Chapter 129: Jealousy
"Come, Blossom. There was a promise made between the two of us that I have yet to fulfill."
"Hmm?" Blossom looks at me with a puzzled expression before her eyes widen and her ears twitch vividly. "Master!" She yells happily and jumps into my lap with much more energy than she should rightfully have in her reserves.
That's right, I promised to let her sleep in my embrace in exchange for standing guard last night. It was a rather cruel command for a girl who was ravaged senseless by me the night before, so I have a bit of a guilt present in my system, and the only possible way to make it leave is to cuddle my adorable companion into her peaceful slumber.
Blossom quickly falls asleep once she settles into a cozy position in my embrace. I let her rest her head on my shoulders while supporting her back with my arm for an ideal posture- as ideal as it can on a moving carriage, at least.
I glance ahead to see the hovering carpet a good distance ahead of us. The weirdo duo makes sure not to leave us behind in the dust but they went far enough to be out of earshot range. I imagine they have some talking to do, especially because Broderick almost died because his wife had to lay pipe for an hour straight and decided to jump into the middle of a raging orc horde in his lonesome.
With Blossom sound asleep it's just me and Ayame holding the fort down. "It's been a while since the two of us were alone." I mutter more so to myself than her.
"Yeah, Blossom has indeed been with us for over a day now, and you seem to be getting along with her very well." She scoffs when saying her second sentence.
I smirk and tease her; "jealous?"
"Oh, please. If I wanted to, I could easily charm you and be the number one girl in your heart. Unluckily for you, I have no plans to do as such."
Hm? What is this? Her competitive side is emerging outside the field of murder? What's more, in a topic regarding my affection for my women?
I didn't think she would get hung up about this specific topic.
"Are you sure? Blossom is quickly cementing her position as my number one." I tease.
"I'm sure." Ayame replies without an ounce of hesitation in her voice then glances my way, "so I'm your woman now, huh? When did that happen, could you perhaps enlighten me? I certainly didn't get the memo."
Damn. I knew this talk would have to take place after what I did back when Broderick wanted to kiss her hand as a greeting. "You may not be romantically involved with me, Ayame, but you've chosen the wrong master if you think you can get touchy with other men while being in my party."
For the first time since our meeting I feel a bit of genuine anger towards my person in her expression. Sure, she was annoyed with me before on a few occasions, but never to this degree.
"First of all, I didn't get 'touchy with other men', he just sensed the remnants of my noble lineage, perhaps in my posture or expression, and felt the need to greet me as he would a proper young lady. Second, since when are you so possessive? I didn't perceive you to be the jealous type. You gave me a genuine shock, I thought you would get us all killed for such a useless thing."
I grunt with some frustration, "well, your perception was wrong this time. Did you think I would happily pass the girls I fancy around to 'the boys' or what?"
"Of course not! Are we even speaking about the same thing? I'm talking about an etiquette-driven greeting while you are yapping some nonsense about a cheating orgy, or I'm not even sure what. Did an orc hit you square in the head? Should we use a healing potion?"
"No, I'm perfectly fine. At least, physically, my mental wellbeing can be up for debate, I admit that. Anyways, only I can touch my women, and that's the end of the story. Whether my girl lets another man kiss her hand or goes all the way with him and becomes a real cheater, I would feel similarly horrible.
As far as I'm concerned, I got cucked in both scenarios, though, of course, the second one would sting worse. I know that I'm being unreasonable, but that's just how I feel. I simply can't help it. Do you think I would've possibly angered two mithril ranked entities if I didn't feel my heart about to shatter into a million pieces? You should know that I'm much more careful than that."
"So you are saying that it was absolutely necessary?"
"I am."
She sighs with exasperation evident in her tone. "I see… Then it can't be helped. It's not like I wanted to let him go through with the motion in the first place, nor did I plan to seek the comfort of another man in general. I will accommodate you on this issue."
"Great. We each have our upsides and downsides, I am also accepting your shortcomings, after all."
She scoffs and looks at me arrogantly, "my shortcomings? Whatever might you be referring to? That I'm not sleeping with you?"
"What an egoistic girl you are, Ayame. I think you are getting too full of yourself. Yes, you might be a beautiful girl and perhaps even a peerless genius of a combatant, but you are not perfect either, not at all. How about you and your castration-torture spree?
I didn't say a word, even though you decided to elongate the time we spent on the scene of our crime, and you already did this twice at that. Both times your actions could've brought an end not only to you but me as well, but I let you indulge in your revenge-driven selfish self-satisfaction, knowing that this is what your heart needs to heal."
Her previous attitude leaves swiftly like the wind as she rapidly turns her head to avoid my gaze. "Point taken."