Chapter 69 – Diana (6)

……What is that sound? At first glance, it sounds like a father who loves his daughter, but the tone is somehow strange. Diana was moving her lips with a blank face. It seemed like she was muttering something, but her voice was too small to hear.

“Diana. Did your father… hug you naked?”
“No.”

…Ha. What was I thinking? Thank goodness.
Even though this is a game world where absurd things happen all the time, a father feeling sexual desire for his daughter who has barely grown out of infancy? That level of perversion doesn’t even exist in Hentai.

“Only Diana was naked.”
“……What?”
“He said he liked Diana more than Mommy and told me to grow up quickly. That he liked Diana the most. …But in the end, he went to Mommy. He abandoned Diana.”

I’m confused. If what Diana is saying is true, what should I do? Fortunately, it seems like the things I didn’t even want to imagine didn’t happen… Diana isn’t stupid, and at her age, she must know what her father’s actions meant. How hard it must have been for her.

At the same time, I realized. Diana’s excessive obsession might not be simply because she was abandoned by her parents. Maybe she thinks of me as her father… a substitute for her father. That was a very unpleasant thought.

“Yurian won’t abandon me, right? Huh? Diana is the best, right? You won’t go to that woman, right?”
“Of course not. I told you, I like Diana the most. Don’t worry.”
“……Okay. But I’m anxious. You can’t abandon Diana.”

Diana’s jewel-like blue eyes seemed particularly deep today. …Should I ask? Asking won’t do any good… but I couldn’t bear not asking.

“Diana.”
“Hmm?”
“Maybe… do you think of me as your dad… or a substitute for your dad… right?”

Her gaze was fixed on me. I stared at Diana’s lips with a nervous heart. It can’t be. No way. She wouldn’t think of me as someone’s substitute… would she?

Diana’s eyes curved into a beautiful arc.

“No. Yurian is Yurian. I like you more than Dad. Much, much more.”
“……Right?”
“And I like you more because you’re like Dad.”

……I have mixed feelings. The reason for her excessive obsession with me… was it because I was like her father? Was I just filling her father’s void?

My heart sinks. My head cools down, and negative thoughts start to bubble up.

“I see. Don’t worry, Diana. I won’t abandon you like your father did.”
“Okay! I like Yurian so much! So, do it with Diana too. From now on, let’s do it with Diana, not that woman.”

She smiled brightly and suddenly started taking off the clothes she was wearing. I thought about stopping her, but I just left her alone. I felt strangely numb and didn’t want to move.

What was I expecting?
A future with Diana? Have I become too used to this game world and lost my mind? What was I expecting from an NPC? The favor she shows me is originally from the character ‘Yurian,’ so what am I even expecting?

A substitute for her father.
Maybe the woman who is her mother knew it too. That her husband was showing excessive obsession with their daughter. Is that why she says she abandoned herself and chose her mother? So, because she was abandoned, she’s trying to fill that void with me, a substitute for her father.

‘I feel like shit.’

To be treated as a substitute by an NPC. You idiot, moron. Future, my ass. I was out of my mind like a fool.

“Yurian. Do it with me too, do it with me. Huh? Not with that woman, with Diana. Let’s only do it with me. Huh?”

Diana, now naked, kneels in front of me. Just like the woman from before, she’s kneeling in front of me like a dog, exposing her vulgar bottom.

…But I didn’t feel anything. Why am I so calm? Shouldn’t I be excited, or at least embarrassed? I feel too composed.

“Huh? Yurian, hurry. Hurry and do it. I want to… I want you to do it to me like you did to that woman.”

I felt languid. I’ve become too used to this damn game world and have been living each day meaninglessly like a well-fed pig. Future? Sincerity? It’s all bullshit. I just gave up, swallowed by despair.

I couldn’t see a way back to reality, so I was just running away, pretending to draw a future here. In the end, I couldn’t hold on. My weak will was easily broken, and I was just rationalizing it.

“…Please. Please, Yurian. Please. You won’t abandon Diana, right? Huh?”

Diana’s body, which was kneeling and exposing her bottom, trembled. Her voice was tearful. When I looked back, Diana’s face was covered in tears.

“Yurian, Yurian. You won’t abandon Diana, right? You won’t, right? Huh? Huh? Please. Please don’t abandon me. Diana will be good. I’ll listen to Yurian, and I’ll always be the cute Diana that Yurian likes… Please, please don’t abandon me.”

Diana’s tears, kneeling in front of me and begging, fell to the floor. She was kneeling low, rubbing her hands together as if begging, and calling ‘my name’ in a voice that was barely suppressing her sobs.

Yurian.
Yurian.

Is that my name? Yurian. Was that my name? No. It’s not a name like Yurian.

Diana, trembling and begging, looks ridiculous. Yurian. She doesn’t even know my real name, so what does she want from me? Don’t abandon her? Like her father? I’m not her father, so why is she projecting her father onto me?

Abandon her. I have no intention of doing that. Where else would I find such an excellent NPC? If I want to escape this shitty world, I have to use everything I can, so there’s no way I would abandon such a loyal and capable NPC.

“Diana. Diana. I said I won’t abandon you? Why are you doing this?”
“……No. That’s not it. Forgive me. Forgive me, Yurian. Huh? Diana was wrong. Don’t… don’t look at Diana with those eyes.”
“…My eyes? What’s wrong with my eyes?”

What is she even talking about? I have no intention of abandoning her, she’s a valuable NPC companion. I’m not going to harm her, and I plan to treat her well, so I don’t know why she’s acting like this.

“D, Diana… isn’t precious anymore, right? Diana isn’t precious anymore, right? I was wrong. Wh, what, what should I do? Huh? Yurian, please. Please tell me. Please forgive Diana.”
“Get up. I really don’t know why you’re doing this. Why would I think Diana isn’t precious?”
“…No. No, no, no. It’s not those eyes. Forgive me. Please forgive me.”

Thud! Thud!
Blood splattered from Diana’s head as she hit the floor. The blood that gushed out like a fountain splattered on my legs, turning them red.

‘NPCs bleed red too.’

I roughly wiped it off with my hand, but Diana’s momentum of hitting her head on the floor was still alarming. Is she really trying to die? Her kneeling body was staggering, and her face, convulsing, barely came up before falling back to the floor.

Was the white thing on her exposed forehead bone? Maybe she’s self-harming, trusting in her healing abilities. Diana is quite cunning, after all.

“Forgive… me… For, give… me.”

Her blood, flowing on the floor where she was hitting her head, reached my feet as she muttered like a broken radio. Diana’s blue eyes, barely lifting her head with her convulsing body, were blurry, and her pronunciation was so slurred that I couldn’t understand what she was muttering. Drool that she couldn’t swallow dripped from her mouth, mixing with the blood on the floor.

“Diana.”
“For…give…me. Pleee…”
“Diana.”

Why is she going this far? Is it not enough that she was abandoned by her father, and now she doesn’t want to be abandoned by her substitute? Or has she gone crazy from obsessing over her substitute for too long?

……I don’t know. What does she expect from me by doing this? But strangely, I feel unpleasant. What is she doing in front of me? Covered in blood like that, pathetically begging.

“Did… did you think I took care of you to see you like this?”
“Pleaase… forgive me.”
“Did you think… I wanted to see you like this?”

I feel unpleasant. I feel annoyed.
This shitty game world. Diana, who thought of me as a substitute. And above all, myself, the idiot who lost his mind over something like this.

“Saint Healing.”

A bright light enveloped Diana’s body. The body, covered in a pure white holy light that gave a warm feeling, soon lost its light, and I met the gaze of Diana’s blue eyes, who had barely lifted her head.

“…Thank goodness. You forgave me. Don’t abandon Diana.”

Diana’s face, which had been convulsing, fell to the floor as if it had collapsed. I was startled and quickly caught her falling head, but if she had hit her head on the floor while unconscious, it would have been a disaster.

…This foolish girl. As cunning as she is, she should have controlled herself, but what was she thinking, hitting her head on the real stone floor? Maybe it was because of the warm sensation of blood that was wet on my hands and feet. It felt like something hot was welling up in my chest.

“What… what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do……? Why does my heart ache so much… even though you’re just an NPC?”

Maybe it was because she was naked. Diana’s body felt unusually cold. She’ll catch a cold like this. I tried to suppress the turmoil in my chest as I hugged her cold body, but the more I did, the more the ripples seemed to grow.

“……Yurian. Are you crying?”

Her blue eyes, which had regained consciousness, were staring straight at me. It was Diana, who always followed my gaze so persistently.

“I’m not crying. Why would I cry?”
“Liar. Yurian is crying.”

Diana smiled faintly and weakly raised her hand to caress my face. Her hand was warm.

“Ah. I got blood on you. I shouldn’t have. Yurian’s face… I’m sorry. I dirtied you.”
“No… no, it’s okay. Nothing of Diana’s is dirty. Anything is okay. So… don’t be sick. Okay?”
“Okay. You won’t abandon Diana, right? Diana is the best, right?”
“Of course, you idiot. Do I really have to say it?”

Her blue eyes curved softly, creating a beautiful eye smile.

“No. I know even if you don’t say it. But… I’m anxious. It feels like Yurian will leave me at any moment. Like you’ll leave at any moment. I like Yurian… I like you so much. I can’t live without Yurian… I’m always anxious that you’ll leave. So, keep telling me. Even if I… even if Diana asks every time, answer me every time. That I’m the best. That you won’t abandon me. Okay?”
“……Okay. I promise.”
“Okay. Promise.”

* * *

“Yurian?”
“……Hmm?”
“I, I’m sorry. Was Diana too jealous? I’m sorry.”

Diana in front of me is more mature than before. Her beauty, which has bloomed like a flower, has become much more beautiful, and her body, which has matured more than before, has become more feminine.

However, her behavior of trying to match my gaze persistently like a dog looking at its owner, her jewel-like blue eyes, and the emotions contained within them are the same as before.

“There’s no need to be sorry. You can be jealous.”
“……Uh, huh? Yurian?”
“Why?”
“……It’s strange. Why is Yurian being so kind?”
“……….”

I’ve always been kind. It’s like she’s saying I’ve always been mean.