42 How To Steal The Wizard's Woman (Part 26)

[I felt that the world was really unreasonable].

"...It is absurd, even for me."

I put on the pajamas given to me by the servant of this house, laid down on the bed, and looked at the ceiling.

As I lay on the bed in the guest room I was shown to, I recalled the events of earlier.

When Luna slammed the table and stood up, a system window appeared in front of me.

-[Violin Playing LV 1 has blossomed, compensated due to Hand Skill LV 555, and the level of Violin Playing has been changed to 46].

If Armonia hadn't told me, I would have let it slide.

The problem was that I didn't recognize the song.

Even with that cheat key, there was no way I could turn on the violin without a song I knew.

But Armonia found a solution and showed me.

She showed me a video of someone playing the violin, invisible to anyone else's eyes.

All I had to do was follow along.

It didn't matter if I was good at it.

I just needed to have a repertoire of things that I knew how to do.

But when I finished playing, I looked around and realized that everyone was looking at me like I was doing a work of art.

I didn't know if I did a good job, but I could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that I did okay.

And then Luna suddenly started clapping with tears in her eyes, and everyone else started clapping with tears in their eyes too.

Except for the slug.

I don't know what my powers are, but I'm pretty sure I'm an asshole.

After the performance, while everyone was still reveling in the afterglow, the sun was setting and it was getting late, and Luna and Louis were getting ready to head back.

Luna looked at me for a while, and then went back to the school without saying a word.

I turned to Armonia, suddenly remembering the video from earlier.

"Armonia."

[Yes].

"Who was in that video you showed me earlier?"

[....]

The screen she showed me wasn't your typical footage of a traveling performer.

It showed a middle-aged man playing a violin, and the location was familiar to me.

It was Armonia's Oval Office.

The man in the video, a tall, clean-cut man with a dapper appearance, was dressed in a neat captain's uniform.

It was the same outfit she was wearing.

She didn't answer any of my questions.

"Well, if you want to talk, you can talk later."

[...okay, okay].

Something seemed to have happened.

I changed the subject again.

"Karl Friedrich...."

[We were right, he was responsible for the infertility].

"He looks so fucking perfect, I feel sorry for him."

As expected, Karl Friedrich was to blame for the infertility.

I thought there was some kind of weird barrier or something, but there wasn't.

-[Erectile dysfunction]-

Sonya didn't mention this, but it's not like they didn't know about it.

And given her lack of desire, it was likely that she'd been suffering from it for quite some time.

I used to think I wanted to grow old like that, but that erectile dysfunction made me stop thinking about that.

That was the last thing I wanted to have.

It's not a sin, and it's not something to be ashamed of.

I don't think so.

But for me to be a snitch was a different matter.

Though I wouldn't be so stupid as to use Enel to fix him.

I really felt sorry for Sonya.

The thought of her benevolent smile and flowing purple hair made my head....

Fluttering. (Let's do it!)

...I wanted to.

"Am I crazy...."

[What are you talking about?]

"Nothing, nothing.... But Sonya, I feel sorry for you. She's not even thirty yet. It's not like she has no outlet for her libido."

Plus, I don't look like the kind of woman who'd be attracted to another man because I'm affected by pheromones.

The fact that I didn't give in to the slug was proof of that.

Just because I call him a slug doesn't make him a slug.

Sonya is the one who slapped her mother.

"...Come to think of it, it was Sonya who authorized me to stay here. Maybe she'll come? Hmph...."

[I think it's best to politely decline, even if she does come, because it might be risky with her husband in the house].

"I can do it gently, gently..."

Tick, tick, tick.

A gentle knocking sounded from the guest room door.

'...Awesome.'

[Su-Ho, I would recommend restraint this time].

'A.... Okay!

I opened my mouth in a pouty retort to Armonai's words.

"Come on in."

I said.

The door opened and an unexpected figure stepped in.

"I was wondering if you had a moment."

It was Karl Friedrich.

"Oh, come on in."

"Thank you, of course...."

Karl held what looked like whiskey in his left hand and two glasses in his right.

He set the liquor and glasses on the dining table in the cabin and smiled gravely.

"Do you mind if I... drink?"

"Oh, sure, but I'm not much of a drinker...."

"I brought it as a formality, so don't worry about it too much."

Karl handed me a glass as soon as I sat down in the chair and poured me a drink.

It was about a finger's worth.

I took the drink, poured Karl a drink, and took a gulp.

'Ugh! My stomach!'

[This is a very strong drink, you shouldn't drink like that].

'Damn, I thought it was sweet, like a Scotch candy!'

I always thought whiskey was sweet, like Scotch candy.

I never tried it, so I really didn't know.

My stomach was on fire.

Karl looked at me in surprise.

"You seem to like alcohol more than I thought."

"Haha...."

He poured me another drink and started talking about the performance earlier.

"Don't you think you're putting us on a very low pedestal by hiding such a talent?"

"Haha...."

Karl stopped probing when I laughed awkwardly.

He carefully picked up the glasses and downed them in one gulp.

He placed the empty glasses on the table and kept his hands on them, a serious look on his face.

After a long moment of silence, he cautiously asked me.

"What do you think of Sonya?"

"...? Professor...?"

'What is he talking about?'

[Part of being a merchant is seeing through people].

Karl closed his eyes at my words and wore a tortured expression.

It was a far cry from his mood earlier in the day.

I poured him a drink in the meantime.

He took another gulp, looked at me, and said the unthinkable.

"Why don't you hug Sonya... My wife...?"

'?..???...??.....????'

[??..????...??....?...?]

Unable to understand Karl's language, I and Armonia had no choice but to send him a hooked Morse code.

***

"Haa...."

As soon as Luna got back to her dorm, she washed and groomed herself, then flopped down on her bed in her one-piece white pajamas.

She buried her face in her pillow and thought about the events of the day.

The sudden meeting, the conversation in the carriage, and the performance....

Before coming to Shutra School, Luna's life was free.

She always saw the same people, went through the same routine, and ended the day in the same place.

She was rather content with her life.

But when she started school, everything changed.

Every day was new and different from the last.

And at the center of it all was one guy.

It was exciting... And frustrating.

"A bad guy, if I do say so myself...."

Luna gave him a pleading look as they left the Friedrich's mansion.

I want you to come with me.

That she wanted to go to school with him.

She couldn't say it because of the people around her.

But his expression was just a blank, good-bye look.

Eventually, Luna had no choice but to return to her dormitory in a huff.

Louis kept saying something, but she couldn't hear him at all.

She remembered what she'd heard women say at social gatherings before.

(Seriously, men are so frustrating....)

(Yeah, well, you should know how to pounce when you get that much attention....)

Luna felt pathetic as she listened to the women's conversation.

(...They don't talk, so how would I know?)

Luna felt rather sorry for the men they were talking about.

But now that she was in the same position, she understood.

"I feel stupid...."

She felt stupid.

Luna remembered Su-Ho from the carriage earlier.

When she'd first seen him in the hall, she'd barely noticed him at all.

The guy who had reached out to her.

Thinking about him, her lower stomach began to heat up again.

"Ha, one more day...."

Luna glanced around the room, making sure no one was watching, and burrowed under the covers.

She curled up and started masturbating again today, telling herself she shouldn't.

***

It was four years ago that Karl married Sonya.

After traveling the world as a violinist with no interest in marriage, it was love at first sight and a persistent courtship.

Sonya was hesitant at first because of the age gap, but eventually realized he was sincere and they married.

Karl stopped wandering and took over his father's business, which became a thriving success.

It was a very happy marriage.

For one month....

Karl explained that he had suddenly developed erectile dysfunction and was unable to have sex at all.

Sonya tried everything she could think of to cure his erectile dysfunction, but it didn't seem to be getting any better.

"... Sonya had given up a brilliant life to marry me, and I had committed the ultimate sin against her."

"I don't think Professor Sonya would see it that way."

There's no way Sonya would resent her husband.

But in the end, it was clear that she was living a miserable life.

She was wasting the best years of her life.

But why did Karl choose me?

"I understand your position, but there are many better people than me."

"...It's not a long time, but I've known Sonya for four years, and the way she looks at you convinced me."

Karl said that Sonya always listened to him.

But recently, she started talking excitedly about a student, and Karl said he knew then.

"...I don't know about you, but I've never seen Sonya smile so brightly and talk about someone."

"..."

I said into the comm.

'She was so confident that she hadn't been found out, but she had.'

[Humans are hopeful animals by nature; we tend to exaggerate the inaccurate into the positive].

If you have a long tail, you get stepped on.

Sonya thought that even if her tail was stepped on, it would be an illusion.

Humans have a strong tendency to fill their wish circuits with hope before they're fully exposed.

From the way Karl spoke, it sounded like he wasn't looking at me.

It didn't make sense to me that he would ask me to do something like this after he had laid himself bare.

But then he said something that convinced me.

"Actually, for a couple years now, I've been purposely staying away from home on weekends and renting out rooms, just in case I have a guy over, I don't want anyone to notice."

"But if you do that, Professor Sonya won't..."

"I don't want her to have such a wasted life."

Nor was divorce an option.

They loved each other, but Sonya, being Sonya, was not the kind of woman to leave her husband for impotence, and Karl, being Karl, couldn't leave her for fear that if he did, she'd be caught up in some weird scandal.

He wanted her to be happy, more than she wanted to love him.

'It's ironic.'

[It's a sad story, but it ended up being a very good situation for you].

It was like a jack-o'-lantern.

Karl was convinced not only by Sonya, but also by my reaction today.

He didn't know exactly what my relationship with Sonya was, but he could tell there was an undercurrent of affection.

"That's why I invited you to dinner tonight."

"..."

"Please do me a favor. I'll do you any favor I can."

Well... I've already bitten and sucked, so there's nothing to listen to.

He seemed to take my silence as hesitation.

Actually, it was a pout...

I took it in stride.

"However, if Professor Sonya doesn't like me, there's nothing I can do about it."

"...On the contrary, it's nice of you to say so."

I didn't say it in a hurtful way, even though we were already at an impasse.

I will respect Sonya. I reassured Karl with a minimalistic expression.

He looked relieved and stood up.

"I'm sure she had her reasons for liking you, and as long as it doesn't harm her, I'll keep my eyes closed."

"Okay."

"Then I'll leave you to it..."

Karl quietly opened the cabin door and left.

Silence hung in the room.

I said quietly to myself.

Hey...

(XX: ...? What the hell, you talked to me first.)

Let's do it!

(XX : Yes, Your Majesty!!)

I flew straight to Sonya's bed.