Kiyoko, who was usually very mature and enthusiastic, looked extraordinarily weak at this time. The handkerchief that carried Lily’s body fragrance lightly caressed her face, melting the stuffy emotions in her heart.
“Miss Lily…boohoo…” Kiyoko hugged Lily and sobbed in her arms.
Lily was unsure of how to coax a girl to be less infatuated with another girl. Although Kiyoko hugged a little too tightly and her face was buried in her bosom, Lily knew that she was extremely sad. If this could make Kiyoko feel more comfortable, then let her stick as close as she wants…
Was her maternal love overflowing because of the strong feminine charm of the other woman’s body? This kind of thought was pure nonsense; Lily was really moved by Kiyoko’s infatuation.
Sometimes, words of comfort were unnecessary; ‘yourself’ was also a kind of comfort to people. Of course, this was limited to actions such as hugging.
“Miss Lily…smells nice.”
“Eh?” Lily blushed.
Kiyoko took Lily’s hand, as if she was a bosom friend. Although the age gap was not small, Kiyoko was not like Ayaka, who gave off an older sister-like feeling. Perhaps in Lily’s perception, an older sister was supposed to be mature, active, and strong, or something of the sort?
This didn’t mean that Lily was weak, in fact, she felt that she should uphold similar qualities when she became a big sister.
The two women entered the hut. Kiyoko kept her head down, looking at the floor of the hut shyly.
“Miss Lily, please don’t worry. I always scrub the floor carefully as well as change and wash the quilt every time I come here.”
“Eh? Oh…” Lily didn’t understand why she said that specifically, it wasn’t like she was worried about anything.
However, it seemed that the womanly fragrance in this room was left by Kiyoko. Ultimately, after so many years, the residual fragrance left by Sister Ayaka should have mostly disappeared by now.
The two sat down in the room, and the moonlight shone down from the cliff through the window.
“Miss Kiyoko, you have just been appointed as Shrine Master, is it okay to be here now?”
“How can it be? There should be many things, very, very annoying and difficult things, but at least today, I don’t have the courage to face them. Only when I wake up from this hut at dawn can I be fearless…”
“Kiyoko…”
“Miss Lily,” Kiyoko took Lily’s hand and said, “Can you tell me about you and Lady Ayaka? I know that, like me, you love Lady Ayaka very deeply. If not, why would you have attacked that dissenter in public without confirming the authenticity of his words, and even beat him half dead in such an agitated manner? Although it was a well deserved punishment, it can also be seen how infatuated Miss Lily is with Lady Ayaka!”
“Ah, this…” Lily felt her body heat up slightly. She wanted to say that, as long as they were her sisters, no matter what happened, she would put their purity, fate, and reputation above all standards of right and wrong in this world.
In Lily’s heart, her sisters came first. As for right or wrong, hmph, it depended on the time and circumstance! Even if her sisters made a mistake, they had to be protected at all costs!
If her sisters made a mistake, they could only make up for it themselves, and no one else could lay a finger on them. Lily usually seemed to be kind and weak by nature, but in regards to this matter, she was very domineering and completely unreasonable!
Of course, if her sisters really did something unethical or unforgivable, then it was up to them to apologize and make amends!
However, of all the women who could become Lily’s sisters, which among them didn’t have a pure and clean character? How could one of her sisters be a terrible person?
Lily couldn’t answer, so she could only ask back, “Then why did you remain silent when that man slandered Lady Ayaka so much and accused both of you of having a dirty relationship? Don’t you want to protect Ayaka’s reputation?”
Kiyoko blushed and said despondently, “As the person in question, whatever I said at that time would only be a cover up…and…Miss Lily, can you understand my feelings back then? As a woman who has had a crush on Lady Ayaka for many years, being accused in public of having that kind of relationship with my beloved goddess, in addition to being ashamed, in fact…I feel inexplicably happy in my heart… If everyone imagines it to be true, it’s like it’s real…”
“Miss Kiyoko…” Given such a reason, what could Lily say? A woman who loves Ayaka so much in her heart that she finds solace in rumors, how lonely…
“Miss Lily, what about you and Lady Ayaka? Although I know that, nine times out of ten, it is unrequited love, Miss Lily is different from me. No matter where you go, you are the most brilliant in the crowd. Perhaps, one day, Ayaka will pay extra attention to a woman like you, and maybe…”
“Well, that…I…” Lily really didn’t know what to say.
Seeing Lily’s evasive eyes, Kiyoko smiled knowingly and held her hand tightly, “You and her held hands, right? Did you go on a date together?”
Kiyoko looked at Lily’s rosy, crystal-like lips, which seemed to purse subconsciously.
A sharp brilliance flashed through Kiyoko’s eyes, “Could it be that you kissed her?”
“Ah, no…no…”
Kiyoko’s current expression was not jealous, but seemed to be filled with some kind of expectation. Perhaps, she really treated Lily as her bosom friend. It was also a kind of satisfaction to hear her best friend succeed, wasn’t it? So when she heard Lily’s answer, she didn’t breathe a sigh of relief, but a bit of disappointment appeared in her eyes.
Such a woman was rare.
Seeing Kiyoko act like this, Lily only felt that her own mind was a little too womanly compared to hers!
After all, her own soul used to be… Why wasn’t she as tolerant as a genuine woman? Could it be that, with a mind like her own, she was born to be a woman?
“I’m sorry—” Lily bowed her head to Kiyoko, grasped her hand, and unintentionally leaned against her chest as she said, “Miss Kiyoko, I shouldn’t have hid it from you. I…I’ve ki-kissed with Lady Ayaka….”
“Is that so?”
At this moment, Kiyoko’s expression was a little excited and she seemed to be happy for Lily, as if she had already pinned her impossible dream on Lily. Even if Lily and Ayaka had a more intimate relationship, it wasn’t bad to feel happy for her, right?
After ten years of bitter infatuation and separation, she didn’t harbor any jealousy anymore.
“It sounds wonderful…Miss Lily, to have the chance to be with Lady Ayaka… Can you tell me why Lady Ayaka kissed you? Did she take the initiative to kiss you? No, I think it’s unlikely, hehe. Miss Lily is so beautiful, did you deliberately dress up in front of Lady Ayaka? Is it possible that, when Ayaka passed by, you deliberately put on perfume and swished your hair when you brushed against her, so that she would look back at you?”
Hearing such words, Lily was ashamed but felt even sadder. Miss Kiyoko was really too lonely.
“Yes, as Miss Kiyoko said, I deliberately dressed up and put on perfume to seduce her1.” Lily lowered her head and said quietly.
Ayaka took the initiative to forcefully kiss her, even though she desperately resisted and repeatedly rejected her advances and what not. Lily couldn’t say such cruel words to this woman.
“Hmph, is that really the case? Although it’s a bit unreasonable to say this, Miss Lily gives the impression of that kind of woman at first glance.”
“Eh?”
“Haha,” Kiyoko laughed lightly, slightly rubbing her fingers up and down Lily’s palm, “At first glance, Miss Lily is the kind of woman who looks innocent on the outside, but is that kind of woman at heart.”
“No, that’s not true!” Lily slightly furrowed her willowy brows and denied. Even if she was trying to comfort Kiyoko and went along with her guess, it’s unacceptable to be called that type of woman, right?
“But I don’t hate it…”
“Eh?”
“Or rather, I’m a little envious of women like you. My female intuition tells me that Lady Ayaka likes your type… Unfortunately, I can’t do that.” Kiyoko shook her head in a dejected manner.
“No, Miss Kiyoko is also very…” Lily almost blurted out, “Miss Kiyoko is also very…uhm.” The words she was about to say sounded more like criticism than consolation, right?
After thinking for a while, she smiled and looked at Kiyoko tenderly, “Miss Kiyoko is also very attractive and feminine…”
“Really?” Kiyoko’s eyes glowed for a while, “I, am I also feminine?”
Lily wondered to herself just how big of a blow Kiyoko received because of Ayaka’s incident. Her appearance, figure, and aura were all very feminine, so why was she lacking in self-confidence?
“Of course. Objectively speaking, Miss Kiyoko’s figure is also very good… In this Heian world, most people are very short, and women like Miss Kiyoko are definitely the best among them.”
Lily suddenly thought of something. She placed her hand on Kiyoko purely just to comfort her… Purely just to comfort her…
“Ah…” Kiyoko blushed for a moment and her mature body shrank back slightly, “Miss Lily, what are you doing? You should know that both of us are the kind of people who are born to serve strong women like Lady Ayaka. Between us, we can’t…”
“Miss Kiyoko, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not that kind of woman you think I am. I just want to ask, did you mature late?” Lily’s eyes flashed with hints of intelligence.
“Eh?” Kiyoko was startled, “Why, why is Miss Lily asking me this?”
“That… I was thinking that girls can either mature early or late. In their teenage years, it’s normal for there to be differences, right? Maybe, at that time, Miss Kiyoko hadn’t fully bloomed yet, so you didn’t get noticed?”
“I, I’m not sure…” Kiyoko drifted off. Perhaps what Lily said was the truth. Although Ayaka was already feminine in her teenage years, she herself was just a tall, sporty girl with slick short hair and a flat body. Anyway, she naturally looked like the type of person who was a follower for a young lady like Ayaka.
It wasn’t until the following years that she slowly became a mature and charming woman. Of course, Kiyoko was still a young girl at heart.
“Could it be? Will Lady Ayaka treat the present me differently?”
“Miss Kiyoko, why don’t you perhaps go and meet Lady Ayaka?”
For a moment, a glimmer of hope flashed through Kiyoko’s eyes, but it soon disappeared.
“Miss Lily, you don’t need to comfort me… What’s the use of being mature and feminine? Kiyoko is about to wither before I even bloom… Ayaka was born a martial arts genius, and she is destined to ascend to Takamagahara and attain eternal youth. By then, Kiyoko will already be old… Even if I never see her again and let her forget me, I don’t want to let her see my aging face one day…” Kiyoko lowered her head, looking at the miniscule cracks in the floor. She was so beautiful, yet so depressed.
“Miss Kiyoko…” The path of ascension— immortals and mortals, people with different aptitudes and life expectancies, all had different paths. This was the cruel reality of heaven and Lily couldn’t refute.
“Miss Lily, can I…beg you to do something?”
“Hmm? What is it? As long as I can do it, I will try my best.”
Kiyoko’s face turned red, and her eyes rippled slightly like water as she stared at Lily. Her breathing became erratic, but her eyes contained a sense of deep loss, as if she was born a failed woman, “Miss Lily…can you please…punish me2?”
