CH 37

“Well then, shall we go?”

Said Xena cheerfully, while riding a horse.

They had already left the stable, and were now just outside of town.

Celia was also riding a horse, and it seemed as though she was used to it.

And as for the black horse, it was quietly obeying Theo’s commands, showing no trace whatsoever of the roughness from before.

“Are you alright? Is it too heavy?”

Asked Theo as he stroke the horse’s neck.

Perhaps the horse understood him, because he quietly curred in response.

“I know it’s hard with the two of us riding, but hang in there.”

Theo was riding the black horse, but just behind him, riding sideways, was Helvi.

Seeing as the black horse allowed Theo to ride it, there should have been enough horses for everyone, but…

“I-I’m sorry.”

“…It’s alright.”

When Helvi tried to sit on top of her horse, it rampaged and would not let her.

No matter how much the employee tried to calm it down, it would rampage every time Helvi got near it, as if being over-stimulated.

The horse became more unruly than even the black horse, and started running, as if to get away from Helvi.

“S-strange… That horse was the calmest of the bunch…”

The employee did not understand, which was only natural.

The horse instinctively knew how dangerous Helvi was, and its calm personality just made even more desperate to escape.

At this rate, Helvi would be left without a horse.

“Hum, Helvi… Do you want to ride with me?”

“…!”

And thus, it was agreed that Helvi and Theo would ride together.

The black horse was also afraid of Helvi at first, but perhaps seeing her with Theo made it at ease.

Helvi was also content with this, and forgave the horse for being caressed by Theo.

Helvi pictured herself riding in front, with Theo closely behind her, but in reality, she would be the one behind Theo.

(Oh well, this is fine… I get to cling to Theo, which was the original goal anyway.)

She sat sideways to make sure Theo she could cling to him as much as possible, and put her left arm around his waist.

“…!”

She could not see his face, but she could see his ears turning red.

She would have preferred to sit straight, as it would increase the area of her body clinging to Theo.

However, if she hugged him from behind in that position, Theo’s head would be placed exactly at the same level as her chest, and the back of Theo’s head would be completely buried in it.

Helvi was fine with it, in fact, she welcomed it, but thought it would embarrass Theo too much.

But since she was sitting sideways, she had to put some force on his waist in order to cling to Theo.

“A-are you alright Helvi? You’re not falling off, are you?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you, I could not feel more stable.”

“I-I see. Great.”

Helvi’s balance would not be thrown off even if she was not clinging so closely. She did not fall off even when the horse that was afraid of her started trashing around, while she was sitting sideways and not holding on to anything.

Even if she did fall off, she would land safely, and would not suffer a single scratch even if she did not.

But still, she clung to Theo.

Theo also realized she would be alright even if she did not hold on to him so tightly, but said nothing about it. The thought of her falling off and getting hurt because he asked her to not hold him so closely would not leave his mind, even though he knew that was very unlikely to happen.

Also, Theo was a man, and he was happy about her grabbing onto him to support herself.

(H-Helvi is holding on so tight… She’s so soft, and smells so nice…)

And of course, he was happy to be so close to the woman he loved.

(Fufu, are you happy… I’m happy as well Theo. Do you want to indulge in my body even more?)

Helvi read Theo’s mind, and pushed her body even closer.

The feeling of something hitting Theo’s back became stronger, and his cheeks became redder.

(You’re so cute Theo…)

Helvi moved her head towards Theo’s right shoulder, to peek at his red face.

“H-Helvi…”

“Theo…”

Theo turned right, and saw Helvi’s face.

If he turned his face further to the right, their cheeks would touch. Just a little further to the right…

“Hey you two! It’s time to go!”

“We’re never going to leave if you don’t stop that.”

Something got in the way at the last second.

Xena and Celia, who were already on top of their horses, could not watch any longer without saying something.

“S-sorry!”

Theo suddenly realized they were being watched, and turned his face forward.

But Helvi took her left arm off Theo’s waist, pushed his chin from the left, and made him face the right side again.

“Hn…”

“Hnn…!?”

She lightly kissed him for about three seconds.

Theo was left in a slight daze, but Helvi put her left arm around his waist again as though nothing happened.

“Hmm, I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“You did it anyway!?”

“And we purposefully stopped you right before you did it…”

“That was exactly why I did it. I do not like being disturbed.”

Helvi grinned, and the other two sighed.

“Dammit. They’re going keep doing this while we’re traveling.”

“If only our horses could carry more than one person…”

The black horse was larger than the other two, and was the only one capable of carrying two people, so Helvi and Theo would be riding together the whole time.

Helvi could actually use magic to make her body lighter, but that was not something she would tell them during this journey.

“Well then, let us start our honeymoon.”

“No no! This is a quest!”

“Don’t pretend we’re not here…”

And then, the four left Nemophila and headed towards the twin mountains.