Chapter 190

My legs were getting a bit tired from all that running.

I noticed that people’s eyes were on us.

No one was stopping us, though.

Even though Ria and I weren’t officially a Saintess and her Knight, anyone who went to church would naturally accept that we were in cahoots.

So they figured there must be some sort of backstory, right?

The commotion broke out right after we burst through the crowd and bolted out of the Cathedral.

Probably the Cardinal and others nearby freaked out, yelling for the knights to chase us, and suddenly someone burst out yelling after us.

People started murmuring when they heard that, and a few tried to help the knights, but—well, you know, I’m a Saintess.

Who would dare lay a hand on me?

Ria is the only one in this world I’d even think of allowing that!

Though, to be fair, Ria didn’t exactly ask when she climbed onto my bed or casually threw an arm over my shoulder.

Or when she dragged me into her bedroom.

Holding hands and jumping, or even picking me up and jumping—

“Wait a sec.”

“!?”

Just as I had that thought, Ria yanked my arm and pulled me into her embrace.

Like a knight carrying the princess, of course.

“I thought this would be a bit faster, is that okay?”

“Ah, yeah.”

Ria’s voice held none of the earlier tension.

Which makes sense; Ria was just doing this to, in various senses, ‘save’ me.

No, really, at least I had to consider that it might have been ‘possible,’ right? If she hated it on some physiological level, she wouldn’t have gone this far!

My mind was a storm of turmoil.

Alright.

Since I wasn’t the one running anyway, I might have some time to gather my thoughts.

If Ria were a boy instead, or even more critically, if our positions were reversed…

If I had to protect Ria—could I have done it?

…….

Ugh, damn.

Unfortunately, my body was at ease, but my mind was anything but. For various reasons, my rational circuits were melting down, making it impossible to evaluate things objectively.

If I had casually thought about this otherwise, the answer would probably have been ‘NO.’ I liked girls because of my past life. Isn’t the reason I adored Ria largely based on her looks?

So if there’s a problem, it’s that the part of me handling logic and reason isn’t working right now—

—So in that singular moment, if I clearly thought of her as ‘Ria,’ I found myself believing that it was possible.

Gender didn’t matter. If I thought of her as Ria, that was enough.

“Hah.”

My ridiculous musings were shattered by Ria’s voice.

“Looks like this is becoming a bit of a big deal.”

Ria said.

I glanced up from where I was biting my lip and was hit with a wave of panic. The knights were hot on our tails!

They were clad in shiny silver plate armor, and they looked a bit intimidating.

I didn’t think Ria could lose to them, but still, getting caught isn’t preferable. Those people aren’t after a duel with Ria.

“…….”

I briefly bit my lip, lost in thought, before I spoke.

“Ria.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll trust you. Whatever happens. Is it okay for me to leave myself to you right now?”

It was a bit annoying to ask, but—

Ria grinned widely when she heard me.

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

With that, Ria quickened her pace.

Feeling the nearby objects getting more menacing, I pressed my body against hers.

I figured that might be a little uncomfortable, but Ria didn’t show any sign of it.

Ria kept running, and running.

Into an alley I had never seen before.

“Don’t worry too much.”

Ria said.

“We’re going to return eventually.”

“Is that so?”

“Why? Did you think we’d run forever?”

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean that.”

That would have too big of an impact on Ria.

Even now, approaching Ria is a considerable burden; I don’t want to extend that to a ‘lifetime.’

“Our goal is to ‘mar the name of your Four Saints,’ after all.”

Ria said with a smile.

“The church won’t let you take the place of a Saintess so easily, and that’s our aim.”

“I see……”

As I responded, Ria twisted her body suddenly.

We found ourselves inside a deserted metal workshop.

The alley was quite complex, and the building had nearly all its shutters down.

But it was still Seoul. If we dragged this out time-wise, the church folks would surely come looking for us.

They have plenty of means, be it CCTV or whatever else, to track us down.

“Let’s see… this isn’t the one, oh, here it is.”

Ria lifted a floorboard and pulled out a duffel bag.

“How did you know about this?”

“Oh, I asked an acquaintance from the association. They brought some clothes for me. Looks like they did get it right. Here, wear this. It might be a bit tight around the chest.”

I took the clothes Ria handed me without hesitation.

It appeared the owner of these clothes didn’t have bodies as curvy as either of ours. …Well, that doesn’t mean they were completely flat, either. Just… how should I put it?

I’m on the bigger side, and Ria is a bit bigger than that, to put it mildly. We must be outliers in the average spectrum.

Taking that into account, they were stretchy outfits that could work even if they didn’t fit perfectly.

Even though they were winter knits and quite thick, they clung to my body’s line, which was slightly… awkward. I mean, considering I used to wear a modified nun’s outfit, I shouldn’t be picky, but still, it felt a bit embarrassing to show off in front of Ria.

…And Ria’s outfit was even more revealing.

“What’s with that hole?”

I pointed at a hole in Ria’s knit top.

“Oh, this… is it a prank?”

I found it a bit annoying how casually Ria replied.

No, well, it was great. Having the person I liked wear something like that in front of me? That’s nice.

But still, I didn’t want to just show that off to anyone else. Of course, we weren’t really dating, and even in this situation, we hadn’t fully confirmed each other’s feelings, so I didn’t feel like I had any special rights here.

Even if we were dating, it seemed a bit excessive to go that far…

I walked over to Ria and held her coat open for her.

“Why?”

Ria asked, looking at me as if she couldn’t believe it, and I glared at her a bit.

Oh, I shouldn’t be doing this.

Wasn’t Ria trying to help me out? According to Ria, it wasn’t the first kiss, but still, she had gone that far for a same-sex friend.

And in my eyes, I should be thanking her for that!

“Alright, alright.”

But strangely enough, Ria didn’t act annoyed. Like she was indulging me, she fastened the buttons on her coat one by one.

“Is that good?”

The coat was a bit thick, hiding Ria’s figure somewhat.

I nodded.

Ria tied her hair back with the rubber band, put on the hat she gave me, and even donned a mask.

“Alright. To be honest, even with all this, someone might recognize us, but let’s just chalk it up to luck.”

Ria even said that while wearing the hat herself, so I nodded.

“Then… where to next?”

I cautiously asked, a bit aware of my earlier annoyance, looking up at Ria.

Ria chuckled softly and ruffled my hair gently.

“Well… oh, how about this?”

Whether she had planned this in advance or came up with it spontaneously, Ria brought it up as if it had just occurred to her.

“It’s a New Year, after all, and we did just show off to each other that we love one another, right?”

My heart raced at the word ‘love.’ Strangely enough, I didn’t care much about the latter part about ‘concept.’ If I thought through it logically, that would’ve been the more important part.

“So let’s just casually date for a while before heading back.”

“D, date….”

“We can watch a movie, eat, take a walk. In any case, the people chasing us will likely surround us without us having to lift a finger.”

“Y, yeah, I suppose?”

As I said that, Ria smiled and—so casually, scooped me up into her arms again.

“This is faster.”

With Ria’s words, I found myself lacking the space to respond.

Love and dating.

Once again, the word ‘concept’ vanished from my mind. What can I say? When the girl I like says such things.

What man could refuse to pretend to date the girl he likes?

Ah, right now I’m technically a girl too, but…

*

And so, we did just that.

And surprisingly, it was wonderful.

We went to a real movie theater instead of just the bed, walked into a random restaurant instead of a reserved spot.

Whenever it felt like people were catching onto us, Ria would stand in front of me, hiding my face.

The moments we pressed together, almost brushing lips, were blissful.

“Let’s go.”

After glancing at the people who passed by confused, Ria took my hand in hers and we dashed off.

The sight of Ria laughing and looking back at me, melting into the sparkly street we were in, was just perfect.

Even if it was just a moment, I completely forgot all the worries I had been holding until then.