episode_0151

“Hehehe.”

Marie is acting strangely today.

She continued to stare blankly into space, laughing heartily.

I’m leaving that Marie behind now.

He was so happy that he was moved to tears.

“…I’m sorry I’m mad, Unnie.”

“Lily…”

Lily apologizes to me hesitantly.

Seeing her like that, I felt like tears were about to burst out.

How could it not be touching?

My younger brother, who I thought was just kidding, is now acting like an adult and apologizing first.

I don’t know what changed in my mind after I passed out from drinking, but one morning, Lily approached me first.

What really happened? Her eyes also seemed much brighter than before.

It feels like all my worries have been released.

I quickly grabbed Lily’s hand and answered her before she could feel embarrassed.

“It’s okay, unnie..Thank you for coming back like this.”

“….yes.”

As I shared such an affectionate hug with Lily, I could feel her warm body filling my arms.

For a long time after that, the two of us hugged each other without moving at all.

Just as my body was starting to warm up, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I pushed Lily out of my arms.

“But Lily.”

“Huh?”

Lily looks at me with a smile that is much brighter than yesterday.

I grabbed her shoulder and spoke seriously.

“Don’t you have to go to school?”

“….Huh?”

* * *

– What about you, Sister?! Why am I the only one going?

– I’m not a student in the first place.. I’m going to rest today.

– Where is that..!! If you don’t go, I won’t go either!

– No. Students have to go to school. If they don’t, their older sister will be disappointed.

– But…

Now, after sending Lily to school with a blank expression on her face, I am having a leisurely morning.

“Hehehe.”

Now, I kept seeing Marie’s smile that never went away, to the point where I was starting to get a little worried.

“Maria…”

Is it because he’s been staying at the inn since yesterday?

I thought that it might be because the dragon, which was supposed to rule the sky, was confined to a narrow space.

Finally, out of concern, I suggested to Marie that she fly around. Marie smiled broadly and followed my instructions as she flew out the window.

I guess it was because I was really frustrated.

“…….Should we just have stayed together?”

Athena mutters to herself with a regretful expression while looking at the sky where Marie has left.

As I tilted my head at her incomprehensible words, Athena sighed and approached me.

“…So Hera. Why is your expression like that?”

“Huh..huh?”

When I showed my confusion, Athena took a step closer and looked at me.

“Your face looks gloomy. Is something bothering you?”

“Ah…”

Her sharp words slightly blurred the smile on my face.

‘…How can I not know?’

I tried to hide it as much as possible.

But it seems like he couldn’t hide it from Athena.

I was momentarily surprised by Athena’s insight. I shook my head a few times and looked at her.

“I’ll tell you later, Athena.”

“Is this serious?”

“…No.”

“Ugh..”

After looking at me with a suspicious expression for a while, Athena let out a short sigh and got up from the bed.

“Well. Yeah. There’s something more important than that.”

“Huh? Something important?”

As I tilted my head and looked at Athena, she pulled my body towards her and whispered in my ear in a languid voice.

“I wish you would give me a prize.”

“..what?”

Not understanding what she was saying, I decided to remain silent and listen to her words.

“You’ve been holding out for two years without coming to me as you wished. Shouldn’t you give a reward to a slave who listens well?”

As Athena walked forward little by little while hugging me, my feet hit the bed.

“Uh..you kissed me yesterday.”

“I remember it being cut off because of the kid?”

“Ah.”

That’s what happened.

I didn’t realize how much trouble I was in because of that.

“And I don’t think a kiss will do. I’ll have to take credit for making the little one feel better.”

“What?”

My eyes widened at Athena’s words, which passed by lightly.

Somehow Lily’s appearance completely changed today. Could it be that Athena did something?

“What did you do separately?”

As I looked at her as if to ask her to explain further, Athena continued speaking with a triumphant expression.

“Do you know how hard it was to deal with that brat who attacked me so fiercely?”

“…….What?”

My heart sank.

What did Athena just say?

You had a fight? With Lily…?

Despite my trembling eyes, Athena smiled confidently and continued speaking.

“It’s fortunate that it was me. If it were someone else, an arm would have been cut off?”

“You…You…”

I grabbed Athena’s shoulder in desperation and started yelling at her.

“Are you okay?! You didn’t fight much, did you..?!”

Athena opened her eyes wide at my scream, then hugged me gently with a moved face.

“….Hera.”

“Tell me..! What happened?”

“…….”

She looks at me with both faces blushing.

I felt a little frustrated because she didn’t give me any answer.

“Where are you hurt? It’s not serious, is it?”

“I didn’t know you would care about me this much. I’m touched.”

Athena’s expression is like that of a child who received a big gift during the holidays.

But unlike her, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

‘…..?’

A moment of silence flows like that.

In the end, I was the one who broke the silence and spoke first.

“What are you talking about?”

“?”

I looked at Athena curiously. She also raised one eyebrow and looked down at me.

“I asked if Lily was hurt..?”

“….what?”

“…..Huh?”

Athena stares at me blankly.

After a brief moment, her golden eyes began to tremble slightly.

I was puzzled by her reaction.

‘Isn’t that obvious..?’

I fought Athena, the strongest of all, so… shouldn’t I be worried about my opponent, Lily?

But Athena didn’t seem to think so. She just looked at me with a shocked expression.

…..I think I made a mistake.

.

.

.

Inside the quiet inn, I kept poking Athena’s back with my finger and calling out to her.

“Athena~”

“…….”

Ugh…

It seemed like Athena was upset.

That too, firmly.

“I’m sorry…could you please calm down?”

“I’m not mad at all, Hera.”

“…..”

Are you really asking me to believe this?

Anyone can see that it’s a real mess…

By the way, Athena is upset.

I felt a little surprised.

I’ve seen him get angry and irritated a lot, but seeing him sulking was a very unfamiliar sight.

A peculiar situation that does not suit Athena at all.

Is that why?

For some reason, I thought she was cute.

‘….I want to tease you a little.’

Looking at her playful appearance, playfulness kept popping up in my heart.

I know I shouldn’t do this, but maybe because I’ve been treated so many times by Athena in the past, I feel like I want to get revenge.

I held back the laughter that was about to escape, and hugged Athena tightly behind her as she turned away from me.

Then Athena flinched, coughed, and spoke in a calm voice.

“What are you doing in this hot weather, Hera.”

Athena was talking to me as if she was annoyed by me, but I wasn’t hurt at all.

‘lie.’

Doesn’t Athena know how fast her own heart is beating right now?

It was so strong that it was transmitted to my chest, which was touching her back.

“My heart is beating a little fast, Athena?”

As I spoke with a slight smile, Athena stood still and stood still.

Her look of great embarrassment made me let out another small laugh.

‘…You still like me.’

I’m really embarrassed to say this myself.

I know how much Athena loves me as a being of the opposite sex.

Even during the short time we spent as lovers, it was common for her to send me longing looks.

Not only that, but the way he usually treated me, the consideration he showed me, and the way he sacrificed himself for me, I couldn’t help but notice it, no matter how oblivious I was.

But I thought it would die down a little since we kept our distance for two years.

Athena was still looking at me with the same eyes

And most of all, I didn’t feel like I hated it.

No. Rather, I felt a little better.

I know I shouldn’t be thinking this way, but… I also find myself wishing that Athena would continue to like me.

When I raised my head, I saw Athena’s ears slightly reddened. I smiled a little more playfully and snuggled closer to her.

“You’re not crazy, are you? Huh?”

“…….”

“Hey.. Surely a hero wouldn’t be upset about something like this?”

“…….”

“Phew..what is it..are you really upset? Please answer me, Ate-..?”

Creepy-

Something thick running through my flesh alerted me to an instinctive sense of danger.

I immediately shut my mouth, but my intuition told me it was already too late.

Let me look ahead with trembling eyes.

There was Athena, staring at me with an expression of infinite serenity.

“Ah..Athena..”

I felt like I had crossed the line.

Was it because I got caught up in Athena’s amusing reactions and ended up teasing her too much?

I tried to apologize to her in a hurry.

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

It was Athena who struck first.

“Huh?”

It was a very short time.

A fleeting moment that is difficult for people to even perceive.

Athena quickly turned her body and threw me onto the bed.

Before I could even react, he quickly and forcefully struck my lower abdomen with his elbow.

Thud-

“??!?!!?♥♥♥♥♥♥”

I couldn’t even utter a word because of the intense feeling of something exploding inside me.

Something quickly descended from the lower abdomen that had been hit.

My eyes were instantly turned over by the unbearable, unknown sensation.

“….I tried, Hera. It’s all your fault.”

With the sound of a strange stream of water gushing out.

I couldn’t make a sound and immediately lost consciousness.