Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 262: I’m afraid

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The three of us are sitting at the table, eating the strange dinner that Delia and Alessia have prepared.

When I saw the dishes, I immediately noticed something strange.

After all, everything was too green.

Delia prepared a beef stew with celery, or...

Would it be more correct to say that she prepared a celery stew with beef?

Because it was really hard to see the chunks of meat on the surface of the dish.

On the other hand, when they started cooking, Alessia had started to prepare a humble and normal tomato and lettuce salad.

But then Delia said something in her ear, and Alessia started adding large amounts of celery to the salad.

The once innocent tomato and lettuce salad now resembles a plain celery salad.

I don't know where this sudden fanaticism for celery has come from, but it seems that today it will be almost the only thing we will be eating.

I have nothing against celery, but this is just too much.

'Will they be mad if I tell them I'd rather eat some of the cooked meat I have stashed away in my inventory? No, I can't tell them that. Not after all the effort they put into preparing dinner.'

"How was your day? Did you have fun in the capital?" I ask as I spoon a spoonful of the greenish paste that is the stew Delia prepared into my mouth.

"Yes. It was very good to deepen our relationship," Alessia says with a warm smile.

"That's good. Delia, could you pass me the salad, please?..." I say, thinking that maybe the salad won't taste as strongly of celery as the stew.

My hand lightly brushes Delia's as she passes me the bowl.

Instantly, the fox girl winces and begins to stir in her chair.

'Hmm… They seem to be suffering from sexual abstinence too.... Could this be a side effect of one of our new classes? If so, I know which ones are to blame.'

[Harem Lord] [One destined to link his destiny with many people. His power is proportional to the strength and quantity of his loving ties]

[Harem member] [Those who have chosen to link their destiny with the Lord, and thanks to whom they will gain power]

Their descriptions don't explain much, as is often the case with class descriptions, but Harem Lord is the only one of my classes that mentions things like love or bonds.

And since the Harem Member class is related to the Harem Lord class, it is logical to think that those two classes are responsible for what is happening to us.

But these are just guesses.

I'll have to wait to see if my parents find any information about these classes.

' - So close... But I have to wait. He needs to eat. And then he'll give us his... vitamin supplement. Directly from his... Agh... Don't think about it, Delia. It's a good thing Blue Wind is still in the storage ring. I'd be embarrassed if she knew that I could have those kinds of thoughts.'

".... But then you wouldn't have had much time to buy the clinic stuff, would you?" I ask, curious as to what Alessia means by 'deepening their relationship'.

"W-we already bought everything we needed. T-tomorrow we could drop them off at the place, and it would be ready for the opening...." Delia says, while her eyes are moist and her face is slightly flushed.

Despite the situation, it is clear that she is very excited about the idea of the inauguration of the clinic.

Otherwise, she probably wouldn't have taken the initiative to speak up, as she seems to be much more affected than Alessia by sexual abstinence.

' - I have to distract my mind with other things. What can I tell Emir?'

"... We just had a small delay due to a p-percance with two adventurers who wanted to buy us drinks."

' - They probably wanted to do a few indecent things with us.... I have to control myself!'

"Oh yeah? How interesting. So, what happened?" I ask, looking with a raised eyebrow at Delia's figure, who looks very uneasy from the waist down.

Surely the fact that she now has [Nymphomaniac] as an altered state in her condition must be the main cause of her acting like this.

"A-Alessia took care of them," says Delia and exhales a big breath of air, after which she falls silent.

"I'm glad." I say, and continue eating like nothing is happening.

But I am acutely aware that, if Delia is reacting like this to my proximity, Alessia probably must also have the same problem, even if she is hiding it better than her companion.

' - I’m glad? Is that all he’s going to say after hearing that two strange men tried to get us into bed? It's so frustrating! I'm so wet and needy for his touch that I have to force myself not to throw myself on him here and now, and I can tell Delia is in the same boat as me, but Master seems completely relaxed and in control of himself.... Is it my idea, or are we more affected by sexual abstinence than Master?.... Does that... Does that make us bigger perverts than him? Agh... now I don't think it's convenient to use this kind of punishment with him again.... I'll have to think of other forms of punishment for when he decides to behave like a jerk again.'

"Enough of talking about us. How was your day, Master?" asks Alessia, with a little twitch in her eye.

'Just as I imagined... let's see how much she can resist with that feigned air of 'normality''

"Well... I killed some enemy soldiers and reported it to my.... to the person I report that sort of thing to," I say, uncomfortable about the idea of calling Cael 'my commander'.

"You make it sound like something monotonous and routine," Alessia says, and this time she's the one who raises an eyebrow as she looks at me.

"It is what it is. I don't get a kick out of killing people, but that's my job...." I say, as I make an effort to find some appeal in the greenish pasta I'm eating.

"...or at least it was until today. Now it looks like I'll just have to stick to doing recon and ignoring enemy soldiers."

"That's fine with me. War isn't good for anyone. I dislike the idea of you having to kill people, although I understand that you had no choice given the situation you were in" Delia says, but quickly closes her mouth again, lowering her gaze as her face blushes even more when I look directly into her eyes.

"What's the reason for the change?" asks Alessia, with some indifference.

"It's because of the peace treaty that started brewing after our victory...." I say absently.

'Is this a piece of meat? It doesn't look very appetizing with this greenish color.'

"... It looks like the negotiations are not going very well. Anyway, for the moment, a cease-fire has been declared. Other than that, there wasn't much else of interest in my day."

Perhaps the most sensible thing to do would be to tell them about what I found out about Alessia's past.

But I'm afraid.

Having heard her say so many self-destructive things lately, reflecting the little value my girlfriend places on her own life, I'm afraid that, if I tell them what I found out, Alessia will sacrifice herself to save trouble for me.

I can imagine her thinking some nonsense like 'I won't be a burden to Master', or something like that.

That would only serve to complicate things further.

Therefore, it is best to remain silent on the matter.

' - I don't know why, but it seems to me that there's something he's not telling us.... Haa... It seems like things are always going to be like this with Master.... There will always be another secret'

"Is there something bothering you, Master?" asks Alessia as she finishes the remains of her portion of stew.

"No... Nothing at all. Why do you think so?" I say, making efforts not to choke on my food.

'There are times when Alessia is too perceptive.'

' - It seems that Alessia is right... Obviously, Emir is lying; I can tell now by watching his face. We weren't supposed to have secrets from each other.... Hmm, I guess whatever this secret is, Emir is hiding it from us for our sake. Sooner or later, he'll tell us if there's anything important that we should know.'

' - Bloody compulsive liar! Haa... But maybe I’m just overanalyzing things, and he's just worried because we found out about the story between Melisa and him and not about anything else more serious.... Anyway, I can't get mad at him right now'

"Hmt, nevermind.... Going back to before, even if that peace treaty is finally signed, you'll still have to go to the war zone every so often, right?" says Alessia with obvious irritation.

"Yes, at least if I want to keep Commander Cael happy. But don't worry..." I say, reaching across the table to touch the girl's hand.

At my gesture, the girl winces slightly in her chair and starts to blush, but she doesn't withdraw her hand.

Delia sees Alessia's reaction and begins to breathe erratically.

Despite the bitter taste on the roof of my mouth, a half-smile appears on my lips as I watch what happens.

"... I will always come back to you."

As soon as I utter those words, a knock is heard from under the table in Delia's direction.

"Emir, are you going to eat much more? Won't you want to go to b-bed?" asks Delia, looking at me intensely.

'I guess I'm cheating... in more than one sense... considering I had sex several times with Beatrice during the day. That's why I don't feel the same need as they do. But... Whose idea was this in the first place? Now they're going to have to play the game that they themselves proposed'

"Hmm, I think I still have room for a second bowl of stew," I say, letting go of Alessia's hand and refilling my bowl, which was already almost empty.

The dismayed look Delia gives me is almost enough to make me regret it right then and there.

But I have to be strong if I want to prove who has the final say in this relationship.

'I think I'm going to start eating very very slowly. That way, they'll learn not to use abstinence against me again as punishment. I want to see how long Alessia can hold out without saying anything about it.'

' - Ohh, no. I'm not going to let him play with us like that. I'm sure Master is perfectly aware of what he's doing. I don't know how he's so calm, but I've run out of patience.'

"Okay, Master. No more games..." says Alessia, suddenly getting up from the table and holding my wrist so that I stop filling the bowl.

"...We've already satisfied your needs; now it's your turn to satisfy us. And you are not allowed to rest until you do."

Delia nods vehemently at Alessia's words and stands up as well.

Then she reaches around the table and grabs my other wrist, at the same time taking the spoon from my hand.

'Well... I couldn't have fun for very long, but I guess they're right. I guess now it's my turn to fulfill my marital duties.'

"Okay, I'm in your hands," I say, amused, extending my arms towards them in surrender to being taken to bed.

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