In Love With the Strongest Man
Translator: Shizukuku
Editor: Evelet
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Arc 1 The Strongest Man and the Cursed Merchant
Chapter 7 Self-Awareness
“…is that so?” Ideal asked me.
To be honest, I had been bluffing.
Ideal seemed to be much younger than me, yet he was much more skilled than I was in every aspect.
So I felt the need to hide the fact that it was my first time.
I’d heard it was shameful for a man to have no sexual experience.
I didn’t want Ideal, who looked at me with sparkling eyes, to think that I was an embarrassing person.
And yet, for some reason…
–I felt a chill in the air around Ideal.
I couldn’t see Ideal’s expression as he slumped down.
His hand was still holding mine gently, but I felt as if I was in the presence of something terrible.
“–Shuka-san. There’s something else I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
His voice sounded the same as usual, however, it contained no emotion. It was as if the warmth and joy had been drained out of his voice.
“The pain in your leg can be controlled with a kiss, but that’s not enough to treat the body of the curse.”
“The body of the curse?”
“Shuka-san is abnormally hated by others. That’s also part of the curse, right?”
“Ah, yes. I believe so.”
Ideal got up on the bed and sat next to me, not letting go of my hand.
For some reason, I couldn’t look at him.
I lowered my gaze and had no choice but to stare at my own toes.
Ideal continued to speak as he looked forward.
“It will take something deeper to suppress the main body of the curse. In other words – you will have to have sex with me.”
“Sex.”
“Yes.”
I needed a moment to digest that.
Sex.
Sex was necessary to suppress the curse that was created by Ideal’s ancestors.
“…So you’re saying that Ideal’s family has always had sex to keep the curse at bay…?” I inquired.
I was a bit taken aback indeed.
That was being too devoted. The person could have a disease or something that could be transferred through sex. You never knew what kind of lifestyle a cursed person might have lived, so you had to be very vigilant.
“What? No, I didn’t. I didn’t! And there aren’t even that many cursed people to begin with.” Ideal responded.
“Oh, I guess so.”
Certainly, I’d never seen anyone else under a curse except for me.
“But, only sex can keep the curse at bay?” I continued as I sighed inwardly.
If you’re talking about mucous membrane contact and the exchange of bodily fluids that goes deeper than a kiss, then surely sex would be the only way to go.
“…Then I guess I have no choice but to give up.” I agreed at last.
The disappointment felt greater because there had been a glimmer of hope.
Since the curse has been strengthened by some conditions being met, the part of the curse that made others feel disgusted by me must have been strengthened as well.
It was strange that the curse didn’t seem to have any effect on Ideal, but I guess that had something to do with the fact that the curse was created by Ideal’s ancestors.
Things were bad enough for me already, and I really didn’t want them to get any worse.
But that didn’t mean I could have sex with Ideal.
Ideal was younger than me.
And he was beautiful. Really, really beautiful.
When I first saw him, my heart, which had been so troubled by the curse, lightened up just from seeing his spectacular beauty.
I was not going to ask Ideal to have sex with such a small, old man.
My face was average at best.
Underneath my clothes I was scarred and ugly, and it would be difficult for me to serve him because I couldn’t move my body well.
Besides, I heard that men have sex with each other using their asses.
That was impossible.
Asses were meant to be used for pushing stuff out, not for putting things in.
“Shuka-san, by any chance, have you never had sex before?”
“Hm? No… That can’t be true. I have at least a little experience.”
“I see… was the other party a woman?”
“That’s, well, yes.”
I used to have a fiancée, but it was decided between our families and I never even saw the other’s face properly.
But it would be more natural for a man to claim he had sex with a woman, rather than with another man.
–Although, admittedly, I didn’t have any experience with either.
I was starting to feel a little vapid.
How much longer did I have to keep pretending to be experienced? I couldn’t wait for this conversation to be over.
“Shuka-san.”
“What–?”
I was about to reply when a hand was placed on my chin and I was made to turn my face toward Ideal.
His face was so close that I could see his eyelashes clearly, and our lips met.
I was expecting another deep kiss, but our lips soon parted.
However, before the feel of his breath on my skin went away, they overlapped again.
The kiss made me very conscious of the softness and heat of his lips.
The sweet sucking and occasional gentle bites stole my shuddering breath away.
“I-Ideal.”
“Hm? What is it?”
Just a fraction of a second after our lips parted, I held Ideal’s shoulder to stop him from continuing.
Before I knew it, Ideal was smiling as he looked down on me from above.
I was still in the same position, but for some reason, the air felt tense.
“Are you mad at me?” I questioned.
“Eh?” Ideal rolled his eyes in surprise.
He held me captive with his gaze, silently contemplating something for a moment.
“Uh, yeah. So, that is…” I mumbled.
Eventually understanding something, Ideal nodded.
“I’m not angry. I’m sorry, Shuka-san. Were you scared?”
“I wasn’t scared.”
That wasn’t a lie.
Ideal was upset, but the first thing that came to my mind was worry.
Had I offended him in some way? Or did I remind him of something unpleasant?
“I see. Thank you, Shuka-san.”
Ideal smiled and dropped a light kiss on my cheek. “So, we still have something to talk about.”
“Do we? Oh… Come to think of it, we didn’t finish what you were saying before.”
I had almost forgotten.
Ideal said he had something he wanted to discuss with me, but then he started talking about sex.
“Would you like to try it?” Ideal offered.
“Try what?” I asked back, and Ideal gave me a fresh smile.
“Have sex with me, Shuka-san.”
–No way, I needed to run away.
“Don’t say no,” he said, drawing me close.
“Please, Shuka-san,” he whispered again and again.
He told me it was okay, that I didn’t need to be afraid, and that he would be gentle with me.
He hugged me and tried to persuade me.
I was the one who gave in.
“Okay, okay, I get it!”
“I’m so happy! I’ll make you feel so incredibly good!”
“But I don’t even know how this is done between men…?!”
“That’s alright. You can leave it all up to me.”
I said okay, but my head was full of questions.
Why did it feel like I was being seduced by Ideal?
