As soon as Haruhime entered the house, Hestia pulled her aside to talk in private. But since I have excellent hearing, I managed to catch parts of their conversation. Hestia only talked about me.
"Be careful with Luan, he loves flirting with women."
"If you stay close to him, he might try to seduce you. He's a real womanizer."
"You're not falling for him, are you? A lot of women fall for him at first sight."
"I hope you don't end up falling in love with him."
Those were just a few of the things I heard. Haruhime looked at me like I was trash, but I didn't care and smiled at her. She'll realize I'm not like that.
...Or am I?
The only thing I've done since arriving in this world is seduce women and sleep with them. Maybe Hestia isn't that wrong after all.
Huff~~ I sighed and got up from the couch.
"We've finished our talk. I'm going to give Haruhime her falna now."
"That's good. I'll go to my room. Once everything's done, come see me there," I said, looking at Haruhime.
She responded a bit hesitantly. "Okay…"
Hestia looked at me and smiled.
I didn't say anything and went upstairs to my room.
Once inside, I headed straight to the bathroom and took a hot shower. I cleaned myself thoroughly—I reeked of sweat after having so much fun with Ishtar. What a wild time...
Every time I do that with Ishtar, it's amazing. Even though I don't like her, I have to admit it's extremely pleasurable and fun.
I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my waist—and ran straight into Haruhime, who was in my room. The moment she saw me, her face turned bright red, but she didn't run away.
She averted her gaze and said, "I'm sorry! I didn't know you were in the shower!"
"It's fine. Would you mind stepping out for a moment?"
I could have changed in front of her, but I decided not to. I didn't want her to think I was a pervert or something.
"Ah, of course." Haruhime quickly ran out, face still flushed, and I got dressed.
When I opened the door, Haruhime was still blushing.
"What is it? Never seen a man's abs before?" I laughed, and she cleared her throat before replying:
"Of course I have. Just... never ones like yours."
"I see. I'm proud of my body."
"..."
"Come on, come in."
Haruhime stepped into the room, and I closed the door behind her.
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing too serious. I just want to talk about our Familia and explain a few things."
"Is this about your relationship with the women in the Familia?"
"You already found out about that?"
"Goddess Hestia told me."
"I didn't expect her to tell you that."
"She also told me about her own relationship with you… It's the first time I've heard a goddess talk about a human like that. She's clearly in love with you."
"I'm in love with her too."
"She also said you're a shameless womanizer who sleeps around."
"Well…" I gave a bitter smile. "I used to be like that, but not anymore. These days, the only women I'm close to are Lili, Mikoto, and Hestia."
"And Goddess Ishtar?"
"She's just a toy."
Haruhime fell silent after hearing that.
"I see… a toy. Well, I really don't care about your relationships."
"As for being a womanizer—there's no need to be afraid of me or feel uncomfortable. I won't attack you or anything like that."
"..."
"Hestia said all that because she's jealous. She doesn't want you getting close to me."
"When I realized how in love she is with you, I figured that's why she said those things."
"I'm glad you understood that. Like I said before, you're free to live your life however you want now. Just enjoy yourself—I'll support you. I'm rich, you don't need to work or go adventuring. Just live well."
"But I'd feel guilty…"
"Well, there's nothing I can do about that."
I walked over to my desk and pulled out some papers from my inventory.
"What was that?"
"Oh, it's a skill I have that lets me store items."
I put the papers away and pulled them out again.
"Convenient, right?"
"I've never seen anything like that."
"I'm the only one who has this ability, so that makes sense."
"..." Haruhime kept staring at my back. Her gaze was intense.
As I sat down and picked up a pen to start writing, she asked:
"Who are you, really?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're strange. You're an amazing writer, you have incredible abilities, you managed to take control of Ishtar, and your bond with Hestia is so strong."
"I'm just an ordinary man," I said, turning to her with a smile.
"An ordinary man, huh?" She gave a soft laugh and started to leave. But before stepping out, she said, "Thank you."
"Enjoy the mansion," I said as she closed the door.
Once Haruhime left my room, I dropped the pen and finally let myself relax.
What was that all about? Why did she say that so suddenly?
I'm sure a lot of people around me have the same question.
But Haruhime was the first one with the courage to ask it directly.
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Next chapters: Chapter 255 - She heard everything. / Chapter 256 - Dealing with Ottar. / Chapter 257 - Old Mission. / Chapter 258 - Tiona, do you like me? / Chapter 259 - Rubbing Against Me. +18 / Chapter 260 - I'm tired. Do you want to get married? +18 / Chapter 261 - Marriage? / Chapter 262 - Crazy. ( Beginning of wedding preparations ) / Chapter 263 - Family and Friends. / Chapter 264 - Place for the Wedding. / Chapter 265 - Are You Going to Buy the Buildings?! / Chapter 266 - Ais Doesn't Know About the Wedding