Chapter 18: Sisters' Reunion (2)
"How would you manipulate me?" Estelle asked with her flushed face.
Her cheeks were so red that she seemed to have gotten more crimson shades because of Benjamin, as she was aware that she had revealed her messy face to him. Her lips were tightly shut, and her big hues held him in a strong gaze.
While her green eyes shimmered and their corners glittered with tears, her little chubby cheeks were dotted by dry streaks, somehow making her more adorable.
Benjamin, for better or worse, was sitting so close to her that he could see the vista of her face and her chest from a higher point of view as he was much taller than Estelle.
Her kimono, which had been hastily put on, had slid on her shoulders, revealing her pale and flushed shoulders and her chest with the deep cleavage.
Had he not known her for more than a month now, Benjamin would have thought that Estelle had taken off her innocent mask and attempted to seduce him. That appearance, with her feelings bare, could have easily been mistaken for her wanting Benjamin to eat her lips and claw her chest.
Estelle perhaps had the natural disposition for seduction, but Benjamin knew that she had recently become a woman and had yet to taste much of the world.
He smiled, "I'd steal all of your kindness and use it to match my ambition."
"Is my kindness that intense?" Estelle asked, unaware of the charms she had been exposing.
Benjamin nodded, "You went through my training regime just for your sisters, didn't you? Can you imagine yourself with your kindness in my hands?"
It was a rhetorical question that had put Estelle in much thought. The more she thought, the deeper her flushed skin became, and at some point, she was looking at Benjamin with bitten lips and narrowed eyes.
Benjamin laughed aloud, "I'm so honest because you have been honest with me. I'm hiding something from you, too, so don't take me for a nice guy."
Estelle conveniently ignored that and suddenly threw herself at Benjamin, winding her arms around his back and pressing her face into his shirt. She awkwardly fixed her position on him and used him as a chair or bed.
Benjamin didn't let the woman be the only one making the moves, either. He extended his hands and pressed her more against himself while stroking her hair. As Estelle was a wolf woman, she also had those adorable wolf ears that he scratched from time to time.
She was so soft and warm that Benjamin ended up lying on the ground with his eyes closed. At this point, however, if Estelle wanted to sneak out from his cradle, she would never be able to, for it had been a while since he had a woman in his arms.
Clueless, Estelle whispered, "It's okay. You can hide it from me… because you told me you're hiding something… I can take guesses and believe in you. But if that knowledge hurts, you must share it with me… promise me it, Benjamin!"
"I promise," Benjamin didn't take any time to promise her that.
It seemed it had been weighing on her mind as Estelle eased up and relaxed in Benjamin's nest. She listened to his heart, smelled him, and rubbed her cheeks on him, all while smiling. Her dispute with Moon was thrown out of the window as she relaxed.
That, however, didn't last long as Benjamin had laid himself on the ground with her arms wound around his back. It meant that Estelle's arms became numb after some time, which hurt her. But she didn't want to give up on this moment, either!
Benjamin helped her cause and lifted his top to have her in a spoon cuddling…
"I'll abuse your kindness and cuddle with you whenever I feel like it," Benjamin said.
Estelle nodded, "Ok."
"Even with your sisters around," Benjamin added, sneering.
It took a few minutes for Estelle to come to terms with it, "Ok…"
Benjamin laughed and whispered in her ear, "That makes us a couple, you know?"
"I know that…"
"Want it?"
"Yes…"
"I'll share tons of my experience with you, then… and this experience tells me that siblings often want the best for each other, at least siblings of the same mother and father," Benjamin added this explanation after recalling how Moon had been decapitating her stepbrother's head in her make-up world.
This woman was ready to kill him on the first best occasion.
Benjamin continued, "They must have believed that keeping you in the dark was the best. I mean, I can only believe they genuinely love you because the three of you have decided to live together in a shrine. If it was me, I probably would ignore my siblings or casually hand them some money at most and live my own life… Moon is one year older than me, isn't she? A lot of people in my world already have families at this age. Oh, I don't know if priestesses can have families, to begin with… but since I have an adorable wolf priestess as my girlfriend, I guess it's fine?"
Estelle's head became a raging kettle after Benjamin called her his girlfriend, and she became so red that it wouldn't have been weird had she melted a hole in his shirt.
"I believe… that they did it for me… but it doesn't mean I can just accept it…" Estelle replied while stuttering, "It hurts me… I feel so betrayed…"
"That's as much as I can help," Benjamin conceded. He didn't want to twist Estelle's feelings with his lack of empathy toward sibling relationships, as he never had them.
Estelle, however, was glad for his advice and consideration.
After an hour of cuddling, she was given freedom from Benjamin and stood up. That was when Estelle noticed how askew her kimono had been, and her face burst with crimson shade again. She hurriedly fixed it.
Benjamin rose to his feet and took her hand, "What will you do?"
Estelle replied, "I'll believe in them."
"That's it?" Benjamin asked.
Estelle nodded, "Is there more to do?"
Benjamin chuckled, "The reunion has created a small rift between you and Moon. She must feel bad about it, too, so just exploit it and use her until you're content. Ask her to train with you."
Estelle turned ashen, "No! No! She's a fighting freak! I will be bullied!"
Benjamin howled, "Hah! That sounds good to me. I'll bully you along with her."
"B-But you are my b-b-b-boyfriend! You should bully her instead of me!" Estelle complained.
Benjamin meaningfully looked at her and sneered, "That's not how things work, beautiful."
"…okay," Estelle was compelled to believe.
She took a peak at her boyfriend's face and happily curved her lips up.