was an unavoidable change, if one could call it that.

Politicians who tried to keep the military in check because their own positions were at risk, high-ranking military officials who tried to exploit my achievements once I accumulated some, and even old people who still largely made up society and distrusted soldiers.

The more I worked for the nation, the more people tried to check me, and because of them, I had to unconsciously raise my defenses and try to appear like a blunt person.

Because if I didn’t, countless people would try to stab me with a dagger at any moment.

Thanks to my political power being somewhat curtailed, my personality somewhat returned later on, but my preference for staying indoors remained unchanged.

My personal anecdote was a bit long, but what I wanted to say was this.

That I also felt a certain fondness for her because I was a person similar to her.

Therefore.

“Well, if you truly have nowhere to work, would you like to work under me?”

“Huh?”

It was also an offer of employment.

“I’m running a small business, and it’s growing, so I need someone to manage it in detail.”

This was true.

Surprisingly, perhaps due to Miyuki’s resourcefulness, the business was growing larger and larger.

Currently, there were no problems, but it was clear that it would become difficult if the scale grew even a little more.

That’s why I had been thinking of hiring a secretary beforehand.

‘If there’s such a good catch like this, I have to grab her right away.’

Since she had worked in a large family, her understanding of the personalities and capabilities of the families she might deal with wouldn’t be bad, would it?

I couldn’t miss out on such talent.

“…Just a little, please give me a little time.”

And at my offer, Lunako-ssi pondered for a moment, then asked for a little time.

“Take your time thinking about it. It’s not urgent yet anyway.”

At my words, Lunako nodded, and she looked at the city panorama with a dazed expression, and I also followed her gaze, looking at the city scenery.

It was truly a beautiful sight.