8. Harboring Defilement

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/8/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

The next morning, the two women who appeared before me made no effort whatsoever to conceal the scent of lovemaking.
The red marks on their necks, their sweat-dampened skin, their dewy eyes—had they embraced the moment they woke, or had they not slept at all since the night before?

“Good morning, Nunnally.”

Chigusa was merely smiling and offering an ordinary greeting. Was I reading too much into it when I found her expression so alluring?
Even her red eyes seemed to seethe with the flames of desire.
Ashamed of the improper fantasies I had entertained the night before, I could not look her in the face and answered with my head bowed.

“G-Good morning …”

At the sight of me, Chigusa gave a soft laugh, sensuously touched an index finger to her lips, and smiled.
Then she walked over, spread her arms as she had the night before, and embraced me—and something soft and faintly moist brushed my cheek.
Surely that had not been … her lips?

“A morning greeting. Did it not please you?”

Seeing how bewildered and embarrassed I was, she whispered like a teasing little devil.

“No … It is not that.”

I could hardly admit that it had delighted me. Yet my heart was pounding so hard that there could be no concealing it.
Pressed this close together, surely Chigusa could feel both the heat of my body and the frantic beat of my heart through our clothes.

“Oh, Sister, you’re so unfair, keeping all the fun to yourself. I want to say good morning to Nunnally too, you know?”
“I do not recall taking anything from you. You may greet her as well, Ellis. You do not mind, do you, Nunnally?”

Before I could answer, Ellis wrapped herself around my arm and pressed her soft body against it through our clothes.
I became acutely conscious of the swell of her breast entwined with my arm.
Why should this make me feel such things when we were both women?
And yet, when I imagined Chigusa’s hands caressing the bare skin beneath those clothes the night before, it was impossible not to think about it.

“Morning, Nunnally.”

Ellis whispered into my ear without releasing me, then kissed my earlobe.
Perhaps she had extended the tip of her tongue, for I felt a damp touch and involuntarily let out a high-pitched “Eep!”
At that, she murmured in a breathy whisper, “You’re so cute, Nunnally.”
With her speaking so close, directly into my ear—the mere fact of it sent heat spreading through my body.
My head swam as though I were drunk. The sweet scents of Chigusa and Ellis only heightened the effect, and little by little, I lost the capacity for rational thought.

“You have turned so terribly red. You are not accustomed to this sort of intimacy, are you, Nunnally?”
“That is … n-not unique to me, surely …”
“We will help you grow accustomed to it. Now, surrender yourself to us.”
“Ah … Aah …”

Chigusa’s fingertips touched the side of my neck, then traveled downward as though tracing my collarbone.
Her touch was so delicate and smooth that a mere caress sent shudders through my chest, leaving me capable only of taking one short breath after another.
While Chigusa held my attention, Ellis’s hand reached for my buttocks.

“You have such a naughty body, Nunnally. It feels so good to touch … I love it.”

Perhaps because she spoke from so close, her breath tickling my ear at the same time, the word “love” seemed to take on greater depth.
I fell under the illusion that she was confessing her love to me. Even when she continued stroking my bottom, I felt no aversion. If anything, the sense that my body was desired made me happy.
Now and then her palm tightened and gently kneaded me, drawing a shameless sound from my throat.

“What a waste, leaving such an indecent body unused. You ought to make far more use of it.”
“Make use of it …? But that is …”

Chigusa’s hand moved toward my breast.
Simply watching it approach made my heart race faster with every narrowing inch.
It was true that I had developed rather generously from an early age, but I had not grown into this body for the sake of doing such things.
And yet—when Chigusa said it, the notion no longer seemed so objectionable.
I was being swallowed whole.
My reason warned me that this was dangerous, but an even stronger desire for her touch welled up from nowhere and would not be stopped.
The moment her palm cupped my breast as though lifting it, my entire body went rigid with tension.

“It is all right. There is nothing to fear. You need only trust me.”

Her narcotic voice, poured into me from inches away, resonated directly in my mind and seeped ever deeper.

“Let the tension leave your body. Yes, just so … Leave everything to us …”

Enticed by those bewitching words, the strength drained from my body even as my nervous anticipation remained.

“That feels good, doesn’t it? Then it’s all right. You can feel as good as you want, Nunnally.”

Ellis was right … Being touched alone felt this wonderful, so why was there any need to refuse?

“Deep down, you have always wanted someone you could depend upon, haven’t you, Nunnally? You have been searching for someone to fill your loneliness.”
“Th-That is …”

As I had the day before, I wanted to tell her she was wrong, but the words would not come.
Chigusa had already worked her way too deeply into my heart for me to reject her.

“If that is not true, then tell me so. If you say it is not, Nunnally, I will stop.”
“No … I … I am lonely. I have been waiting for someone like you, Chigusa—someone who would allow me to lean upon her.”
“Hee hee. I see. Everyone brought their troubles to you, but no one ever tried to understand you. Is that what you mean?”
“That is … correct.”
“But we are different. We can fill your heart, Nunnally.”

Chigusa was … right.
It had been so very long … since my heart had felt this full.
No—perhaps this was the first time.
No one … not even he … had ever filled the emptiness inside me so completely.

“You’ve worked so hard all by yourself all this time, Nunnally. You’ve done so well.”

Ellis stroked my head.
I remembered my mother praising me as she held me when I was a child.
Before I knew it, I was smiling with the innocent delight of a little girl.

“You’ve worked hard enough. You can stop now. You don’t have to try anymore.”
“I … do not have to try … anymore …”
“That’s right. So why don’t you become one with us? We’ll all be so happy together.”

Together—happy—what did that mean?

“We know, you see. We know that you stood outside our room last night, and the night before as well.”
“You were listening to us, weren’t you, Nunnally? To all those sounds we made.”

The blood abruptly drained from my face.
No … They had known I was eavesdropping?
Then why had they not condemned me? Why were they doing this instead?

“Please do not look so dejected. A woman of the cloth spying on others is certainly rather questionable, but we were happy.”
“Happy? What do you—”

Chigusa reached out to my cheek.
Yielding to the pressure of her palm, I turned toward her—and the face already so close to mine drew closer still.

“W-Wait, Chigusa, ple—”

Then her lips touched mine.
It happened in an instant, so fleeting that I might have mistaken it for a dream. But the sensation lingering on my lips assured me it had been real.
… She had kissed me.
Chigusa had kissed … me.

“From the moment we met, I thought you were a wonderful woman. I love you, Nunnally.”

A confession whispered into my ear.
My heart began to hammer more loudly still. I could no longer tell whether it was pounding from love or simply because I had been swept away by the situation.
But … there was no mistaking that the kiss had made me happy.
I … I loved Chigusa too …

“That’s no good, Nunnally. You can’t keep looking only at Sister.”
“Ellis?”

This time, Ellis reached for my cheek.
She tugged me toward her with a hint of force, and the instant I turned, she stole my lips as well.
Though both were kisses, this one felt subtly different.
Her lips were just as cool and soft, but they possessed a little more spring than Chigusa’s, and I thought I could feel a trace more warmth in them.

“I love you too, Nunnally.”

Another confession from only inches away.
Two beautiful women had professed their love for me almost at once, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
Even in the midst of my confusion, Chigusa did not relent.

“You are so beautiful, so endearing. How could I possibly not fall in love with you?”
“I want your body and your heart all to myself.”
“I want to touch you forever. I want to remain by your side for all eternity, until death.”
“Say you love us too, Nunnally. Go on. Please?”

At their urging, I spoke the words.

“I love you …”
“Whom do you love?”
“I love … Chigusa and Ellis.”

The two exchanged joyful smiles. Before I realized it, I was facing Chigusa again, and once more she claimed my lips.
This was no fleeting touch, but a passionate kiss in which our lips pressed hungrily together.
Nor was it only our lips.
The tip of Chigusa’s tongue knocked against them, and when I parted them in response, her tongue thrust into my mouth.
It ravaged every corner, spreading Chigusa’s taste as though painting my mouth with her saliva.
Desperate to give her even a little pleasure in return, I did my best to move my own tongue. But the difference in our experience was simply too great, and I mounted little defense.
After she had conquered everything—my cheeks, beneath my tongue, even the roof of my mouth—I stared hazily and breathlessly at the silver thread stretched between our tongues.
If I did not rest for a moment, I felt my mind might come undone.
Yet the instant I thought so, I was turned toward Ellis. She pressed her lips to mine and drove her tongue inside.
Now Ellis stirred through a mouth in which Chigusa’s taste had yet to fade.
Her movements were somewhat forceful, as though she were asserting her dominion over me, and I felt some craving I could only call masochistic being satisfied.
The unfamiliar sensation of two other people’s fluids mingling inside me—
I might ordinarily have found it repulsive. Instead, I welcomed it with delight.
Because I loved them.
And when something belongs to the person you love, does it not make you happy, whatever it may be?

“Haa … Aah, aau … Ngh …”
“Hee hee hee, Nunnally’s gone all soft and dreamy.”
“It seems you liked that very much.”
“Aah … Y-Yes … It was … wonderful …”

I meant it from the bottom of my heart. If my wish could be granted, I wanted to repeat it again and again for as long as my strength endured.
And if I asked, surely the two of them would grant that wish.

“Chigusa, Ellis …”

… In that case.

“Would you please … do that some more?”

I forced the words out with every last scrap of courage I possessed.
It was a plea I never would have made as my former self.
I thought I might die of embarrassment, but the two smiled upon me with gentle affection and whispered into my ears.

“Of course. If it is what you wish, Nunnally, I will lavish you with love for as long as you desire.”
“I’ll love you again and again, until you lose consciousness.”

True to their declarations, Chigusa immediately began kissing me once more.
When she finished, Ellis devoured my lips and poured her saliva into me; then Chigusa stirred through my mouth again.
Again and again, they whispered, “I love you,” as they dissolved both my body and my heart.
No barrier remained between our hearts.
If anything, I now longed to bare every part of myself to them.
When a kiss whose number I had long since lost came to an end, Chigusa suddenly asked me a question.

“Are you a virgin, Nunnally?”

Whatever her reason for asking, I answered at once.

“Yes … I have never engaged in relations before marriage.”

I did not know what the people of the Discard District considered customary, but among the nobles who lived in the city, that much was only natural.

“I am glad. Virgins taste better, after all. I am sure you must have preserved yourself so that you could offer it to me.”

I did not quite understand what she meant by “taste,” but—I nodded.
Surely she was right.
I had not given myself to the man with whom I had eloped because I had been destined to meet Chigusa and Ellis and offer myself to them instead.

“Sister, it’s almost time.”
“Yes, it is. Shall we go, Nunnally?”

I was not so ignorant that I failed to understand what they meant.
To do such things here, in this sacred church—the thought did nothing to deter me. If anything, the sense of transgression made my reason all the more fragile.
My mind was already consumed by the sounds I had heard the night before, the scenes I had imagined, and the thought of inserting myself among them.
There was no possibility that I, in such a state, would refuse their invitation.

“Yes … Please take me with you. To your bedchamber.”

Nestled between the two of them, I allowed myself to be led toward the bedchamber.
Breakfast, opening the church, helping the people of the city—none of it mattered any longer.
Beside the bliss of being adored by Chigusa and toyed with by Ellis, how small and insignificant every other concern seemed!
Merely imagining the hands wrapped around my waist touching my bare skin made me feel as though I might reach the summit at any moment.
With my desire swollen to its very limit, like a thread stretched taut to breaking, at last I crossed the threshold of the bedchamber I had visited so many times in my dreams.