MRPO :12

CHAPTER  :12

I was trying to scramble for some sort of excuse, and the only thing in sight was the bed, so I just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

Despite the flimsy excuse, Calion didn’t doubt me for a second and readily nodded.

It was almost worrying how deeply he believed my excuse of amnesia.

“Understood. Please wait just a moment.”

As Calion excused himself to Sennes, Sennes glanced over at me.

For a brief second, I worried if that jerk was going to pick on me again, but he quickly averted his gaze and slung the sack over his shoulder.

“Then I’ll go. Do I just exchange them like we usually do?”

“Please, brother.”

It seemed Sennes was going to get the supplies in his stead.

He strode forward and brushed past me. His steps were completely indifferent, as though treating me like a ghost.

“……”

Strangely, his retreating figure caught my eye.

Maybe it was because this was the first time I had ever gotten a proper look at his back.

“Master. Shall we head inside?”

“Ah, yes.”

When I opened the door, Calion stepped inside first. I followed him and shut the door behind us.

“Um… Master?”

Having checked the bed, Calion spoke with a slightly perplexed expression.

“The bedsheets seem to have already been changed…”

“I’m sorry. I lied.”

“Pardon?”

“I just wanted to be alone with you, Calion.”

Suddenly, a lump formed in my throat.

Was it because I lied?

I pressed my palm flat against my trembling chest, but it didn’t soothe me in the slightest.

“Before we go our separate ways, I wanted to know how you feel.”

When I looked up at him, Calion’s expression stiffened.

He must be bewildered. To be honest, so was I. I wasn’t usually so desperate that I’d drag a man into a room out of the blue like this.

After confirming last night that Calion had feelings for me too, I *had* thought about properly seducing him once we reached town… but my actions just now were far more impulsive.

“Are you uncomfortable with this?”

“Pardon? No, not at all. I…”

Flustered, Calion’s gaze darted around the room. A soft pink flush began to creep up his pale face.

Having pale skin was a disadvantage at times like this. It made it far too obvious.

Though, of course, I didn’t mind looking at it one bit.

“Do you dislike it because it’s so sudden?”

“I do not dislike it. But… this, this does not seem right.”

Calion brought a hand to his mouth as if searching for the right words, knitted his brows, and then straightened his posture before bowing his head slightly toward me.

“Master. I am not someone who is worthy of you. It would be irresponsible of me, who can neither settle down in one place nor promise you a future, to engage in an intimate relationship with you. So…”

He was saying we couldn’t get any closer because he couldn’t take responsibility for me.

It was a very Calion-like thing to say. If my own life didn’t have an expiration date, I probably would have fallen head over heels for him right then and there.

“It’s the same for me.”

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t that true for everyone? No one knows what tomorrow will bring. It’s not just people who fight monsters in hunting grounds who are in danger. Anyone could tumble down a flight of stairs and die, or get run over by a carriage.”

Of course, ordinary people didn’t actually live their lives constantly worrying about dying tomorrow, but in my case, my remaining lifespan was genuinely short.

In fact, I would probably meet death much sooner than Calion, who had to risk his life hunting monsters every day.

“I’m not asking you to promise me a future. I don’t expect that from you at all.”

If anything, that would only make things difficult for me.

“I just wanted to know how you feel. If you feel the same way I do.”

“The same… feelings as you, Master…?”

“Since we’ve come this far, I won’t beat around the bush. Before we part, I wanted to sleep with you.”

Calion’s body flinched. Was that too blunt for a man who grew flustered at a mere touch? Still, he wasn’t so innocent that he wouldn’t understand what I meant.

Honestly, I didn’t even know myself. I didn’t know what I was feeling.

Curiosity toward an attractive man. Impulsive desire. The wish to make a lasting memory before my short second life came to an end.

The yearning for someone to cherish me as someone special, when I had never been special to anyone before.

And the sheer selfishness of wanting that person to be Calion.

This feeling probably wasn’t love.

I wasn’t such a romantic dreamer that I could fall in love so suddenly.

It was unfair to Calion. I knew that. But I still wanted to do it.

Not simply to obtain physical satisfaction…

I wanted to leave something behind between myself and Calion.

If people would grant even a dead man’s last wish, why couldn’t they grant the wish of a dying one?

“Master… what you just said…”

“It means you don’t need to worry about any responsibilities or obligations.”

I took a step closer to him. We weren’t even touching, but his entire body went rigid with tension.

“There’s nothing wrong with playing with fire just once, is there?”

When I rested my hand against his chest, a soft groan escaped him. His eyes darted about, as if he were still desperately searching for an excuse. But the fact that he hadn’t rejected me immediately meant Calion had already lost.

I raised my hand, tracing his collarbone over his clothes.

“Ah…”

When I grabbed his collar, Calion seemed to panic slightly. Though he could have easily resisted, he allowed himself to be pulled in. As he leaned down and I stood on my tiptoes, our faces drew close.

Because the room was located at the end of the hallway, windows lined two of the walls, letting the warm afternoon sunlight illuminate the room.

I liked that. It allowed me to see his flushed face perfectly.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Pardon? Ah, I…”

I had no intention of waiting for an answer. The moment our faces drew close, my mouth had already watered.

I captured his lips, tasting them just as I had briefly done the night before.

At first touch, they were soft enough to melt, but as I gently nibbled and sucked on his bottom lip, they possessed a surprising firmness.

A cool, sweet scent washed over me.

If sugar-sweet snow fell in the dead of winter, surely it would taste like this.

When I gently breathed into the gap between his lips, Calion’s eyes widened in surprise. I could feel his hands hovering in the air, trembling slightly.

Releasing his collar, I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.

“It’s okay. Don’t stop.”

I coaxed him, licking his lips as I clung to him, and he instinctively brought his hands to support my waist. His arms were still tense, as if he found holding me unfamiliar.

He had carried me in his arms so effortlessly when we were traveling, so why was he being so clumsy now?

He was like a child who had forgotten how to breathe out of sheer nervousness.

As I repeated light, pecking kisses, teasing him with my tongue, his heated lips parted, and our ragged breaths began to mingle.

It felt as if a loose rope wrapped around my body had suddenly snapped tight.

What had started as light contact instantly deepened. His neck, still rigid with tension, grew damp with sweat from excitement.

Calion, you’re a fast learner.

I stroked him gently, moving my hands from the back of his neck to his hair, past his burning ears, and onto his cheeks. In response, the hand resting on my waist slowly slid upward.

His clumsy, hesitant strokes along my back only fueled my excitement further.

His gentle touch made me feel as if I were something precious and fragile that might break at any moment. At the same time, his desperate efforts to respond to me—despite clearly not knowing the first thing about touching a woman—were incredibly endearing.

“…Calion.”

When I stepped half a pace closer, pressing my body flush against his, the way his body reacted shifted. The air around us grew noticeably warmer. Though we were both fully dressed, the friction of our bodies through the layers of fabric felt incredibly intense.

The rustle of rubbing fabrics and the sound of crumpling clothes mingled with our ragged, heavy breathing.

His grip on my back tightened. The solid, corded muscles of his arms were clearly felt even through our clothes.

Every time I shifted my weight, I felt him tense up instantly. Was this too much stimulation for him?

Then again, I wasn’t patient enough to teach him everything step-by-step.

My whimpers were swallowed by his biting, clinging lips, and my sighs grew higher pitched. This man, who was always so quiet and composed, was now letting out low, unstable rumbles from his throat, struggling to suppress his surging instincts.

That gave me a strange sense of pleasure.

Rather than a desire for conquest, it felt closer to the thrill of pulling out a precariously balanced block in a game of Jenga.

Ripples disturbed the once-tranquil surface, sending waves crashing. The moment our tongues met and slid against each other, a thrilling wave of heat flared up within me.

This was the first time a mere kiss had ever made me feel this breathless.

“Calion.”

I was so breathless that my chest felt tight. Was it because of our awkward posture?

As I gasped, trying to catch my breath, Calion was the one who leaned in to kiss me this time. Rather than urgency, his movement felt more like an instinctive plea.

With a soft, wet sound, he sucked on my lip before parting them to slide his tongue inside. Our saliva mingled thickly, filling my mouth.

The feeling of my entire body melting in sweet, hot pleasure… It felt as though I wouldn’t mind suffocating right then and there, drowned in this sheer ecstasy.

When the last bit of strength drained from me and I slumped against his chest, Calion finally pulled back and adjusted his hold on me.

“Master. Are you alright?”

“…It’s a bit… overwhelming.”

Calion’s eyes wavered. He must have taken it to mean I didn’t like it.

Before he could get any more flustered, I quickly corrected myself.

“You’re so tall, Calion, that my neck started hurting even on tiptoe.”

“…I am sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I just want you to help close the height gap.”

I gave his chest a gentle nudge, signaling him to lie down on the bed, but he didn’t budge.

When I looked up at him in confusion, a soft smile played on his lips.

Why was he smiling?

He blinked slowly, and then suddenly scooped me up into his arms.

“Whoa! Calion?”

“Will this do?”

In an instant, my feet left the ground.

Even though his strong hands were securely supporting my thighs and holding my waist, the sudden lift made me uneasy, so I instinctively clutched at his shoulders.

For the first time, I found myself looking down at the man I had always looked up to.

His face was still flushed, but the hesitation in his eyes was gone.

His lips, still glistening and red, parted.

“Let’s do it again.”

Oh, my god.

I had no idea Calion was capable of seducing someone like this.

The way his eyes crinkled as he offered me a breathtakingly brilliant smile left my mind completely blank.