The Genius Son-in-law of the Swordmaster Household—Blessed by Authority

Chapter 167 : Red Rose (1)

Red Rose (1)

- Chirp, chirp! Chirp, chitter!

The sound of birds singing came from outside the window.

Blinding morning sunlight squeezed through the gap in the curtains and shone on Ian's eyes.

"Ugh..."

Ian tried to rise, but stopped at the soft sensation that was binding him.

"..."

His gaze slowly turned to both sides.

On his left, Yuria lay fast asleep, using Ian's arm as a pillow, oblivious to the world.

Her tousled blonde hair, lips red and swollen, and a white shoulder peeking out from under the quilt.

On his right, Sophia was clutching Ian's waist like a bamboo wife, legs entwined with his, mouth agape as she slept.

"..."

The bed sheets were a complete mess, and their clothes were scattered haphazardly on the floor.

Red marks were spread everywhere on the bed and their bare skin.

Traces of last night's intense passions.

"... Ah."

Ian ran both hands down his face.

He remembered. Vividly.

He tried to stop the two who had lost all reason under Rosalia's drug, but in the end, he too got swept up.

And after that... things he couldn't dare put into words.

Yuria's touch, bold beyond imagining.

Sophia's voice, clinging on to the end, on the verge of tears.

And himself, tormented the whole night as he dealt with the two at once.

They had crossed a line. Terribly so.

'It's my responsibility.'

It was true the two had pounced on Ian first, but ultimately, the cause was the drug Ian brought from Rosalia, and failing to stop them to the end was clearly his responsibility as well.

Moreover, to take both their precious first experiences at the same time, in this way...

His relationships with those who had been, on the surface, his liege lord and childhood friends, had become complicated and subtle after last night.

How on earth was he supposed to resolve this tangled situation?

'What should I say when they wake up...?'

No, was this even a situation that could be resolved with words?

Ian's mind spun round and round.

Even more daunting than the hardest battles of his previous life.

"Ugh..."

At that moment, Yuria stirred and opened her eyes.

Her crimson pupils met Ian's gaze.

"... Oh?"

Silence.

Yuria, staring blankly at Ian, slowly let her gaze drop.

Ian's bare chest. The scattered red kiss marks left on it.

And beneath the quilt, the unmistakable feeling of bare skin against hers, unadorned by anything.

"... Hic!"

Instantly, Yuria's pupils quaked violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

Last night's memories flooded in like a tsunami.

"He, heek...!!"

Memories of forgetting all shame and rushing at Ian, pushing him down.

Moments of excited moans that she could hardly believe had come from her own mouth, flooding her mind.

Yuria's face instantly turned red, like a ripe tomato.

― Poof!

She hurriedly pulled the quilt up over her face.

"Ah, ahhhh...!"

A muffled scream leaked out from under the covers.

All the fuss made Sophia stir and open her eyes as well.

"Mm... Young master...? Gasp?!"

The moment Sophia's eyes opened and landed on Ian, she swallowed a gasp.

And then, noticing her leg entwined with his between his legs.

Her underwear rolling around under the bed.

It didn't take Sophia long to recall yesterday either.

"I-it wasn't a dream!?"

― Thud!

"Kuhk!"

Sophia scrambled away suddenly and bonked her head on the bed's headboard.

"So, Sophia. Are you alright?"

"Eek! Oh no! Oh nooo!"

As Ian reached out in concern, Sophia darted into the covers as well.

"Ah, ahhhh...!"

"Kyaaaa...!"

Two lumps beneath the quilt shrieked muffled cries from both sides of the bed.

"..."

Ian slowly leaned back against the bed's headboard and wetted his dry lips.

'This is an important moment. Everything depends on how I handle this now.'

If he were to panic or get flustered along with them, the relationships would become impossibly tangled.

Ian looked up at the ceiling once and, as if making up his mind, opened his mouth to speak.

"... It's my responsibility."

He tried to keep his tone as even as possible, but the end of his voice trembled slightly.

"Ugh, ugh..."

"Uuuu..."

Moans of distress still came from beneath the covers.

Ian didn't forcibly pull the covers away.

Instead, in a calm voice, he laid bare his honest feelings.

"What happened last night... was my fault. Because of the drug I brought, I made things difficult for you both. I should have stopped you, but I didn't. I couldn't keep myself under control to the end, either."

Ian paused briefly.

The two lumps beneath the covers had fallen silent, waiting for his words.

"But... While it was definitely a mistake and an accident at first, everything after that was my will. Unlike you two drugged, I was still in my right mind."

The two lumps under the blankets flinched at the same time.

Ian braced himself against embarrassment and continued.

"If I had tried to stop, I probably could've. But I didn't. I just couldn't fight my own desire. Or maybe..."

Ian hesitated, then confessed his true feelings.

"Maybe I wanted it even more. I wanted to hold you both in my arms, to make you mine."

Not something done under the influence, or by mistake, but an outright declaration that he had chosen and willed to take them.

"What happened yesterday was, for me, neither an accident because of the drug, nor a mistake of impulse. I meant every single moment last night."

Ian slowly reached out and groped for their hands inside the covers.

For a moment, there was hesitation.

But then, Yuria and Sophia's hands found his and gripped them tightly.

"... Lady Yuria. And Sophia."

Ian's voice was firm.

"Criticize me for my selfishness if you must. I'll gladly accept any punishment you want to give. But..."

He squeezed their two hands in his.

"I don't want to let either of you go. Please stay by my side. I swear on my life to take responsibility for you both for the rest of my life."

Before he knew it, the trembling and moaning from under the covers had stopped completely.

Soon after—

― Slide...

Two faces, red as beets, timidly peeked out from under the quilt.

Not daring to meet each other's eyes, both women held Ian's hands with faces so red they looked about to burst.

Embarrassment flickered in their eyes, but deeper still was a thick excitement and relief.

"Well then..."

A bolt from the blue shot from Yuria's mouth.

"Let's do it again. Right now."

"Oh..."

Sophia, beside her, looked delighted.

"Huh?"

Their reactions were far beyond anything Ian had expected.

* * *

After that night, the atmosphere in Sunshine Castle grew subtly different.

The way Ian, Yuria, and Sophia treated each other became all the more intimate and affectionate.

On the surface, they still maintained their liege and friend relationships, but only they knew the secret glances and physical contact that were now part of their daily excitement.

'I never thought things would work out this well.'

With the resolve to support Ian, Yuria and Sophia now cooperated at every moment and had forged a strange camaraderie.

Maybe it was thanks to that.

Even this complex, delicate triangle was somehow permitted to flow naturally.

'This is what I've been striving for all this time, huh.'

It felt like all his years of hardship were being rewarded at once.

'But I can't forget my mission just because I'm drunk on this happiness.'

He needed to do more to protect this happiness.

He had to defeat the Grand Dukes of the demon realm and save the world.

He couldn't just stay forever in their warm embrace.

He had to, if he wanted to keep their happiness as well.

"..."

A few days later.

Ian sat at his desk in one corner of a room where the heat of passion still lingered.

On the desk was a small glass vial.

The blood of the captain of the 'Scarlet Spider Assassination Squad' who had been disposed of during the Nightingale raid.

'Through the info from this guy, I'll be able to seize the tail of the Cult of Lust.'

Ian opened the vial, inhaled the scent of blood deeply, and activated Bloodscent Mind Reading.

― Sss...

With the bloody scent, the memories of the man flooded into Ian's mind.

[Failure will not be tolerated. Understood?]

A woman commanding the Scarlet Spider assassination squad's captain.

A lazy, yet sharp voice.

A woman of such mesmerizing beauty that she'd enchant with every breath, covering her mouth with a red fan.

'Archbishop of Lust. Vanessa.'

Ian identified her at once.

She was a woman found in the memories of captured Cult Leaders.

The right hand of Rosalia, Sin of Lust Cult Leader.

She was in the neutral border city Belua, on the border between the Roderun Empire and the Kingdom Alliance.

There, the most extravagant social club: the Red Rose Salon.

'This guy was no ordinary assassin. He was Vanessa's closest aide.'

Thanks to that, Ian learned of Vanessa's schemes.

'The Puppet Banquet.'

A plan to kidnap or lure major figures from around the continent, then brainwash them with a special drug.

Those brainwashed would appear normal, but when Vanessa pulled the trigger, they'd become terrorists or spies, stealing secrets.

'Even Hisperion's people are involved, huh.'

He couldn't let the Demon Cult have free rein over the upper echelons of humanity.

His goal was set.

The Red Rose Salon in Belua, where Archbishop Vanessa of Lust was.

He would defeat her, put a stop to these plots, and determine the location of Sin of Lust Cult Leader, Rosalia.

― Rustle.

Just then, the sound of blankets being clutched from behind.

"... Ian?"

Yuria was getting up from the bed, her face still groggy.

Ian stood and walked over to the bed.

"You're awake."

"Mmm... You're working already? You barely just fell asleep."

Yuria mumbled, cuddling her blanket.

Her gaze, mellowed—or rather, still warm—from their earlier intimacy.

"I have somewhere I need to go for a while."

"Mmm. Young master? Going out?"

Sophia rustled under her blanket and sat up as well.

"Where? It's not somewhere dangerous again, is it?"

Ian smiled softly.

"No need to worry. I'll be back soon. Just rest. I'll bring back a present."

"Tch... Just don't get hurt. That's the best present."

"Yeah, Ian. Make sure to call at night! We have to check you're safe every day."

"I understand. Please look after Sophia while I'm gone. Sophia, take care of Lady Yuria too."

With the two women seeing him off, Ian left Sunshine Castle.

* * *

Neutral border city Belua.

A city of pleasure that shines even more brilliantly at night.

Magic power lamps glimmered golden along every street, and the sounds of drunks and barkers mixed into a noisy scene.

At the heart of the city, the most dazzling building of all.

The Red Rose Salon stood in all its glory.

"Hmm..."

Ian sat atop a high spire in the city, looking down at the salon.

At the main entrance, burly guards stood watch, and noblemen's carriages came and went without end.

'I could try smashing my way through...'

But if he caused too big a commotion, vanessa might run away.

'Let's look for a backdoor.'

― Flash!

Ian began to move.