Since I was going to need to find Yuki, which was most likely going to be both time-consuming and a pain, I headed towards Michelle, who was sitting in the distance with Chloe sitting on her lap, easing her worries. Approaching the mother&daughter duo, I silently sat down beside them, causing Chloe to look at me in concern while Michelle bit her lip and refused to look my way, it seemed she was too ashamed in herself to acknowledge my presence.
Michelle may not have been my lover, but I did care for her, so seeing her like this didn't make me happy, especially when I was the one who made her like this.
Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pulled her closer and had her lean on my shoulder, the two of us remaining silent for minutes.
"Alexander?" "Michelle?" Asked Michell and Alexander, respectively, as they turned and looked at each other, prompting the latter to place his finger atop her lips.
"You can go first, Michelle." Said Alexander softly as he looked at Michelle, removing his finger, causing her to nod slowly and lower her head again.
"I-I'm sorry for what happened last night." Said Michelle softly as she bit her lip with a teary-eyed expression, remembering the events that transpired last night.
"Sorry for what, Michelle? I don't really remember you doing something you should be apologizing for." Asked Alexander in slight confusion as he looked at Michelle while affectionately rubbing her shoulder.
"I-I froze up, Alexander. W-When you were l-lying on the ground, bleeding, w-with that wound, I-I froze, m-my mind came to a halt when I saw such gruesome gore. W-While Talis was helping you, I sat silently beside you, doing nothing. I-I couldn't help the man I love." Remarked Michelle shamefully in defeat as she lowered her head while tears streamed down her face, falling onto the quiet Chloe, who was smart enough to read the atmosphere between the two.
"You know, Michelle, I-I don't blame you for any of that." Said Alexander softly as he looked at Michelle, who aggressively shook her head.
"But I blame myself! I-It's not that I didn't do anything, but I couldn't! I've lived all of my life pampered and have never experienced the dangers of this world, so the sight of you froze me, and do you know what the first I did was when I finally came to? I-I vomited what I had for lunch; I didn't check upon you, I didn't help you, I wasn't even near you! I had vomited and then went to sleep. While you could've died, I was peacefully sleeping." Remarked Michelle with an unsightly expression as she grabbed the sides of her head, crying while experiencing a plethora of negative emotions like self-loathing, hatred, defeat, shame, and anger.
Seeing Michelle in such a terrible mental state hurt me quite a lot; as the only man on this journey, I should be protecting them; it was a role I had gladly taken on when we first started this, yet now, after some reflection, I haven't been acting like a good man. A good man wouldn't ever let someone he cares about experience something too extreme, which made me ashamed.
I didn't bother saying anything to Michelle as I didn't have anything to say; anything I said would've just felt like an excuse at this point. Michelle was like this because of me, and trying to conjure excuses would've only further taken away from my massive failure, which wasn't something I was going to allow; I had failed in my one job, and I would try my best to keep this moment etched into my brain so I know I can never afford to fail again.
While Michelle vented her emotions, I comforted her with my own, trying to help calm her down, which more or less worked, though it took a while since those emotions of hers were pretty intense.
"So, are you feeling better now, Michelle?" Asked Alexander softly as he glanced at Michelle, who hesitantly nodded while wiping her tears.
"Well, if that's the case, I'd also like to apologize." Added Alexander lightly as he gently rubbed Michelle's back while glancing at her and Chloe.
Before Michell could open her mouth, I forcefully closed it; I wouldn't have her try to undermine my failure.
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"Be quiet and listen, Michelle." Said Alexander firmly, his assertive voice causing both Michelle and Chloe to quickly nod as they silently listened.
"As the man of this family, it's my job to protect and care for everyone, and even when we're in bad situations, I'm supposed to make sure no one can tell; however, I failed in doing such things. We were lucky Lazuli wasn't an enemy, but if it were, I-I'm sure you can imagine." Remarked Alexander softly as he rested his arms on his knees, gazing at the sky while Michelle and Chloe remained silent.
"To this moment, I haven't taken my job seriously, and I'm sorry. I've never realized how difficult it is to be the man or leader of the family. When I was young, my brother was the one who took care of me; during that time, even though we were barely getting by, I couldn't remember a time when I was, well, like you are right now, Michelle. I suppose when I remember how easy my brother made it seem, I had subconsciously taken it for granted, but now I can somewhat appreciate how hard he must've been working for my sake." Added Alexander lightly with a longing expression as he stared at the faint moons floating in the sky, hidden behind the sun's light.
"You… You had a brother, Alexander? I thought you said you were a single child with your Master taking care of you?" Asked Michelle in confusion as she looked at Alexander while Chloe remained silent.
"Yeah, you're not wrong. It's just that I'm reincarnated; I lived my first life with my brother, and died after twenty years, and was reincarnated with my Master having taken care of me." Replied Alexander lightly, rubbing his head while looking at Michelle, who slightly widened her eyes in surprise.
"So… even after living two lives, I'm still older than you?" Muttered Michelle softly as she lowered her head, her choice of words causing Alexander's facial expression to twitch while he began to stand up.
"Even Yuki is older than me, Michelle, and she's only 39. Anyway, I will go and find her. If you need me, just yell my name, and I'll come running. Also, you don't need to worry about Lazuli; she won't run off or attack, as I convinced her to stay with us until Soom returns." Remarked Alexander lightly as he gestured to the carriage while helping Michelle onto her two feet, only for her to proactively kiss him with Chloe still in her arms.
"Um, I-I know you may not have meant it that deeply, but I-I really liked it when you called us f-family." Said Michelle with a deep blush as she looked away from Alexander, who faintly smiled before wrapping his arms around her waist and passionately kissing her.
"I meant it just as deeply as you think I did, Michelle." Said Alexander softly as he whispered into Michelle's mouth, pressing her entire body against him while the two passionately kissed, momentarily forgetting about Chloe, who was stuck in between them.
Before things started to get sexual, Chloe made her presence known by pushing against me, causing me to remove my hand from Michelle's butt as we separated our lips and backed away, only to see her breathing heavily.
"I-I nearly died, Mom!" Said Chloe with a frown as she looked at Michelle while gasping for breath, causing her to blush in shame.
Affectionately rubbing Chloe's head, which helped calm her down, I kissed Michelle before walking away; of course, I had to give her butt a nice smack as well.
'Now then, time to find that lovely little monster of mine.' Mused Alexander softly as he traversed through the forest searching for Yuki, who could be anywhere by now.
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Arriving at a rather beautiful waterfall after using [Heroes Gaze] to follow Yuki's tracks, I looked around, admiring the beauty before diving into the lake the waterfall poured into. Swimming towards the waterfall, I climbed out of the lake and entered underneath it, only to find a dimly lit cave with a certain someone sitting on the ground in a fetal position.
'[Heroes Gaze] is so unbelievably useful.' Mused Alexander lightly as he approached Yuki while his eyes stopped glowing.
Unlike Michelle, with Yuki, I could be a bit more aggressive, and so I figured the best way to help Yuki was simply to make love with her; removing my wet clothes, I snapped my fingers, creating a flame that illuminated the cave as I placed it on the ground while squatted down and picked up Yuki, who still didn't bother reacting to me.
"Yuki, stop blaming yourself. You broke my arm, hand, and leg, but so what? You didn't kill anyone, did you? No, you didn't, so stop feeling sorry for yourself; you can hurt me all you want. I'm never going to stop loving you." Declared Alexander as he dropped Yuki onto the ground, waiting for her to move, which she never did, causing him to grab his head and sigh.
"Haa, alright, do you want to talk about how you transformed into some monster, or would you rather make love? We're only going to do one, so decide." Asked Alexander with a bland expression as he looked at Yuki, who slightly lifted her head and glanced at him before shifting her focus to his enormous erection.
"M-Make love." Muttered Yuki softly, her words causing him to smile as he forcefully broke her out of the fetal position, making her lie on the ground while removing her clothes.
"The only person you happened to harm was me, Yuki; you know, you remember everything, don't you? So, just calm down and stop worrying. I'll make you feel so good that you completely forget you ever transformed." Remarked Alexander firmly while laying upside-down atop Yuki before flipping their positions, entering the legendary sixty-nine as he used his mouth and tongue to pleasure her vagina, prompting her to do the same to him.