(T/N: Here's a bonus chapter since i couldn't upload these past few days, since i was sick...)
Chapter 55: Remilia Growing in the Bed.
...
The summer afternoon sun in Pelican Town wasn't scorching. Following the wooden path from the farm, shaded by tree silhouettes, one would enter the Coal Forest — a place blessed with a beautiful lake and refreshing cool breezes.
To the right of the entrance stood a large dead tree stump that could be embraced by about eight people. A bit further ahead was an evergreen tree with a swing hanging from it, surrounded by soft grass.
On Fridays and Sundays, Moriya Rinnosuke would come here driving a steam locomotive pulled by a pink giant pig to sell goods. But today was Wednesday, so the Coal Forest was quiet, with only Kihara and Ryuu present.
After Kihara took her hand, Ryuu walked like a brand-new robot fresh off the assembly line — moving her arms and legs in perfect sync, occasionally stumbling over protruding stones on the ground.
Her extreme lack of resistance to intimate gestures came from her overly conservative views on romance. Even the most traditional elves would criticize her as "a monster living in a fairy tale," "a fossilized view of love," or "ancient values are more modern than hers."
Before meeting Kihara, Ryuu believed that "true love" meant: standing in an empty forest under the night sky, swearing eternal love to the moon, and not even holding hands until the moment they made their vow in the Elf Forest and became engaged.
Her extremely conservative principles had been shattered by Kihara's two light slaps. After going through the heretic incidents and the dark faction battles together, she felt truly fortunate to have fallen for a boy who accepted and supported her desire for revenge.
Even so, their relationship had only progressed to holding hands so far. Lili had once teased that Ryuu was more like one of the three virgin goddesses than Hestia — at least Hestia had already reached the kissing stage.
In Stardew Valley's summer, the wild forage included fragrant berries, grapes, and sweet peas. Among them, grapes were one of Ryuu's favorite fruits. Kihara had brought her out specifically to pick some grapes and make fresh juice later.
Of course, the main purpose was to deepen his relationship with Ryuu. Simple hand-holding — a move with far too low romantic purity — could no longer satisfy the love-starved beast inside him. He needed more intimate interactions.
"Ryuu, how's the reconstruction in Orario going?"
"I-It's going… pretty well…"
"What have you all been doing running into the dungeon every day?"
"It's a secret."
"Look, there's a bunch of wild grapes over there!"
"Mm… grapes."
"Ryuu, do you like me?"
"I like… wait, what did you just make me say?!"
The robot-like Ryuu snapped back to her senses and glared at Kihara with her completely non-threatening, soft gaze.
"Confessions must be made at night, under the moonlight…"
Kihara had no intention of following her ancient rules that could exhaust most men to death. He wrapped his right arm around her slender waist, lifted her chin with his left hand, and kissed her soft, moist lips while her eyes widened in shock.
"Mmm… mmmph—!!!!"
A single simple kiss completely short-circuited Ryuu's brain. Pink steam rose from the top of her head as her eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot, her entire body going rigid like a steel board.
"No wonder Lili calls you a failure spirit. You faint from just a kiss…"
Kihara shook his head with a helpless smile. Ryuu's tendency to shut down from excessive embarrassment would indeed make their romance path difficult, but he also found it to be one of the joys of loving her.
No boy would ever complain about watching the girl he likes blush and become shy because of him. That fleeting, captivating look of maidenly embarrassment in her eyes was the best reward.
"For shy people, desensitization therapy is necessary!"
Spouting such baseless nonsense with a serious face, Kihara carried the unconscious Ryuu over to the swing tree, gently laid her down on the soft grass, and proceeded to kiss her again and again.
Because of the overwhelming embarrassment, when Ryuu woke up she had completely lost the memory of their kisses. But after returning home, when Lili teased her about her swollen lips, she walked to the mirror, saw her deep red, kiss-swollen mouth, and fainted from excessive shyness once again.
At dinner time, a furious and embarrassed Ryuu pinned Kihara down on the sofa. Tears of extreme shame shimmered in her eyes as she demanded, "You… you actually kissed my mouth until it became like this while I was unconscious! Why didn't you kiss me while I was awake?!"
Hestia, happily munching snacks and watching the show, asked with a grin, "Is it possible that you fainted after he kissed you?"
"Really?"
Kihara immediately raised his right hand and swore solemnly, "It's absolutely true! I didn't notice you had fainted and thought you really liked staying like that, so I kept kissing you. If I'm lying, may lightning strike me down!"
Boom—
Ryuu's already bad expression turned even darker. "You're lying!"
[Kukuku~ Master, even the heavens aren't on your side this time.]
[Tsk, just watch me work!]
Kihara suddenly took Ryuu's left hand, gazed at her lovingly, and planted a gentle kiss on her ring finger. "Ryuu, I like you so much that I couldn't hold back my feelings. You'll forgive me, won't you?"
A pink bullet seemed to pierce straight through Ryuu's heart in the air. Her body swayed dangerously, on the verge of fainting again, but at the last moment she endured the heartfelt confession with sheer willpower.
Hestia and Shinobu cried out in unison, "She's still awake! She endured it!!"
Ryuu showed a determined look, clutching her chest with her right hand as she declared word by word, "I won't faint from embarrassment over something like this anymore!"
"Great! Looks like my desensitization therapy worked really well!"
Kihara hugged her with teary eyes and instinctively buried his nose near her ear, gently sniffing. "Now I can hold you openly like this."
"…"
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Hestia covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter as her blue eyes curved into cute crescent moons. She kindly reminded him, "Kihara, that last hug just sunk Ryuu completely."
"What!?"
…
After finishing another busy day, Kihara returned home. Shinjou Akane and the others, thrilled with their newly received Blessing, were happily planning an all-night monster-hunting session in the mine. With Ais accompanying them, there wouldn't be any problems.
Tatsumaki had been appearing only when Hestia wasn't around lately, mysteriously searching for something.
It was rare for Kihara to sleep alone, so he decided to spend some quality time with Shinobu and properly discipline the arrogant little blonde vampire loli. Lately, he noticed she had been roasting him more and more often from inside his shadow space.
This couldn't continue. He needed to reassert his authority as her master.
But when he changed into his pajamas and lifted the blanket, the elegant young mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion — Remilia Scarlet — was curled up inside his bed, wearing cute pajamas and a matching nightcap.
"D-Don't misunderstand! I just won against Flan, so I came here to claim the victor's prize, that's all."
[Tsk tsk tsk, looks like you won't need my company tonight, Master.]
.....
Thank you for reading.