Chapter 81: Imbalanced fate
I would love to be able to say that we walked down the street. But phrasing it in this way, while correct, would be a lie by omission so great, it would be no different from a plain lie.
I walked down the street. That much was closer to the truth, albeit, if I wanted to be honest, I would have to claim I pushed myself down the street, gritting my teeth with every step I took.
Selia, on the other hand?
She was outright skipping, her mood as perfect as it could get and a wide smile on her face to show for it.
There were two reasons for the current, peculiar situation.
First, the obvious.
The three hours I’ve spent in bed with her as a subject to her cuddles left me strained, tired, and at the edge of my limit.
I could endure her lap pillow for a while, the sight of the bottom of her chest, her constant, intimate closeness... Heck, the years’ worth of ASMR of worrying levels of degeneracy prepared me to endure even all the ear tickling, massaging, and rubbing!
But for it to continue for three whole hours, with Selia’s untiring hands roaming free all over my head and upper chest, all the while I had to pick between closing my eyes and thus making myself all the more sensitive to what she was doing, or keeping my eyes open and then picking whether to bury my face in her soft thighs or remain still and keep looking up at the constant jiggle of her breasts.
’For enduring all of this and not jumping her...’ I sighed as I shook my head. ’I really should get some sort of a medal!’
Selia, on the other hand, came out from this experience fully happy, refreshed, and satisfied, as if she just unleashed all of her cuddling desire that she repressed for years and could now finally take a breath with her head free from its burden.
Thankfully... Or, maybe, at the very least, thanks to our bond, I could tell — even if she hid it perfectly well from my eyes, I could tell that she was excited too — merely worlds better than me at hiding it.
Then, there was the other aspect, one that made the two of us equally as happy.
After Selia was finally satisfied with all the cuddling, she gracefully allowed me to grab her hand, intertwine our fingers, and then gently pull her down, only to use my other hand to push away the hair from her forehead and plant a kiss directly upon it.
A simple act that allowed me to complete the easiest out of the three quests I’ve set for myself, resulting in the one ability that allowed me to negate most of the worries brought up by Vivil.
Which is exactly why we were now on the go, with just enough time to go out of the town, reach a random, secluded location, plant the altered coffee seed, and then either feed it enough mana to watch it grow or leave it alone so that we could check on its growth on the morrow.
For me, it was a perspective of preserving one of the very few items I’ve accidentally brought from Earth. For Selia, it was an opportunity to get more of that tasty drink she clearly enjoyed.
Then, there was the third aspect of this situation, one that I was equally as excited as I was fearful of.
Once we would get back from the mission, it would be the time for me to take Selia out for a date.
At most, I could delay it by an hour or two so I could properly prepare for it. And while the date itself didn’t seem like that much of a challenge — all I had to do was find something fun for both of us to do, even if it would be as simple as having a picnic in a scenic place — the goals associated with this date...
’I know it’s not even a part of my quests, but if I really end up making out with her, there’s no way I will be able to just grit my teeth and stop there.’
This was my one regret after waking up, an oversight... Or so it would be if I didn’t already prove that the system didn’t really mind if we did something on our own. As long as it wasn’t used as a quest, we could still benefit from it.
With that said, though, thinking about how we would likely end up getting all close and dirty after spending a nice date together and then making out with all our hearts in it... It wasn’t exactly the kind of thoughts I should be having if I wanted to get rid of the boner that was making my steps quite damn uncomfortable right now!
"Damn..." I muttered as I raised my eyes up to the sky, desperate to get myself distracted.
"What’s wrong?" Skipping to my side, Selia slowed down, locked her arms before her back, and then leaned forward a bit before turning her face to give me a lovely, curious look. "Too hard for you to walk?" she then asked as her mouth split open before widening into a smile big enough to reveal the white of her teeth.
"That’s a part of it, yes," I admitted without shame.
After spending hours on her lap, with her hands going wild all over my head and her boobs constantly jiggling just above my face, I’d long since managed to overcome the embarrassment of having her see me pitch a tent. I’d actually reached a point where I was too tired of it; I no longer cared whether I was pitching one in public or not!
"If it’s not that, then what is it?" Selia continued with her questions as she sped up, almost as if her legs had to catch up with her upper body so that she could straighten up. "I don’t sense much anxiety in you, so it shouldn’t be a problem. But that," she grinned again with that slightly bratty, cheeky look in her eyes that only fanned the flames in my loins, making me wish to bend her over my knee and slap that unruly ass of hers to teach her a lesson. "That only makes me more curious!"
I slowed down my steps just enough to give Selia a fleeting glance before shaking my head and then speeding up again.
It wasn’t until a few moments later that I finally found the right words to describe how I felt.
"You know, just a few days back, I wouldn’t be able to believe what kind of worries I would be having about my future," I revealed while shaking my head.
Even now, just thinking about it was enough to fill me with disbelief.
Three days back, I wasn’t sure whether I would get to live for another hour without turning into a meal of some oversized monster. And now, mere three days later? I’d become a financial potentate with hardly any responsibility beyond collecting my royalties on my deal with Greg, with a bombshell of a bratty beauty for a fated partner and my biggest worry centering on how to make the nearby date as great for Selia as possible.
"But isn’t it a good thing?" Selia asked, genuinely puzzled.
I couldn’t really blame her. As ridiculous as this shift in my future perspectives was, what was there to complain about?
"It’s definitely a good thing," I tried to laugh out, only to make up an awkward cough before pressing my lips into a thin line. "I’m really struggling to explain it, but it’s like..." I took a few more seconds to find the right words to frame my thoughts. "It’s like this change is too good to be true?"
That was the gist of it.
When things were too good to be true... they likely weren’t true at all. What troubled me the most, however, was how I couldn’t see the trap in all of this.
By directly feeling Selia’s emotions, even if only to a certain degree, I simply couldn’t doubt her intentions even if I wanted to. I tested the charcoal production myself to ensure it actually worked. And up until this point, it appeared as if I managed to avoid stepping on anyone’s toes.
In other words, no matter how hard I looked, I just couldn’t figure out how fate was going to come back to bite me in the ass and drop down some sort of disaster on my head to compensate for all the positive changes to my present and predicted future.
"Oh, I get it," Selia clapped her hands, her eyes widening a little while her face turned relatively serious. "It’s just like those who cry out for how unfair fate is when they are met with misfortune. The difference being," she sped up a few steps only to turn around and stand directly in my path... all in a bid to reach out and press just one finger right against the very middle of my chest, "you are wondering how could fate be so unfair to grant you all those blessings, right?"
I meekly nodded my head.
Just thinking about it all was enough to finally get my thoughts off all the earlier stimulation and shrivel my excitement, replacing it with existential worry.
To which, Selia simply ran back a few steps before ignoring the stares from everyone around and opening up her arms wide.
"This world isn’t fair, either with its curses or with its blessings," she stated before bringing her arms back. "Can’t you see, hear, and feel?" she then asked, only to turn silent before elaborating on what she had in mind.
"See, hear, and feel what?" I asked, fully aware that’s exactly what she wanted me to do.
"That’s the thing," Selia smiled in exchange. "There’s nothing wrong happening! You are allowed to taste a bit of happiness and the world won’t care!" she exclaimed.
Only for the town’s bell to start ringing in an erratic manner, instantly causing everyone on the street to stop and turn their eyes towards the source of the noise.
And before I could even ask what was going on...
"War..." a whisper from a nearby passerby reached my ears.