After the Dream, and the Dream After

—The morning of the fourth day since the two had holed up in the basement.

Yoal finally awoke from his first sleep in three days.

"… A dream, was it…?"

He came to with a start and sat up, his body soaked with sweat.

Right beside him, Almaeira lay with her defenseless naked body exposed, letting out tiny, soft sleeping breaths.

She had drifted off again and again as if her strength kept giving out, but Yoal, for his part, had stayed awake for most of it.

The night before, they had finally settled into bed as if both were satisfied, and the two of them had indulged in idle slumber to their hearts' content—

—Strange, for a dream…

A dream, in the end, is nothing more than the mind sorting and reconstructing memory. Necessary information is cemented deep in the brain, while unnecessary information is cast aside.

But what Yoal had just seen could not possibly have been a scene from his own memory.

Yes, that had been her—

"… Alma?"

When Yoal called out to her, Almaeira suddenly let out faint whimpers as if in the grip of a nightmare.

Her brow furrowed, her face contorting as if in anguish. A faint flush seeped into her cheeks, and she let slip low moans like the tinkling of a rolling bell.

"What's wrong? … Are you alright?"

"… No, please… uu… my first time is… uuu…"

Just what on earth was she dreaming about?

Reluctantly, he shook her awake, and she slowly raised her face, rubbing her sleep-dazed eyes drowsily.

"… Yo… al…?"

"What's wrong? … You were having a nightmare."

Yoal too was often tormented in his sleep by the memory of that day—by nightmares. Was she perhaps the same?

Almaeira gazed at the man with moist eyes and clung tightly to his bare arm.

"… Yoal, please… stay by my side a little while…"

"Are you alright?"

"… Y-Yes…"

Almaeira gave an obedient little nod. Her expression already looked on the verge of tears.

"… Doesn't look like you're alright. What happened? What did you see?"

What he himself had seen intrigued him, but he was more concerned about her.

When Yoal asked, Almaeira pressed her lips together and mumbled, as if she found it hard to say.

"I won't force you, but…"

"… N-No… It's true it's hard to say, but… it's about you, Yoal…"

"Me? If it's about me, then I don't particularly mind…"

"I-It's not fine!! It's not fine at all!!"

"… O-Okay."

Overpowered by Almaeira's ferocity, Yoal waited quietly for her words.

After hesitating for a while, she softly whispered in a voice small enough that only the man could hear.

"… Your first time, Yoal…"

"First time?"

"… A little person was straddling you… a woman called Sherah-san… th-this is as far as I can say with my own mouth…"

"Sherah."

He knew all too well what she meant.

He had already told her about that time, but actually seeing it must carry a different level of shock.

"… S-So it really did happen after all…?"

"That's what it comes down to."

With the utmost reluctance, Yoal groaned low and nodded.

"… Th-That's not allowed. You're mine, Yoal…"

"I know."

He embraced Almaeira as she clung to him and gently stroked her small head all over.

What she had seen in her dream was most likely not something her own imagination had conjured—she had glimpsed Yoal's memory.

And most likely, Yoal had too.

"… So what I saw actually happened too, then."

"… Eh…?"

To Almaeira, who let out a startled cry and widened her eyes, Yoal recounted what he had seen.

At no point did she raise any objection—not even to a single one of the names he had come to hear.

"… There's… no mistake. It happened to me… twenty years ago…"

"There was no talk of an engagement at this point yet, then."

"… Because at that time, their scheme had only just fallen through… It actually took shape after the development of this country got underway and produced results, I believe…"

"I see."

Just as he had seen in the dream, innocent people had been taken hostage against her. Refusing openly would have been difficult. The engagement was probably the greatest concession she could offer.

The exact timing was unclear, but it was certainly around twenty years ago. In other words, it was around the time she came to be called the "Witch Queen".

Turning the already impregnable Black Forest into an invincible natural fortress had, without doubt, been Almaeira's achievement—though that was also why the Kingdom's army came to devote itself purely to defense.

"… Until now, I had been brushing it off and letting it slide as much as I could, but…"

"No problem. I knew you were carrying a spark that could catch fire. I did what I did knowing that."

Yoal declared it firmly, as if to reassure Almaeira, whose brows drooped with unease.

As he slowly, lovingly stroked her head for a while, a faint smile surfaced on her face.

"You don't need to worry, Alma. I'll handle it on my end. I'll clean it all up, neat and tidy."

"… By talking it out?"

"You think that'll be enough?"

"… Not really…"

"Right?"

If Almaeira were ever to be hurt somewhere beyond his knowing.

Just imagining it made his blood boil, but how would the Demon King feel about this?

His anger might not amount to much, but the rumor that his fiancée had been stolen from him touched on his dignity. If left alone, it could well end up damaging his authority.

A peaceful resolution was hardly to be expected—if there was one, it would be something like an unconditional surrender.

"… But relying on violence is… dangerous too. We could get dragged into a much larger war…"

"Yeah. We have to do this carefully."

His opponent was a king who led all manner of demons, each more difficult to handle than the last. To make an enemy of him would mean making many enemies. It was troublesome, but that was simply the natural course of things.

"… Do you have… a plan?"

"I didn't make you wait twenty years for nothing. Besides, at first I figured I'd have to rely on just myself, or else on my master—"

"Th-That person is no good. No good… You mustn't go near her…"

"You're being too wary."

"… That's… um… You understand…?"

"I understand."

He understood how she felt, painfully well. He mussed the hair of Almaeira, who was tearing up as though even the worries ahead had been blown clean away, and hugged her delicate body tight.

"… Still, why… both me and you, Yoal…?"

"—Maybe it's because of this."

Almaeira tilted her head within his arms—and Yoal gently stroked her lower belly.

A crest of love and lust carved in deep. The Lewd Crest adorning her smooth white belly was a bizarrely intricate intermingling of both their spell formulas.

If this had blurred the boundary between the two of them, then it would be no wonder that they could glimpse each other's dreams.

"… This did…?"

"Yeah. In fact, I can pretty much tell what you're thinking too, Alma."

"… Th-There was even an effect like that…?"

"Your weak spots too, Alma. All of them."

"… Eh, ah… uu…"

The instant he whispered that, Almaeira turned red all the way to her ears and buried her face in the man's chest.

She nuzzled her small head against the man's palm, letting out thin, faint cries, bashful yet as if seeking to be spoiled.

Yoal glanced at her trembling pink lips and gazed intently, as if peering into her eyes.

"Alma. Close your eyes."

"… Yo… al… nn, uu…!"

Just like that he kissed her as if to steal her lips away, pressing them together wetly, without a gap.

A softness, a freshness he never tired of no matter how many times he touched it. Savoring the sweet sensation, the two of them entwined their tongues to their hearts' content.

"… Mm."

"Ah… nn, nnu… 💕 Nn, chu… chu, pu… 💕 Nn, fu… 💕"

A deep kiss similar to, yet different from, the kissing they shared while devouring each other in carnal lust.

Intense yet unhurried, they rubbed their lips together as if cherishing each other. Never rushing, they entwined their tongues slowly to the last. Picha, picha. The wet sounds lingered and echoed, over and over again.

Necha—nicha, nicha, nuchu—nuchi, nuju, nuchu.

Even the exchange of saliva was languid as the two of them touched tongue tips with a light poke. White, frothy saliva bridged between them, passing back and forth across each other's oral membranes.

Almaeira gently took the man's tongue between her small lips and sucked lightly, chuu chuu. Next, Yoal gently took her tongue and sucked at it the same way, with a chu.

Once more they pressed together the tongues that had loved each other through their oral membranes, letting them tangle as they pushed against one another. Their tongues, one large and one small, rubbed nuryu nuryu, smearing saliva thickly across each other.

"… Ah, nn… 💕 … Aahn… 💕 Fu, ah… 💕 Nn, u, nn, chu… 💕"

Hamu, hapu, they exchanged kisses as if nibbling lip against lip.

Yoal placed a hand on her head, cradled her back, and deepened the kiss all the more.

"… Nn, fu… 💕 Nmuu… 💕 Nn, chu 💕 U, nn 💕 Nmuuu… 💕💕"

At last they joined their lips together snugly, indulging in a rich, deep tongue-kiss, licking tongue against tongue.

They twined kuchu kuchu, slid their tongues nuryun, nuryun, and slowly let their lips draw apart.

A thread of saliva stretched thickly between them like a bridge—Almaeira gently closed her mouth and rolled the saliva around on her tongue.

"… Aaah… 💕 Th-This won't… I-I won't be fooled… by something like this… 💕"

"… Want to do more?"

"Th-That's not… it… 💕"

"It's fine. I can probably manage without borrowing power from that side."

Almaeira exhaled a sweet, feverish breath, her slender shoulders quivering faintly. Her downcast eyes were thoroughly wet, wavering like a rippling surface of water.

Yoal patted her head, hugged her back tight, and then suddenly glanced back over his shoulder.

"… So, how long are you going to stay there?"

In that instant, a loud clatter rang out from beyond the door.

In his arms, Almaeira's small frame gave a startled twitch.

Yoal gently draped a shirt over her shoulders and pulled his own underwear back on.

Just then, the creaking door was flung open with a bang, and the three who had been on the other side toppled over one another.

"Gueh."

"Mgyuu."

"Aaaah."

From bottom to top: Charlotte, Nyrn, Aery.

Yoal ponderously raised himself from the bed and cast a glance at them.

"… What are you doing?"

"W-We came to catch you while you slept!!"

"All three of you?"

"As if. There's just something we wanted to bring to your ears."

When Charlotte crawled up and rose to her feet, Nyrn, who had been on top of her, let out a helpless cry and flopped face-down on the floor.

Scratching her head in exasperation, Charlotte drew a single, carefully rolled letter from the breast of her clothes.

"Trouble?"

"Precisely that. Just about exactly what you'd been dreading."

"To do with Alma?"

"That's right. —From His Majesty the Demon King, no less."

Yoal took it and confirmed with Almaeira, "May I?"

She gave a decisive little nod, threw on her black vestments, and clumsily crawled out of bed.

Yoal opened the letter and examined its contents.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy. Rumors of a broken engagement, and the domestic incidents connected to it—in other words, it demanded answers about the seeds of distrust. Along with that, it also called someone to account for the guarding of his close attendant.

He couldn't help but be astonished at the speed of the intelligence, though it was likely not anything solid. In any case, it needed to be handled properly. Depending on the reply, there was every possibility of inviting the ravages of war.

"Still, that was faster than I expected. Was there a spy slipped in somewhere…?"

When Yoal muttered this, the shoulders of Nyrn, who had gotten up, gave a twitch.

"Nyrn."

"… Wh-What is it?"

"Did you do something?"

"I-I did absolutely nothing at all—apart from spreading word of what happened to all the witches around here…!!"

"That's completely you, isn't it!"

Called out, Nyrn visibly shrank in on herself. Even her uselessly oversized breasts and rear seemed to shrink as she resorted to making excuses: "B-But, most of them were happy to congratulate you, you know…?"

"… Well, it's not like it's a particular problem."

"Then why am I being scolded!?"

"It means it depends on the time and the circumstances. This time just happened to work out, that's all."

When Yoal said this, Aery, who had been standing silently in the corner of the room, cut in.

"Had there been any problem, I would have stopped her, so please don't worry."

"… As expected. The intelligence trade really is dependable."

"I have already disposed of the source of the leak. It also served to smoke out the reactionary faction, so I believe it was preferable to it coming to light later on."

"You're a little too dependable…"

If anything, it was almost worrying, but there was nothing wrong with being capable.

"So, um, doesn't that mean I actually deserve praise…? And so, Yoal, a reward—"

"Don't get carried away."

"Ow!?"

Setting aside Nyrn, who was taking a knuckle-rap from Charlotte—

Yoal turned back to face Almaeira.

"… It's come quite a bit sooner than I thought. But if it means the trouble gets cleared up quickly, that's fine too—will all of you cooperate?"

"… I'd like to make up for this," Nyrn said, nodding while tearing up from the pain of the knuckle-rap.

"If it is for Lady Alma's happiness," said Aery.

"No question about it. I steeled myself for this long ago," said Charlotte.

Yoal closed his eyes and nodded, then gazed steadily into Almaeira's eyes.

She ran her eyes over the letter held out to her, gave a little nod, and gently parted her pink lips.

"… If it means being with you… I'll go anywhere at all… Yoal, please… I don't ever want to be apart from you again."

Yoal felt exactly the same.

If he had the strength of everyone gathered here, there was no need to rely on his master from the other world.

He looked all around the room and, without the slightest hesitation, spoke.

"Then it's decided… We kill the Demon King."