A sudden gust of wind blew through.

The sky, which had been clear and bright a moment ago, was immediately covered by clouds. All the stars shyly hid themselves in the shadows, and it was as though all things in the world had drawn down a dark curtain to block out every prying gaze.

And behind that curtain, an event themed around love was unfolding.

"Mmn... Muen, I like you..."

Muen was still focused on waiting for her to count all the way down to one, but Ariel had already suddenly grabbed his collar and kissed him.

Ariel’s lips were soft and cool, like springy, tender jelly, yet they also carried that same sharp style she always had—decisive and precise, going straight for the vital point the moment she moved.

But when it came to this sort of thing, Ariel [N O V E L I G H T] was ultimately completely inexperienced. Her lips rubbed lightly against Muen’s, but there was no pattern to it, as though she had no idea how to proceed to the next step, all her movements lingering only at the surface.

Muen came back to himself from that brief daze and gazed at the pretty face of the girl right in front of him. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and her little face looked full of determination. Yet the sunset-red blush that had already spread across her whole face from sheer embarrassment made this chosen heroine, this overpowered girl who would not have changed expression even with Death’s scythe at her throat, look adorably full of contrast.

Muen laughed inwardly, finding her terribly cute, and so he wrapped an arm around Ariel’s slim waist, taut with nervousness and still trembling slightly.

"Mmph!"

Before Ariel could even react, her whole body had already been pulled completely into Muen’s arms. That closeness, more intimate than anything she had ever known, only made her even more nervous, and instinctively she tried to push him away...

Yet before her hands could put any strength into it, Muen had already taken advantage of the opening and pried apart her lips and white little teeth.

Ariel’s delicate body trembled again, and her whole body instantly went weak. A moment ago, she had still been the kind of fierce person who could carry a blade weighing over a thousand pounds and cut her way through an entire ancient ruin. But now she was as soft and helpless as a lump of cotton, letting Muen knead and shape her however he pleased.

Smack, smack...

The lewd, honeyed sounds echoed through the crystal palace Ariel had dreamed of for so long. She opened her eyes, and those clear eyes were already full of tears, blurred and dazed.

She had no idea what she was supposed to do. All she felt was that in the blink of an eye, her little tongue had already been captured by Muen, deftly licked, teased, and savored over and over with maddening care. That tingling numbness, like an electric current, quickly spread through her whole body, making her feel as though she were high in the clouds, dizzy and disoriented. She was clearly still standing on the ground, yet she could not seem to find where the ground was anymore.

Ariel vaguely remembered that she ought to take back the initiative, but the gap in experience was not something determination alone could make up for. Every time she managed to gather a little strength and prepare a counterattack, Muen effortlessly dissolved it, only drawing her deeper into this intoxicating whirlpool.

"Mmn... ah!"

At last, after she had no idea how long the kiss had lasted, Muen finally let Ariel go.

She panted lightly. A trace of clarity finally returned to her hazy eyes, but her whole body had already entered that state just short of melting completely.

"How was it?" Muen asked softly.

"I-it was... average."

Ariel tried to curl her lip in disdain, only to realize that her numb, tingling lips no longer seemed fully under her control.

"Average? You looked like you were enjoying it quite a bit."

"It was just average... mmph!"

Adhering to a professional standard of customer satisfaction and a spotless record with no complaints to date, the instant Ariel gave it an average rating, Muen immediately kissed her again.

Ariel’s body, which had only just relaxed, tensed all over once more. Her hands swept uselessly across Muen’s chest, with no idea where they were even supposed to go.

A few minutes later...

"How about now?"

"I-it’s average... mmph!"

A few more minutes later...

"And now?"

"It’s still a—mmph!"

After who knew how many minutes...

"...What about this time?"

Muen licked his own lips, which had started to feel a little numb themselves, and thought to himself that, as expected of Ariel, her endurance and lung capacity really were far beyond the ordinary.

If it had been Liya, she would have already been tearfully begging for mercy by now.

"Mmn... it feels... it feels really good... I feel really good..."

Fortunately, Ariel, who until just now had still been on her very first kiss, finally could not take that intensity any longer and surrendered in a quiet, breathless voice.

But that softness in her, so completely different from how she usually was, instantly sent a fresh wave of heat through Muen’s chest.

And at some point, without either of them really noticing when, the two of them had gone from standing to lying down.

A blanket Ariel knew very well had been spread beneath them. She lay on it, and through the gaps between the crystals overhead, she could easily see the shy sky hidden behind the clouds.

And Muen was above her.

Their breaths brushed across each other’s faces, both of them gradually growing heavier and hotter.

"I still find it a little hard to believe." Muen stroked Ariel’s cheek, making her lips pout and purse under his fingers, then moved lower, tracing along her swanlike neck, exploring places even more delicate and exquisitely beautiful.

"I-I don’t... don’t believe what?"

Ariel was once again so dizzy from that burning closeness that she did not even have the energy to stop Muen’s wandering hands from continuing their mischief.

"That there would actually be a moment like this between us."

He thought back to the beginning—to the moment he had first come into this world.

His very first crisis had been that ruinous ending where Ariel would catch him in the act of harassing Celicia. In order to avoid that outcome, he had done a great many things and paid a great deal of effort, only for a series of absurd twists of fate to lead them into a result that was almost laughable.

It could be said that back then, she had been the person he most wanted to avoid, because she was the proudest, most reckless, most fearless overpowered heroine in this story, while he...

...was nothing more than a blond villain, someone fated to be defeated by her and become a stepping stone beneath her feet.

And yet who could have known that one day the overpowered heroine of the story would end up tangled together with her own stepping stone?

If this had happened in the original novel, most readers would probably have already blasted it as utter trash for desecrating the story.

But for the people inside the story—for the overpowered heroine and the blond villain—this was good...

Because this was not some garbage plot clumsily forced together by an idiot author. It was a love story that had grown naturally between the two of them as they made their way here together through one life-and-death crisis after another.

Was there any script in this world more beautiful than a classic love story?

No.

That was Muen’s answer, and he believed Ariel’s answer would be the same.

"I... I never thought so either..."

Ariel could not help falling into memory as well.

What kind of person had Muen Campbell been in her eyes at the beginning?

Arrogant, vulgar, conceited, stupid—someone who did whatever he pleased just because he was a duke’s son. He had been the person she hated most.

And now, that Muen Campbell she had hated most had already long since grown blurred and indistinct. In his place... was the Muen Campbell she liked best.

"Has your pollution been completely removed now?" Muen suddenly asked, looking into Ariel’s eyes.

"Yeah, it’s gone. This time Teacher checked me thoroughly, inside and out. There isn’t the slightest trace of pollution left," Ariel said.

"I see... But I’m still not completely at ease."

"Not at ease? Why?"

"Didn’t your teacher fail to notice it last time too? The Love God is extremely insidious and cunning. We should be careful," Muen said seriously.

"But Teacher really did examine me very carefully this time..."

"It’s still not enough."

"Still not enough?"

"Your teacher checking isn’t enough. I need to check too."

"You?"

Ariel blinked. "You know how to check for Evil God pollution too?"

"With anyone else, no. But if it’s you, Ariel, then I can."

"How... how are you planning to check?"

As if she had sensed something, Ariel’s voice suddenly grew tense.

"I want to..."

Muen leaned close to Ariel’s ear and said in a slow, intoxicating tone, like a devil whispering temptation:

"...to check whether you’ve really been corrected."

"—!"

More and more red clouds began piling up across Ariel’s cheeks, and with nowhere else for the color to go, even her little ears turned bright red.

A few loose strands of hair, dampened by fragrant sweat, clung messily to her forehead, adding an extra hint of alluring charm. Muen gently smoothed them back into place and asked:

"Not allowed?"

“......”

Ariel’s eyes darted around. She looked left, then right. Her delicate body shifted one moment, went rigid the next, and her hands fumbled helplessly all over the place...

It was only after who knew how long that Muen finally saw Ariel give the faintest little nod, her cherry lips parting as she said something.

"What?"

Muen had clearly heard it already, but he still deliberately asked again. "What did you say?"

"I... I said okay."

Ariel shot Muen a fierce glare, though with her cheeks already flushed red, even an overpowered heroine like her did not have much killing power left.

"You... you can check."

"All right."

Muen lingered over her earlobe with a reluctant little suck, then murmured softly:

"Then I’m starting."

His wandering hand, already waiting in ambush, struck at once, reaching for the sash at Ariel’s waist.

But before Muen could put his clothing-removal technique—already honed to the highest level—into action, he suddenly felt a hard shove, and his vision spun.

At a time like this, Ariel somehow found strength from who knew where. She actually shoved Muen down onto the floor and stopped him.

"N-no need for you to do it!"

Ariel sat down on top of Muen in one motion and said through gritted teeth, "I’ll do it myself!"

"...You’re really going to do it yourself?"

Though she looked as imposing and overbearing as usual again, the shyness and blush on her face would not lie. She was obviously still painfully embarrassed. It was just that some strange sense of pride still refused to let that damned blond bastard have his way with her completely.

"Quit talking. I... I can do it myself."

Ariel snapped at him, though it sounded just as much like she was trying to encourage herself.

She kept taking deep breaths, forcing her hands—usually so nimble, yet now maddeningly uncooperative—to slowly undo the fastening at her waist little by little.

Muen said nothing and did not resist, because for him, this scene was already a breathtaking sight in itself. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Ariel undressed slowly, but before time that seemed to have been frozen in place, that little bit of slowness meant nothing. The white dress that Belrand’s finest tailor had made to fit her was soon tossed aside.

The underclothes beneath were white as well, edged with pink lace—pure and cute at the same time.

Ariel hesitated for a moment, but in the end she still gritted her teeth and removed that final layer of defense, appearing before Muen utterly unguarded, only shyly covering the important parts with both hands.

Only then did Muen realize that Ariel’s body was even more beautiful than he had imagined.

What she had on her chest was not the sort that turned lush once the clothes came off, but neither was it a flat wasteland. Two small white mounds, like evenly divided little steamed buns, sat upon the smooth plain, just enough to be covered by one arm—small, and very cute.

And what was slightly lacking at her chest was more than made up for by the flawless perfection of the rest of her. Whether it was her arms or her long legs, everything was slim and firm, as though carved from white jade.

Especially that waist—truly small enough to fit in a single grasp. Muen could easily wrap both hands around it... but it was not the frail, breakable thinness of a willow branch. Whenever Ariel tensed up nervously, the faint lines dividing her abdomen would show, giving her body a fit, athletic beauty.

"Is... is it pretty?"

Ariel was deeply embarrassed... and yet carried the same quiet sense of expectation.

"It is."

Muen answered seriously. "It’s very pretty."

"Then..."

Ariel’s expression suddenly turned fierce. "It’s your turn too!"

With that, Ariel pounced, and in a few quick moves stripped Muen of his defenses as well.

Once they were bare before one another, the firm muscles across Muen’s chest and the explosive, leopard-like lines of his body instantly made Ariel feel a little dizzy.

A man’s body really did make her heart race and her face burn even more.

"W-what do we do next?"

After taking her time openly admiring Muen’s body, Ariel—determined not to lose the initiative again the way she had during the kiss—suddenly found herself at a loss.

Even though this was not the first time she had seen a man’s body, facing it like this at close range was entirely different. The sheer intimacy of the moment overwhelmed her, leaving her flustered and uncertain.

“What do I do now?” she asked at last.

Muen showed no sign of stepping in to rescue her. Instead, he only said, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Ariel blinked. “Obvious how?”

“Have you already forgotten the move you’re best at?”

“The move I’m best at? Heavenly Flame Draw?”

“Exactly,” Muen said, smiling. “If you know how to draw a sword...”

Muen took Ariel’s hand and guided it there, a wicked smile tugging at his lips. "Then if you know how to draw a sword... you should know how to sheathe one too, right?"

"..."

Ariel’s eyes widened. Drawing and sheathing... how could those possibly be the same?

But things had already reached this point, and Ariel absolutely refused to let that infuriating bastard—who was clearly enjoying watching her embarrass herself—step in and help. So she followed his guidance and carefully reached out.

The instant she touched him, Muen felt a cool shiver run through him, followed by a sensation so intense it was almost dizzying. Ariel, on the other hand, felt a startling heat, as though what she held might scorch her palm.

"Sheathe it... sheathe it..."

Ariel murmured those two words to herself, throwing all of her usual learning ability and powers of comprehension into the task as she seriously began thinking through just how she was supposed to accomplish this so-called perfect "sheathing"—and, more importantly, how to do it without letting this infuriating man look down on her.

Ariel steadied herself, trying with all her concentration to carry through what she had decided to do.

The moment their closeness deepened, a fierce heat ran through her, leaving her whole body even softer and more unsteady, as though all her strength had been stolen away at once. For a while, she could not manage that final, crucial step no matter how hard she tried.

And so, after who knew how long...

Just as even the stars overhead seemed on the verge of falling asleep, a low, trembling sound slipped from her lips, and the starlight itself seemed to hide shyly behind the clouds again.

That faint sound gradually lengthened, and after crossing some unseen threshold, it slowly changed into something softer, less pained, more unguarded.

It seemed Ariel had finally grasped the trick of the move after all.