Once Ena joins them, having literally run from her pymates after they wouldn’t leave her alone, Eleanor has their gear ready to go… Also, she is still ignoring everything he says.

  “…What?” Ena asks after taking a look at the two of them, “Problems in paradise already?”

  Sincir grimaces. “Ena, shut up. Eleanor, please, I know you’re thinking I just go around seducing every girl I come across, but it isn’t like that…”

  As Eleanor swings the backpack over her shoulder and pointedly ignores him, Ena chuckles, causing Sincir to gre at her.

  Fuck, Eleanor didn’t care when he flirted with girls before, so why is it such a big deal now?

  He didn’t take her for the possessive type… And she knew what type of man he was from the beginning, so why is she so upset about this?

  Seeing his expression, Ena ughs some more. “I guess she is finally realizing what it truly means to date a slimy bastard like you…” she sings as Eleanor begins to run ahead of them.

  Realizing Eleanor really won’t listen, Sincir turns toward Ena, who is still looking at him with a stupid grin on her face. “Okay, this is it; Who is the bitch who has been putting these man-hating ideas into your head?”

  Ena frowns. “Don’t talk about Hanna like that.”

  Hanna? The Smiling Horse’s barmaid?

  “…Since when has Hanna been trying to turn you against me? How much have you told her?

  Now looking awkward, Ena averts her eyes from him and shrugs. “She is not trying to turn me against you… And I haven’t told her that much…”

  “Ena,” Sincir warns, his tone serious enough to have her cringe slightly.

  “Look, I never used the word demon, okay? It’s just… She had to deal with a lot of bastards over the years, and she worries about me…”

  Sincir groans. “Ena, have you ever thought about why she ended up having to deal with all of these supposed bastards?”

  Ena blinks. “What…? Sincir, what are you saying?”

  He sighs. “Forget it, I’ll talk with her myself.”

  “What?! No, you won’t!”

  Sincir ignores her in pro of running after Eleanor, who is now a good deal ahead of them and doesn’t look like she is about to stop anytime soon.

  “Sincir, tell me what you mean by that!” Ena shouts from behind him, “Is this revenge because I made fun of you?!”

  “No, this a problem I didn’t realized existed and that now I have to solve!” he shouts back.

  “The fuck does that mean?!”

  “It means I’ll talk to her about being a snake!”

  “Sincir…!”

  Unlike the previous time they’ve jogged together, Eleanor doesn’t bother to lower her pace for the two of them, and she doesn’t stop for any breaks either...

  Impressively enough, she manages to make it back to Elderspire in half the time they took to reach the farm in the morning.

  Not as impressively, Ena immediately falls down once Eleanor finally stops, staring at the sky with wide eyes while panting and cursing softly under her breath; Sincir might’ve made fun of her, if not for the fact he is only doing marginally better, having to rest his hands against his knees as Eleanor talks with the guards at the gate.

  To his eternal annoyance, even then she doesn’t stop, walking through as soon as they let her in…

  Considering she also carried the backpack all the way here, it is obvious her year of adventuring on her own has given her a good deal of stamina more than him and Ena.

  Still, as much as he wishes to follow, Sincir decides not to after taking a gnce toward Ena, who is lying on the ground looking like a fish out of the water.

  “Hey, dumbass, people are staring…”

  “Fucking let them, it’s not like I’m wearing a skirt…”

  Ena’s breathless answer has Sincir chuckling; Nothing like feeling tired enough to lie on the ground to have you not caring for what people may or may not think anymore.

  “…Hey, dumbass, what are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?”

  As Varzath lies down next to her, Ena throws him a look which makes it clear she thinks he has finally lost his mind… Though she seems too tired to rebuke him further.

  “…This is surprisingly nice,” Sincir murmurs after a moment of intertwined heavy breathing.

  “…Shut up. What this is is the lowest point of my life…”

  Sincir ughs. “Stop being so overly dramatic. I was about to say it reminds me of the orphanage… Before I met you, I used to lie down on the ground to read a lot.”

  “…Sorry for ruining your nice, quiet orphanage life with my drama.”

  “Naw... Before we met, I was about to go insane from boredom… Do you have any idea with it’s like to be an adult in mind, surrounded by eight-year-old children? Your drama was a nice change of pace.”

  Ena snorts. “I remember how you beat up those boys that time… And now that I think about it, I have not seen you as angry ever since.”

  “Being able to keep your cool during a crisis is one of the most important characteristics of a leader… I won’t pretend I’m in perfect control of my emotions, but I have to do better than most, in order to accomplish my objectives.”

  “Yeah, I imagine it must be hard to juggle all of these women without a good bnk face…”

  Knowing she is purposefully teasing him this time, Sincir rolls his eyes. “Shut up; If you’re so jealous, start collecting boyfriends and then see what that feels like.”

  “…Sin, about Hanna-”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on her.”

  Well, he’ll try, anyway.

  “…It’s a nice sky.”

  “It’s pretty, yeah... But we can’t just stay here all day.”

  “You just want to catch up with Eleanor so you can beg for forgiveness… What did you do this time, anyway?”

  “I was making out with a girl from the farm. I thought Eleanor wouldn’t mind it too much… Clearly, I was wrong.”

  Ena grimaces. “Ugh. Didn’t you guys start going out for real less than a day ago? You’re like, the worst boyfriend ever. Does Esme know you go after every girl you come across?”

  “I don’t go after every girl I come across… I admit flirting might a bit of a bad habit for me, but it’s not like I’m purposefully trying to…”

  Realizing his expnation is far from convincing, Sincir suddenly presses his hands against his temples, curling up as he groans out loud.

  “Fucking hell, never mind! I like pretty girls, okay?! And I like flirting with them! Is that a crime?! Those idiots knew who I was when they jumped in bed with me, so why am I now suddenly responsible for their jealousy?!”

  No, Esme has been a very understand girlfriend, so the only problem is Eleanor, really…

  Blinking, Sincir realizes Ena is now staring at him with a look of bare disgust on her face, which causes him to clench his teeth.

  “…So what if I am a terrible boyfriend? Think whatever you want.”

  After a moment of locked stares, Ena snorts. “I guess it’s a bit soon to judge your qualities as a boyfriend yet… But you’re wrong about Eleanor. I don’t think she is jealous.”

  “…She’s not?”

  “From what I know about Eleanor, I bet knowing she is not enough for you hurts her pride a lot… And that you’d choose to make out with some other girl when she is right there must have really stung. So, rather than her being jealous, I’d say her pride and self-esteem were hurt by what happened… What? Why are you looking at me like this?” Ena finishes, frowning at him.

  “No, that was just… Surprisingly insightful for somebody without any experience.”

  Ena grimaces. “I’ll never help you again.”

  “Wait, that was a compliment!”

  “My ass it was.”

  Sincir smiles at her. “Okay, I’m about to go after Eleanor now. We’ll be back for lunch, so you if you want something from the city, now would be the time to ask…”

  “…We’re almost out of salt.”

  Sincir groans as he rises, then smiles toward Ena, offering her his hand.

  She sighs, though she doesn’t really hesitate before accepting his help…

  Thanks to their badges, they don’t have any problems getting through the gate, and since Ena is walking home, while he is going after Eleanor, who has most likely headed for the guild, they soon say goodbye.

  Once alone, Sincir begins to think on what he might be able to say in order to appease Eleanor.

  …Should he buy flowers on the way to the guild?

  No, he doubts she would care about something like that; If anything, making a scene would probably make her madder…

  Unfortunately, he isn’t able to think of a good, sure way to apologize on his way to the guild, and so, Sincir decides to go with good old honesty.

  Coincidentally, he spots Eleanor coming out as he arrives, which brings an ironic smile to his lips.

  “Hey…”

  Once Eleanor grimaces and attempts to walk past him, Sincir steps in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

  As she gres at him, he scratches his head.

  “Look, I’m sorry.”

  “…Is that all you have to say?”

  “Yes? I mean, other than an apology, I’m not really sure what you want from me… We both know I’d be making an empty promise if I said something like this will never happen again.”

  “So you’re saying I should just learn to live with it? You call that an apology?”

  “No, not really; We could always talk about things you find acceptable and things you don’t… For example, if it’s easier for you not to see or know about what I’m doing with other girls, then I wouldn’t tell you… Though you might consider just breaking up with me and looking for a monogamous retionship, at that point.”

  Eleanor stares at him for a moment, then shakes her head, averting her gaze from his. “…You really don’t give a shit if I break up with you or not, do you…? I suppose I was the one who forced this whole thing to happen, so I-”

  Sincir groans, interrupting her as he throws his hands up in frustration. “No, that’s not it…! You’re right in that you started things between us, but I would feel bad if you broke up with me right now… You think I enjoy apologizing like this? Or that I would’ve spend the entire morning after you if I just didn’t care? If you left your little world of self-hatred for a second, you’d see that I have always cared about you… If not sexually, then as a friend and pupil, and even more than breaking our current boyfriend/girlfriend retionship, I’d be even sadder if you suddenly started to hate me…!”

  Seeing as Eleanor is now staring at him through a sidelong gnce, Sincir smiles self-deprecatingly.

  “…I’m just horny and greedy, so I can’t choose one thing over another; Like when you were trying to save Ena, and I risked having the both of you killed, rather than choosing one. Or when I was still a king in Hell, and I decided to gamble everything for a chance of a better future, rather than accepting things as they were…”

  Realizing he is mumbling, Sincir grimaces.

  “…Hey, stop staring at me and say something,” he says after it becomes clear Eleanor is not going to speak of her own accord.

  “…How bad?” she murmurs.

  “What?”

  “If I broke up with you right now, how bad would you feel?”

  …Is she serious?

  After taking a moment to confirm that Eleanor is indeed asking him the question seriously, Sincir gres at her. “I’d be driven to tears,” he retorts drily, before continuing on a more normal tone, “Then I’d go home tonight and cuddle with Esme until I’m feeling better. From there on, every time I saw you on your stupid training clothes, I’d feel like shit, which means Esme would be seeing a lot more action-”

  Eleanor grimaces. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?”

  “How bad?” Sincir repeats in a exaggerate high pitch, causing Eleanor to kick him, or at least try to, seeing as manages to jump out of the way in time.

  For a short moment, they gre at each other, before Eleanor averts her eyes away again. “…Okay, I get it.”

  “You do?” Sincir asks, unable to keep the surprise from his voice.

  Eleanor throws him a dirty look, but then sighs. “Yes, I get it. I can’t expect you to become a different person just because we are in a retionship now, especially when I knew what I was getting myself into, from the beginning… More importantly, I suspect beating myself every time you chase after some girl is going to bring me far more suffering than it will you.”

  “…Thank you. And for whatever it is worth, I really didn’t think you’d become so upset about this, or I wouldn’t have done-.”

  “Shut up, I’m not done; I’ll have to think for a while about what I would or wouldn’t find acceptable, but don’t assume I’ll just let you do whatever you want, whenever you want.”

  Once another moment goes by and she doesn’t say anything else, Sincir rolls his eyes. “Okay, are you done now?”

  “…I’m still mad, and it isn’t going away,” Eleanor admits, crossing her arms aas she tightens her jaw.

  “Well, I have some stuff to take care of today, and I was going to invite you to come with, before all of this happened, but I’ll understand if you want to stay away from me for a while.”

  “…What sort of stuff?”

  As she throws him a sidelong gnce, Sincir shrugs. “Normal stuff? I have some things to buy for the house, then I need to find No’s knight and somehow talk to him without anyone noticing… After that, I suppose I’ll pass by the tavern to have a talk with Hanna, and at sundown, I’ll head to Victoria’s pce, since I need to have a talk with her, too…”

  Eleanor sighs. “Sounds like a terrible date.”

  “I never said it was a date; I was actually hoping for a hot side-kick to grope whenever I get bored,” Sincir says, grinning as he raises his eyebrows suggestively at her.

  Eleanor sighs again, walking past him. “Does your side-kick get to go home and change before being groped in public...?” she murmurs.

  “We’ll head home for lunch after going through the market… C’mon, it’s going to be fun,” Sincir says, matching his pace to hers, “We can role-py I’m your whipped boyfriend for today, and you can tell every girl we meet that you’re my girlfriend while holding my arm possessively…”

  “Yes, what a wonderful experience it’d be to have everybody thinking I’m into children…” Eleanor retorts dryly.

  Sincir ughs. “I’ll pay for whatever you want, and you can have me carry all the bags…”

  “…Can I make you wear a colr, and walk around on all fours?”

  Sincir blinks, then shrugs. “Not in public,” he retorts.

  Eleanor misses a step, then throws him a weird look which grows to be a measuring one over time.

  “…What?”

  “…Are you serious?”

  He raises an eyebrow at her. “Do you really want to dog-walk me?”

  “…Let me dog-walk you, and I’ll forgive you for Sira.”

  “First off, it amazes me you remember her name; Second off, when I mentioned role-pying as your whipped boyfriend, that is not what I had in mind…” Having said as much, Sincir sighs. “But if this is what will finally appease your wounded ego, then fine.”

  Eleanor blinks.

  “…Be nice,” he warns her, “And you better be on your best behavior until then, or it won’t happen.”

  “…Does that mean being your good, whipped girlfriend in public?”

  “You want to dog-walk me? Then yes.”

  Eleanor smiles. “Can I be as mean as I want when it happens?”

  Sincir grimaces. “Didn’t I just…? You know what, fine.’

  “Can I have Esme watching?”

  Sincir grimaces further. “I’ll think about it.”

  “After you made me beg yesterday, you said you’d do something for me…” Eleanor reminds him.

  Sincir groans. “Fine, you can do whatever, and you can invite Esme! But I’m warning you, rough py makes me lose my cool sometimes, and I’m not taking responsibility for what may happen if you push it too far…”

  Sincir groans again as he realizes Eleanor is no longer listening, her eyes having drifted away from him as her lips showcase a small, thoughtful smile…

  Ugh, how long has it been since he agreed to something this submissive?

  He doubts a walk around the bedroom will satisfy Eleanor; Right now, she is probably thinking about how to make the most out of this, which is to say, how to humiliate him the most throughout the whole thing…

  Whatever, she can do her worst and it’ll probably be something fairly nice by demon standards; He’ll survive it, and so will his ego.

  …How bad could it really be?

  Sincir is still grooming by the time they reach the market, which is fairly busy at this time of the day. Looking at Eleanor’s bright smile as she haggles for stuff, one might think she had the best morning of her life.

  “…Listen, Missy, the best price I can give you is two copper a gram; Any less than that, and I’ll be losing money…”

  Poor man. Stared by those cold blue eyes, he is probably counting the seconds until she goes away from his stand.

  Do you see, my friend, what he has to deal with every day…?

  …Well, at least the view is nice whenever Eleanor is around; And wherever Ena might have to say on the matter, after their dog-walking talk, he is going to stare as much as he damn wants.

  “Go ahead and take a feel, if you’re going to stare at it so much.”

  “Naw, I’ll leave it for tonight.”

  “So, am I invited to your room again?”

  “Only if you’re okay with sharing.”

  “Didn’t you promise Ena a massage today?”

  “Your point?”

  “…Nothing.”

  “Do you want one as well?”

  “…Maybe.”

  Sincir chuckles.

  As they make small talk, it doesn’t take long for their market trip to pass by, and soon they are on their way home with a couple of extra bags.

  “…Everything has been so expensive ter,” Sincir grumbles as he calcutes how much they’ve spent at the market, “Unless we start grabbing better contracts soon, we’ll have to tap into our savings to feed ourselves…”

  Eleanor rolls her eyes. “It’s almost like our household gained three new members, all of a sudden…”

  “Hey, Rez was not my idea.”

  “As you keep saying.”

  “It’s more fun with more people, right?”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  “C’mon, don’t you miss the times when you had your own pack of groupies, following your every command?”

  At this, Eleanor throws him a sidelong gnce. “If by that you mean my friends from the orphanage, I won’t deny I was the leader of our group, but I never thought of them as mere underlings; They were my actual friends.”

  Sincir smiles at her. “Did you ever fuck any of them?”

  Eleanor grimaces. “Creator, do you ever think about anything other than sex?!”

  Sincir shrugs. “Sometimes, I consider… Naw. Well, did you?”

  Eleanor grimaces further, then averts his eyes from him. “Yes, I fucked most of them.”

  He blinks.

  “...Why do you look so surprised? I told you about my problem.”

  Sincir curses under his breath. “If I knew you girls were having so much fun together, I’d have joined in…”

  Eleanor sighs. “It wasn’t as fun as you might think. We had to do it hidden, and none of us knew much about sex… Besides, none of them were lesbians, so they’d humor me a couple of times for the sake of their curiosity, then begin to masturbate by themselves…”

  Seeing as Eleanor now has a carefully neutral expression on her face, Sincir decides not to tease her about the whole thing; Clearly, these are painful memories for her.

  “…I’m sorry things didn’t work out with any of them.”

  She sighs again. “It was for the best, since I had always pnned to leave, in the end. I regret not having said goodbye, but they’re safer on their own.”

  “…Did you ever try any of the boys?” Sincir asks, after a moment of silence has gone by.

  Eleanor throws him a look. “Can you imagine me sucking up to any of those losers?”

  Sincir smiles at her. “I’m imagining you sucking something, right now.”

  Eleanor grimaces. “Another comment like that, and that painting is staying in your imagination.”

  “C’mon, I can tell Esme to role-py as one of your friends…”

  Beginning to walk faster, Eleanor grabs the bridge of her nose. “I should never have told you anything…”

  Arriving at their rented house, Sincir is immediately assaulted by the smell of food as he opens the door.

  Evidently having heard their entrance, Ena takes a peek from the kitchen’s doorway, smiling once she spots the bags in their arms.

  “Hey, you’re back already! Did you make up?”

  “For somebody who hates the fact we’re together, you sure take a lot of interest in our retionship…” Sincir retorts, which has so Ena sticks her tongue at him.

  “Sincir back?” a new voice interjects, belonging to Rez, who then also peeks at them from the kitchen’s entrance, red eyes wide with curiosity. “…That is?”

  “Mostly food,” Sincir tells her, “Since we have so many more mouths to feed now.”

  Rez nods seriously. “Winter coming. More food always good.”

  Rolling her eyes, Ena messes up the half-goblin’s hair. “Food does become more expensive in the winter, but you don’t have to worry about starving anymore, Rez; We’ll take care of you from, now on.”

  Rez blushes, quickly moving her head away from Ena’s hand as she lowers her gaze and runs back into the kitchen.

  Watching her go, Ena smiles. “I was trying to teach her how to cook, but it’s a work in progress…”

  “I’m sure she’ll learn it soon enough. Can you put these away for me? I was thinking of taking a bath, before lunch is ready.”

  “…It won’t take that long, but suit yourself.”

  “Where are the girls?”

  “Out in the sun, talking about books, st I saw them.”

  Well, now that he thinks on it, Esme did meet No at the library before, maybe even more than once…

  Sincir is mid-step toward their yard by the time No storms into the house, expression livid, and walks past him, climbing the stairs two steps at a time.

  Once the door to one of the rooms upstairs sms closed, he cringes.

  Just what in…