Chapter 118: Crusch Unable to Restrain Herself

"Mm... You might find this hard to believe, but this is what's going to happen in the future—"

Standing outside the door, Crusch spoke with a grave expression.

"Natsuki Subaru—that is, you, my husband—will ascend to the throne of the Kingdom of Lugnica and become the new king!"

Standing in front of Crusch, Priscilla pressed a hand to her chest and declared proudly.

"And then, you took the five of us candidates as your brides and built the ideal nation everyone dreamed of."

"You are a strong man whom I have acknowledged, and at the same time you are the husband bestowed upon me by the heavens to relieve my boredom—so I will absolutely never let you go, you understand?"

Priscilla pursed her lips and, toward the Natsuki Subaru behind the peephole, revealed a smile brimming with mature charm.

"To me, Subaru, you're like a warm little cabin I stumbled upon in a downpour. You saved me, freed me from having to fret over so many things."

"Because the haven that belongs to me alone—I met it long ago. Only you can give me the safety I want."

Anastasia took two steps forward and spoke with a sweet smile.

"Eh... how did it turn into everyone confessing? Is it my turn now? Let me think."

Felt scratched her head, looking troubled. Saying her heartfelt feelings out loud one after another like this—somehow it felt so embarrassing.

Still... in a competitive scene like this, she, who had survived tenaciously in the Slums (cortiços) since childhood, would never back down.

And what's more, compared to the others, she might just have the bigger advantage.

"Husband... maybe you're still not used to me calling you that. Would 'big bro' feel more familiar to you?"

Felt nervously clenched her fists and lifted her head, wanting to meet Natsuki Subaru's gaze in the direction of the peephole.

But the shyness inside her made it impossible, so she could only tilt her head slightly, turning a cheek flushed with rosy color toward the gaze Natsuki Subaru cast her way.

"Back in the Slums (cortiços), when you risked everything to create an opening for me so I could escape and bring help—that's when I started to like you."

As she said this, Felt let out two low chuckles.

"I was honestly so shocked back then. I never thought there could be such a foolish person in the world, someone who wouldn't even cherish his own life if it meant saving another."

Felt revealed a helpless yet tolerant smile, mustering her courage to turn her gaze toward Natsuki Subaru's direction.

"I figured I still owed you a life, big bro, so I'm offering myself up to you as the reward."

"Hmph... and of course, there's also the fact that you happen to suit my taste perfectly, husband."

Having finished, Felt nervously rubbed her hands together in secret, wondering whether there'd been anything she'd left unsaid just now.

Facing the other three sisters before her, she didn't believe her charm as a woman could match theirs, so she'd have to put in more effort to win Subaru's favor.

Ah! She suddenly felt that last line shouldn't have been said—it was just too awkward!

Felt suddenly realized that her final line didn't sound quite appropriate, which dealt a heavy blow to her, who'd always considered her mental maturity plenty advanced.

Meanwhile, faced with the sudden confessions of the four people outside the door, Natsuki Subaru was utterly stunned for a moment.

Yet their words gave the originally bewildered Natsuki Subaru at least some grasp of the current situation.

It seemed they... possessed some kind of memory he had never experienced.

It was like a life that was another possibility of his own.

Not helping Emilia become queen, but choosing to ascend the throne himself.

It was just the part afterward—about marrying these four candidates—that left Natsuki Subaru a little puzzled.

How on earth had the him from another world line managed to raise the affection of these gorgeous girls so high?

Damn it, how enviable.

Natsuki Subaru was so envious he was practically undergoing plasmolysis. It sounded like the him in that possible world had walked the complete, textbook royal-road path of an isekai protagonist!

But envy was useless—after all, these were things experienced by him in another possible world.

Natsuki Subaru let out a sigh. After a brief moment of thought, he decided to open the door for the four beautiful girls outside.

There was nothing wrong with their words; it was very similar to Emilia's situation.

From this, one could deduce that they were most likely human.

After all, those heartfelt confessions just now—the ones that had even made him feel a flutter—were not something an Imitation Human could fake.

"Alright, I think I roughly understand what's going on. Please, come in, everyone."

Natsuki Subaru didn't hesitate much; trusting the judgment of his first instinct, he opened the manor's great door directly to let them in.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter.

The instant the door opened, a figure with long green hair strode in at incredible speed.

Then, throwing her arms wide, she dove straight into Natsuki Subaru's embrace.

"Husband! I... I hadn't even gotten the chance to speak yet!"

Crusch wrapped her arms around Natsuki Subaru's neck, face-to-face with him at close range.

Her slightly anxious breaths brushed gently against Natsuki Subaru's face, causing everything above his neck to flood with blood, turning crimson from embarrassment.

"Cru... Crusch?!"

Natsuki Subaru flusteredly called out Crusch's name—he hadn't even caught what she'd just said.

"Yes, Lord Subaru!"

Hearing Natsuki Subaru's voice, Crusch instinctively blurted out the title she used to use.

But then she couldn't help feeling a little chagrined. How could it be that, even after being married for so long, she still found herself unconsciously recalling Subaru's gallant figure from before he became king?

Huh, wait a moment.

Crusch suddenly realized something, and couldn't help locking her gaze firmly onto Natsuki Subaru's face.

With a gulp, her throat bobbed.

Come to think of it, wasn't this exactly... the appearance she had once yearned for day and night?

The unripe yet valiant Lord Subaru was the knight she admired most in her heart.

Crusch panted hurriedly a couple of times, feeling only the temperature within her body climbing ceaselessly, battering at her reason.

Especially this kind of intimacy—this within-arm's-reach distance—made her utterly unable to restrain her own desires any longer.

"Well then, pardon my rudeness."

Crusch bit her rosy lips, a touch of spring color upon her face, and with both hands—somewhat forcefully—she cradled Natsuki Subaru's head.

Pardon her rudeness—rude about what?

Just as Natsuki Subaru was in a daze, he suddenly felt the left and right sides of his head being held fixed in place.

Hiss, this familiar sensation.

The bad premonition in his heart began to expand bit by bit.

And in the next instant.

"Mmgh!"

Meanwhile, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but begin recalling everything about Crusch.

Their first meeting in the royal capital, when he thought she was a dashing, gallant maiden knight.

Later, after coming to know her more deeply, they talked late into the night by candlelight, and for the first time he saw Crusch in casual clothes—exceedingly beautiful.

Afterward, because she'd encountered the Gluttony and had her memories stolen, Crusch had turned into a soft, gentle version of herself.

The astonishing sensation that had passed into his hands when he held Crusch in the Water Gate City resurfaced in his mind, as if at this very moment he truly were holding Crusch again.

No... it didn't seem to be an illusion?

Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes in shock, only to discover that one of his hands had, at some unknown point, been grasped by the blushing-cheeked Crusch and placed at her waist behind her.

The motion was quite practiced, as though this were the very posture the two of them naturally took whenever they spent time together.

And his other hand was being pulled and guided bit by bit by Crusch, and in the midst of this he could even feel the astonishing heat radiating from the delicate body before him.

Although it was somewhat embarrassing, at this moment Natsuki Subaru's heart actually felt... incomparably thrilled.

Those notions tinged with a bit of isekai fantasy, the ones he'd had when first meeting Crusch—he never imagined they would actually come true at this very moment.

But the him of now was no longer that singularly devoted self from before, so it should be fine to do this, right?

No wait... he hadn't done anything at all; it was actually that his hands wouldn't obey his commands.

Natsuki Subaru's face flushed, and he closed his eyes, silently savoring it.

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