Seongguk – Love?

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“Did you understand the explanation so far?”

“If I understand correctly, the current Vatican is corrupt and blinded by money, and at the center of it are the current Pope and Cardinals?”

“That’s right. As expected of the Hero, you understand quickly.”

“This is a serious situation.”

To think the Holy Kingdom was facing such an absurd situation. Jade already felt suffocated.

“Why did this happen?”

“The Great War claimed the lives of many in the Holy Kingdom. Especially the most devout, who fought on the front lines and returned to the Goddess’s embrace. The Cardinals who were with me also lost their lives.”

“So Antonio-kyung survived that hell after all.”

In fact, The Saintess and Antonio-kyung were virtually the only major figures from the Holy Kingdom who survived the Great War.

Jade once again felt deeply how great a hero the person before him was.

“Haha, I was just lucky. Anyway, because of this situation, the Holy Kingdom had to urgently appoint Cardinals to fill the many vacancies. We tried our best to verify them… but looking at the current situation, it seems it wasn’t done properly.”

“The less devout people would have acted more selfishly, and that’s how they survived and became Cardinals. It’s a truly ironic reality.”

Fate is so fickle. Jade had felt this several times over the past few days.

Annie, who had been listening to them, asked Antonio a question.

“So, the Pope is forcibly detaining The Saintess and using her power? But as far as I know, The Saintess is still recovering from the aftereffects of the battle with the Demon King…”

“To explain that, I need to tell you something I didn’t get to mention to the Hero earlier.”

The situation had been getting tangled up from the beginning, so he hadn’t heard properly.

‘What exactly is going on with The Saintess?’

Jade was nervous about finally hearing the hidden secret.

“To put it simply… The Saintess succeeded in killing the Demon King with the Hero, but she lost her memory as a price.”

“Memory… you say?”

“That’s right. She could still speak, but she had forgotten all her common sense and knowledge. In the past, the Hero and his companions secretly came to the Holy Kingdom, entrusted The Saintess to the former Pope, and left.”

“This is the first time I’m hearing this. Such a sad thing happened to The Saintess…”

“After that, the Hero disappeared, and Cornelia, the Elf, returned to her homeland… but you know what happened in the Elf kingdom. Judging from the circumstances, it seems the Hero couldn’t avoid the aftereffects of the battle with the Demon King either.”

Jade, of course, knew about the tragedy that had occurred in the Elf kingdom.

Looking at it this way, the former Hero and his companions had defeated the Demon King and saved the world, but they didn’t even receive proper compensation and faced a bleak end.

Would he also meet such a fate at the end of his journey?

‘No, I won’t let that happen.’

Jade vowed to give Lena a happy ending, at least.

“So, the former Pope and I started taking care of The Saintess, who had lost her memory, and The Saintess slowly relearned her knowledge. But after the former Pope passed away and the current Pope was enthroned, things started to get strange.”

Antonio cleared his throat and continued.

“Ahem, it was fine at first, but as time went on, the Pope started preventing me from approaching The Saintess. And now, I can’t even approach her at all. My guess is that all of this is connected, and the Vatican is at the center of it. The Pope and the current Cardinals are all on the same side.”

“So, we might have to fight not only the Pope but the entire Holy Kingdom.”

Jade already felt overwhelmed.

He, who had only been catching Orcs, now had to fight the Vatican head-on. The matter in the Holy Kingdom, which he had come to in order to be appointed as the Hero and obtain the Holy Sword, had already become too big.

“I think I’ve explained everything. It’s late today, so let’s plan a strategy to deal with the Pope starting tomorrow.”

“I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll try to wake up early tomorrow too!”

**

-Thump.

‘Could you come to see me tonight…?’

Jade remembered his promise with Lena and immediately headed to her room.

“Oh? Are you going to see Lena?”

“Yeah, Lena asked me to come at night.”

“A-At night? You guys are making progress really fast…”

Such an embarrassed reaction. Annie was clearly misunderstanding something.

Jade explained the situation to clear up the misunderstanding.

“What are you talking about? Lena is having a hard time with the aftereffects, that’s why.”

Of course, he also desperately wanted to be with Lena. They were lovers, so how could he not dream of a physical relationship?

But Lena’s condition wasn’t good, and she had been hurt a lot by men, so he couldn’t bring himself to talk about such things.

“Sure, sure. That’s what you’d say.”

Annie teased Jade with a sly smile. She didn’t seem to want to listen to him anymore.

“Annie, it’s not like that.”

“Then I’ll sleep in another room. Good luck!”

“…Good night.”

Jade reluctantly waved goodbye to Annie and started walking again.

A little later, Jade stopped in front of the door where Lena was staying.

But he hesitated, unable to open the door.

He hadn’t thought much about going to see Lena at night until just now, but after hearing Annie’s words, all sorts of imaginations started popping into his head.

‘Calm down. I’m a person, not a beast.’

Lena had obviously called him with pure intentions.

Jade calmed his mind and slowly opened the door.

-Creak.

“Ah, Jade, you’re here?”

“Lena—”

Jade, who was about to call out to Lena, froze in place.

​

T-This is the first time I’m seeing her like this…?

He had never imagined that Lena would be waiting in such an outfit and pose.

“L-Lena. Is it okay for you to take off the bandages already?”

“Yeah, the priest’s skills were excellent, so I feel fine.”

“…I see. Then what about that outfit?”

“Huh? What’s wrong with this outfit? It’s just pajamas.”

“….”

Jade had never seen Lena in her bedroom before.

Suddenly seeing Lena lying on the bed in such attire was too much of a stimulus for Jade.

She was simply too beautiful. And this woman was his lover.

It was impossible not to have lewd thoughts.

-Thump, thump.

Jade’s heart started beating like crazy.

“Why are you standing there blankly? Are you going to keep standing there?”

“Huh? Oh…”

He had to concentrate. Otherwise, he might lose his mind and do something to Lena. Jade composed himself and slowly approached Lena.

First, Jade sat down on the chair next to the bed.

“…So, what’s the reason you wanted to see me at night?”

“I thought I’d be scared if I was alone at night. Is that too ridiculous of a reason? But I’m glad you came. Thank you.”

“It’s okay. I know how hard it is for you. And it’s not a difficult thing to do, so call me anytime.”

“So, did you hear a detailed explanation about the Holy Kingdom from Antonio-kyung?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain it to you too.”

Jade slowly told Lena everything, from the situation in the Holy Kingdom to the fact that The Saintess had lost her memory.

When he talked about The Saintess, Lena seemed lost in reminiscence.

Did she have some kind of connection with The Saintess? There was no way Lena could have met The Saintess…

While Jade was lost in thought, Lena opened her mouth.

“To think the Holy Kingdom was in such a corrupt state… So that’s why people were complaining that the priests’ service fees had become ridiculously expensive.”

In any case, Lena seemed to have been quite shocked by Jade’s explanation.

“And The Saintess lost her memory. I hope The Saintess isn’t being treated badly.”

“Surely not. How could someone from the Holy Kingdom do that?”

Even if the Holy Kingdom was corrupt, he prayed that they wouldn’t touch The Saintess. She was now someone who might become his companion as the Hero.

“Ha, we’ll have to go see the Pope soon. I don’t know how to react.”

“For now, there’s no need to be aggressive. We should try to figure out the Pope’s intentions as much as possible.”

“I understand.”

In the meantime, Lena suddenly started getting annoyed about the Pope.

“Haa… It’s all because of the Pope that we’re going through so much trouble.”

“But according to Antonio-kyung’s guess, meeting Raspha was a coincidence.”

“What does that matter? If it weren’t for the Pope, we wouldn’t have had to go to the Dungeon, right? Haa, I want to argue with the Pope.”

“…That’s right. The Pope did wrong to us.”

“What, are you suddenly sympathizing with me?”

“Well… Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do for your lover?”

Was that wrong?

He had heard that it was best to sympathize with your lover’s words as much as possible.

Lena burst out laughing at Jade’s flustered reaction.

“Pfft, Jade, you really show that you’re a novice when it comes to romance.”

“…Then, Lena, have you had a lot of experience with romance?”

“M-Me?”

He had asked that question on a whim in response to her teasing…

As far as Jade knew, Lena hadn’t really had any experience with romance either.

At the Academy, she had put up an iron wall against all men except for him.

“Hehe, of course, I’ve had a lot of experience. Did you think I’ve never had any?”

Lena’s face was full of embarrassment, considering she was saying she had experience with romance. His counterattack had worked perfectly.

Thinking he had a chance, he pressed on with momentum.

“Don’t lie. You may have received a lot of confessions, but isn’t dating me the first time?”

“…That’s right.”

Lena’s face was bright red as she nodded.

“Then let’s not tease each other since it’s both our first times.”

“…Sorry.”

Jade covered his face with one hand.

‘Damn it…’

Lena, who was embarrassed, was too cute.

Lena’s new side, different from her usual cool appearance, stimulated Jade’s heart even more.

Moreover, Lena was wearing pajamas and wasn’t even wearing a bra to sleep.

Because of this, Jade couldn’t help but keep glancing at her large breasts that were briefly visible.

Eventually, his lower body reacted and slowly started to rise.

“Jade, why is your body so stiff? Are you nervous?”

“Ah… I think my muscles are just tight from fatigue.”

Jade made an excuse and quickly bent his legs to hide his thing.

Please, he had to calm down. He couldn’t show any more unsightly appearances.

So, Jade suppressed his desires as much as possible while talking to Lena.

Quite some time passed, and when Jade checked the window, it was completely dark outside.

“I’m going to go to sleep now.”

“A-Already?”

“It’s very late, so I have to sleep.”

He had to sleep early today and recover his body so that it wouldn’t interfere with his full-scale activities tomorrow.

Jade slowly got up from the chair.

“…Don’t go.”

“Huh?”

Jade asked back, not hearing what Lena had mumbled quietly.

“I said don’t go.”

“Sorry. I think I need to sleep early to go out with Antonio-kyung tomorrow. See you tomorrow.”

Jade shook off Lena’s desperate touch.

He wanted to see Lena for a few more minutes and didn’t want to leave, but the matters concerning the Holy Kingdom and The Saintess were also very important.

Moreover, Jade had managed to suppress his dark desires somehow, even though there had been several crises so far.

‘Lena, please stop. Even I can’t take it anymore.’

That was why he wanted to go back to his room as soon as possible.

-Thud, thud.

Jade turned around and slowly walked towards the door.

-Whack!

Suddenly, he felt a soft sensation on his back, and slender arms wrapped around his waist.

Lena, who had gotten out of bed, was hugging Jade from behind.

“L-Lena?”

Lena whispered softly into Jade’s ear.

“…You can just sleep with me tonight.”

-Snap.

The string of reason that Jade had been holding onto snapped.