Chapter 20: Aftermath

Reimuz rubbed his eyes open. He tried to sit up only to feel a weight on his chest. He glanced at the naked and exhausted feminine flesh on his side, and a smile crept up on his lips. There was no mistaking it. Their tent stunk of sex said it all.

As cautious as he can be, Reimuz slipped himself up and looked for his clothes that were thrown somewhere in this room last night. He found his underwear and pants scattered on the ground while he took another fresh shirt from the dresser on his right. He put his clothes on, along with his initial equipment, and bounced on the bed afterwards.

Recalling their very intimate time together, he couldn’t help but break into a series of smiles as he gazed at his angel’s sleeping face. It was a long night, if not the longest night of his life.

As he thought it over, Celes made a few whimpering moans. She raised her arms tucked under the bed covers and fluttered her eyelids open.

“Morning,” he greeted her with a wide smile. Slipping his hand under the thin blanket, he smiled and massaged her bottom. “I’m ready for another round, you?”

Celes winced back and threw the pillow at his face. “You said you’d be gentle dummy!”

“I was,” he stripped the pillow off his face, revealing a crooked smile. “And I will.”

Celes clutched onto sheeting stained red—the proof of her innocence shattered by his lustful cravings—and covered her chest area. A crimson residue mixed with egg whites were sticky on her thighs, and she felt sore on that place where he took her virginity.

“On the first one yes, but not on the rest! Now I’m sore all over,” she complained, teary eyed.

He moved closer and took her shoulders, hugging her softly as he kissed her cheek. “Oh baby, I’m sorry, okay?”

Celes tilted her head to the side and spoke in a high and mighty tone. “Hmph. Apologize all you want, but you’re not getting a next time.”

Reimuz smiled even more. The egoistic Celes was the one he loved the most, and acting like that first thing in the morning wouldn’t do her any good than to arouse him even further.

“I love you Celes,” he whispered on her ear and she shivered.

But it didn’t work. Celes stuttered a reply. “W-What was that? My ears are deaf to a pervert’s woes. And most certainly to those who wouldn’t stop pounding me even when I begged them to stop.”

He couldn’t say a word to deny her because he knew she was right. His lust had completely overtook his reasonings last night that he did many horrible things to her. Even obliging her to try out several embarrassing positions just to satisfy his sexual urges. She agreed because she loved him and maybe because of the tempo. Now that was all gone, it was expected she’d be mad. Rather he hoped it only extended to that.

“Sorry if I’m not the best guy to fall in love with,” he gripped her from behind and started nibbling on her nape. If he couldn’t woo with her with a single kiss, he’ll melt her wall with a rain of kisses.

“Stop, just stop,” she pushed him away, her cheeks were ripe, red. “I’m too exhausted to deal with your perverseness. Just help me clean up.”

Eyes mild and amused, Reimuz stood up and respected her wishes. He grabbed a towel and dipped it into the bucket of water. After he wrung the towel damp, he went back and gave it to Celes.

Celes grumpily took it from his hands. “I-I’ll follow you once I’m done.”

Reimuz scratched his head. “Are you kicking me out?”

“Just give me some time to think things through,” she pleaded.

Whatever. He didn’t want to upset her any further, so he strolled outside of their tent for a walk. He wondered about her sudden change and the sudden advancement in their relationship. A month hadn’t even pass after he met her and yet they already had sex.

Although he was happy, mainly happy, he knew it was abnormal. Then again, circumstances forced them to advance their relationship in a rather unusual manner. He pushed the unwanted ideas aside. His feelings for her were solid, and for him, that was all that mattered.

He continued down the slope, back to the lake. The sun up high was hot, indicating that it was already past noon. He covered and shielded his eyes from its harmful rays as he walked underneath a shade. However the spot he chose was already occupied by a certain lily, dozing off peacefully herself.

As if she noticed her presence, she twitched suddenly and shifted her spectacles. Erumina blinked a few times, as if to confirm, and gestured him to sit along.

“It’s a little hot today, isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” said Reimuz, as he took the space beside her.

Reimuz stole a glimpse on the girl on his right. Underneath those glasses, the corner of her eyes were swollen, and her supposedly vibrant plum eyes showed traces of being bloodshot, as if she cried all night. She must be that glad to see her sisters safe.

“How’s Emily?” asked Reimuz.

“She’s still asleep even now. But her condition had greatly improved since last night,” she answered with a smile of relief, exhibiting her dimples.

Seeing her smile made him as well. “And Elseria?”

Her gaze lingered at Reimuz for a moment then tilted her head upwards. “She went out and looked for the man you came out of the mines with. If I’m not mistaken, I believe his name is Wein?”

“Do they know each other?”

“I wasn’t able to confirm. She left with her sword the moment she woke up.”

Reimuz inclined his head and think about it for a moment. Either they acquainted each other because of this incident or they already knew each other beforehand, there must be a reason as to why Wein was carrying Elseria’s spirit sword in the mines.

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“Must be nice to have a sister like you,” the words just left his mouth, embarrassingly.

Erumina giggled. “I’d like to say that’s what siblings are for.”

“It must be nice to have a sibling then,” he retorted back.

She peered at his face with a curious look. “Do you want a sibling?”

Reimuz crossed his arms and looked down. “Well, if I have the ability of choosing, then I guess I do,” he said, taking the image in his head. “A sister and a brother to be exact. I mean a bigger family is always better, right?”

“Not always,” she sullenly responded. “But I couldn’t ask for a better sister.”

Erumina shifted her knees and pushed her sideswept bangs behind her ear. Just then, the snatches of light streaming from the sea of leaves above them showed him something new.

“Where did you get this scar from?” asked Reimuz.

As if he was compelled by his curiosity, he raised a hand at her left cheek, softly gliding his fingertips at the scar that was almost too impossible to notice even with them sitting this close. There wasn’t any particular meaning to his actions, but his question struck her, and lessened the color on her face.

Was that perhaps a landmine? Reimuz wondered to himself. But thinking about it did not pull the back of his fingers from brushing her cheek slightly. He could see the hurt in her eyes, and it only added to the mass of confusion he found himself tangled in.

Erumina pressed his palm on her face, a bitter smile curved her lips. “Can I ask you something?”

Reimuz nodded, followed by a big gulp. “Sure, go ahead.”

He wasn’t sure as to why her mood shifted to something gloomy, but the reason must lie on her scar.

“What do you think about me? Not in a way that my question implied, of course.”

Reimuz stared back in her eyes. He was confused as to why she suddenly asked, but decided to answer her anyways. “You give me the impression of someone responsible. Someone reliable. Albeit too much maybe?”

Erumina averted her eyes. “Is that so? Actually, I used to be the clumsiest out of the three of us.”

“If your older sister told me that, then I would’ve believed her without a doubt. But with you, I just can’t see it,” said Reimuz.

She smile again, but her dubious smiling face felt real this time. “Trust me, back when we were little, I would always run off when Father’s not looking. It was Emily who would chase after me just to keep me out of harm’s way.”

“Like a feisty tomboy then?” he smiled and finished it for her.

She fidgeted and muttered, “Truthfully, her nosiness annoyed me the most until a certain incident happened that caused me to have this scar.”

“Tell me about it,” he said in a low voice. Like a good time killer, he found her story oddly interesting, although he couldn’t explain why. It simply was.

A reminiscent smile touched her lips. “Hehe, it was just like any other day but, Emily suddenly reported my bad behavior, and because of that, Father prohibited me from going out,” she chuckled softly, looking like a little devil. “Perhaps it was due to my excessive vigor that I wanted to play so bad, but our guard wouldn’t let me, so I took a knife from the kitchen and tried to cut our steel gates with it. Emily tried to stop me, but I ignored her warnings. And as you expected, the blade chipped and cut my face. Ever since then, my sisters wouldn’t let me near the kitchen.”

“That’s stupid,” he muttered in amusement, as he softly brushed his thumb at her old wound. “And why didn’t you tried to mend this scar with healing magic?”

Erumina hesitated, her eyes glittering. “It’s to remind me of that stupid moment and that I caused my sister to cry all night because of my rashness. That time, it hit me that Emily was just trying her best to keep me safe, and I wanted to do the same for her, and Elseria too.”

So it was a sign of their bond, he mused. “If this is true, then you’ve definitely changed a lot.”

“You think so?”

“Yes,” he replied immediately.

Reimuz pulled his hand away from her face and leaned back against the tree they took shelter on. He looked up the sky hidden between the leaves and branches, and then squinted his vision at the visible clouds. Whoever perpetrated and created this gigantic mess, he has to find out.

It wasn’t Cynthia. He still doesn’t understand her train of thought and the many mysteries surrounding her, but he have a weird inclination to say that it wasn’t her who did it. No matter tainted her soul had become, he refused to think of her that way. Perhaps he wanted to delude himself, but unless he have enough proof to go with a conclusion, he would not judge her guilty.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt something soft and wet touched his cheek. Quite a familiar sensation. He blinked in surprise, jolted out of his melancholy.

“I still haven’t thank you for what you did,” Erumina said, as she leaned forward once more, her eyes twinkling.

Reimuz was bewildered for a moment. He thought about it and shook his head. “You don’t need to thank me like that.”

“But I want to,” she said, then gave his cheek a sounding kiss.

Smothering the grin that suddenly surfaced on his face, he stood up and reached a hand to Erumina. “Well, let’s see how your sister is doing.”

He did not do it for thanks, and definitely not just to garner her affection. He did it for the prize. For the money. But when pressed against such circumstances, he wasn’t the type of guy to deny. He thought of her kiss an extra. A freebie. Nothing more, nothing less.