290th Episode
Hold me.
Karen’s plea stirred up an unprecedented torrent of emotions in Ray.
Ray couldn’t tell whether the essence of this emotion was self-reproach, anger, or simply longing.
All he knew was that he could no longer control the urge to tear at his hair.
Thud.
Ray did not reject Karen’s touch; instead, he kissed her and then bowed his head, pressing his lips against the nape of Karen’s neck.
It had always stopped here.
Even though Karen longed for it so much, Ray had never crossed this line.
Karen feared it would happen again this time.
However…
For the first time, Ray’s lips ventured below the nape of Karen’s neck.
“…!”
Karen tensed as she felt Ray’s roughened breathing sliding along her collarbone.
Soon, the sound of lips kissing the swollen flesh below her neck reached her ears.
Karen let out a trembling sigh, filled with anticipation, fear, and embarrassment, while her body quivered.
Ray began roughly pulling off the clothes covering Karen’s body as he explored her skin and scent.
A few strings holding the clothing together snapped under his rough hands, revealing her pale flesh.
Ray’s breath moved downward toward her navel.
As Karen felt Ray’s hand exploring beneath her waist, she lifted her hips slightly, brimming with tension.
Eventually, Ray stripped away most of the clothes covering Karen’s body.
Pulling Karen closer, Ray once again explored her lips.
As Karen followed Ray’s lead, she felt an unfamiliar warmth in her lower abdomen.
A tingling sensation spread through her body, and soon, a heavy ache started emanating from her stomach.
“Ha… Ugh…”
The moment she had vaguely imagined wasn’t entirely sweet.
Unable to endure the pressure pressing down on her lower abdomen, Karen reflexively twisted her waist.
Her toes, clenched tightly with effort, scratched long marks into the bedsheet.
But Ray showed no consideration for Karen.
Whenever her posture twisted, Ray grabbed her pelvis with one hand, forcing her to stay still before pushing his hips forward.
Their bodies slowly merged.
“Ahh… Uh… Haahh…!”
With great difficulty, Karen emitted a strained moan, gripping Ray’s waist and the bedsheet tightly.
Breathing became difficult.
Meanwhile,
Alesya had arrived in front of the room where Ray and Karen were together.
Thanks to Luna’s help in blocking any noise, Alesya perked up her ears.
Thanks to the wind spirit summoned by Alesya amplifying the sounds inside the room…
The noises within the room were heard crystal clear, almost deafening.
Alesya groaned in frustration as her blood pressure surged.
“That, that, that shameless vixen…! That ungrateful shameless vixen…!”
After raising her on the estate budget, feeding her, giving her a place to sleep, and nurturing her growth, she steals my knight!
I only asked her to respect the order, but look how she betrayed me!
“Ughhh…!”
While shaking and venting her grievances, Alesya slumped over, then quickly reframed the situation positively.
“At least it seems like my knight isn’t incapable in that area, which is fortunate!”
Alesya truly sighed in relief.
She had even suspected there might be something wrong with him because he kept avoiding relationships with women in such a nonchalant manner.
But listening to the sounds coming from inside the room, it seemed like everything was functioning properly without any major issues.
“Though I’m seething with anger, I will forgive Karen just this once!”
Of course, it was extremely unpleasant to see Karen getting close to my knight first!
But if you think about it differently, Karen successfully managed to draw Ray out from his terrible avoidance of women.
Since Karen has paved the way, now all Alesya needs to do is follow in her footsteps.
“Finally, Karen’s inefficient breasts have fulfilled their purpose!”
Certainly!
Alesya also had her pride.
Although it was surprising to Luna that Alesya still retained some pride…
Nonetheless, Alesya did have her pride.
She could give up “first place” to Karen.
But there was no way she could give up second or third place.
Taptap!
Alesya tapped her chest in front of Luna and raised two fingers.
“Next is my turn!”
This statement implied that although she wouldn’t interfere with Karen currently writhing on the bed, Alesya absolutely insisted on being next. There was no compromise on this point.
“…”
Upon seeing Alesya acting haughtily, Luna nodded calmly.
Alesya noticed a faint trace of pity in Luna’s eyes as she looked at her and instinctively swung her fist.
Of course, she didn’t hit Luna.
While Alesya was venting her frustrations on Luna.
Amidst the pain, Karen’s suppressed moans gradually began to carry a hint of excitement.
*
Ray held Karen.
He neither hesitated nor stopped.
Rough breathing and moans filled the room.
Despite their intense desire for each other, there was not a single instance of sweet lover’s talk.
This wasn’t a physical exchange between lovers confirming their feelings.
Rather… It was the conflict of misaligned emotions and lust manifesting as a clash of bodies.
Still, both Ray and Karen felt a strong affection for each other.
The person they were touching felt incredibly dear.
The emotions that had been intensely aroused.
The frustrations accumulated over a long period.
The unspoken wounds of the heart.
All these collided repeatedly until they melted into a sticky mass, losing their original forms.
Before long, the two began focusing solely on each other’s bodies, leaving behind the original passion.
Karen clung to Ray’s firm and angular body, while Ray gripped the soft and plump flesh of Karen.
Closing their eyes, all the things that had troubled their minds were temporarily drowned out by the overwhelming desire.
And eventually, the time of that fervent passion came to an end.
While tracing Karen’s pristine skin and continuously leaving red marks, Ray finally exhaled a moan and ceased his movements.
Karen trembled softly in Ray’s arms.
The restless bodies of the two collapsed onto the bed.
Only then were Ray and Karen able to carefully examine each other’s faces again.
Ray caressed Karen’s cheek.
Karen was still crying.
Ecstasy, joy, sadness, pain… Ray couldn’t discern which emotion exactly caused Karen to cry.
“Karen…”
After wiping away the tear stains on Karen’s eyes, Ray kissed her again.
This series of actions was largely impulsive, and Ray knew it.
However, the moist heat felt through their touching bodies reignited the fire within them, gradually pushing away their rationality.
Karen, sensing the yearning in Ray’s gaze, tried to muster strength in her loosened waist.
At that moment,
BANG!!
The door burst open dramatically.
Beyond the fully opened door stood Alesya, appearing very grandly.
“My! Knight! Hey!”
“…?”
Startled, Ray froze momentarily before hastily climbing off Karen’s body.
Karen belatedly searched around the bed for her clothes.
However, her garments were already half-torn and thrown far off the bed.
Seeing this scene, Alesya experienced a whirlwind of emotions but…
Still, she approached Ray step by step with a gentle smile on her face.
“It looks like you’ve had a good time! My! Knight! Hey!”
“A-actually…”
As Ray hesitated, Alesya had already come nearly nose-to-nose with him.
For the first time since reincarnating into this world, Ray felt a slight sense of fear towards Alesya.
Alesya finally reached the bed and thoroughly examined the traces left by Ray and Karen on the bedspread.
Alesya tried to maintain composure as best as she could.
But upon entering the room and facing the two of them, naturally, her calmness shattered.
“My knight!”
“?!”
CRUNCH!!
She bit.
Ray gasped.
“Hey! Hey!!! Just a minute!!!”
“Did you enjoy yourself? (Good?) Enjoyed it?!”
Alesya began clinging to Ray and wouldn’t let go.
Ray struggled to get her off, Karen was flustered and didn’t know what to do,
and Luna, after watching the scene from beyond the door for a while, closed it and turned her back.
“…”
Luna respected Ray’s choices and desires.
Moreover, she wished for Ray to become more attached to his life.
Therefore, regardless of the steps taken, she was satisfied that Ray had embraced Karen.
Of course,
Luna also respected and supported Alesya.
She merely intervened when Alesya kept obstructing things with her peculiar intuition.
Luna hoped for progress in Ray and Alesya’s relationship too.
If more people formed deep connections with Ray, making him cherish his life more… that would be enough.
Still, seeing Alesya act out so wildly made Luna somewhat doubt whether she could truly obtain what she wanted.
*
“Hmm…”
The healer frowned in perplexity.
In front of the healer sat Saria, who had mostly removed her top.
The healer, lost in thought for a moment, peeled off the gauze covering Saria’s wound near the collarbone.
Instantly, blood dripped from the wound located near the collarbone.
It wasn’t a massive hemorrhage.
However, there was a problem.
“This bleeding hasn’t stopped for several days now.”
“…”
Saria could see that much herself.
During the battle with Arundel, Saria sustained injuries in various places.
However, none were fatal.
What hurt more than the physical wounds was the loss of the artefact.
Yet, despite resting and receiving treatment for several days to recover from the injuries, the wound beneath her collarbone not only refused to heal but continued to widen, causing the bleeding to persist.
It was certainly no ordinary wound.
“This… should be classified as a curse.”
“Can’t you… treat it here?”
“A more detailed examination is necessary. Using divine power hasn’t resolved the issue…”
Fortunately, given that the injured party was Saria, there was ample time available.
If an ordinary civilian had suffered such a wound—or curse—they wouldn’t have been able to endure the blood loss physically, even if minimized.
However, Saria was a formidable knight who had attained a high level of mastery.
Even with continuous blood loss, she could continue her daily activities without much trouble, and her life wasn’t immediately in danger.
Nevertheless, it would significantly hinder her combat capabilities, and long-term weakening of the body was unavoidable.
“We need to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”
Even if it seemed fine now, if the wound worsened over time, even Saria couldn’t guarantee her safety.
While the healers worked to minimize the bleeding and monitor her condition, they needed to find a solution.
Saria furrowed her brow and wiped away the flowing blood with her hand.
Sequence (3)
