Chapter 23: Female Knight Lovers Game

"Haaaah..."

Aisha sighed loudly, eyes like a dead mermaid.

The mission was over. She trudged along the wide corridor.

She exchanged greetings with the soldiers and court attendants she passed along the way, but other than that she was lost in thought.

Of course she was talking to Keith.

The outrageous promise she'd made a few days ago.

The outrageous lewd behavior she'd exposed a few days ago.

Both of these were dominating her thoughts, to the point that she'd neglected everything else.

The promise she'd made to Keith to "be genuinely comfortable."

That meant that she had to accept Keith of her own accord, and perform those lewd acts in her natural state.

Smiling, spreading her legs, begging, taking him in her mouth of her own accord, and even kissing him...

If she hadn't done that, no matter how she acted while she was doing it, she might have been able to say with confidence, "This is my normal!"

However, having shown that side of herself even once, being "honest" was not going to work.

That was Keith's aim, but naturally Aisha didn't realize.

To Aisha, who didn't know what the secrets between lovers really were, that side of her was nothing less than that of a lewd woman.

She was convinced that smiling at a man and asking him to make her feel better was something she shouldn't do.

She sought purity and beauty in the act of love and sexual relations, and after all, it was a thought that came from someone who had remained a virgin for 53 years.

Of course, that's not to say she had no sexual desires at all.

Or rather, she had more than enough interest.

But Aisha's masturbatory material was slightly erotic novels for women, and in them, good-looking men always just gently caressed the heroine and penetrated her.

There was no depiction of the woman saying "do it more" or licking the man's penis of her own accord.

This was the feminine side that existed inside Aisha.

My true nature was revealed while I was under the belief that the drugs had made me crazy.

My female side was so far removed from the beautiful world of stories.

I didn't want to know. I thought I shouldn't know.

Every time I writhed at the memory, I wanted to die.

But the reason I held back was because if I endured it just one more time, it would all be over.

He said he would give me the crystal if I slept with Keith one more time.

It might be a lie.

He might not give it to me.

But it was worth the gamble.

It would be much better than my current state.

I made that decision, but a few seconds later, the routine of thinking about whether I should do that indecent act again... never ended.

As a result, Nia was worried about me, even during the mission, with her dead mermaid eyes.

"The crystal... if I can get my hands on it... I'll definitely kill you."

I muttered, gripping the hilt of my rapier tightly.

However, for today, I'll go back to my room and rest.

I might not be able to sleep, but I need to at least rest my body.

When she thought that and looked up in the hallway in front of her room, Aisha screamed, "Hii!"

Keith was waving his hand in front of Aisha's room with a grin on his face.

Aisha rushed over, her face turning pale.

"What!? What are you doing?!"

She whispered as she looked around.

"I mean, I want you to fulfill your promise."

"You should have told me a few days in advance! Who's going to show up here unexpectedly?!"

"Eh~~~, since when did they require reservations? Lady Aisha's cunt."

Keith covered his mouth before he could say that.

"You idiot, idiot, idiot! You're too loud!"

Aisha strained her ears to hear the footsteps of patrolling soldiers from the hallway, but her heart was beating too loudly to hear them.

"Well, come in my room for now!!"

With that, Keith let him into his room, but the next moment he thought that he had invited a man into his room, and his blood ran cold.

When he saw Keith, he looked around the room, took a deep breath,

"You smell like Aisha-sama."

He smiled.

"So don't sniff me, you idiot!!"

He quickly shut his mouth at the loud voice he had made,

"That's a silencing magic item! You brought it with you, right? Activate it!!"

He showed skill by yelling in a low voice.

Keith said "Yes, yes" and took the magic item out of his pocket and activated it.

Just as Aisha relaxed,

"Mmmm!! Mmmm... Fuh! Kiss..."

Keith held Aisha in his arms and captured her lips.

"Chu...chuchu, mmm...mm! Stop it!!!"

Aisha pushed Keith away.

She wiped her lips with her hand and glared at Keith.

"Wh-what are you doing all of a sudden?!"

"Eh? You told me to activate the magic item, so I'm starting now...isn't that right?"

"Of course not!! It's to stop our voices from leaking outside!! Is that all you have on your mind!!"

"I see...So, what are you talking about?"

"Ah...um, why did you come to my room? If you have something to do, it's fine if it's in your room!"

"Well, that's..."

Keith was vague.

Actually, I was thinking about calling Aisha soon, so I told Lou that I wanted to use her room, and he said,

"I'm not leaving anymore. If you want to, you can do it in her room!"

"Hey you, you useless cat. Is that what a familiar says to its master?"

"...If you're trying to force me out of the room..."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make a huge mess!"

"Wh-what did you say--!"

"I'm going to make you smell so bad you won't be able to get into that kind of atmosphere!"

"Stop that, you idiot! Make it sandy sandy sandy!"

There was this stupid exchange of words, but I was too embarrassed to say it,

"I wanted to come to Aisha's room."

I lied. To avoid being pointed out,

"So... are you ready to be honest?"

When he started, Aisha hid her face.

She was honest... and of her own accord... with Keith...

Laughing at Aisha's appearance, who looked as if she was about to collapse at any moment, Keith took out a magic item from his pocket.

"Lady Aisha, this."

Aisha raised her head. Not knowing what it was, she frowned.

"It's a modified crystal that copies the promise."

Aisha's face froze in shock at his words.

That's it?

That was the source of Nia and my sorrow.

When she thought of this, she wanted to cut Keith's arm with his rapier right away, but Keith, sensing this,

"Ah, I've cast a teleportation spell on this, so if you try to damage this or take it by force from me, this will be transported to the right place. Please forgive me."

"Guh!!"

Aisha gritted her teeth as she let go of the hilt of the rapier.

Keith sighed in relief.

Although he had cast teleportation magic, he was only being transported to his own room. In other words, it was all a bluff.

"So, what will you do? Will you be obedient as promised? Or will you give up?"

She had to do it.

She had to do it. To get that.

It was for Lady Nia's sake, and for her own sake.

But... She remembered herself from a few days ago.

That appearance, that voice, those gestures.

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it.

The conflicting thoughts clouded Aisha's face.

Seeing her expression, Keith laughed inwardly, thinking that things were going as expected.

Keith wanted to see Aisha in agony, and then embarrassed today.

He had a scenario prepared for that.

Keith took a breath,

"It looks like it's no good..."

With that, he put the magic item back in his pocket.

"Ah!"

Aisha tried to stop his hand, but

"Can you do it?"

"..."

"It's selfish of you to want something you can't do, Lady Aisha."

"Ugh..."

Keith paused, then

"Then... I'll make it a little easier for you as a special favor."

"Eh?"

Aisha's face looked up.

"Would you like to play house between now and the morning?"

"Play house...?"

"Yes, me and Lady Aisha."

It was a game that Nia would often join in on when she was much younger.

Now two grown adults were going to play it together.

"... I don't get it."

"I get it. If you play house with me until the morning, I'll give you this magic item."

"What!? Really...?"

"It's true."

There's no way such a convenient story could exist.

Aisha thought frantically. And then,

"You're probably trying to tell me to become a dirty woman or a slave! But you're going to put your hands on it."

"I'm not going to say anything like that. I'm not asking you to become anything sexual."

"That's a lie!!"

"I swear."

Keith raised his hand and swore with a serious look on his face.

Aisha looked at him and asked,

"So, then, what are we going to play at?"

Keith laughed at his words and said,

"We're going to play lovers."

Aisha's face froze. Then, shaking slightly,

"Don't mess with me!! Why would I want to be with you, even if it's just pretend, as a couple!!"

"Well, if that's not possible, that's fine. I'm going home."

Keith said that frankly as he tried to leave the room.

She stopped him with a "Ah."

Aisha's mind was racing with thoughts.

Will there ever be another chance to get that magical item?

Should she live her whole life in fear that there is a magical item with a picture of Nia's lewd behavior on it somewhere?

She don't want that to happen. That's no good.

But no matter what, there's no way she can accept her previous self sober again.

So... she can just pretend until morning. That's all.

Besides, if she's a lover, she should be able to refuse even if she's told to say or do strange things.

After all, that's what a lover's relationship is supposed to be.

Having made that decision,

"...If you tell people about this..."

"Who's going to believe that Aisha and I were just pretending to be lovers?"

"...Only until morning."

"Yes!"

Keith nodded happily. And then,

"Well, for now, please wear that dress from the other day."

"Why?!"

"Well, because it was cute."

"So why did you want to do that?!"

"If your boyfriend says you're cute, you'd normally wear it, right? It's a date."

"Ugh...!!"

Honestly, I wanted to refuse, but I didn't want him to think, "What? You're not doing anything," if I exercised my refusal at such an early stage,

"Wait a minute!!"

Aisha shouted, took out the dress she had put in the closet, and headed to the bathroom.

Keith sat on the bed and waited, and Aisha came out, changed.

He looked at her with satisfaction.

"You're still cute."

"You're so noisy..."

Aisha stood up with a sullen look on her face,

"Please sit next to me."

Keith urged her, and she sat on his bed.

While fidgeting and bored,

"Lovers... in the end, they do that... if that's the case"

"I've said this many times before, but I don't want to receive magical power from a crying Aisha-sama who doesn't want it. But if I try to trick her into feeling better, she'll say that she doesn't like it either. So maybe we should just accept it as a pretend game from the beginning. What do you think?"

"I don't know!"

"I thought about it really hard... well, let's try it once anyway"

Keith said, and took out a small box from his pocket and handed it to Aisha.

"What is this..."

"It's a present for a lover."

"A present?"

Aisha opened the box timidly.

Inside was a small mithril ring.

The surface was carved to resemble a vine.

"I made it. It's pretty good, isn't it?"

He didn't say that he made it with the leftover mithril he received.

Aisha was taken aback by the sudden gift.

"Hmph! I bet he put a curse on me to make me feel lewd or something."

"No way. Here you go."

With that, Keith put the ring on Aisha's right ring finger.

"How is it?"

"Huh... it's normal."

Not knowing what to say, Keith looked at Aisha with a smile as she spoke her incomprehensible thoughts.

Aisha stared intently at her right hand.

It was the first time in her life that a man had given her a ring.

Well, she had been given gifts a few times, but she had always refused them all.

However, this was a present from a lover, even if it was just a pretend lover. She couldn't refuse.

Then, for some reason, Keith felt a strange flutter in her heart.

Aisha didn't understand the meaning of that flutter in her heart.

That's why she was acting so coldly towards him.

"What! Why are you staring!"

"I was staring because Aisha is cute"

"Wh... Ah... You idiot!!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Y-y-what are you doing calling me by my first name!!"

"Ah, that? But lovers don't call each other by their first names, do they? Or are you the type who gets excited when your lover calls you by your first name?"

"That's not true..."

"Then call me Aisha until morning... and I'll call you Keith, not you or some other lowlife."

"You call me by that name too?"

"When you call me by my name"

I'll never call you by that name, even if I die! That's what Aisha vowed to herself.

Keith was staring at Aisha again.

Aisha, feeling ticklish under his gaze,

"Why are you staring at me all the time?"

"A present... if you get one from your lover, don't you normally say thank you?"

"A thank you... You sent it to me without asking! I can't thank you for something like that."

"Guh! I'm shocked!"

With that, Keith collapsed onto the bed.

Glancing at Aisha,

"... If you don't thank me, I'll sniff the bed."

"Stop it, you idiot!! You idiot!!"

Aisha desperately tried to pull Keith out of the bed, but Keith clung to her with all his might,

"Sniff sniff!! Sniff sniff sniff!! Ahhhh, it smells good... I'm getting an erection."

"Stop it!! Stop it!! I get it!! I'll thank you!! I'll!!"

"Well then."

Keith sat up like a tumbler. Then, as he stared at Aisha and waited,

"... I'm sorry. Thank you."

"That was so simple!! I'm shocked!!!"

"Da!! Don't fall!! Don't smell me!!"

"Then, do this a little more..."

"What should I do!! Tell me clearly!!"

Keith grinned as if he had been waiting for those words.

"... If you're a lover and you want to say thank you... it's a kiss."

"What!!"

Aisha was at a loss for words.

She glared at Keith,

"Just do what you want like you did before!!"

"Ehhhh, that's meaningless. Aisha kissed me as a token of gratitude. That's what it means."

"I don't know!! I can't do it!!"

"S--!"

"Don't fall!!!"

Aisha grabbed Keith's arm and pulled him desperately to stop him from falling.

The force of the pulling caused them to lose their balance, and they ended up on top of each other on the bed.

Keith below, Aisha above.

Aisha's silver hair fell over Keith's face. It was itchy.

Keith's hand reached out to Aisha's cheek. She could have avoided it if she had tried, and she could have just raised her body.

But Aisha's body seemed frozen and didn't move from on top of Keith.

As he touched Aisha's brown, soft cheek,

"Please kiss me... and then I won't do it again."

"I promise."

"I promise."

Aisha slowly lowered her face upon hearing his words.

Around the time, she realized that this "playing lovers" might be even more dangerous than what happened last time.

"Mmmm..."

"Kiss..."

With their eyes closed, their lips met.