Chapter 83: An Unresolved Curiosity (5)

 

Ner couldn’t sleep all night.

 

It wasn’t that she hadn’t been in contact with Berg until now...but this was the first time he’d embraced her like this with force.

 

If it had happened before, it was at most a forced grab of the wrist?

 

But this embrace was incomparable to that.

 

Berg hugged her forcibly even though she resisted.

 

She pushed him away, but he demanded her.

 

Breathing became slightly difficult in the face of this fact.

 

Her tail bristled up periodically.

 

Each time, a pleasure-like shiver lightly flowed through her body.

 

Until now, she had only been rejected by her family.

 

They had prevented her from coming closer, even when she tried to.

 

But Berg...somehow, when he came closer even as she tried to push him away, it felt like acceptance.

 

She wondered how much he needed her to act like this.

 

It was a feeling of being loved.

 

“...”

 

Simultaneously, Ner gradually noticed the change occurring within herself.

 

At some point, it had become natural to be in contact with Berg like this.

 

It wasn’t out of a sense of duty either.

 

She too felt comfortable being in touch with Berg...smiles kept emerging.

 

Whether she should welcome this change within herself or be wary of it, she couldn’t tell.

 

Was this what it felt like to become addicted to something?

 

She ceased thinking about the future.

 

She focused only on the current pleasure.

 

And at the moment, Ner did not dislike being in Berg’s arms.

 

She looked at Berg’s scarred arm tightly wrapping around her waist.

 

“...”

 

She was worried again whether her belly would be touched.

 

She always maintained it well enough to not be chubby...but being touched in this area by a man was also a first.

 

Could he possibly think she was overweight?

 

But contrary to her worries, Berg was fast asleep, exhaling deep breaths.

 

Perhaps she was the one overthinking things.

 

“...”

 

Once she realized Berg was asleep, some of her tension eased, followed by a blossoming of concern in her heart.

 

Everything that had occurred with the Hea Church in the village still weighed on her mind.

 

What past could he possibly have had, to be struggling so much now?

 

“...”

 

In any case, she could ask tomorrow.

 

...But she didn’t know whether he would tell her or not.

 

His emotions seemed too intense, and it worried her.

 

Nonetheless, Ner closed her eyes.

 

Lightly encircling Berg’s arm and relaxing her body.

 

Her tail, which had been twitching, gently rested on Berg’s thigh.

 

Now it was time to fall into a deep sleep.

 

She couldn’t continue staying awake like this.

 

Before falling asleep, Ner took a breath.

 

“....Haa.”

 

Perhaps it was because she had been riding the same horse all day.

 

Now Berg’s body carried her scent.

 

Finding comfort in that fact again, for some reason.

 

Soon, Ner tried to fall asleep.

 

“...”

 

Thus, after quite some time, she murmured.

 

“…What can I do…”

 

Sleep did not come.

 

****

 

Ner, unable to fall into a deep sleep, stirred slightly at Berg’s movement.

 

The blue light of dawn came through the window.

 

It wasn’t time to rise yet.

 

A fair amount of time seemed to have passed, yet Berg’s hand still lingered around her waist, and Ner, in turn, held his hand.

 

The chilly dawn air had stealthily crept through the gaps in the window frame, cooling the room.

 

However, the parts of her that touched Berg retained warmth, and Ner found herself wishing to remain just as they were.

 

“...Haa.”

 

It seemed Berg, having awakened from his sleep, felt similarly.

 

Sounds of Berg lifting his head and glancing around came from behind her, but soon after, he relaxed his body and lay back down.

 

He didn’t retrieve the arm he had wrapped around Ner. Instead, he held her tighter.

 

“...”

 

Ner, feigning sleep, found joy in that modest action.

 

If Berg had withdrawn his arm first thing in the morning, or right after calming yesterday’s emotions, she thought she would have, for some reason, disliked it.

 

She would have felt like she was used just to get through a day’s emotions.

 

However, since he continued to hold her, those doubts faded.

 

She felt he must truly desire this as well.

 

‘Does he like me that much?’ Such a conceited, playful thought momentarily flitted through her mind.

 

She forcibly held back a forming smile.

 

Naturally, she embraced Berg’s arm tighter.

 

As they lay there, resting again, Berg’s breath tickled her neck.

 

What could he be thinking?

 

She pondered in a relaxed posture.

 

-Squeeze.

 

“...?”

 

Then, Ner was startled by a sensation from her abdomen.

 

She barely managed not to flinch.

 

“...Hahahaha.”

 

Following that, Berg let out a chuckle, and Ner realized his action had been deliberate.

 

Berg was squeezing her belly.

 

“...”

 

A gesture that had already concerned her yesterday.

 

Ner contemplated moving, pondering whether she should question him about what he was doing.

 

However, she knew that if she did, their current position would be disrupted.

 

She wasn’t prepared an excuse the fact that she was awake, either.

 

Nevertheless, Ner, who wasn’t averse to the forced embrace they were in...couldn’t reveal she was awake.

 

It was embarrassing, but she decided to endure it a bit.

 

If possible, she wanted to maintain this position with him for a long time.

 

-Squeeze.

 

“...!”

 

His actions continued.

 

It was as if she was confronting a side of him she hadn’t known before.

 

It was embarrassing but...honestly, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

 

If she could tolerate the embarrassment, his light-hearted prank was somewhat amusing.

 

It wasn’t as if he was touching her breasts or groping her buttocks.

 

If his hand had wandered to a more intimate area, it would have been disappointingly lascivious, contrasting with how he’d presented himself so far...but this level of action didn’t significantly deviate from the quirky playfulness Berg occasionally exhibited.

 

Compared to what she expected to endure back when she knew Berg not as Berg but as a mercenary of the Human race, it was cute.

 

So, she wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable.

 

From the beginning, she had permitted him access to her waist last night, after all.

 

After the second squeeze, Berg’s actions ceased.

 

For quite some time, he lay still, lost in thought.

 

After lying down for a while, sleep, which hadn’t been approaching Ner, suddenly engulfed her.

 

She couldn’t understand why she started to feel drowsy only after he woke up.

 

Ner’s eyelids began to heavily droop.

 

-Swish.

 

At the same moment, Berg began to withdraw his hand as if to get up.

 

“...”

 

Simultaneously, Ner’s tail instinctively wrapped around Berg’s thigh.

 

Like a sleep-talker, she lightly grabbed his hand.

 

She liked this position.

 

She wanted to stay like this.

 

Her body told him not to leave.

 

Ner focused on the action Berg would take next.

 

“...”

 

And sure enough, Berg inserted his arm back, deeper than before.

 

Afraid of waking her, he maintains his position.

 

“...”

 

Ner was gradually getting to know the person named Berg.

 

If they were alone, she could now predict what reactions he would have to certain actions.

 

A smile formed on her face.

 

As if sleep-talking, Ner moved into Berg’s arms.

 

His warmth substituted for the blanket.

 

Slowly, she fell asleep like that.

 

****

 

Ner didn’t wake up for a long time, lost in deep sleep.

 

Thanks to that, even though I woke up at dawn, I still hadn’t managed to get out of bed, even with the sun already high in the sky.

 

-Chirp! Chirp!

 

A bird flew in, observing our scene.

 

It seemed to be urging us to get up quickly as it watched us elongate our rest.

 

The bird glanced at us, tilting its head for a moment...then flew away, disappearing.

 

Truthfully, to some extent, I also wanted to rest like this, which was why I was lying in bed.

 

Be it the request, the time spent at sea, and the matter with the Hea Church... revealing the past to Adam Hyung too.

 

Leaving everything aside, my body was tired.

 

I thought it was alright to take a little rest.

 

Also, I was concluding my thoughts about the Hea Church.

 

I had to think about how to discuss this with my wives.

 

But in the end, I came to a conclusion.

 

...It was not yet the moment to reveal this to my wives.

 

Given that our relationships were not yet so firm, I couldn’t discuss Sien’s matter.

 

I also was not yet able to talk about Sien without lingering attachments.

 

It was more than once or twice that my words choked up while talking to Adam Hyung yesterday.

 

Perhaps it might be possible once the memories about Sien had been erased a bit more with the help of my two wives.

 

So, I decided to keep it hidden for now.

 

When the time came that I could bring it up lightly, it would be right to reveal it.

 

“...”

 

Suddenly, I thought of Sien.

 

...Where might she be?

 

Did she think of me too?

 

Even though I felt it yesterday...talking about Sien was still very painful for me.

 

It seemed I hadn’t been able to forget her at all for the past 7 years.

 

The wound I ignored hadn’t healed in the slightest.

 

Instead, it had been festering, slowly eating away at me.

 

But now, it felt like I was finally facing that wound directly.

 

Traveling here and there, erasing the promises I made with her by hand... gradually, I was letting go of my lingering attachments to her.

 

There was still a long way to go, but perhaps this was the start.

 

“...”

 

I smiled, looking at Ner nestled in my arms.

 

-Thud thud thud!

 

Then someone knocked on the door.

 

Ner stirred, startled by the noise.

 

A voice came from outside the door.

 

‘Berg? Are you awake?’

 

It was Arwin.

 

She must have been worried because we didn’t get up for so long.

 

Ner, startled, turned her head and looked up at me, and I responded.

 

“I’m awake.”

 

-Squeak...!

 

As I responded, Arwin swiftly opened the door and came in.

 

Then she froze, seeing us embraced.

 

“...”

 

Ner, waking from sleep, hastily removed herself from my arms under Arwin’s gaze.

 

The previously rigid Arwin, glancing alternately at Ner and me, lightly asked,

 

“...Aren’t you hungry? Let’s go eat.”

 

It seemed she had decided not to talk about what just happened.

 

After all, there was no reason a married couple couldn’t do this.

 

“Yeah. Let’s go eat.”

 

With that, I looked at Ner.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

I blinked my eyes.

 

For a moment, it seemed like Ner was glaring coldly at Arwin.

 

“...Why, Berg?”

 

But when I blinked again, Ner was smiling at me.

 

I dismissed my illusion and asked,

 

“...Did you sleep well?”

 

****

 

While Berg went to wash up, Ner secretly glared at Arwin.

 

She wasn’t too thrilled that her time with Berg had been interrupted.

 

Even considering polygamy from the start, was it right to enter a married couple’s room like that?

 

Setting aside everything else, it seemed lacking in respect.

 

“...Ner. It was tough, wasn’t it?”

 

However, Arwin quietly approached and asked a question, which was enough to momentarily startled Ner.

 

A question filled with pure concern.

 

Her caring for Ner was evident.

 

“...”

 

Though taken aback by the slightly different atmosphere from yesterday... upon reflection, this was natural.

 

Arwin had said from the start that she could not love Berg, a short-lived species.

 

From her perspective, falling asleep in Berg’s arms might be a hard ordeal.

 

So perhaps she asked this question out of concern.

 

“...”

 

Ner’s heart softened at Arwin’s worry.

 

“I was fine.”

 

So, she answered lightly and evasively.

 

But it seemed Arwin couldn’t forget the scene she had witnessed in the morning, so she asked.

 

“...Did you sleep in his arms all night?”

 

As the questions continued, Ner chose her words carefully.

 

After all, it was a matter that had occurred between a married couple.

 

Even if it was Arwin, it wasn’t something to be shared with her.

 

On the one hand... there was also a feeling of not wanting to share yesterday’s memories with Arwin.

 

How warm Berg’s arms were.

 

How sturdy his arms were.

 

If she carelessly mentioned this, and Arwin even became a little curious, it wouldn’t do.

 

Arwin, who was already quite curious, did not need to hear it.

 

She did not want to tell her.

 

...Of course, whether telling her would allow Arwin to experience it, Ner wasn’t sure.

 

This incident was something that happened because Berg forcibly held her.

 

“...I don’t really know.”

 

So, Ner skirted around the truth.

 

“...I just woke up and found myself in his arms.”

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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