CHAPTER 110: ENVY’S DOUBT; LUST’S TOUCH AND TEASE

[ 30 M till the Cult’s Headquarter, Mel. ]

[ And... try to keep Envy calm, till then. ]

Need you ask?

Mel sighed as her hand clutched tightly onto Lila’s, noticing how her emerald eyes have not blinked even once.

Rosana followed closely, eaving the elf to guard the unconscious Knights.

"Quite a show you did back there." Mel’s cheerful voice tore through the tension. "Think you’ve surpassed Adept rank?"

Lila remained silent, her gaze fixed ahead like a doll.

"Lila?" Her hand raised, then squeezed Lila’s cheek with a playful smile. "Dazing out on me now, huh?"

No response from Lila, yet Mel could watch how her brows twitched in annoyance.

"Come on now~" Mel leaned in, whispering against her ear. "Should I start peeling you off to awake you? The skirt first, perhaps?"

"Oi!"

With a flushed face, Lila’s gaze snapped towards Mel. "Let me fume properly, you dummy!"

"Hehe." Chuckles escaped Mel’s lips, as she petted Lila’s head. "There’s my cute Lila... feeling too frustrated?"

"Mmm..."

Moaning, Lila’s reddened cheeks bloated into a pout again.

Mel couldn’t resist tapping the plush curve of Lila’s cheek.

But this time, the puff stayed stubbornly intact, like a child clinging to a tantrum.

"What’s the matter?"

Sensing Lila’s frustration, Mel’s hand lowered to wrap around Lila’s waist, their steps halting in the sunset-lit forest.

Lila’s eyes squinted, before darting to behind them.

Rosana tinkered with her conjured dagger, leaning at a tree in a distance.

"The competition," she muttered, looking for an excuse. "I lost count."

"That’s a shame." Mel’s voice was low and gentle, as she cupped Lila’s rosy puffy cheek. "You were looking forward to my rewards, weren’t you?"

"Be serious." Lila’s brows knitted together. "Even... even..."

Lila stammered, her confession of guilt tumbling out as she hung her head.

"Even call me strange or anything," she clutched onto her skirt. "I don’t quite know what’s going on with me as well."

Was it mere jealousy within her? Or something more?

Confusion churned in Lila’s chest, her heartbeat frantic with a desperate need.

Meanwhile, Mel’s gaze lingered on Lila’s stubbornly puffed cheeks, yet somehow, the witch’s voice came through crystal clear, as if whispering directly into her mind.

Noticing Mel’s distraction, Lila huffed a dramatic ’pouf’ of air through her lips, cheek collapsing against Mel’s palm.

When she noticed Mel’s trembling lips trying to hold back a laughter, her lips almost pouted again, almost.

"Well, it wasn’t that strange in my eyes." Mel’s thumb twirled around the now-deflated cheek with regret.

"A little out-of-yourself empiphany, if you would like to call it that way."

A little spark flickered over Lila’s eyes, as her hand let go of Mel’s grasp before enveloping Mel’s hand on her cheek.

The memory surged in her mind again; the villagers’ basket, the Knights’ unexpected betrayal, and...

She eyed Rosana to the side, the Heiress’s eyes now feign-slept to grant he couple a private moment.

The discarded Knife gleamed in the grass, a toss-away as careless as her faith in the traitorous Knights.

"It’s not an emiphphany." Lila’s eyes narrowed, her body shaking and melting into Mel’s touch.

"Mel." Then, her gaze snapped back at Mel, now clear and undarkened without shades of malice.

"Do I belong to you?"

Blinking, Mel tilted her head as pink hair fluttered down, her golden eyes subtly hidden behind a curtain of blosson-soft strands.

"Yes." She breathed out. "You belong to me, Lila."

Lila’s eyes glimmered with hope, yet the tiniest despair slipped and shaded her emerald hues.

"Ah... I see." She muttered out. "Then, I think it’s enough."

[ Envy favourability: 89 - 83 ]

The panel flickered at the corner of Mel’s vision; a silent warning to Lila’s little turmoil.

With a little smirk, her palms left Lila’s cheeks, warmths ceasing to hug her Lila’s vulnerable self.

A whimper slipped out Lila’s lips, tears welling at the border of her pupils.

[ Envy favourability: 83 - 78 ]

Then, Mel’s arms quickly lowered-

Before lifting up Lila by her thighs.

"Hic!"

As Lila hiccuped, Mel flashed a teaseful glee at the Heiress.

Squinting, Rosana sighed before turning around and walking away; in full respect for her prey and her rival.

"What’re you.... Mel..."

Lila let out a hushed voice, her palms clutching onto the back of Mel’s uniform.

With a tender smile, she gently strode and settled Lila onto the grassland, her golden eyes now inches away from crying emerald ones.

Their foreheads pressed together, heated breaths mingling as Mel slightly swayed to the side for her lips to graze Lila’s cheek.

"Tell me, Lila." She whispered against her lips. "What were you thinking of just now?"

Lila’s throat clentched itself against Mel’s hot breath, her body squirming against Mel.

"Nothing..." her embrace tightened over Mel’s body. "I-I was not in my mind just now. I..."

She struggled to dodge Mel’s stare, yet their foreheads stubbornly stuck to one another.

Thoughts swelled up in her throat; please take me now, please make me feel I belong to yours.

Mel’s lips curled further up. "Don’t worry. I know all along what you’re thinking."

A stubborn case of jealosy, a refusal to be hurted.

Envy and Lust were natural opposites, yet Mel swelled with pride that Lila had fixated on this truth now, of all times.

"Listen, Lila." Mel chuckled. "I’m going to kiss and bite your neck, if you do not confess of your worry."

Lila’s eyes widened in shock, yet she didn’t pull away

The unspoken question burned inside her: If she remained silent, would Mel go on further?

The sole thought of enjoying Mel’s pampers occupied her head, as she willingly arched her neck in surrender, offering herself freely.

The little ’doubt’ that once took its place almost shattered, in a desperate hunger to be claimed, to be hers.

"Bad girl." Mel narrowed her eyes, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, a pale pink against Lila’s crimson.

"I’ll make you regret it."

One hand crept up Lila’s thigh while the other worked to unbutton her collar.