[Book of Eros] Chapter 23: Back home. (Patreon)

His good mood was dampened when he got home. Remembering that the old lady had pushed Reiko into this and thinking of having to tell what happened to Angela was enough to do that. When he went back to the dining room, his eyes met Mrs. Wisler across the room where she was doing the dishes. The old lady understood his flat look immediately.

“It seems my meddling wasn’t well received,” she sighed. “I apologize.”

“Huh? What meddling?” Angela asked, looking away from the TV. “What did I miss?”

“Mrs. Wisler told Reiko about us and the Curse,” he said after a sigh of his own. He sat down across from Angela at the table. “Practically made her feel guilty for not helping.”

“I only said the things I said because I knew she’d be willing to help,” Mrs. Wisler said.

“Doesn’t make it right,” Leonardo argued.

“I knew you’d say that, which is why I did it,” the old lady told him. “If I hadn’t done that, it would’ve been, what, three months before you tried anything?”

Leonardo let out a short grunt and turned away from the conversation. Angela only stared at him with curiosity, and silence filled the previously lively dining room.

Mrs. Wisler finished doing the dishes, dried her hands and turned to leave. “I’ll be going to bed now. Congratulations, Mr. Leonardo,” she told him with a small, honest smile before leaving the room.

Man, what an annoying ability.

Once they had heard her going into her bedroom, Angela turned to him again with deepened curiosity and asked. “Congratulations?”

“…” Leonardo massaged the back of his neck, and although he wasn’t looking forward to whichever her reaction would be, there was no point in hiding anything. “Reiko and I are dating now.”

“AH!? Already!?” The blonde’s eyebrows shot up. “I could see you guys were getting close, and it was obvious she liked you, but I didn’t think either of you would make a move.”

“Ah? What do you mean it was obvious she liked me?” he asked with surprise of his own.

“…You’re not that dense, are you?” she asked him flatly.

“I don’t know anymore,” he sighed tiredly, resting his forehead on the table. “I wasn’t even the one to ask her out. It was her.”

“Not very manly of you,” she teased, grinning.

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter,” he grunted.

“So? How far did you go?” she asked.

Leonardo blinked. “It doesn’t bother you to talk about it?”

Angela shrugged. “We talked about this already. I knew it was gonna happen eventually, and now I see Reiko’s a nice girl. The faster things move between you, the better for me.” Then it was her turn to blink. “She knows about… me, right?”

“Yeah,” Leonardo said, tiredly. “And surprisingly she also said she was okay with it.”

“Are you kidding? What kind of magic did you pull on her?”

“Hey, I’m as surprised as you! I bet it was whatever Mrs. Wisler said to her that pushed her that far. I even showed her the book, and she still said she’d accept it. Yelled at me and everything.”

That made Angela laugh, throwing her head back. “Ahahaha! She yelled at you?”

“She can be surprisingly forward, apparently,” Leonardo nodded shamelessly.

“That's just great!” she nodded her approval. “But you didn’t answer. How far did you go?”

Leonardo’s cheek started to heat up at the vivid memories. If he focused enough, he could still feel her warm, soft lips on his. “We just kissed,” he admitted.

Angela narrowed her eyes and leaned forward towards him, making him pull back instinctually.

“How did it feel?”

“Huh?”

“Kissing! How did it feel?” she repeated her question with fervent interest. “Did…” she swallowed. “Did it feel like anything or was is just like sucking on a sponge?”

“…” Leonardo’s jaw half-dropped. He didn’t know if she was asking because she wondered if the curse affected kissing… or because she had simply never kissed anyone before. But he wouldn’t tease her for it. It didn’t feel right. Instead, he’d just answer honestly.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “It was a very tame kiss. We only touched lips. But just that felt… good. It felt right,” he groaned. “I’m not sure how to explain it. But I think it was innocent enough that the Curse didn’t deny me any sensations.”

A smile quickly formed on his lips as he spoke. The feeling was still clear, but hard to put into words. He only knew he wanted to do it again as soon as possible. His smile, however, only made Angela’s eyes narrow further.

“Then… would you kiss me?” she asked.

And just like earlier, he felt his world turning upside-down for a single second and shaking him off balance. Did he hear her correctly? She… wanted him to kiss her? It was an unfair question. Because he wanted to. He very much wanted to. But to kiss another woman only minutes after he got together with Reiko? Wouldn’t that make him a huge bastard?

It was true that their situation was… special. Both Angela and Leonardo shared frustrations and worries they couldn’t expect anyone else to understand, save for Mrs. Wisler, but she had lost her desires already. If she had never kissed anyone before, it meant she didn’t even know if the Curse would affect it. How long had she wondered about that? Did the thoughts bring her sleepless nights, like they did him every so often? But even knowing that, it didn’t feel right to do it without even consulting Reiko. Just going through with it would make his words to her empty. He said he’d try his best not to hurt her. Was he going to break that promise only 20 minutes after seeing her off?

No. He wasn’t.

“Forget it,” Angela said, turning away from him, much to his surprise and relief. “It wouldn’t be fair to Reiko, right?”

Leonardo couldn’t help the smile. “You became good friends with her really quickly.”

“I’ve never been good at schoolwork,” she said, frowning. “But she was stupidly patient with me. She helped me until my assignment was done. Not even a teacher has been that patient with me.”

“I think she likes you, too,” Leonardo told her. “She knows how I feel about you and said she didn’t want to lose to you. But it didn’t sound like she hated you for it.”

Angela snickered. “She doesn’t want to lose to me? That’s rich,” she said with a good-natured smile. “Treat her well, you hear? Of course, the same goes for me. Let’s make it so she doesn’t regret her decision. In the end, she’s helping us both out.”

“Yeah,” ho nodded solemnly and with a small smile. “I don’t want to make her regret this.”