Chapter 150: What is a harem (3)
“Why have you come here?”
Once again, Sierra’s blunt voice took over, and I found myself trying to formulate an answer.
‘She asked me why I came…’
It was ridiculous.
She had brought me here, after all.
But I was well aware that an answer like “Sierra dragged me here first, didn’t she?” would not be particularly meaningful in this situation.
I mulled over her question and replayed the sequence of events.
I was more cautious than usual.
Words are indeed profound but her question was missing an important word.
‘Maybe what Sierra really wants to ask is…’
Not why I came but why I came so late.
With a bitter smile, I spoke.
“…I’m late, aren’t I?”
“Uh…”
Sierra hesitates, unable to open her lips.
She is clearly agitated, as her violet eyes are fluttering wildly.
She hadn’t expected this answer and judging by her reaction, I was right.
Finally, Sierra shakes her head.
“I’m in a very bad mood right now, and I think you should go back.”
“Even if you tell me to go back…I don’t know how to go back, and I don’t want to go back.”
“…”
Sierra stares at me blankly and wants me to say something more.
In response, I spoke up.
“Because here, I can hear your voice with my normal ears.”
“Are you going to reject my words for such a trivial reason…?”
“More than that, why are you in a bad mood?”
I took control of the conversation, leaving the stuttering Sierra behind.
I slowly advanced toward her as waves rippled across the calm water.
“Don’t come near me…”
Sierra took a quick step back but when I didn’t, she reached out, and something sharp grazed my cheek.
‘The third chapter of the Reverse Heaven?’
I don’t see a sword anywhere, but my cheek is shallowly cut and blood trickles down.
“…”
“…I told you to stay away.”
Another sharp blade slashes past me.
It’s nothing more than a slash, but I take a step toward her in silence.
“I’m getting closer…”
I reached Sierra’s front and gingerly grabbed her wrist.
She struggled, as if to tell me to let go, but no.
She wasn’t really trying to shake me off; she had the strength to do so.
I could tell that her current struggle was just to make sure I had a good grip and that I wouldn’t let go so I held on even tighter.
And then, just when I thought she calmed down and confirmed my intentions I opened my mouth.
“I haven’t heard your answer yet.”
“…”
Sierra turns her head away from me.
I wonder what she felt.
What must it have been like for her, who had held me in her heart since the beginning, to watch me whisper my love to someone else?
I wonder if she resented the fact that she had become a spirit, that she had no body like everyone else.
Had she deceived herself into believing that such feelings were inappropriate between master and pupil?
Sierra turned away from me, so I couldn’t see the emotions on her face, but I could sense them faintly in the trembling of her wrists in my grasp.
“Master…No, Sierra…”
Setting aside my relationship with her as Master and pupil for the moment, I faced Sierra as Zetto.
“…”
At my continued call, Sierra slowly turned her head, her eyes once again focused on me.
“…I like you, Sierra.”
“That’s, that’s… What a… mess…”
Sierra is taken aback by my unexpected confession of love.
It was a natural reaction since she’d been through this before with Aizel.
Then she swatted my hand away and yells at me.
“Don’t try to fool me… You must be…!”
Sierra starts to argue with me, but I cut her off.
“…I was, but I can assure you that this is the truth, not a lie: I like Sierra.”
This was the Sierra I was going to be with for the rest of my life, so I had to jump through hoops and get ahead of the curve.
For her, it was an absurdity that was hard to believe, but it was necessary.
For this moment, I can only trust in her inclusiveness.
“…”
I wonder if my words reached her.
With her head bowed, Sierra seemed to have given up on arguing.
But the question still lingers in her voice, and it slips out.
“…I don’t understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“The living among the living, leaving the dead like me alone. You should be able to live happily together…”
Sierra’s voice trailed off.
She was hesitating.
Her uncharacteristically unsure demeanor didn’t mesh with my goal of making everyone happy.
“What does it matter if you’re dead?”
I gently lifted Sierra’s chin from her lowered head.
“I can reach you like this, and I can hear your voice.”
Tears pooled in her eyes.
“It’s all my greed and I know it’s crazy, but I couldn’t give it up, because Sierra means so much to me, and so…As greedy as I am…I hope you’ll be just as greedy for me.”
“…Zetto.”
The tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes quietly slide down.
“I told you, I’m not leaving.”
A contract, an oath and a promise that would be kept for years to come.
Sierra lunges at me and hugs me fiercely.
“Are you sure… Is it really okay for me, a dead woman, to have a heart for someone who is truly alive… and I only have one apprentice…”
“Why? The tender love between a master and a disciple that even death can’t stop. I like that.”
“Not even death can stop it… In hindsight, I don’t think you’re wrong…”
From then on, I held Sierra in my arms and talked to her to help her calm down.
Most of it was sobbing.
She mumbled nonstop about the many things she had piled on me and in between were harsh words directed at me.
In the end, I decided to take it in stride because it was my fault.
“…By the way, it’s good that my apprentice has taken notice, but I’m not happy about it. After all, I’m the second one.”
Sierra pushed me away and crossed her arms, pouting.
Geppeti words from earlier echoed in my head.
It’s only fair that I build a framework and then have to build on it to keep it stable.
There will be many such things in the future, and I wonder if I should have practiced.
In love, ‘order’ is an important law.
To be precise, the first time or not has a big meaning.
Sierra didn’t seem to like that my first heartfelt confession was directed at Aizel, not her.
Even if my feelings for them were constant and the same, this order was something I couldn’t control.
But so what?
I’ll just have to balance it out as best I can.
“Then…”
I trailed off, turning to Sierra, who had pushed me away.
I reached out and wrapped my arms around her waist as effortlessly as water flows, and slowly leaned my face into hers.
“…”
Panic flashed in Sierra’s eyes, but she didn’t pull away.
Eventually, her lips meet mine.
It was supposed to be a light kiss… I thought it would end there.
Soon, Sierra’s moist tongue pushes against my lips.
I asked her to be greedy, and she was… well, I guess you could say she was greedy in her own way.
Soon our saliva and breath mingle between our tiny lips.
Sierra’s tongue tangles with mine, exploring while her arms slip around my neck.
Her breath is hot as fire as it slips between our tongues.
The sound of our tongues tangling and mingling is the only sound in this silent space where no one else can enter.
How much time had passed?
“”……””
We tore our heads apart in silence.
“…I wonder if that’s fair.”
I whispered softly, smiling sweetly at Sierra, who immediately blushed.
“……”
Sierra pursed her lips, unable to say anything else, and nodded weakly.
“To take my first…”
“…My first, too.”
“…Well, that’s good enough for me.”
Sierra covered her mouth with the cuff of her hand and shook her head.
‘First kiss…’
I never thought my first kiss would be in the Spectral Sword but somehow it happened.
Still, it was a big step forward.
I was able to tell Sierra how I really felt, and she seemed to accept it somehow.
“…I thought it was nothing out of the ordinary, but I never thought you’d have two women in your heart.”
Sierra muttered, not saying much else so I stopped listening to her and asked a question.
“What do you mean, two women?”
“…And?”
“I want everyone to be happy…”
I was then completely berated by Sierra, who, in hindsight, fully understood the situation.
…After all, order matters.
***
“…Oh, I’m awake!”
“…”
The first thing Rei saw when she opened her eyes was a pure white aura enveloping her body.
It seems that Rei was worried about me being overcome by yogi, so she used her hero strength to come over and check on me.
“Did something happen with your master?”
Rei asked, and I answered, sneaking a glance at Sierra, who stood silently beside me.
“…Nothing much happened.”
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