༺ Temptation (1) ༻
The next morning in Renee’s room.
Renee dusted the pillow cotton off her face as she laid sprawled across the bed, sighing.
‘…I tore it.’
She ended up tearing the sheets and pillow. Still, it didn’t make her feel more at ease.
She was both embarrassed and proud of the confession she had made yesterday.
Renee breathed slowly to calm herself down before carrying on with her thoughts.
‘…Yeah, I should’ve done this long ago.’
Vera’s reaction was quite telling. If she hadn’t struck him first like that, her relationship with Vera would’ve been stagnant forever.
That was the only way their relationship could take a step further.
Renee raised her hand and ran her fingers over her lips. It was an action she did while reminiscing about the moment when she kissed Vera.
Just thinking about it brought back those sensations.
It was warm and soft, and she could feel the moist air in his breath at that exhilarating moment. She was so thrilled that she wondered whether she had truly become an idiot.
As Renee recalled that moment, the corners of her lips curled upward again, and Annie looked at her actions in bewilderment.
‘Something is…’
Seems like you did something, but it must be something really, really significant.
Although it should be something to be proud of, Annie felt her worry overtake those feelings.
That was only natural. How could she not be worried when Renee tore off the sheets and pillow as soon as she woke up and began snickering to herself as she sprawled out on her bed?
How could she not be worried when the Saint she served acted in a way that even a stranger would find concerning?
Annie’s expression turned grave. She even began to entertain the idea that Renee lost her mind after Vera dumped her.
It was when Annie eventually came to the conclusion that Renee was dumped by Vera, and about to offer some words of consolation.
“Annie.”
Renee took the initiative first, speaking in a stern tone, to which Annie responded in an uncharacteristically soldier-like voice.
“Yes sir!”
Renee, who was still in bed, turned in the direction where Annie’s voice was coming from and said.
“I need Annie’s help.”
Annie tilted her head, and her face lit up in bewilderment at the seemingly random remark.
“Pardon?”
When Annie asked back, Renee eventually raised her body, sat up in a somewhat uncomfortable position, and exhaled before continuing to speak.
“Please tell me a way to charm Vera.”
Her words were filled with sincerity.
After what happened yesterday, Renee realized that if she wanted to charm the ridiculously stubborn Vera, she needed to be bolder than she was right now.
“By a way, you mean…?”
Renee turned her head to Annie again. She had the most serious expression one could have.
“I want to make it so unbearable for Vera if he doesn’t confess to me.”
Shock—!
Annie shuddered. Her gaze started to pierce right through Renee. Meanwhile, Renee continued to talk.
“I want to make him only think about me all day. I want to make him suffer from thinking about me. That’s why I want to drive him crazy.”
It was such a dark inner desire, but Renee couldn’t care less.
Realizing that embarrassment couldn’t solve anything, Renee pushed past her weak resolve and continued talking.
“I want to make Vera lose his mind and run to me, so please tell me a way.”
Listening to Renee, Annie swallowed hard with a strained expression.
“…You’re serious.”
“Yes. I’m serious.”
The air was shrouded in silence. Just like Renee, Annie had the most serious and determined look that one could have, and nodded.
“Alright. It’s time to teach you ‘that’.”
“That?”
“A killer move.”
Shock—!
Annie opened her eyes wide, and Renee’s face tensed up at the word ‘killer move’.
In the midst of the calm before the storm, Annie spoke.
“Saint, it’s time for sex education.”
It was the moment when the secret technique had finally found a worthy successor.
***
Meanwhile, at the training ground behind the mansion.
While Vera aided Aisha in her training, he suddenly zoned out and stopped moving.
What happened yesterday kept bothering him, and he felt heat rising all over him.
His face became slightly clouded.
The words, the actions, the temperature and the sensations of that brief moment kept swirling inside his mind.
He tried to shake it off, but he couldn’t. He tried to ignore it, but even that was impossible.
All he could think of was Renee telling him that she loved him.
The sensations of the moment when their lips met flooded back to his mind.
That frightening yet exhilarating moment when his reason vanished and instinct took hold of him, when he nearly gave in to his desire and let it rule his body like always, was etched on his mind without a way to erase it.
The tremor that began in his fingertips spread throughout his body.
Just thinking about it gave him an impulsive rush. His mind became clouded by an impulse to lead himself and Renee to devastation.
I want her.
Vera bit his lips as the thoughts crossed his mind, almost certain that he’d unwittingly gotten drunk on it.
‘You disgusting thing.’
It was a self-deprecating remark.
He was disappointed at himself when a possessive desire arose within him at the mere thought of Renee, and he loathed the nature that resided in him, so Vera gritted his teeth until it made a ‘crunch’ sound.
Meanwhile, across the room, Aisha’s eyes sparkled at Vera’s unmoving form, then she lunged.
“Hiyaaaa!!!”
She thrust her fist forward.
Thud!
Her knuckle precisely struck the center of Vera’s abdomen. As she recalled the joy at the sensation she felt on her fingertips, Aisha smiled brightly.
When she raised her head a little to check his reaction, Vera was still lost in thought.
Seeing that, Aisha began to punch Vera in the stomach with all her might, as if venting her anger on him.
“Hiya! Yah! Die! Die!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Vera didn’t give any reaction to Aisha’s punches to his stomach, but instead continued to be lost in thought.
– Do you love me?
His mind spiraled back to when Renee demanded an answer, and when he was unable to give her one. Renee’s question before she said that also popped up on his mind.
– Who are you seeing through me?
His thoughts drifted back to her question, and Vera began to ponder deeply.
‘I’m…’
Who was he looking at?
Who was the light he so desperately wanted? What was it?
He never gave it any much thought, or questioned it.
He thought he was looking at Renee since she was the light that awakened him at the end of his previous life.
But he was wrong.
His own reaction to the question, which he couldn’t answer, was the best proof of that.
Even if the Renee by his side was the same Renee from his previous life, it was hard to say that they were the same person since they were two people living different lives at different times.
Even if she grew up to be Renee, she wasn’t the Renee she used to be.
His body understood that they were different people before his stupid head could.
He continued to mull over it, and her question about his feelings entered his mind.
– Do you love me?
Love.
It was hard to say that the feelings he had for Renee, both in the past and present, was love.
…He couldn’t even figure it out.
The cause of the despair he felt when he saw her death in his past life and the cause of the possessiveness he felt for Renee now were so different and all too complex.
Vera couldn’t define these feelings yet.
“Hyaa! Hyatt! Haiyaa!”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Vera scowled upon hearing the loud noise and cast his gaze downward.
The chunky Aisha, who was only as tall as his chest, was hitting his stomach with her ears perked up.
She had the most excited expression he’d ever seen.
Vera grabbed Aisha by the nape and tossed her away for interrupting his train of thought.
“Get lost.”
“Aughhh!!!”
As he briefly watched Aisha flying far away, Vera scowled again.
It was a look of complete confusion and uneasiness because he had to meet Renee in a few hours, but he didn’t know what kind of expression to show her or what to say to her.
His true nature, which he had been suppressing with all of his might, began to shine through at the thought of Renee, and the rationality that he had been using to hide it was faltering, unable to maintain its form.
“Phew…”
He let out a long, exasperated sigh.
***
“Hug me.”
Renee said with a smile and her arms wide open. Vera felt his breath stop.
“…Saint.”
“Hug me. It’s an order.”
At that, Vera hesitated once again.
“Come on.”
Renee urged him.
Vera bit his lips at the sight of Renee, who seduced him as soon as they met, as if to prove that her confession yesterday was not a lie.
He couldn’t say no.
Vera was unable to reject Renee’s order because he said that he would grant all of her wishes.
After clenching and unclenching his fists and inhaling deeply, Vera moved closer and hugged Renee gently. Renee then wrapped her outstretched arms around Vera’s waist.
Vera’s heart began to race due to Renee’s scent, and his mind went haywire when he felt their bodies touching.
Meanwhile, Renee opened her mouth.
“I had a dream about Vera.”
“…Is that so?”
“Vera hugged me in my dream, and that’s why I asked you to hug me. It feels good.”
After saying that, Renee buried her head in Vera’s chest.
There was no other reason besides embarrassment.
As much as she tried to act calm, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for doing something like this while sober. She wanted to hide it, which led to her actions.
Unlike before, she managed to hide it smoothly even when she was so embarrassed.
As they say, the first time is always the hardest, so Renee used yesterday’s experience as a stepping stone to keep doing skinship without difficulty.
“I love you.”
The words came out seductively.
As Renee clearly felt Vera’s body shaking and his muscles began to tense, she continued speaking.
“You know why am I doing this, right? You know what I’ll do if you try to stop me.”
“…Yes.”
“Try to stop me then. I’ll wait for you.”
Having said that, she caressed Vera’s back.
She practiced the killer move Annie had taught her.
‘Calm down… calm down!’
While trying to hide her flushed face and ignore the unnecessary drooling, Renee continued her ‘killer move’.
“Vera.”
“…Yes.”
“Vera’s heartbeat is very loud.”
Renee, who felt Vera’s heart pounding at her words, launched her next words without any delay.
– When you say this, you must smile seductively! It’s a must! That’s how you do it! You got it, right?
Recalling Annie’s request, she recited.
“I guess your body speaks louder than your mouth?”
To be fair, even Renee said it without fully understanding what she was saying.
She simply followed Annie’s instruction in hopes that it’d work out somehow.
Fortunately, Annie’s killer move worked better than expected.
Vera’s body shook violently, and his next words were filled with confusion.
“Sai… n-no way. That’s not true.”
When she saw his response, Renee inwardly yelled in amazement.
‘Annie!’
That was amazing.
Vera had never been this embarrassed or flustered before.
When Renee inwardly yelled in amazement, wondering how far Annie had foreseen it, Vera spoke in a tone that nearly sounded like a plea.
“Please… please don’t do this.”
Vera’s expression, which Renee couldn’t see, collapsed miserably.
Renee’s attempt to tear his rationality apart was too cruel, but he had to beg because he couldn’t refuse her, to which Renee gleefully replied.
“I don’t want to.”
Vera clenched his eyes shut as he sensed his rationality cracking apart for the second time.
