Making a Move

In the end, the departure schedule was pushed back by one day.

If it were just knights going, it wouldn’t matter if we departed right away, but if Aurora were to follow along, there were quite a few things to pay attention to.

Even if we assumed that the carriage Aurora would ride wasn’t something we had to prepare, not only did the carriage’s escort, but also the marching speed and schedule have to be re-planned, so naturally, the amount of work increased.

Of course, it wasn’t something I had to do. It was Laksia’s job.

She herself said that it was much better for her to take care of everything from start to finish rather than an incompetent superior diligently messing up the situation, and told me to stay put.

That incompetent superior was likely a term referring to the Knight Commander of the Golden Twilight Knights, but since I was completely ignorant when it came to management or command, I winced.

Still, she said that now was much better compared to when she was under that guy. Because she said that at least he didn’t ruin things that were going well with his own subjective decisions.

The Vice Knight Commanders were left to have a heated discussion in the castle about who would be included in the expedition, and I alone returned to Aurora’s mansion. It was because I had heard there was something separate to talk about.

As soon as I entered the mansion, Lana, as if she had been waiting, guided me to another one of Aurora’s rooms on the top floor of the mansion. It was a place decorated almost identically to the room she usually used.

Though slightly smaller in size.

Aurora, as always, had an antique desk and chair placed right in front of the massive window, and was sitting in that chair. She was also wearing the same black New City Missi-look dress.

Aurora, who confirmed my entrance, pushed the documents she had been looking at far away to one corner of the desk.

“You said there was something separate to talk about, what are you going to tell me?”

“First, sit down. It’s not a conversation to have standing up.”

“There’s no seat, though?”

I looked around. Aside from the antique chair Aurora was sitting in, there wasn’t really anywhere to sit down. The only place to sit was the bed, but it was too far from the desk.

“I know. You can sit here.”

Aurora, who stood up from her seat, pointed to something next to her. It was the chair she had just been sitting in.

“…Are you serious?”

“Do I look like someone who would lie about something like this?”

Aurora perched herself on the edge of the desk in front of the chair, and gestured with her chin towards the chair in front of her feet once more. I approached Aurora with a reluctant expression.

The chair was still warm.

“Just how grand of a conversation are you planning to have that I have to sit here?”

“This and that? I didn’t call you for any particular purpose. I just called you to kill time until we depart. You wouldn’t have anything to do in the castle anyway, right? Since you’re already here, tell me something interesting.”

I felt a slight sense of unease. At first glance, it seemed like she was speaking properly, but it was clear she had been subtly avoiding my gaze for a while. She couldn’t meet my eyes properly.

It felt like she hadn’t really called me just to kill time, but for some other reason.

“Well, what interesting stories could I possibly have?”

“Why? You must have a lot. For example… the story of you and Rije mixing bodies.”

*Cough*, I suddenly coughed violently as if I had choked on water.

I knew that Aurora had a straightforward personality, like her aunt, but I never expected her to openly blurt out such words right in front of me.

“Why are you bringing that up here?”

“I actually found that really interesting. It was more thrilling than most adventure stories. No, in a way, isn’t it an adventure story? Exploring a place no one had ever explored for the first time-“

“…….”

Perhaps noticing my gaze filled with bewilderment, Aurora grinned and shut her mouth. But even though it was slightly better, she still couldn’t meet my eyes properly.

On the contrary, that made me feel even more uneasy. If her actions were the same but she was only avoiding my gaze as if there was something, there was a high probability that there really was something.

“Yes, yes. I understand. Since I understand, please go to bed early and wake up early tomorrow to prepare for departure. I’ll be heading back now.”

“It’s only 4 o’clock yet? Do you mean I should sleep now and wake up in the middle of the night?”

I glanced at the grandfather clock placed in one corner of the room. It was true. It was only 4 o’clock, no, not even 4 o’clock. It was too early to cut off the conversation by telling her to go to bed early.

“So, are you going to keep making such jokes instead of sleeping?”

“You ask if I’m just going to make jokes? Of course not.”

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t going to make things more difficult for me here. Just spending some time, then-

“From now on, we have to do it directly with our bodies.”

“…What?”

A foolish question flowed from my lips.

I wondered if I had misheard, but looking at Aurora’s expression, I definitely hadn’t misheard. Do it directly with our bodies? What?

‘No way.’

My confusion lasted only a moment. My head quickly cleared. Right, I had somewhat guessed it ever since Aurora became so obsessed with going out with me. Wasn’t that, in fact, just a date with different words?

Even before, there had often been some emotion in her gaze when she looked at me. Each time, I had vaguely dismissed it, wondering if it was something, but also focusing on Rije, but now it felt like what was bound to happen had finally happened.

Perhaps my reaction was unexpected, Aurora’s eyebrows slightly arched.

“You’re not as surprised as I thought? You’ve had a troubled look on your face for a while, what is it?”

“…Can I say what just came to mind, exactly as it is?”

“You can say it. I also roughly expect what you’re going to say.”

“That Lady-nim harbored such feelings for me, I had somewhat guessed it. Before, I hadn’t really thought about it, and it was only recently that I truly wondered if it might be the case.”

“It’s similar to what I expected. But you know, Delta. You know it feels really absurd to hear it directly from your mouth, right?”

“I won’t deny it. Because it means I deliberately ignored Lady-nim’s feelings even after guessing them.”

“Wow, that’s really trashy talk.”

Although her words were harsh, Aurora’s expression as she said them was all smiles. It seemed like she wasn’t saying it seriously, but just as a formality.

Or it was that joyful for her to hear confirmation that I had guessed her feelings.

“And Lady-nim, why have you suddenly become so proactive? A few days ago, you even used an alias.”

Aurora flinched for a moment as if struck by the truth, then she deliberately composed her expression.

“I saw a possibility.”

“Possibility, you say?”

Instead of answering, Aurora firmly gripped both of my shoulders with her hands, then started to climb onto my thighs, moving on her knees.

I thought, ‘This feels similar to when Rije pounced on me.’ Aside from the fact that I was lying on a bed then and sitting in a chair now, there were quite a few similarities.

Aurora, still kneeling, spread her legs to the sides and wedged my thighs between her own. The chair was so enormous that there was still space even in this position.

Naturally, Aurora’s crotch and my groin made contact. Aurora pressed her waist even tighter inward. Her knees came up near my pubic bone. It was clear she was deliberately pushing herself against me.

‘…It’s not like I absolutely couldn’t get out.’

If, when Rije pounced on me in the Holy Kingdom, I truly couldn’t escape because I was far too weak, now, the moment I made up my mind, I could shake Aurora off and stand up.

But I couldn’t do that.

Or, one could say I didn’t.

Because my lower body was also slowly reacting. Half of it was the feeling that I couldn’t bring myself to cruelly push Aurora away, and the other half was the desire not to do so, unable to overcome my own desires.

It felt like my self-justification was only increasing with each passing day.

“Yes. Possibility. Delta, you were an extraordinary man from the moment we first met, weren’t you? The first thing you blurted out when you saw me was a question about whether I wanted to become a lord, and then you also said, ‘Don’t you want to kill that dirty pig bastard?’ Who else could have said such a thing?”

“…….”

“Well, back then, despite having nothing but my own body, I was so damn proud and didn’t know my place, and I spouted useless nonsense like ‘How can I trust you?’… Um, just in case, I’m asking, you’re not angry that I said those things, are you?”

Aurora’s face flushed slightly, then she glanced at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I wondered what she was talking about, but it seemed she was bothered by how she had screamed at me, “How can I trust you?” when we first met.

I, on the other hand, had simply dismissed it as it was exactly what I had seen in the game. And it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible that she would act that way.

A rope had descended before her eyes, but whether it was a rotten rope that would snap as soon as she clung to it, or a sturdy one she could trust and cling to, she had to verify.

Actually, her attitude when saying that was quite brazen. If it hadn’t been a scene I’d seen hundreds of times in the game, I might not have gotten angry, but I would have at least felt a surge of emotion.

As I shook my head from side to side, Aurora sighed in relief.

“…It’s a relief you’re not angry. You succeeded in the end, didn’t you? And you got sweet revenge on that pig. To be honest, I’ve harbored feelings for you since then. But it was a bit awkward for me to intervene, so I just kept circling around. Because Knight Commander Rije had already taken her place beside you.”

Our heads gradually drew closer. Aurora twisted her body slightly and buried her face in my left shoulder, and pressed her head tightly against my cheek. I felt the sensation of her cheek rubbing against my shoulder.

Our upper bodies met. The soft sensation of her breasts was conveyed from her chest. The hands that had been holding my shoulders moved behind me and tightly embraced my back.

“But listen. You said you defeated a dragon this time, didn’t you?”

“…Well, for now.”

I replied with a slightly reluctant feeling. I don’t know how far the misunderstanding will go because of that one guy.

“If you’ve defeated something as significant as a dragon, aren’t you fully qualified to add one more woman? Don’t you think so?”

“Uh… I don’t think so?”

“No. It has to be that way. I just decided it.”

“Can Lady-nim decide something so important on your own?”

I pondered where to put my hands, then, with a ‘what the hell’ feeling, I embraced Aurora back. As soon as my palm touched her back, Aurora flinched. Her legs slightly drew together.

As expected, it seemed she wasn’t wearing any underwear, and even as I slowly stroked her back with my palm, there was nothing to obstruct me. It was just the sensation of soft bare skin.

“Delta. We have a problem.”

“Is there something more problematic than this current situation?”

“You hugged me and I got a little wet, what do I do about this?”

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that just now, so please just continue saying what you were going to say.”

I tightened my arms around Aurora. Aurora continued to flinch for a long time, then, as if she had barely managed to calm herself, she spoke haltingly.

“So, I’m doing this because I saw it as an opportunity.”

“What about the time you went around the city with me, claiming to be Aurora?”

“Th-that…”

Aurora mumbled hesitantly with her face still buried in my shoulder, then whispered.

“I did it because I was embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed, you say? About what?”

“Well, you know. Originally, I intended to do this on the first day I returned here after going to the Imperial Palace, you know? When I called you to the mansion and told you to come even late at night.”

I tried my best to maintain a calm expression, but I couldn’t stop my arms from tightening around Aurora. The soft sensation of her breasts felt much stronger.

No wonder, so that was the purpose of telling me to definitely come even late at night.

“But then you called me, and got embarrassed and failed?”

“…That’s right. And the reason I went around with you pretending to be someone else was because I’m so terrible at this kind of thing that Lana was practically dying of frustration and suggested I try acting like someone else to see if I could be a bit more honest.”

“But that-“

“Some witch came and ruined it.”

Nyx’s visit was truly unexpected. And I never imagined she would have such a strange mental illness.

If Nyx hadn’t shown up at the right time that day, does that mean we might have headed to bed then, instead of today?

“Honestly, I’m still dying of embarrassment right now. I’m dying of embarrassment, but if I miss this opportunity, I don’t know what will happen. So I’m really enduring my embarrassment and doing this.”

“Someone who is usually so confident is only girlish when it comes to matters involving me. That’s surprising.”

“Do you know you just said the same thing as Lana?”

“Did I?”

If I had said the same thing as that head maid, it seemed Lana had also been quite bewildered.

“If you have any complaints about what’s happening right now, say them. Because I won’t listen.”

“You won’t listen? Not that you will?”

“What do I care? If you don’t like it, push me away. You could easily push someone like me away, couldn’t you? This is an action I took on my own accord, so even if you do that, Delta, I won’t mind.”

“Really?”

I released the hands that were embracing Aurora, and put my hands under both of her armpits, pushing her body back. Since I had raised my strength stat quite a bit, pushing one person was easy.

Aurora, whose upper body was lifted and armpits held by me, suddenly recoiled, and her eyes widened as if she truly hadn’t expected me to do that.

“You really won’t mind?”

I leaned back against the chair’s backrest, and holding her under her armpits, in a posture as if I could lift her at any moment, I quietly watched Aurora.

“…….”

And, seeing tears slowly welling up in Aurora’s eyes, I pulled her body back towards me and hugged her tightly. Aurora hesitantly touched my back, then this time, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“See? You shouldn’t say things you can’t keep.”

“Oh, damn it… You… you scared me… I thought you were really just going to leave….”

Her voice was trembling. It seemed her heart had truly sunk.

“Lady-nim.”

“…Mm.”

“You know I already have Rije, right?”

“I know. I’m doing this knowing everything. If anyone says anything, I’ll take all the responsibility.”

I gently pulled Aurora’s body away a little, cupped her cheek with my palm, and wiped away the tears welling in her eyes with my thumb.

“I don’t mean to make Lady-nim take responsibility.”

“…Then?”

“I’ll have to try. It’s not entirely impossible for one man to marry multiple women.”

“Delta, you…”

Aurora’s eyes widened. With a face that looked as if she had heard something completely unexpected, she stared intently at me.

Anyway, by the time I’ve beaten all the bosses, fame and achievements will naturally follow. I didn’t want to hesitate by bringing up common sense from the outside world even in this situation.

Was it even common sense that I was transmigrated into ‘Burdock 4’?

“And, if I’ve already done it once, why wouldn’t I do it a second time?”

As I said that and hugged Aurora again, Aurora, who had pondered the meaning for a moment, let out a gasp of shock.

“What? Wait. Already done it once? Hey, Delta, you don’t mean you have another woman besides Rije, do you? No, really? I’m not the second, but the third?”

“Well…”

I grinned slyly. Aurora wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, and straightened her back with an expression that said, ‘Just you wait.’

“Ugh… You should have told me that earlier. You just wait.”

“‘Just wait,’ you say? What are you going to do?”

Aurora’s body pressed even tighter against mine.

“I’ll squeeze out more than that person did.”