[Book of Eros] Chapter 112 - Morning at the inn, morning at the house. (Patreon)

Leonardo finished putting his clothes on, giving the hot spring a final, melancholic look. He was gonna miss that thing.

“So at what time did you say you had your date with this woman?” Lucia asked him as she buttoned up her shirt.

“11:30, but I promised to make us lunch,” Leo answered.

“And you said she already knows everything?”

Leo nodded. “Mrs. Wisler told her everything.”

“I know this thing is not exactly a secret, but I still don’t like outsiders knowing about us,” Lucia said.

“Seemed like there were special circumstances,” Leo told her, not wanting to reveal more than that.

“Guessed as much.” She sighed. “I’m the one who pushed for you to be more proactive, but I didn’t expect you to act this quickly.”

Leo frowned as he looked at Lucia. “You’re not upset about this, are you?”

Lucia opened her mouth to speak, but when her eyes met his, she seemed to give up on whatever she was gonna say. “Okay, yes, somewhat,” she admitted reluctantly. “But I won’t make a fuss about it.”

Her look tugged at Leo’s heart. There was a hint of disappointment in her eyes, but at the same time she accepted the situation. It was similar to how Angela and Seina had been looking at him recently.

“…If I don’t do everything I can, in a year’s time, what we did last night won’t happen ever again,” he said for both their sakes.

“Right…” She knew it, of course, but while before she didn’t care, now… Now it seemed she did.

But Leo couldn’t let this bother him, because all these experiences were making him more and more aware of one thing. For the life of him, he would NOT go back to feeling no pleasure, nor would he let the other girls go back to it. If it was torture to want it despite not knowing how it felt, having it taken away from them after tasting the fruit would be ten times worse.

***

They left the inn and went back home by 9:30 am. Having already taken a shower at their inn room, Leo got to work immediately on the two lunch boxes he’d promised. And as he was cooking, the door to the dining room slid open. He still had his eyes on the kitchen, but judging by the weight of the steps and the fact that only two other people in the house would get up at this time on a Sunday, Leo knew it was Angela. He felt her leaning forward on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, looking at him.

“How did it go?” she asked. “Was she a bitch?”

“No,” Leo told her. “I think we’ll be able to get along well from now on.”

“You don’t say?” Angela said with genuine surprise. “You think it has anything to do with you looking even sexier now?”

Leo flinched, and his cheeks started to heat up. “S-So you noticed?”

“Duh, I’m not blind, and I’m always looking at you. Still feels a little weird, though. New Gift?”

“From Seina-san, yeah. Just like what I got from Lucia-san.”

“So that’s a thing? Does that mean you can get Gifts from all of us?”

“Maybe? Seems like it, but it doesn’t say so in the book. Those Gifts are hidden.”

“So you could get mine, too?” He caught a tinge of eagerness in her voice. He didn’t need to think too much about what was going through her head, and Leo liked that about her. Angela wore her intentions on her sleeves, and if everyone else did the same she would believe the world a better place.

“Possible, but if I beat you in a fight like that, I’d feel like I was cheating,” he told her.

“Why? Aren’t I already cheating, then?”

“You have your gift, I have mine. Valerie has hers, too. I think you’ll have more fun if you look for a rival in her instead of me. I feel bad hitting you, while she’s actively trying to grow stronger than you.”

“So that’s how it is,” Angela mused. “We can’t really hold a conversation, but like I said, I’m not blind. That girl has some serious work ethic for someone who can learn so quickly.”

Leo smiled. “She has a big goal in you. And if you don’t step up, she’ll even surpass you before you know it. And I don’t think you’re the type of person to be content going down without a fight.”

Angela’s grin said everything. He’d grown to understand her more, and she liked that. She walked around the kitchen counter, held him by the cheeks, kissed his lips and pulled away. “Good morning, by the way.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled.

“So… are you coming back tonight?”

“I should. Midterms start tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me…” Angela groaned. “Reiko’s a bit of a slave driver when it comes to this.”

“I thought you liked that she cared about your studies?” Leo asked with a teasing grin.

“Well, she cares a little too much.”

“You wouldn’t be reading Japanese as well as you are if not for her.”

“Hey, I never said it was a bad thing. I just don’t like studying. I got held back a year for fighting AND bad grades.”

“Then you better do as she says.”

“And that doesn’t go for you?”

“I study an hour every other night. This week’s been… hectic, but I know I can get a passing grade. Add to that, I can easily pull all-nighters if I need to.”

Silence hit the room when they heard the door sliding open. Seina was there, wearing a red silk nightgown that practically forced Leo’s eyes to turn to her. She looked radiant, even with her messy hair and sleepy, unfocused eyes. Angela didn’t miss the turn of his look, but she simply sighed, went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and said, “I’m going for a jog,” before she left the room, quickly walking past Seina.

The voice actress looked at her go, grimacing as she did and turning to him. “I… interrupted something, didn’t I?”

“We were just talking,” he assured with an easy smile, even if he was disappointed that his talk with Angela was cut short and with her leaving in such a hurry.

“I upset her,” Seina said, regardless.

“All you did was walk in. You don’t need to worry,” Leo assured again, casually continuing his cooking to make a point that it wasn’t a big deal. “You don’t normally get up this early, right?”

Seina nodded. “I wanted a glass of milk.”

“Help yourself. There should be enough for one last glass before we need to open another carton.”

Seina walked to the fridge, got the milk carton and poured herself her glass. But after she did, she stood there looking at him from head to toe for a moment before she shook her head, shot him an apologetic smile and made her way to her room again.

Leo sighed. If last night had felt like he had made some progress, this was just a reminder that he had a long way to go. He finished lunch, packed them in two boxes and put them in his backpack before getting changed into something more light and beach appropriate and heading to the place where he was to meet Victoria White.