Side: Rurua
"Haa... Yuki-san. How should I put this... it's rather quiet, isn't it?"
"Zzz."
"......"
I'd certainly like to know why you went out of your way to come over here just to sleep...
"Hm? Oh. Just leave Yuki be. Apparently, Seraria's group arrived the day before yesterday."
"Eh, really? Come to think of it, he did say they'd arrive in about fifteen days."
"Besides, the fact that we've taken you under our protection, Rurua-jouchan, is a secret. We can't exactly send messages back and forth carelessly. That's why Yuki is coming here directly like this."
"I see. If Seraria-sama found out he was helping me, it might become a matter of her responsibility, since that dungeon is technically under her command..."
"That's about it. Between looking after Seraria and handling the immigrants, Yuki's got his hands full. Checking in on us over here is a real chore for him."
Beside me, Yuki-san's head is nodding back and forth.
...He really is exhausted.
"Ah."
As I leaned in to look at him, the carriage hit a bump, and Yuki tipped over, his head landing right in my lap.
"Zzz... zzz..."
"Why is even his breathing so quiet? Honestly, I think he could stand to act a bit more like his age."
According to his own confession, Yuki-san is eighteen.
But... I started to say something and stopped. There must be a reason, but his claim of being eighteen is probably a lie. He's likely younger than that.
Kiyu-san acts young, but Yuki-san... it's not that he has a baby face, it's that he's surely trying to act older than he is. Because looking at him now, sleeping peacefully in my lap, he looks like a boy much more than a young man.
Unconsciously, I stroke his head.
Even though it's Kiyu-san's body, my senses feel as though I am stroking the black hair of the true Yuki-san.
Yuki-san, what exactly happened to make an intelligent child like you grow up so fast and end up saving us?
You could have chosen to live quietly in your dungeon without ever getting involved with people like us. Why did you choose such a painful, thorny path?
It's the same with me. Why did you push me forward? You could have simply used me as an outlet for your lust. If I was in the way, you could have hidden me from everyone or treated me poorly until I submitted. Why?
From a political standpoint, your measures are far too soft. And yet, you find a way to make it profitable, creating a situation that benefits everyone.
"Don't let kindness be just kindness, and don't let waste stay waste," was it?
It's easy to say, but so difficult to do.
"Still, looking at that sleeping face, the way he leads us feels like a lie."
"Yes."
"Jou-chan, if it's alright with you, could you just leave him like that for a bit?"
"Yes, it's fine."
And so, until he woke up, I continued to stroke his head, wondering what I could possibly do to repay the debt I owe him.
* * *
Thump!
"Wha!?"
I jerked my head up at a violent jolt of the carriage. It seems I had fallen asleep as well.
"Zzz... zzz..."
"Ah."
It seems that at some point, I had ended up cradling his head. To an onlooker, would we look like lovers? Half of his head was hidden, using my large chest as a pillow.
"For now, I am your older sister. Please stay like this, just for a moment."
Thinking about how we've been posing as siblings during this journey, I tried to justify the current situation to myself.
Now that I think about it, back when I was in the dungeon, I never got to see his sleeping face because of Labyris and Ratz-san.
No, the truth is simply that I didn't have the emotional capacity. At that time, I was only selling myself to him for the sake of survival.
...Ah, I see. He couldn't possibly embrace a woman who was only doing it for convenience. Back then, I had no such value.
I didn't love Yuki-san, I didn't want his children, it wasn't for my country, my comrades, my family, or the prosperity of the dungeon. It was simply because I wanted to live... Moreover, it was a condition presented by those around me.
I don't think I could have ever loved a child born from that. I couldn't even tell the child the reason they were born. No, I might have even committed suicide before giving birth, if I had stayed in that state.
As I was thinking this, the Yuki-san in my arms began to move.
As if checking what he was touching, his hand began to knead my breast.
"Annh!?"
A rather embarrassing sound escaped my lips.
"Mmrm~ Oh...? It's Rurua's boobs, huh? Yeah, good feel, nice firmness. I like 'em. Anyway, thanks. I got some good sleep."
"...You knead a lady's chest like that and don't even offer an apology?"
"Hey, you're the one who pulled me in, Rurua. You can at least tolerate that much. Besides, I praised you, didn't I? I said I liked them."
"Well, that's fine. If you like them, it means you have some interest in my body, doesn't it?"
"Well, you have a magnificent body. Especially your chest. There aren't many people who wouldn't be interested."
"Then, the next time we meet, will you embrace me?"
"How did the conversation turn to that? Rurua, you're no longer under the dungeon's protection; that deal from back then is off the table. By giving you 'Designated Protection' and letting you leave, we've prevented any information leaks. Even if this plan fails, our secrets are safe. If it succeeds, you'll be the one supporting us and the dungeon. Now, we're even."
Yes, that is certainly true.
But...
"What are you saying? If I provide support, it means I am publicly recognizing your dungeon. I can't just hand over supplies unconditionally. At the very least, someone would have to be stationed at the dungeon to monitor it."
"Well, I suppose so."
"And I believe I am the only one fit for the job. Am I right?"
"Well, it would be a help to have someone who knows our internal situation stationed there."
Just as Yuki-san says, sending a newcomer to that dungeon would only increase the trouble. Especially an envoy from another country. Therefore, having someone who can act as a deterrent is very convenient.
In other words, me.
If I, the proposer, lead the support myself under the pretext of monitoring the dungeon, it should be very effective. By then, I should be in a position of significant influence.
"What are you talking about? I was the head of the nation that tried to assassinate—no, did assassinate Elju-sama. If I go there as a monitor, it will create friction. But if I marry you—even as the lowest-ranking concubine—how would that look?"
"...It would be seen as an apology from the Holy Kingdom of Rithea. And for the dungeon... or rather, for the Kingdom of Roshure, it would be equivalent to taking a hostage. For the dungeon, it might even be seen as confinement."
"Yes. Even for the Holy Kingdom, having a former Saint there is problematic because they are now operating under the guidance of the current Saint, Arshtelle."
"Ah... by you going to the dungeon, it serves as an apology for Elju's assassination—something only the top brass knows about—and it also acts as a safeguard to prevent Rithea from falling into political strife again."
"Precisely. And if I were to cap it off by getting pregnant, it would be a clear declaration to both Rithea and Roshure that I have no intention of returning."
"...Travel across this continent is difficult. If you were to get pregnant, you wouldn't be able to move from that spot for quite a while. Naturally, you wouldn't be able to interfere in national politics either. Even if someone like that raised their child and came back, people would just say, 'What are you doing here now?'"
"Yes. That is why the nobles who support the country give birth to and raise their children in the capital."
"I understand your side of it, but as for the reason it has to be me..."
"Yuki-san is the first person I've ever shown that side of myself to."
I prostrated myself stark naked and thrust my chest out with both hands as if telling him to suck them... I was like a pervert.
"......"
"Of course, it's not just from a political perspective. I want to resolve the awkwardness with Milly-san and Kaya-san. And I want to see the town Yuki-san is aiming for with my own eyes. I have my promise to Elju-sama, as well. Or what? For the sake of this plan, are you telling me to seduce some stranger from Roshure and bring him to the dungeon? To swing my hips for him?"
"......"
"Normally, someone like me doesn't get to choose their marriage partner. Especially someone who became the head of a country. But right now, I have someone I want to choose. Someone whose child I feel I could truly love from the bottom of my heart. Now, shall I hear your answer?"
"Sigh... do whatever you want. Just, as a prerequisite, make sure you protect your abdomen and come back safe. It would be a problem if you came back here with a body that can't bear children anymore."
"Yes. I absolutely must survive this. Hehehe... I'm starting to feel motivated. Of course, my 'husband' will help me, won't he?"
"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? What's even good about me...?"
"Love is a fickle, irrational thing. But if you said that in front of Labyris or Ratz, they'd probably beat you to a pulp."
"Why?"
"You're quite dense in this area, aren't you? Or are you doing it on purpose? If you asked them 'what is good about Yuki-san,' they would definitely give you one specific answer."
"What's that?"
"That they cherish every single part of you, and they won't permit even you to deny that."
Yuki-san's eyes started darting around awkwardly.
"Uh... I'm starting to sound like a real womanizer..."
"It's a bit late for that. Regardless, I won't permit it either."
"Permit what?"
"I cherish every part of you, and I won't permit even you to deny that. Don't be so self-deprecating in such strange ways, not after you were the one who pushed me forward!!"
I gave Yuki-san's cheek a solid slap.
Ah, that was Kiyu-san's body. My apologies.
