Healing

In an empty room, Shizuna threw herself onto her bed, pressed her face into her pillow, and stifled her sobs.

What was making her so sad?

That was obvious. Carla had made a child.

Carla suited Ria perfectly. As vexing as it was, she could accept that. There was no one else Ria could entrust her back to other than Carla.

That was precisely why she couldn't bear the thought of Carla hooking up with another man.

"Shizuna, it's me. May I come in?"

It was the voice she least wanted to hear right now. She didn't even want to talk to her.

"I believe there has been a misunderstanding, so we need to talk."

What misunderstanding could there possibly be? She saw no need to discuss anything.

However, Carla was persistent. She called out to Shizuna gently again and again, knocking softly on the door.

Finally, unable to resist any longer, Shizuna opened the door.

Having already removed her dress, Shizuna stood there in practically just her underwear. Not caring about being seen was typical of her.

"May I come in?"

"Go ahead."

Shizuna sat down on her bed as she was. Thinking she would use the sofa, Carla sat down beside her instead.

"Shizuna, you have misunderstood something."

"Misunderstood? You're saying there's some misunderstanding about you shaking your hips for some man and getting knocked up?"

She deliberately spoke harshly, but she couldn't bear to look at Carla's face and see if it had hurt her.

"It is a misunderstanding. And let me also tell you about the creatures known as dragons."

Unable to endure Carla's gaze any longer, Shizuna met her eyes.

Her eyes seemed to draw you in. As if there were no barriers between them, they gazed at Shizuna.

"To begin with, the root cause lies in the fact that both Ria and I carry dragon blood."

That dragons were originally all female creatures, and when necessary, certain individuals would become male to leave descendants.

That Ria and Carla, who had inherited a strong concentration of dragon blood, seemed to possess this characteristic as well.

That after Carla fought against the demons and nearly died, their feelings for each other had intensified, leading to the act.

As a result, even Carla, who should not have been able to bear children, had conceived.

Thanks to having rehearsed this in her head many times, she was able to explain it smoothly.

However, Shizuna was still dissatisfied.

"You know, I… before you met Ria, I slept with her."

That was her sole point of superiority.

But Carla's expression remained unchanged.

"But nothing like that happened at that time."

In other words, Ria at that time had not truly desired Shizuna.

Thinking about that made her want to cry.

Carla gently embraced Shizuna's shoulders.

"There are several possible reasons, but there is one simple way to disprove that."

"Eh?"

Just as Shizuna blinked in surprise, Carla naturally stole her lips.

"… Eh?"

Carla pushed the stunned Shizuna down onto the bed.

"W-w-w-wait, um, Carla, I don't have that kind of preference…"

"It seems I'm fine with either."

"Eeeeh!?"

Carla's hands stripped away Shizuna's underwear using movements she had just learned. Shizuna tried to call for someone… but realized it was incredibly difficult to do so.

"W-w-wait, why…"

"While watching you, I have always thought this."

Carla stared intently at Shizuna.

"That you are cute."

Ria's eyes were eyes that dominated everything. In contrast, Carla's eyes were eyes that drew everything in.

Hostility, malice, even hatred.

She was being swept away.

She would be swept away.

"Shizuna, I love you."

"Eh, but you… Ria is…"

"Those whom Ria loves are also those I love."

Shizuna was confused. But as reality, she couldn't put any strength into her body.

Carla removed her own dress as well. When her naked body was revealed, Shizuna gasped in surprise for the first time.

What was below Carla's abdomen was something that should belong to a man.

"When I thought I wanted to comfort you… something hot emerged from within my body."

Carla's cheeks were flushed as she exposed herself.

"Just as Ria loves me, just as Ria loves you, I also want to love you."

Carla's caresses were similar to Ria's. In response, Shizuna's body also grew hot.

"Shizuna, please. Staying like this is painful… Please… accept me."

Saying that, Carla truly did look pained, sweating, and somewhat cute.

Shizuna spread her knees.

After several bouts of intimacy, Carla erased all traces and slipped back into her dress.

Shizuna lay naked on the bed as if sleeping, but hidden parts of her body bore the marks of Carla's lips.

"Come to think of it, why did it… succeed this time?"

Carla touched the hair of the murmuring Shizuna. Just that was enough to make her feel good, causing Shizuna to convulse.

"There are several things I can think of…"

First, although it was a harsh truth for Shizuna, when she had slept with Ria before, Ria had not yet had the resolve for it.

It was also possible that by mating with Carla, that ability had manifested.

And there was also a matter on Shizuna's side.

"On my side?"

Shizuna tilted her head. She couldn't think of anything.

On that first night, Shizuna had intended to devote her entire being to Ria from the bottom of her heart.

"Yes, but unlike dragons, humans have a reproductive cycle."

Dragons decided their reproduction by their own will. In reverse, they did not mate without the intention to breed.

"I have thought of you as dear for a long time now. However, truly wanting to mate with you… that was just now."

Until then, she had just been trying to comfort her in an ordinary way.

"Most likely… from this mating, you have conceived a child."

It was a shocking statement.

Shizuna instinctively sat up, but her head spun dizzily as if from anemia.

Carla held her firmly.

"This is bad… this is really bad…"

"What is?"

"Because I'm Ria's queen…"

"I don't see a problem."

And then Carla uttered a famous phrase.

"What is Ria's is mine. What is mine is Ria's."

To the dumbfounded Shizuna, Carla continued further.

"You, whom Ria loves, made love with me, whom Ria loves. There is no problem. If need be, I am willing to take all responsibility."

"No, that would really be bad…"

Carla remained composed even at a time like this, but what would Ria think?

"Next time, let's talk with just the three of us. There's no one else we can consult about this…"

That was tentatively decided, but the opportunity for just the three of them to meet proved unexpectedly difficult to arrange.

Because Ria was heading to the dwarven village.