"Here's your tea, Master."
Erika tilted a foreign-looking teapot over the cup she prepared for me and a perfect stream of milky brown liquid poured from the spout. A compliment to her skills, she didn't spill a single drop.
"Thank you."
She quietly poured herself a cup as well before carefully setting the teapot on the dining table. After smoothing out her skirt, she sat across from me, but not before making sure her fluffy tail had plenty of room to move.
"The thanks belongs to you, Master, for letting me share a drink with you," she said with a polite, but genuine smile. "This is one of the more expensive teas Elane has collected."
"What, did she not share with you before?"
"Sometimes, but she rarely asked me to make it for her. It's usually reserved for guests."
Seeing that she was waiting for me, I went ahead and took a drink first. While it couldn't compare to the brew the Goddess gave me, it still managed to warm my soul and light up my tastebuds with a delightfully earthy flavor.
Finally, braving the steam emanating from her own cup, she took a small lady-like sip, only for her tail to give up the act by flicking happily. She, however, was quick to reprimand herself by forcing her tail back under the table.
I laughed.
"Erika, I know I'm technically your master, but you don't need to act so stiff around me. Just relax."
"O-Okay. Sorry."
Erika let out a breath, though the only relaxing she let herself enjoy was a slightly slackening of her shoulders. I pretended not to notice and took another sip.
Considering how she and the other maids thought I was going to drag them to bed the moment I took over as their master, I figured I had some waiting to do before they all lightened up around me.
Fidgeting in her seat like she didn't know what to say, she eventually broke the pleasant silence with a small bow.
"Sorry Silla and Mary aren't here to greet you. And June."
"Haha. Come on. I said it's fine. I'm mainly stopping by because I had to drop off the potions I made at the apothecary."
By chance, Erika had sent Mary and Silla out to the market to fetch some things for their dinner right before I teleported back to Elane's mansion. Because of this, and because June was currently upstairs trying to put a Tailor-maid dent in her new bed, Erika and I were all alone.
After the incident with Elane last night, we'd brought her straight back to our cabin in the middle of nowhere, just in case she woke up still wanting to fight. Unfortunately, she hadn't woken yet. The Force Sleep spell doesn't knock you out for a set amount of time, so she was out night while I passed the time working on my potions.
Yua and Mana had elected to stay back with her while I finished up with Madame Turquesse, but for two very different reasons. Yua planned on keeping an eye on Elane just in case, while Mana took off to go play in the forest behind our house.
In Mana's case, I easily conceded to her the right to play around in the trees in her usual nudist fashion. She grew up naked in the forest, but thanks to our place being so secluded, and because her ears were so sensitive, I had no worries about others seeing her. So long as she covered up and came back in the event some unknown person showed up, she was golden.
Still, Mana had yanked off all her clothes and took off running before my portal even took shape. Could have at least waited a bit. A kiss goodbye would have been nice. Hell, she could have at least set her things in a neat pile so Yua didn't have to sigh the way she did.
"U-Um," Erika started carefully, unawares of my second wife's enthusiastic streaking. "How's your arm?"
"Hmm? Oh, much better," I said, flexing my left bicep to prove it. "The Reverse Bone Break potion mended it faster than I was expecting, but it felt pretty stiff for a few hours."
"Hehe. Yea, I've heard that can happen," she giggled with a delicate knuckle pressed to her lip, then her gaze dropped to her cup. "But… I'm sorry she hurt you."
"It wasn't so bad. I was able to keep Iron Fist active long enough to make it to the apothecary."
Though, I had a real bitch of a time not yelling Yua's ear off when she snapped my arm back into place. Unfortunately, the potion could mend bones, not set them straight. Still, I could only thank the Goddess for being an option to end that pain within seconds of feeling it.
"No, I mean that it was still wrong of her. Elane usually doesn't lose her temper when sober, but when she does…!"
Biting back whatever she wanted to say, Erika threw herself out of her seat and kneeled on the floor. Before I could speak a word, she pressed both her palms and forehead to the floorboards in the deepest bow a person could use to prostrate themselves.
"Please forgive her, Master! I'm sure she didn't mean it!"
"H-Hang on," I said quickly. "I know. I was able to figure out that she really wasn't thinking at all. It was an accident that I caused by getting in her way."
Leaving my seat, I slipped a hand under Erika's arm and lifted her, forcing her to see that I was calm. She met my gaze and pleaded.
"Please don't leave her! I'm sure she'll be a good wife if you give her a chance! After everything she's gone through… She'll be good, I promise!"
"Hahaha. Are you really that against her moving back in?"
"Wh-What?" Erika squeaked, her cheeks flushing. They turned twice as red when she finally realized I was holding her arm, but it got her to jump back to her feet before she continued. "I'm being serious… M-Master!"
"I know. I know," I said, sitting back down. "But I have to ask, those guys that attacked us called her The Terror of Amoranth. What's up with that?"
Hearing that name, all the life drained right out of Erika's tail. Rather than sit, she all but collapsed back into her chair.
"That name… People started calling her that a few years ago."
"Do you know why?"
"…"
Pursing her lips, Erika's fingers gently encircled her cup as she peered into the steaming tea. As if searching the steam for the strength to answer, she lowered her chin, hiding her eyes behind her bangs.
"Erika, please. Whether I'm her master, her husband or whatever, I think I deserve to know."
Not that I'd ever feel sorry for a literal slaver that tried to kill me, but a man was killed last night. Just seeing the changes Berserker Rage made to her stats, I understood the terror facing her could inspire, but to murder your employer just to avoid fighting her?
I didn't come here for this, but I needed answers.
"… Alright."
Erika's tale was short, but it didn't take long to realize why she was so against telling it.
As the story goes, Elane had been out in the Amoranth market, just doing a bit of shopping because a caravan of foreign merchants happened to set up shop. And while perusing the alcoholic-wares of one of these stalls, the stall's merchant took an immediate liking to her. He proposed on the spot, only to get immediately rejected. Deciding she didn't want any more of his lascivious gaze, or any of his stock, Elane left. That merchant, however, wasn't one to give up so easily.
Assuming from her half-dressed attired that she was a commoner, he reached out to offer her a life of ease, comfort and promises that she'd become the wife of a soon-to-be incredibly wealthy man. She ignored him and walked on, until he made a grab for her coat. The same coat she's been wearing since we met. The only thing that covers her chest.
"Are you saying he accidentally caused her to flash everyone in the market?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Erika said with a quick shake of her head. "If that were all it was, she probably would have just broken one or two of his arms. What happened was much, much worse."
"Come on, don't leave me in suspense. What happened?"
"He… Well, he grabbed Elane's coat pocket. She kept walking, but he refused to let go. So, her pocket was ripped clean off."
"… And her breasts fell out?"
"N-No," Erika blushed. "That's it. He ripped her coat. She loves that coat more than anything."
Of course she does. It's effectively an easy-to-wear symbol of how she picked herself up out of poverty. It was also a reminder of all the fun she had traveling the world.
"Okay, but even if I were to assume this was before June came along and could fix it, I don't see how that's such a huge problem."
Erika nodded, taking another sip of her tea to wet her throat. "I don't think she does either. She sort of just… snapped."
Not understanding his mistake, or perhaps not noticing Elane's skin turning red, the merchant continued pleading his case, offering her the biggest and best wedding she could ever dream of, only for her to turn around and punch him so hard in the gut that he vomited blood.
The merchant was dragged away by his hired hands and eventually healed, but getting a fist-full of revenge wasn't enough for her. She tried to give chase, only to wind up surrounded by the city guard. They tried to bring her down, this red screaming menace that no longer resembled a noblewoman, but she was too much for them.
"She beat down guard after guard and they just kept coming. With her bare hands, she left their armors dented and useless and left them crying for reinforcements. Nobody could lay a finger on her."
"Then how did they manage to stop her?"
"They didn't," Erika sighed, her gaze far, far away. "Every guard in the merchant's quarter came to subdue her and she just kept beating them all off. Soon enough, when they realized fighting her was pointless, they tried to talk things out. When this didn't work, the Adventurers waiting nearby came to help, but she beat them back too. Eventually, she just ran out of stamina and passed out in the middle of the city, surrounded by countless broken bodies."
Erika fell silent for a long moment before her eyes shot back open.
"O-Oh! I should mention that nobody died! She didn't seem to have any control over her actions, but…"
"But it looked like she was trying to hold back? It was the same last night."
Erika nodded emptily.
This had to be why Tillmann tried to goad her into going berserk. He knew she'd have the strength to overcome him, but at the significant cost of her brainpower.
"But if she caused that much of a commotion, why wasn't she punished?"
Thievery and murder had clear consequences, but if she beat down that many of the city's protectors, how was she at least not imprisoned?
"She was," Erika said. "But as luck would have it, King DeGarmo himself visited the city the next day. It was supposed to be a routine observation of the dungeons throughout the kingdom, but when he found his welcome party lacking in enthusiasm, he forced an answer out of someone. And because he favors her so highly, he quickly pardoned her, much to the complaint of the city guard."
"Wow. Sure pays to know royalty."
"Yes. Actually, the King's right hand, General Attenburrow, was with him that day. Since Elane was unconscious, he escorted her back to the mansion. He told me what happened, only he looked like he thought it was amusing.
"Apparently, he fought alongside her once before when she lost control, only that time it was on an actual battlefield. So, all he had to say when he handed her to us was, The guards should count themselves lucky she wasn't carrying her axe that day."
That, I thought, and thankfullky she wasn't as skilled with her fists as Yua is.
"That's all I know," she continued. "Elane genuinely didn't remember any of it when she woke up."
"So, that's why everyone in the city is scared of her?"
"Yes, but it's not everyone. Not really, anyways. Most assumed she was just incredibly drunk at the time and lost control of herself after the merchant harassed her. And since another incident like hasn't happened in a while, people are just weary of making her mad." She paused, then added. "Although, the men she fought back then do usually run away from her on sight."
"I see…"
That explains Lilt's earlier warning when recommending Elane as a Cartographer.
I bet the all the negative attention added cause to Elane's drinking, too. No wonder it was so easy to convince her to come live with us. She lived in a city filled with men hitting on her or otherwise avoiding her unless they needed her work. Who'd want to live like that if they had another option?
Understandable, but let's not overlook the elephant in the room.
"So, just about anything can set her off? And I assume it's safe to say this has happened other times?"
Erika lowered her chin, unable to deny it. If she lost control just because of a little tear in her coat that, from what I've seen, has been fixed up well enough to not even notice, then she was dangerous.
The image of her pointing her axe at my neck back in Guerraway floated into mind and I quietly downed the rest of my drink.
"Thanks for the tea. I believe I've heard all I need."
"W-Wait!" Erika pleaded, jumping out of her seat. "She's not as scary as people think. P-Please, just give her a second chance!"
Seeing this cute maid getting so worked up over her former mistress's future warmed my heart a bit.
"I like how you're able to speak to me casually when it comes to defending Elane."
Erika's cheeks heated at this, almost enough to break her pleading gaze.
"I-I… Master, I'm sorry for…"
"I wasn't reprimanding you. I was being serious." I looked to the time on my HUD and threw open a portal. The sight of its swirling lights seemed to both amaze and worry Erika all at once, so I faced her and added, "And before I forget; one of my abilities allows me to increase your stats little by little. For now, I'll increase your Luck."
Out of all the maids, Erika seemed like she might have had it the hardest. From being a slave to her former mistress's bouts of drunken anger and unwarranted groping, and then to her fellow maids playfully(?) harassing her, I felt she needed the extra help. Her Casanova points were just sitting around gathering dust anyways.
And as a side note, I was curious to see how another person's Luck affected those around me. Erika's was average, same as all the other girls, but it'd be nice to see it help out someone else the way it did me.
"My Luck?" she said, tilting her head.
"Yea. You don't need to worry about it, though. Just go ahead and go let June know I did the same for her Endurance. That girl clearly needs more stamina."
"O-Okay. Then I will let her know right away, but, um, Master?"
"Yes?"
"About Elane…"
"We'll talk it over when she wakes up. For now, go ahead and finish your tea. It was really good. Thank you."
"… You're welcome, Master."
An impressively modern-ish mansion basking in the late morning sun was what greeted me on my way back. Gone was our little cabin in the middle of nowhere, replaced by a full, two-storied home in… well, it's still the middle of nowhere, but now it's just as big as the place we left behind in Amoranth.
While Elane slept and in between sets of brewing potions, I'd fully taken to the task of revamping our home. Working Material Creation to the bone allowed me to create a home worthy of being featured on a realty magazine.
Maybe. I hope so, at least. I kind of just took some ideas and threw together a few more features of large homes I'd seen back on earth into one mishmash of a mansion.
I even used up a sizeable portion of the materials I bought in Guerraway to make a full set of properly cushioned furniture for the place. And a garage, which was mostly pointless, but it exists now. And… And, I am proud to say, I found that Material Destruction was able to compress wood to the point where it was impeccably smooth. No sander, elbow grease or extra coating needed!
Yes. This of course meant that we are the proud new owners of a shiny, faux-polished floor! Look in awe at its shine and be amazed by how wonderful it feels against your bare feet! Or, hey, go ahead and wear your boots if you like! With my ability, if you scuff the floor, I could fix it up in seconds! Surely, this is how the Goddess intended for me to use this ability!
All in all, Yua liked the changes and was quick to compliment my work, but she wasn't one to complain anyways. We'd spent an entire month sleeping on a literal lump of wood without a word of complaint, after all. Meanwhile, Mana was much more impressed by watching my ability in action than she was by the results.
Where I'd thought providing anything more substantial than a tent would impress the girls, they were too tired from all the fighting and walking we'd done yesterday for it to really sink in. Then, of course, there was Elane to worry about.
Along with all the furniture I made was, naturally, a giant bed. Surprised myself, I was happy to find that it turned out to be wonderfully comfortable to lay on, but Elane was the only one able to partake in last night.
Not that the cat girls had the energy to partake in our usual bedtime routine, but we couldn't exactly go wild while Elane was unconscious next to us. Wouldn't be right. Yet, due to their upbringing, I knew neither would say no if I asked, so I had to act as the gatekeeper to my own libido for once. Thanks to this digression, the three of us slept downstairs.
Yua still forced me awake with a very loving and very prolonged kiss between the legs as she promised she would, but since she started while I was still asleep, I was essentially the victim and was therefore innocent. Right? She was just practicing anyways, right?
Still, morning routines aside, we'd been all business since we got back last night. So, when I entered the house, I was not at all surprised to see Mana enjoying the comfy new couch in the living room. Laying on her stomach, her head resting on a pillow, she looked ready to fall asleep even though her tail was still energetic enough to swish around. Guess she was already done playing around in the forest for the day.
Noticing that, true to form, she was entirely unconcerned with how her skirt had flipped up to reveal her panty-clad rump, I quietly reached over the back of the couch and corrected her clothes.
Finally noticing my presence, Mana ears shot to attention before she did.
"Big Bro!" she exclaimed, jumping up to kneel on the couch. "The animals in the forest here are really cute!"
Smiling a little self-deprecatingly at myself for being disappointed that her greeting didn't start with Welcome back, what would you like first…?, I got straight to business before her smile could sway me.
"Glad you had fun, but we'll have to talk about it later. Where's Yua?"
"Mm? Big Sis is talking to Booby Lady on the bed."
"So she's awake. When did she wake up?"
"It hasn't been long."
"And why aren't you up there with them?"
"Big Sis told me to wait down here, but I don't know why. I can hear everything they're saying anyways."
She shrugged, her ears flicking to the sound of a conversation I could only assume was actually being had.
Knowing that Yua must have excluded Mana from the conversation because her cuteness would only distract Elane, I plopped a hand on her head and pet her. In return, she smiled toothily, her now eagerly swishing tail serving only to amplify her cuteness.
Still, the relative silence in the house and the forest behind it meant that Elane was calm again. Nodding to myself, I pushed my hands under Mana's armpits and lifted her over the couch and into my arms.
"Let's join them. I have some questions for Elane too."
"Okay!"
Skipping the stairs I just remodeled, I opened a portal to the bedroom and carried Mana through. Naturally, Yua heard everything and knew we were coming, so she didn't flinch at all, but Elane jumped at our appearance. She'd been kneeling on the floor in front of Yua, the sole occupant of the bed, even though there was enough room for at least six people to sleep side-by-side comfortably.
Where I would have thought Yua bothering to keep up with her unique wake-up call meant she was in a good mood, she instead fixed a stern glare on Elane. Her arms were crossed, but there was a tenseness in her muscles that made me think she might lash out with a punch at any moment.
Meanwhile, Elane was prostrate on the floor. While the clothes we'd left on her were fine, her long blonde hair was still messy with sleep. They must have gotten straight to the point after she woke up.
"Everything okay here?" I asked, letting Mana down.
Yua looked to me briefly, then glared at Elane. "… She keeps saying she doesn't remember what happened last night."
"Because I don't!" Elane cried, her tone nearly desperate. "Listen to my heart. You know I'm telling the truth!"
"Your eyes were open and you were speaking!"
"But… I don't…"
Unable to deny anything in the face of Yua's anger, Elane lowered her head. Her shoulders shook as she clenched her hands atop her knees.
"Yua," I said, sitting beside her. "She doesn't remember."
Mana joined us on the bed, but her presence didn't have the effect I thought it would. Instead of gushing over the cat girl's cuteness, Elane started to tremble, as though she were suddenly thrust before a panel of judges about to decide her fate.
"That may be what her heart is saying," Yua said. "But I know what I saw and heard."
"No, I mean I spoke with Erika. Last night wasn't the first time this happened to her, right, Elane?"
"…"
"According to Erika, she didn't remember anything back then either. And like I told you; she wasn't fully conscious in the first place."
She no doubt heard my orders, but still managed to disobey them. That alone was proof enough that whatever attacked Lilt last night wasn't Elane. Not entirely, at least.
"I never remember," Elane said, wiping at her tears. "I remember everything that happens up until the moment I snap. Then it's like falling into a deep, dreamless sleep. Th-Then I wake up and find… find that I've hurt someone. Most of the time, it's hard just to figure out what I did, because everyone's too scared to talk to me."
"… And how many times has this happened?" Yua asked, easing her tone slightly. "If both the people of Amoranth and Guerraway are scared of you, then it must have happened multiple times, right?"
"I don't know how many… but yes."
"I'm more concerned with why it happened," I said.
I was under no illusion that what happened wasn't for my sake, but to go and lose herself because she thought Lilt was trying to kill us? Had she at least stopped to take in the truth of the situation when she showed up, her going berserk probably never would have happened. Brennen's men were afraid of fighting Elane, not Berserker Rage Elane, so things would have end up even better for us had she kept a level-head.
Then again, I sighed, if I'd explained things to her properly before trying to use her name to keep the fight from happening, or if Mana's explanation had been more detailed, we could have avoided the incident.
"Erika said the last time it happened in Amoranth was because someone ripped your coat. And this time, it was because you misunderstood Mana. What I want to know is, is it always that easy to Activate Berserker Rage?"
Biting her lip, Elane took hold of the left side of her coat, turning it over to look at the pocket there. As I thought, the stitching that had repaired it was perfect. You'd never know it'd been torn. She nodded, but her expression was unsure.
"I'm not really sure what causes it to happen. I know it happens when I'm angry, but it doesn't happen every time I get upset. That much I can swear. I don't go berserk when the maids mess up my orders or when the bartender messes up my drink, but…"
"But you do when someone damages your beloved coat," I said for her. "Or when you think your new husband is in danger."
She looked up at me, her cobalt eyes wavering behind a layer of tears.
"I… I thought she was trying to kill you."
"I know. And I thank you for wanting to protect me, but…"
"But she broke your arm," Yua said. "And she tried to kill an innocent girl."
"Well, innocent of wanting to kill me. Not so innocent in other ways."
Yua's emerald glare shifted over to me. I clammed up.
"Alex, if you hadn't made her your slave before that happened, you could be dead right now."
While that wasn't necessarily true, Elane's anger had beenfocused entirely on Lilt, I couldn't say much to deny that. Until she became my slave, my item box had no effect on her, so I couldn't have stolen her axe. And the slave spell rebounding on her after hurting me did give us the opening I needed to take her down.
But take both those away and I could have ended up like Arthur.
"AAAH! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
Reminded again of the threat she'd posed, Elane bowed repeatedly, practically driving her head through the floorboards as she sobbed. It was almost like she'd taken the place of the cowering Lilt as penance for her actions.
There was real fear in her eyes before she forced herself to look away, unable to meet my gaze. Yet, at the same time, she kept trying to look.
"Elane… when you were berserk, you kept screaming about Lilt trying to take me away from you. I believe your exact words were: After all these years, I finally found someone who… Then you cut yourself off. What was all that about?"
She'd been approached by so many men that Erika started to assume that was all any visiting man wanted from her. She rejected them all for any number of reasons, but the way she spoke made it sound like she was the one searching for love.
Where I thought I'd caught her in some sort of lie that Erika was in on, that she wasn't actually so popular with the men in the city, she instead squeezed her eyes shut. She clenched her fists hard enough for her knuckles to crack, but she looked to be holding back more tears.
"I… I'm not the only person in my family that had the Berserker Rage ability. My father did, too."
"But I thought you were a…"
The word orphan refused to drop off my tongue to avoid upsetting her further, but it was too late. Elane nodded as though I'd said it loud and clear.
"After I first realized I had the ability, I gave into curiosity and did some digging into my family to see where it came from. I never really knew my parents, but after searching, I found some people that did and, after telling them who I was, they told me all they could."
Elane stopped, maybe to clear her thoughts, but her eyes were vacant and almost pained as she staired at nothing. After a long silence, Mana's ears flattened as she slipped off the bed to offer her a hug. She and Yua must have heard something in her that I couldn't, because Yua's anger had all but completely faded. Elane accepted Mana's offering this time and continued as she held her.
"My father was a carpenter and he also likely had the Berserker Rage ability. From what I heard, whenever he was out cutting down trees, he'd sometimes go mad, seemingly at random, but a friend swear it only happened when he accidentally hurt himself. After that, after he turned red, he'd go on a rampage and chop through tree after tree, each in a single explosive blow, like they were the ones who'd hurt him.
"Supposedly, it never happened at home. Everyone said my mother was a very supporting and loving woman, but it wasn't so easy at the old family shop father inherited. Fath would occasionally receive criticism for his work and mother would soothe him, but one day, it just wasn't enough. Some man that hired father to build him a carriage hated his work. In front of the whole shop, he said things that blew right past criticism and sounded like outright slander. They argued and father ultimately kicked him out of the store. Only, it turned out that man was not someone to just take it lying down, so he hired some goons to teach father a lesson."
"They killed him?"
"They only meant to rough him up, but they took it too far when they hit my mother. Father lost it, picked his woodcutting axe and cut them all down without mercy. Then, even though it looked like the trouble was over, father still didn't stop. Mother tried to help, tried to calm him, but… according to those that heard her screams, she got in his way."
"Elane…"
She shook her head, denying any sympathies before I could speak them. She wasn't crying, but she only just managed to press her lips into a thin, hard line to keep her tears at bay.
"He became a Murderer and the sight of that tag was enough to prove to himself what he did," she continued. "Even though the guards agreed that it was an accident and that he was only defending his family, he couldn't forgive himself. He stopped eating, stopped taking care of himself and just stopped talking to people. A few days after she was buried, he dropped me off on the orphanage's doorstep in the middle of the night and took his own life."
Turning over her palms, Elaen looked at them as though she were the one responsible for it all.
"I think I was too young to remember any of this, or maybe I just wasn't there, but ever since I heard all this, I've wondered why my mother chose to stay with him, knowing of his affliction."
"Sounds like she loved him enough to stay," Yua said, but Elane grimaced.
"Is that why you didn't tell me what that ability did when I asked about it? You thought I'd change my mind about marrying you? That I'd be too scared of you?"
If the rage she and her father experienced ran so deep that not even your loved ones where safe, then I fully understood why she'd be hesitant to tell me. But at the same time, it's something she should have told me regardless.
Looking very much like she didn't want to; she nodded to my question.
"I didn't reject all those men that came to me with promises of marriage. The higher up in society washed their hands of me when they found out about my low birth, but most just ran away when they found out I was the one that went by that stupid name, The Terror of Amoranth. But not you," she said and her cheeks flushed. "You saw me drunk and at my worst and still cared for me. You withstood my threats and still concerned yourself with my worries. And even though you wanted to keep it a secret, you have knowledge of new lands we could rediscover together through your memories. I fell, and I knew you liked me too. I was excited. With our marriage, I could finally find joy in life again. It was almost enough to forget about everything else."
She lifted her chin and the dreamy gleam in her eyes made my heart skip. The woman before me was nothing like the brave woman that ran into a forest with her axe to save us. Nor was it the woman who sobbed with relief when the maids forgave her. And it certainly wasn't the red demon that attacked last night.
She was nothing more than a woman deep in love, but it didn't last anywhere near long enough.
"Clearly," she said, brushing her golden hair over her ear in a feeble attempt to feign composure. "I wasn't meant to have love. If my father couldn't handle his rage enough to save mother, then I can never be anything but a threat to you."
Elane stood and, hesitating only long enough to clench her fist, she hung her head and started towards the bedroom door. Yua's mouth fell, unsure of what to say and Mana tried to reach out for her.
I, however, stretched out a telekinetic hand and closed the door before she could take a second step.
Or rather, I meant to close it. What actually happened was that I slammed it hard enough to make Yua and Mana to wince. Elane, too, jumped a little.
"Sorry. Sorry. I'm still working the kinks out of that ability. Anyway, where do you think you're going?"
"Back to Amoranth."
"And you think I'm going to let you go? Just like that?"
"O-Oh, right," she said, brow twisting with frustration. "I suppose I'm your slave now. I-I haven't been trained, but I can still…"
"Yea, enough of that," I said with a dismissive wave. "I get enough of the slave talk from the maids. I don't need it from my wife too."
"What are you talking about?!" she shouted. "If you don't want me as a slave either, then what do you want? You can't seriously expect me to believe you'll just let me go with no strings attached. If you're worried about your secrets leaking, then just order me to keep my mouth shut!"
"Yea, I'm not going to do that. I told you; I don't treat my slaves like slaves. Besides, I'm half-expecting Madame Turquesse to spill the beans anyway."
If my Luck meant anything, she'd at least keep quiet as long as I kept buying from her, regardless of being able to make potions myself.
"Then what do you want from me? I almost killed you last night. I even broke your arm!"
"Yea, you did."
"Then why?!" she yelled, tears spilling down her cheeks. "You heard what I said. I could end up killing you, but you won't even keep me as a slave and you won't let me go. Or what, did you want to sell me off? I bet a former noble like me would fetch a pretty high price. You'd never have to worry about coin again."
"Not doing that either."
"Th-Then why?!" she shouted again, stomping back over to me.
She made a grab for my collar, but stayed herself before she came within reach. Her skin was still a soft white with just the faintest hint of a tan, possibly a leftover from her time out in the wilds of this world.
Or, in other words, it wasn't red, but her eyes widened as though it were the deepest crimson.
"Um, Booby Lady," Mana chirped from where she sat on the floor. Holding her wrist back, and with her lips contorted in a frustrated pout, Elane turned to her to listen. "Being a wife is the same as being his mate, right?"
"Obviously," Elane crowed back, but all her answer did was make Mana tilt her head in confusion before looking to Yua.
"Big Sis, are human ears really that bad?"
A heavy sigh escaped Yua's nostrils, but she nodded nonetheless. The pointed ears of both girls twitched in unison.
"It would appear so."
"What are you talking about?" Elane asked, but I knew what they were getting at.
"Booby Lady," Mana huffed, wagging a finger at Elane. "Big Bro still called you his wife when you tried to leave. But you're not acting like it. You should be a good mate, do as he says and stay."
"You're one to talk about listening to your mate, Mana," Yua said, shaking her head. "Are you even wearing panties right now?"
"Hehe. Yup, I am! I hate it, though."
Elane watched them go back and forth for a moment before fixing her gaze on me. It seemed she was so fixated on thinking I'd end our marriage before it even started after learning the truth, that she didn't actually pay attention to what I said.
"Th-Then you still…" she started, hope wavering in her eyes.
"Do you really think I'm so weak that I'd let someone else's past affect our future together?" I said, jumping off the bed to stand before her. She flinched back, cheeks burning bright.
"I-I almost killed you."
"But you didn't. Besides, not only was I able to think of a way to take you down peacefully once I realized what was going on, but with my abilities and my magic, I can stop any rampage you may go on."
"B-but… You… I almost…"
I took her by the hands and forced her to look at me. She tried to pull away, but her strength had left her completely. It was almost like she used it all up in her attempt to protect me last night.
"You're safe with me," I said.
"I-I'm not worried about me. It's you who…"
"You're safe with me," I repeated, pulling her to me. From what little force I used, she collapsed into my chest, needing to throw her arms around me to keep from hitting the floor. "If what happened last night happens again, I'll protect you."
"But…"
"I'll protect you by stopping you before you can hurt anyone you care about. That's what this was all about, right? Keeping the truth from us. Trying to push our relationship to move a little faster by agreeing to come live with us, despite all the trouble doing so would cause you. Then you try to walk out that door, even though nobody asked you to, because you're scared of me knowing the truth. Am I wrong?"
We told her where we lived before she agreed to come. And we were plenty far enough from civilization that, had things gone her way, we may never have found out the details of her past incidents. It would have been perfect to keep her secrets.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she squeezed my shirt.
"I… I just wanted a little taste of the married life before you found out. I hoped… No, I knew you'd be able to make me happy enough that you'd never need to see that side of me. I wanted it to just die without you ever having to be scared of me."
"I'm not scared of you, though."
She squeezed my shirt harder. "But I lied to you."
"Eh. We all have our secrets. While this is definitely something you should have told me, I'm not going to fault you for keeping it a secret, given the circumstances."
Besides, Yua was quick to forgive me when she found out about all the secrets I'd been withholding from her. Getting mad now would just be hypocritical. Keeping a secret like thast wouldn't necessarily make life harder the way my secrets did, but at least we found out the truth of Berserker Rage when we had the opportunity to fight back. Were we not already on guard thanks to Brennen's thugs, she could have swept right past us and brought her axe down on that poor defenseless thief.
If anything, we were lucky things went the way they did, because now we know, and now I know how to stop her.
"Then y-you still…" Elane started, looking into my eyes, lips quavering, hesitant to finish her thought. "… You still want me as your wife? Even after knowing the truth?"
"Of course. What sort of husband just abandons his wife when he knows he can help her? I never even considered turning you away."
Before I knew it, I was smiling as I placed a hand on the small of her back and pulled her ever closer, closer until our lips met. Despite the worry, the rage of last night and all the rum, her lips were still nothing but sweet.
Elane sucked in only a single breath of surprise, even though to me the embrace lasted for hours. When she pulled away to catch her breath, she touched a hand to her lips, her surprise shifting to learn that she was smiling.
"I can't give you the wedding you were probably looking forward to," I said, squeezing her hand. "But I can do my best to make you happy."
"Oh, Alex, I…"
"Can you two hold on a second? We aren't done here."
Sucked right out of our own little world by the sharpness in Yua's tone, both our cheeks heated as we turned to her. Still sat on the bed and still with her arms crossed, she met us with an emerald glare that I wasn't sure I'd done anything to earn.
"What's wrong? I thought you said you were fine with Elane being my wife."
She shook her head. "It's not that. You can't just forgive her after what she did. She broke your arm and almost killed you."
"And I'm forgiving her. The pain was… troublesome, but it was something I was bound to experience eventually."
"That's…" Yua sighed. "I suppose it's up to you to forgive her for what she did to you, but what about me? She hurt me too and I think she needs to be punished."
Yua rubbed the spot on her stomach Elane had hit during her rampage and Elane tensed. She'd already been filled in on everything that happened, but I don't recall her apologies ever being directed to Yua.
"I'm sorry I hurt you!" Elane said, bowing sharply. "I swear, I didn't mean to!"
"Yua, I don't want to make this an issue of you against her, but I told you I don't punish my slaves. We can just talk this out and…"
"N-No, Alex, I think she's right. I hurt you both and I kept a dangerous secret from you all. Someone could have died. I should be punished."
Elane hung her head, ready to accept any verdict thrown at her without letting me have a say.
I didn't know what to do. Yua was right to say we were both injured, but at the same time, I don't want to start a relationship with Elane by hurting her back for something she couldn't even control. As far as I'm concerned, the slave spell already did that last night.
"I don't mean for you to punish her as a slave," Yua said. "I know you don't like hurting people, Alex. But it stands that she hurt you, her mate and me, her mate's mate. Mana was lucky to make it out unharmed, but she easily could have gone through the same or worse."
We looked to Mana, who only tilted her head back at us, clearly confused as to why she was being brought up, but I knew. Mana wouldn't have been able to take the same hit Yua had and still get back up. If Elane hadn't just ignored her, things would have ended up so much worse.
Elane herself must have noticed this because she began to sweat. However, she firmed up and prepared for the worst.
"If you'll forgive me, and if you let me be his wife, I'm prepared to accept any punishment you suggest."
"W-Wait, hold on a sec…"
Fearing for the worse, my imagination running wild with possibilities that all stemmed from the fact that her tribe love to fight, I worried that a blanket acceptance would be too risky. Elane, though, just put up a hand to silence me. Sweat dripped from her brow, but her cobalt gaze was unwavering. She'd already fully decided to accept her fate.
Seeing this, Yua continued with a surprisingly even tone.
"Since Alex has already forgiven you, then that leaves me to decide. So, I'll have you punished the way my people punish those that hurt their mates."
Whatever she meant by this caused Mana's eyes to shoot wide open briefly with concern, but then a small nod of acceptance cooled her. Hopefully that meant it's not as bad as I was thinking.
"W-Wait, didn't you headbutt Alex? You hurt him too."
"… That was because he deserved and needed it to set him straight. This particular custom of ours isn't without its exceptions. If it weren't, you'd never be able to spar with your mate, obviously. What I'm talking about now is more along the lines of lashing out at your mate in anger or just seriously hurting them on accident."
"R-Right… Then I-I'll do it," Elane said. "Whatever it is. But I'm not all that familiar with that side of your peoples' customs, so…"
Her ears flicking at Elane's acceptance, Yua's lips slowly curled into a grin that could only be described as playfully malicious. It was enough to make Elane quake in her boots and enough to double my worries all over again.
"Then allow me to explain," Yua said. "Your punishment shall be the Forgiveness Embrace. Refuse, and I'll deny you as his wife."
Elane and I looked to each other, neither knowing what the hell she meant. For better or worse, it was proof enough that I still had more of her people's customs to learn, but Mana took it a whole different way.
"Big Sis can be so mean sometimes," she said, her ears falling flat.
"Hmph!"
Yua's malicious grin turned into an almost child-like pout, but the casual swishing of her tail was proof enough that she wasn't actually offended by Mana's comment or our bewildered stares.
"Yua, I'm still knew to your ways, too. Could you explain a little more?"
"Gladly. The punishment for hurting your mate is to prove your undying love to them in a way that only mates can."
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning that you, Elane, will mate with Alex until he's so satisfied that he can't make his penis hard anymore."
At this, Yua recrossed her arms under her breasts, looking very much like a judge handing down the death penalty to a criminal that had been caught dead-to-rights. Mana followed up by taking a long step away from Yua.
Elane, however…
Oh, Elane.
The entirety of my new wife's face had turned so red that I almost could have thought the mere suggestion had caused her to go berserk all over again. That is, until I noticed her trembling smile and the earthquake that seemed localized entirely on her shoulders.
Noticing my gaze, Elane clenched her teeth and stood up straight. Thrusting her palms onto her hands and, with a clearly fake sense of confidence in her smile, she loudly proclaimed, "I-I-I-Is that it? No problem! We're husband and wife now, so a little fucking is nothing. Besides, ha… What? I just have to make him cum two or three times and we're done? Easy. Hahahaha!"
Trembling as she was, I couldn't help but notice how her mountainous breasts jiggled beneath her coat as she laughed. Whether or not she was laughing to amp herself up or simply out of embarrassment was something I couldn't guess.
I, however, pinched the space between my eyes to bear with the heat rising in my cheeks.
"Yua, isn't that a bit much?" I said, then whispered so only she could hear me. "Her status page says she's a virgin."
However, Yua only huffed.
"Normally, there are three requirements to fulfil a Forgiveness Embrace properly. First, you would have to explain to everyone how you hurt your mate and why. The second is that you must handle all of your mate's lust while every single member of the village watches you. This is to prove to everyone your willingness to resubmit yourself to your mate. The third and final requirement is simply the act of mating until your mate can no longer go on. However, since I know Alex doesn't want other males to see us naked, I'll allow you to skip the part about the village watching. And since it's only us three here, you've already explained the reason."
So, it's both a form of humiliation and repentance?
"Then if I do this, you'll forgive me? You'll accept me as his wife?"
"Without question."
"Th-Th-Then no problem," Elane said, her voice shaking.
"Elane, hold on a second." I took her by the hand again and she flinched, but didn't pull back. "There's something about me that you aren't understanding."
"I-If you mean that you're more lustful than most men, I already figured that out by how I'm your third wife instead of your first."
"Not… that," I paused for a breath then met her gaze, forcing my own to be stern and honest. "Elane, one of my traits causes my stamina to regenerate much faster than normal. This includes during sex. If anything, sex only makes it recover faster."
I knew my stamina recovered much faster than the normal person's after comparing it to Yua's when we fought in the dungeon. While she was a little malnourished from her time in the slave house, she was still in much better shape than me after living her life as a warrior and constantly training. But even setting that aside, it felt like my stamina recovered even faster still when it came to sex.
It was like my enjoyment of the act affected the recovery as well. Sort of like how Yua could just keep fighting and fighting without end back in the village. Combine that with how I never seem to run out of semen, then what Yua was asking for was for us to teach Elane a lesson in what true exhaustion felt like.
"Wh-What are you saying?" Elane chirped, unable to hide that she was starting to catch on.
"What I'm saying is that, during our first night together, Yua and I had sex seven times before we stopped. And we only stopped because she couldn't handle any more."
"S-S-Seven times?! I've never heard of a man lasting that long."
There was nothing to do but nod.
That night, Yua had downed a healthy portion of our stamina potions just to keep up with me and, bless her, she was happy to do it. And after years of being alone, wishing I had someone like her, I was happy to accept her love and kindness and allow myself to indulge in her body to my heart's, my monster's content.
That is, until she collapsed in my arms, now a heaving mess. Barely able to breathe, she'd tried to climb on top of me for another round once my repeated fondling of her had hardened me again, but she couldn't even manage that much. So, we called it quits for the night.
… only to then start up again when we woke up the next day.
Essentially, my libido could be nearly relentless if I didn't willingly put a cap on it.
"R-Really?" Elane said, rubbing her thighs together. "Y-you know, I was actually hoping our first time would be a bit more romantic and not so… tiring."
"Doesn't matter," Yua said sharply. "It's the Embrace, or I'll ask Alex to teleport you back to Amoranth."
Trembling, thighs rubbing and knees knocking together, Elane looked to me, her eyes full of a flushed worry. Seeing her like this almost made last night seem like a dream involving an entirely different person.
Still holding her hand, I rubbed the backs of her knuckles with my thumb to reassure her.
"It can still be romantic. It'll just be a… prolonged romance."
"Speaking of which," Yua started, turning back to me. "You have to follow the rules too, Alex. If I catch you calling it quits early, then…"
"I get it. You don't have to keep threatening us."
"Hmph."
Yua was the closest to knowing my sexual limits. Not only could she listen to my heart to test for lies, but she'd definitely know from experience if I stopped before I actually needed to.
Not to mention, knowing her, she'd have no problem in provoking me with her tongue just to see if I could get it up again. And there was no way I could withstand that form of interrogation.
I looked to the clock in my HUD. It still wasn't even noon yet and there was still plenty of daylight left for us.
"Well, Elane, it looks like the details of our first time have been decided for us."
"Y-yea… But, um, maybe I should wash first?"
"No need," Yua said. "Alex, use your magic to clean her. As your mates, Mana and I won't be letting you two out of our sights. Not at least until you start, so we know you won't back out."
"So mean," Mana said. She looked to us with a great deal of sympathy in her eyes. "Hardly anyone ever needs to do the Forgiveness Embrace, but I've seen it done a few times. All you have to do is mate like normal. Don't worry about the other stuff."
"R-Right. Then, um, Husband?"
"… Body Wash."
I pointed a finger and hit her with my cleaning magic. I followed it up with a cast of Clothing Wash, just in hopes that it'd make her feel a little better. Only, she didn't seem to notice. The moment her skin and hair were perfectly cleaned, washed of all the grime of yesterday's fighting and of her sweat, Elane squat down to untie the boots we'd apparently forgotten to take off her last night.
When she finished unlacing the first and pulled it off, she happened to catch me looking. Her cheeks were still noticeably red, but she continued with her other boot.
"I have nothing to be ashamed of," she said. "You're my husband. So, while this is moving a little faster than I thought, there's no need to prolong this by hesitating."
At this, Elane stood back up and kicked off her other boot before tugging off her socks. Then her hands drifted up to the buttons straining with all their might to keep her coat wrapped firmly around her breasts. Taking a moment to steel herself, she slipped a finger under the first button and popped it off with a flick.
That one, small movement caused her coat to release so much of its overbearing pressure on her chest that it almost looked like her breasts grew to be a full cup-size bigger. It'd been holding her so tightly. Her mounds bounced from the sudden drop, but she let out a relieved sigh. Without acknowledging it, she slipped her finger under the next button.
I watched, my attention locked on how her breasts bounced each time one of her buttons came undone, until the last one popped off a little too hard, detached from her coat and rolled onto the floor. It was like the poor thing had succeeded in holding her mass at bay right up until it was seconds away from being relieved of duty, but it just wasn't strong enough to hold her breasts back all by its lonesome.
Still, it was a worthy sacrifice that I was all too willing to ignore when the sides of her coat parted and her mountainous breasts bounced into view, her tips only just barely hidden behind her lapel.
Elane, however, flushed a bit more at the loss of the button. Unlike the damage that had once been done to the coat's pocket, there was no anger in how she watched it roll under the bed, only embarrassment. Surely, this very situation had happened to her multiple times.
Pressing her lips together, her brow furrowing, Elane pulled her coat off with as much ease as I would have expected out of either Yua or Mana. And without anything beneath it but her smooth white flesh, there was nothing blocking her chest from sight anymore.
Be it from the slight chill pouring in from the window, or maybe it was just a show that she was as interested as I was, it didn't matter. Fact was that her light pink nipples were rock hard.
I was dumfounded. Not by her growing nudity, but by how quickly she was able to accept Yua's demands. Leave it to a former Adventurer to adapt to a situation quickly.
"…"
Noticing where my gaze lingered, Elane didn't cover up, but she did pout rather cutely at me. Slipping her coat off her arms, she turned and set it down on one of the dressers I'd made for the girls' things. Then, instead of turning back, she just continued to pout at me from over her shoulder as she pushed her hips out towards me. Her thumbs slipped beneath the waistband of her pants and she started to slowly pull them down.
It was as if she merely wanted me to focus my lust on her ass, rather than her chest, but she'd apparently had enough of her little strip show. With an impatient click of her tongue, she yanked her pants straight down her legs like she was ripping off a band-aid.
Forced to suddenly bear the brunt of her bare ass, I had no choice but to take in the sight of the thin black thong splitting her cheeks right down the middle. Where her coat had done its absolute best to contain her modesty, this little triangle of fabric was lazy in comparison to how little it covered.
Elane tossed her pants onto her coat without a hint of the shame that I would have expected. Likewise, she then pushed the thong that had stolen my attention straight down her thighs and stepped out of it. Tossing it aside with the rest of her things, she finally turned to me.
At first, my eyes were drawn to the small bushel of golden hair nestled between her thighs, but then I was forced to take in the entirety of her naked beauty.
Her impressively narrow waistline was almost thin enough to wrap my arms around her twice over, but this fact only made her breasts appear more explosive. It was the same down south. Her hips, while not quite as large as her chest, were sculpted to perfection.
Plump everywhere that mattered, but without an ounce of fat that wasn't inherently feminine, every inch of her looked soft to the touch. Here, bathed in the afternoon glow peeking in through the window, was a picture-perfect example of a curvatious woman.
The entire male population of both Amoranth and Guerraway had lusted after her, this bombshell of a woman, at some point. But starting today, she was all mine. Just knowing this filled me with so much pride and confidence that I nearly exploded on the spot.
It wasn't until this moment that I realized my item box could have saved her the trouble by undressing her instantly. Elane, however, didn't seem to mind as she strode across the room without waiting for me to verbalize any of my thoughts. She was suddenly a woman on a mission.
Now fully naked, she stopped in front of Yua who, without missing a beat, vacated her spot. Standing before what would soon become our marriage bed, she stared at the empty sheets for a good while before turning back to us, her eyes glistening with nerves as she lowered herself onto the mattress.
She looked up to me, discretely bit her lip and held out a hand.
"Don't just stand there ogling me. I can't do this Embrace thing by myself."
"Sorry. I was… You're gorgeous."
Looking down at her own naked body, Elane did not seem all that embarrassed. Instead, she snorted a bit, a little laugh at my expense for how her curves caused my brain to malfunction. She'd been the one trembling a moment ago, but once her clothes came off, I was the one on defense.
"Stop with the flattery and get over here. You promised to make this romantic, right?
With a seductive smile that might as well have been a punch to the face, Elane slowly parted her legs. And I could do nothing but stare as the golden hairs framing her crotch failed to hide the narrow slit waiting for me.
I knew she had an easy time with foul, perverted language, but she was already in her element.
"Go ahead, my love. Ravish me… Haha! I've always wanted to say that."
Entranced and forgetting about my item box yet again, I ripped my shirt off over my head and tossed it over my shoulder. Standing before her, her luscious lips still curved up into a devastating smile, I put my hands on her knees. Her smile widened.
But then her expression turned into a look of confusion. At the same time, a rush of air passed behind my back and Mana appeared on my right side. I was quick to catch on, noticing that the change in Elane's expression had been because of the mischievous grin on Mana's lips.
"Hehehe. Booby Lady is acting tough, but Big Sis and I can hear your heart."
"Wh-What are you talking about?" Elane asked, turning to Yua, who shrugged knowingly.
Puffing up her small chest with an inexplicable pride, Mana nodded. "It's okay. I get it. Being bled hurts."
"Is that what this is about? I think I can handle my husband's cock just fine."
Mana rapidly shook her head, practically whipping my side with her long black hair.
"No. I mean it really, really hurts. Big Bro's manhood is really big, you know? It's definitely going to hurt.~"
Noticing again the delighted inflection in Mana's voice, I couldn't help but feel as though she wanted Elane to go through the same pain she had the other night, like it were some sort of payback for all the hugging she'd put up with so far.
Cheeks reddening, Elane's cobalt eyes drifted down to my crotch, where they lingered. Weathering her gaze with an only somewhat embarrassed ease thanks to my time in the village, I wondered if what was about to happen counted as punishing my slave with pain.
Unawares of my thoughts, Elane cracked a clearly forced smile. Apparently, Mana wasn't wrong about her attempts at seduction being an act.
"I-It doesn't matter how big it is," she said. "He's my husband. Like a good, proper wife, I can handle anything he throws my way."
"Hehe. Nope! I mean it. His manhood's really, really, really big. Here, let me show you."
"M-Mana, you don't need to…"
Despite my half-hearted attempt to stop her, Mana already had my belt undone before she finished the second really. Speeding through the motions, Mana quickly unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down only just far enough for her to shove her hand into my underwear.
Her left hand grabbed hold of the base of my cock and lifted it, pulling it out of its threaded, cotton home and, at the same time with her right, tugged the front of my underwear down just until there was nothing left to hide me. Clearly, she only meant to show me off, not help me undress.
Elane's eyes widened when my cock flopped into view. Twitching rather than blinking, her jaw practically broke through her collar bone when it dropped. Then Mana shook it at her.
Shamed as I was, even with this bombshell of a woman spreading herself for me, and with this adorably cute cat girl's hand warmly holding my shaft, I hadn't hardened yet. I was that in awe of Elane's true beauty.
However, her eyes widened further when she saw how Mana's fingers couldn't fully wrap around my girth. Her breasts shifted with a single breath and I could swear I could hear the single last atom of oxygen escape her lungs.
She stared at it, at me. There was no longing in her cobalt gaze. No lusting expectations. No exuberant passion. And thankfully, no regrets. There was simply shock.
Her luscious lips stickily parted, now dry from her heavy breathing. Staring straight at my cock, words slowly formed on her tongue and she let them fall into the air without a thought showing in her expression.
"G-Gods… My asshole's going to die."
Mana tilted her head at this, but didn't release me. I, however, was jerked back to reality.
"Elane, I've been meaning to ask, but… what's this obsession you have with your ass?"
From the day we met, though drunk at the time, she offered her sexual services in return for bringing her proof of new lands to discover. Only, she specified her ass and nothing more. And every time since then when she spoke of my clear feelings for her, she'd mention how I supposedly wanted to take her back there. It was as if she were trying to implant some sort of poorly thought-out subliminal message.
Elane gulped, tentatively touching her finger tips together, but before she could explain, Yua sped over to fill up the space to my left. Curiosity making her forget herself, she posed a question.
"I wanted to ask about that too. What does fuck my ass mean?"
"O-Oh, it's, um… It's when a man shoves his cock into your asshole instead of your pussy."
""Eh?!"" the cat girls exclaimed in unison.
"You can do that?" Yua asked. "What's it do?"
"What's it…? G-Gods, Alex, haven't you taught them anything?"
"Not enough, apparently…"
I barely managed to ask for a blowjob the other day. What they were talking about now was leagues above that where most people were concerned.
"Hrm, it's, um," Elane started, only finding the subject embarrassing now that she had to explain it. "It's like a man massaging the inside of your ass while you massage his cock. It's definitely something that would make both feel good."
"Oooh," Yua said, touching a knuckle to her chin.
While she looked over her shoulder at her own posterior, and while Mana continued to look confusedly at the blonde, I repeated my question.
"Elane, why the obsession? Have you had anal before?"
Her status page did say she was a virgin, but if things like blowjobs and backdoor play didn't actually count as sex in this world, for whatever reason, then…
"N-No!" she shouted, almost pleading. "I'm totally pure! I swear it!"
Taken aback by her vehement denial, it took me a second to remember that a woman's purity was much more cherished in this time period. She must have been worried I'd give up on her if she so much as let me think she'd had a man before.
"Then could you explain? I honestly can't tell if I'm more curious or concerned at this point."
"I-I-I…" she started, then gulped again. "I told you the orphanage I was raised in was also a church, right?"
"Yes."
"W-well, you see, it's the church of Saint Lilica. And the Saint's teachings demand a vow of absolute purity from maidens until the day they are married. No man other than our husband is allowed to touch our pussy. Adhering to these teachings is supposed to bestow upon us the Saint's gift of prolonged beauty."
I nodded, vaguely concerned with why Mana was still aiming my cock at Elane, but I didn't address it.
"Okay, but I don't see how that relates to what I asked."
"R-Right. Well, I actually took those teachings to the next level and refused to even touch myself, except when cleaning my body. Only, y-you see, during my travels, the men in my party would occasionally bring prostitutes back to the inns we shared or to their tents where they'd have their way with them. I-I'm only human. And a woman has her needs, so one night I asked one of the prostitutes how to deal with said needs without breaking my vows. She mentioned all the things a woman can do with her ass and… well…"
Elane paused, her cheeks glowing red at her own story. It was like she was completely removed from the fact that she was still completely naked in front of me.
"So, I, um… I've been exclusively masturbating with my ass ever since that night… And, um… it feels really good, so… W-Wait," she stopped, eyes suddenly flying open with concern. "Y-You're not against anal, are you?"
"Not at all. If anything, I'd say I'm looking forward to it."
"Oh, thank the gods…"
A look of profound relief washed over her as she fell back into the mattress. Her mountainous breasts continued to jiggle well after she landed, as if to tempt me into ending the conversation.
Meeting her relief with a smile of my own, I removed the last of my clothing with my item box. My right hand wrapped around Mana, lightly squeezing her little breast the same way she was my cock. My left wrapped around Yua to squeeze her as well, but deep in thought as she was as she contemplated her ass, she didn't seem to notice.
I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and carefully move Mana's hand away from my crotch. Stimulated by the three beauties surrounding me, I was rock hard and ready to go.
Letting the two cat girls go, I climbed onto the bed. When Elane noticed the shifting of the blankets, she lifted herself onto her elbows to look at me. She bit her lip when she saw how hard I was. I moved between her legs and pressed my hands to her knees again, parting them further.
"Elane, if we aren't technically married, is this okay?"
Gulping, she managed to pull her gaze away from my cock to look me in the eye before working her lips into a smile.
"Y-Yes. We may not be able to have a normal wedding, but it's more the thought that counts. As long as we swear ourselves to each other, nothing else matters."
"Then let's do this right. Tell me what to do."
Taking a breath, Elane quickly explained the specific way we needed to go about this and I was happy to hear it was delightfully easy. Apparently, her religion, The Way of Light, was primarily a commoner's religion, so big fancy weddings were a rarity. All we needed to do was join hands in front of some witnesses and swear ourselves to the other.
Yua and Mana counted as witnesses, so all I needed to do was lace the fingers of both my hands with Elane's and recite the marriage oath she recited to me.
"Elane, I swear to be your husband and to take you as my wife until the day we die. And upon meeting together in heaven, I will repeat this vow so that our souls will be together for all eternity. Until then, I swear to defend your name and honor as my woman."
"A-And you'll fuck my ass?"
"… Yes."
That was decidedly not a normal part of the vows. Maybe saying no would have actually been a deal breaker?
"Then, Alex, I swear to be your wife and to take you as my husband until the day we die. Should you perish before me, I swear no man shall disgrace my body until we meet together again in heaven. And I shall repeat this vow so that our souls will be together for all eternity… Now kiss me to seal the vow."
Still holding her hands, I pulled her up off the bed and pressed my lips to hers. Her sweetness was overflowing, her kiss nothing less than passionate. Despite our mutual state of undress, there was not a hint of eroticism in our embrace.
When we parted, Elane smiled sweetly up at me, looking about as intoxicated as she had the day we'd gotten drunk together, but then she started looking confusedly over her body.
"Something wrong?"
"N-No, it's just… Were I not a slave, Saint Lilica's blessing would have appeared as a warm light around us."
"Sorry it had to be this way."
I let go of her hand to cup her cheek, reaching in for another kiss. Our lips melted together for only a second before we parted.
"It's okay," she said, shifting her hips. At some point during our kiss, my cock had inched closer towards the promised land. "But I do have one more question before we get started."
"Ask away."
"Okay, then, um… How many continents did your old world have?"
"… Huh?"
"I-I'm dying to know."
From her tone, I expected a nervous smile to adorn her lips, but all I found was her wavering eyes, genuinely longing for the answer as strongly as a sex-addict being denied the right to touch their wife for an enitre month.
More importantly, her breasts were heaving and her pussy was drenched. So, I answered.
"… There are seven continents."
"Nggh!" she gasped, her thighs pressing hard against mine. "Th-That's so hot! P-Please, one more. Whisper their names in my ear."
Blinking, I leaned in closer. Just when her stiffened nipples pressed into my chest and I was close enough to kiss her earlobe, I brought my voice down low and, one by one, whispered their names as though they were sweet nothings meant only for her and…
"Ahhhhhhn!"
Jerking her upper half, her weighty breasts nearly knocking me back onto my knees, Elane moaned loudly with nothing but pleasure coating her trembling lips. Before I even realized what had happened, I felt the sheets between us grow damp.
"Elane," Yua said, her ears standing tall. "Did you orgasm already? He didn't even touch you yet."
"Haa… Haa… Haa… H-How could I not when he said something so unbearably sexy?!"
Yua tilted her head at this, but said no more. Mana, though, ear twitching, went the extra mile when she flipped her skirt and shoved her hand down the front of her panties. Not even a second later, she pulled her hand back out and brought it up to her face. Naturally, her fingers were as dry as could be.
I turned back to Elane, who had been watching what Mana was doing with rapt attention.
"Elane… Can I take this as a sign that you're ready?"
"Y-Yes."
With one last kiss to kick things off, I brought myself closer to her. She shuddered when my rod grazed her inner thigh, but she welcomed me with open arms, and with her eyes longing for an even greater taste of what she'd just had.
Her breasts were enormous, miraculous in how even the pull of gravity did little to change their erotic shape. The pink tips at their centers veered off in two different directions, pulling my attention this way and that due to their weight and gravity scheming together to pull them apart. But in doing so, once her cleavage opened up like a parting sea, I was spellbound by the long scar running between them, down from the top of her left breast down to her navel.
It was a pink thing, a few shades darker than her nipples and all the more noticeable for it. I could only imagine the pain she must have gone through to earn it. Or the embarrassment she endured in knowing how the sole mark on her body stood out so much against her smooth, soft skin in such a noticeable place.
I reached for it, for her breasts. I'd already been fighting against their pull, her immense size and the softness said size promised me was deafening, but that was not why I found my hands groping the air instead of her. It was that scar.
My first, second and third thoughts were to caress her mounds while running a finger along its length, or to maybe bury myself in her cleavage to give that mark a kiss, just to show her I didn't mind it. But I could not do this. The way she carried herself in her day to day said it didn't bother her. Besides, my hands were needed elsewhere.
"A-Alex…!"
Selfish as I was, I pressed my palms against just the sides of her breasts before sliding them down to her waist. There I dug further, slipping my open palms down under her to grasp at another softness.
I cupped and squeezed her ass with all the vigor I wanted to put into fondling her chest and this earned me a delighted, heated gasp. It was as if, after all her comments on my personal tastes, she thought I wouldn't put any focus here at all.
"Ngh… What are you… I-I thought for sure you'd go for my tits first."
"What are you talking about?" I laughed, letting my fingertips slip deeper into the crevice made of cheeks and softness. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
"Nggh!"
The fondling only increased the more she moaned. As I molded her cheeks to my every whim, my fingertips repeatedly and purposefully grazed both her pussy and anus. One was untouched by man, while the other was well trained, and yet, both were sensitive to the touch.
Elane grit her teeth, hips writhing as my caressing only grew more intimate.
However, there was no need to prolong the foreplay. She'd already gotten off once, and since Yua and Mana were too tired to fool around last night, I was feeling pretty pent up.
I pulled her closer still and let go of her ass, already leaving her breathless. Her cheeks burning with passion, she bit her lip as she focused on my eyes. There was no need to wait for permission. She was my wife and I her husband. We both knew our first night together would end this way. The only thing wrong with this scenario was that it wasn't night. Or so I thought.
Jumping up onto the bed, Mana speedily crawled over to us and once again wrapped her little fingers around my shaft. Grinning, she didn't stop me. No, instead, she pushed the tip of my cock against Elane's labia, making her shiver on the sheets. Then without missing a beat, Mana pushed me between Elane's lips and carried me a little lower until…
"Ah-Ahnnn!"
Still soaked from her first orgasm, Elane's pussy accepted me almost greedily. I slipped in with such ease that I barely had time to feel her heat before the entirety of my lower head was inside her.
Elane gripped the sheets as I split her and Mana let go, proudly deciding her part in this was done despite neither of us asking for help. Then, with a wicked grin, she nodded to me, urging me to continue. And to my surprise, Elane agreed.
"H-Husband… come to me."
"…"
I said nothing. Her warmth was already driving me nuts, and I needed more.
My palms slapped themselves against her hips and with the desire to make this woman mine for all eternity driving me, I thrust my hips and drove myself as far into her pussy as she could handle.
In one thrust, I broke past the thin layer of her maidenhood and stopped only when I reached her womb.
"Ahhn!"
Elane grit her teeth, pressed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth the moment I pushed inside her… but then she relaxed. A little too easily, she relaxed. Blinking repeatedly, Elane lifted herself onto her elbows with ease and looked towards our connection.
She'd taken me to the hilt, I felt myself clear her hymen and my tip was kissing her womb. I could tell in how she looked at it that my cock had split her pussy wider than she likely ever thought possible. And yet, she didn't utter a single gasp of pain.
"Eh?"
Visibly and audibly confused, Mana crawled further up the bed and pressed her thumbs on either side of Elane's pussy and spread her lips. All she got from it was the sight of my cock tearing into her and of the trickle of red dripping down onto the mattress.
Elane tightened at her touch, but didn't fight the cat girl in the least. All she did was press her hands over her mouth to suppress another moan, like she was worried about scaring the girl off.
"But why…" Mana started, peering at our connection with her own ass up in the air. "Booby Lady, why aren't you hurting? It hurt a lot when Big Bro bled me!"
"I don't… I don't kn-know…"
Gritting my teeth, I answered for the both of them.
"Mana, sometimes it just doesn't hurt for the woman. She got lucky."
"Eh?! No fair! It was supposed to hurt! She should… mmph!"
Sensing a tantrum, Yua rushed behind the three of us, wrapped a hand around Mana's mouth and yanked her off the bed. With a smile, she held Mana as she squirmed, her emerald eyes telling us to continue.
"Come on, Mana. Let's leave them be for a while."
"I thought you said…" I started, then paused when Elane's pussy bit down on me. "… you said you had to watch?"
Yua shot me a wry smile and said, "I'll be able to hear you. That's enough for me. Besides, knowing you, this will take a while. There's no need to wait around when we can be doing something more productive."
"L-Like what?" I grunted, finding it simultaneously difficult to stay still so Elane could acclimate to my size, but also because I didn't want to spurn the attention of the wonderful woman that allowed this to happen.
Again, Yua smirked, but instead of answering me, she looked down to the squirming cat girl in her arms.
"Come along, Mana. While we wait, I'll shave your pussy for you."
"Mmph! Shave my what?"
"Your special place, obviously."
"…!"
Mana's eyes widened, turned to me, but she didn't wait for my approval before dropping low out of Yua's grasp and bolting for the door. The three of us watched her go. Only Yua sighed.
"Alex," she said. "Don't worry, I'll catch her. For now, remember the rules of the Forgiveness Embrace. Don't let me catch you stopping until you and you alone can't continue."
With that, she turned and headed for the door, only for her ears to perk up and turn back.
"Oh, and drink plenty of water. Just stamina potions aren't going to be enough for her. And, Elane?"
"Y-Yea?"
"I'll shave your pussy tomorrow. Alex says he likes them better that way."
"O-Okay?"
Finally, and this time without stopping, Yua turned on her heel and left the room. Though, she did make a pointed effort to leave the door open, likely so she could hear us better.
Elane and I looked to each other.
Author's note: sorry I had to break the chapter into two parts. Part 2 is already up.