Chapter 27 – Awoken Prince
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As Yuuta slowly opened his eyes, he was greeted by Aoi’s tear-stained face.
“a…”
He had trouble speaking. Even as he tried to call Aoi-san by her name, he failed to form the words.
“Yuuta-sama!” Aoi immediately embraced him.
Her beloved smell calmed his heart. At the same time, he wondered why she was crying and where they were.
“Aah, Yuuta-sama.”
The next to enter his field of vision was Yukishiro. Just like Aoi, her face was also streaked with tears.
“yu…”
As before, he failed to squeeze out any comprehensible words.
“You don’t have to try to speak for now. You have been unconscious all this time, Yuuta-sama,” explained Yukishiro.
Hearing this, Yuuta remembered watching the fireworks display during the class trip and his time at elementary school after seeing Naoto-kun.
I saw…I had a dream that I lived with Mom.
He had been living together with his gentle mother. And then he cried a lot when he had to bid farewell to her as he would be entering elementary school. Later, he had escaped through a toilet window out of a desire to see her. And…
I…tried to get pampered…by Suzune-san.
“Yuuta-sama…”
“…Su…Suzu…”
Once he turned his face to the right, he found a woman crying there. Her face and voice was that of the woman who closely resembled his mother. Although she had lost some weight.
“Yes…it’s me.”
“A…a…”
Suzune had hugged Yuuta from behind during their Service. And after getting horny, she had touched his body. That was a taboo. A crime.
Even so, Yuuta himself got horny from being touched by her, too. Suzune believed that her actions would be forgiven after realizing that Yuuta was aroused.
She was slated to conceive a child through artificial insemination. Yet, she lost all rationality from just considering the possibility of having sex with the junior high first-year in front of her, who could be rightfully described as a boy. She was lured by the enticing promise of having sex with a man, as she had read in romantic novels and seen in love games.
Those very books and games also depicted deals wherein even a common woman like her would be allowed to have sex with the man as long as she accepted the condition of never becoming his wife or lover. This was further supported by posts on the women’s underground forums.
However, she was wrong. Yuuta got excited because Suzune reminded him of his mother. The instant she heard that, she froze. Her head became completely blank. She couldn’t believe that Yuuta hadn’t been hugging her back out of sexual desire. And around the time she started to come to terms with it, her body was already restrained by police officers.
“I’m truly happy…that you regained your consciousness…”
“S-Suzune-san…I…”
“You don’t have to say anything. It’s fine…”
Yuuta’s voice slowly, bit by bit, was gaining in strength. But the same couldn’t be said for his body. After having heard from Yukishiro about ‘having been unconscious all this time,’ he figured that he must have been bedridden for a longer period of time.
“Aoi-san…Yukishiro-san…”
“*hic* Yes…”
“Can you…sit up…my body?”
Aoi and Yukishiro slowly sat Yuuta upright while supporting him from both sides.
“Where are we?”
“In my research institute.”
Looking in the direction of the voice, he spotted Lilith. She was wearing a hood. Next to her was a woman resembling her quite a lot. She, too, wore a hood.
“Lilith-san’s…”
“We had her examine you since you wouldn’t wake up no matter how long we waited, Yuuta-sama.”
“How long…was I unconscious?”
“For roughly two weeks.”
“Two weeks…”
Yuuta scanned the room, noticing Moe, Ayaka, Tomoe, and even Nanase. Moreover…
‘Why is Layla-san here?
He saw Layla standing at the wall while being monitored by Moe. For some reason, she was looking mortified.
“Tomoe-san…”
“Yes!”
“There’s something I want to talk abo…,” Yuuta started to say, but then got interrupted by a coughing fit.
“You mustn’t force yourself!”
After his coughing came to an end, he answered, “I-It’s something…I want to talk about now.”
Yuuta deeply lowered his head towards Suzune, who had been watching him with a deeply worried look.
“Forgive me, Suzune-san.”
“Yuuta-sama! That’s wrong! You got it wrong! That was entirely my fault!”
“I too…had something I was supposed to say…but, I…got scared and ran away. I’m…a coward.”
“Yuuta-sama…”
“Everyone…please listen.”
At that point, Yuuta took several small, deep breaths.
“I…played games with Suzune-san…as my first Service Activity during my first year in junior high.”
Everyone in the room closely listened to Yuuta’s confession.
“Tomoe-san…I memorized it properly.”
“What…exactly?”
“I memorized what I had learned at elementary school…that it was better to accept a high family’s request for your very first Service Activity.”
“That’s…”
“I was fully aware of it, and I chose Suzune-san’s Service request. Suzune-san…
At that moment, Yuuta looked at Suzune once more. Four years have passed since then, and Suzune was a lot thinner compared to that time. But in the end, after all was said and done, she still resembled Yuuta’s mother.
“Suzune-san…resembles my mother.”
“Your mother, you say?”
“Yes…I…always wanted to meet my mother…”
Tomoe recalled the reports from Yuuta’s childhood. They mentioned how he had cried a lot during his separation from his mother and how he had shaken off his caretakers to chase after the car with his mother. Because it was such a painful experience for young boys to be separated from their mother, they’d often be brought to their new room while asleep so that their caretakers would gently welcome them whenever they woke up.
However, Yuuta’s mother chose to personally bid farewell to young Yuuta. She wanted to be with her beloved son until the very last second.
“During the sixth year of elementary school…on the day when we left for the socializer with the girls…I escaped through a toilet window.”
“Ah…”
Tomoe remembered having read about this in another report. But the report had mentioned that Yuuta slipped away because he was afraid of meeting the girls.
“I sneaked away…because I tried to go to my mother. Even though I didn’t even know…how to get to our previous home. I was found right away… And when I stayed silent, fearing that I’d be scolded, the surrounding women arbitrarily misinterpreted it as me having slipped away out of worry about the exchange with the girls.”
“I see, so that’s what happened…”
The caretakers back then apparently interpreted the situation on their own accord. Tomoe suspected that they couldn’t interrogate the young Yuuta too harshly. And thus they ended up forming their own little pet theory.
“When I became a junior high school student, you told me…to calmly consider a proper Service Activity together, but I…accepted a Service request on my own since I wanted to meet with Suzune-san, who looked just like my mother.”
“Given that you did your school attendance and physical examination right away…I thought you were simply working hard. For this reason…when I learned about you having chosen Suzune-san, a commoner woman, as your first Service Activity partner…I immediately checked her background…and when I found no problem with it, I decided to watch over the hardworking Yuuta-sama…”
And then the incident occurred. Yuuta went on to confess the truth.
“Back then…I…I asked Suzune-san whether we could hug each other.”
“I had talked about romantic novels…and I also told him that I adored lovers hugging each other…”
“But the one inviting her to do it was me. Suzune-san didn’t just have the same atmosphere as my mother, but she was also just as kind…and so we immediately managed to get along well.”
“…Yes.”
“I really enjoyed playing games with Suzune-san.”
“It was fun…for me as well.”
“I wanted to be pampered by Suzune-san. Just like I was pampered by my mother…”
Yuuta’s invitation was the start of that whole incident.
“And thus you, Yuuta-sama, hugged Suzune-san?”
“Yes… But, it’s true…that I committed a crime afterward. Being allowed to hug Yuuta-sama, I…I became aroused and ended up touching his body.”
“Having my body touched by her surprised me a bit at first. I wondered why she’d touch it like that. But…I didn’t dislike it. That’s why…my body reacted to it.”
“It did…?”
“Yes. At that time, my knowledge about sex was still shallow, so I couldn’t quite grasp my own state. But now I understand it. I was horny. And Suzune-san asked me in that state whether it was fine, which I consented to.”
“…I…misunderstood this as having been given permission.”
“You mis…understood?” Aoi cut in.
She wondered why Suzune called it a misunderstanding when Yuuta had just said he consented to it.
“Yes. It was a misunderstanding. Just as Yuuta-sama said, he was still very young and didn’t possess an accurate understanding of sex. Because of this, his consent was given even though he did not really understand what he was consenting to. This became very clear when Yuuta-sama afterward said….『I don’t really get it, but you’re as kind as my Mom, Suzune-san』.”
“…I didn’t hate it. Really. I didn’t mind having my body touched by Suzune-san, but I didn’t understand my own emotions. But, I thought it was fine since Suzune-san was as kind as my mother.”
At that point, Suzune had stopped moving, and the police officers stormed the room.
“Hearing Yuuta-sama’s words, my head became completely blank. And I only understood what had happened after I was arrested by the police. Yuuta-sama…Yuuta-sama sought the kindness of his mother…that’s why it’s true I committed a crime.”
Tears were spilling down from Yuuta’s eyes.
“I-I’m…a coward. I hid away in my room and depended on your kindness, Tomoe-san. Believing I might be forgiven again, if I remained silent as this, while scared… Hearing that Suzune-san hadn’t said anything about me during the trial, I felt relieved… Even though Suzune-san was sentenced to life…I was scared I’d also be charged for a crime, if I confessed the truth…and because of that…”
The tears continuously ran down his cheeks. Aoi and Yukishiro used their handkerchiefs to wipe them away.
“Suzune-san…forgive me. I’m sorry. Normally you…should have become a mother, yet because of me…”
“Yuuta-sama…I…I committed a crime…uuh…I…”
Yuuta and Suzune’s sobbing filled the room. The people around them were silent in the face of the truth behind that incident, but Lilith spoke up regardless of anything.
“The sealed memories were released in response to Aoi-sama’s group…and Suzune-san calling out to you…and now you’ve regained full consciousness.”
“…Yes. I remember having heard voices inside the darkness.”
Yuuta had never told Aoi and the other girls around him about the personality transplantation. Lilith followed Yuuta’s own script of him having sealed away the painful memories, continuing, “Yuuta-sama, you collapsed while watching the fireworks display in the middle of your class trip, but what was the reason for that?”
“At that time…I recalled my mother after…seeing Naoto-kun. I recalled my parting with her.”
“I see. The situation with your mother and the one with Suzune-san overlapped in your mind. With your memories about Suzune-san sealed away, you probably lost consciousness due to the strong stimulus from your memories of your mother.”
Lilith wasn’t wrong. But she concluded the case, giving a reason that hid part of the truth.
“Well, all that matters is you have woken up without a problem. Suzune-san, thanks for your cooperation. Yuuta-sama, please stay here like this for tonight. I will prepare some liquid food for you.”
“Eh!?”
“I will carry out several examinations now that he has managed to wake up.”
“That can be done at our hospital.”
“I won’t mind if you have them do it. But I will also examine Yuuta-sama as his doctor. If tonight isn’t possible…could you arrange for Yuuta-sama to come here on another day?”
“Ah, that’s…”
“Aoi-san. I will sleep here tonight.”
“O-Okay…”
Yuuta guessed that Lilith wanted to talk with him in private. At the same time, he knew that she was also speaking the truth about wanting to examine him.
“Suzune-san…I don’t know what I’ll be able to do from now on, but…I’ll tell the truth to the state.”
“That’s…”
“Tomoe-san.”
“Yes.”
“Would my confession just now…change the outcome of Suzune-san’s trial under normal circumstances?”
“It’s a fact that Suzune-san did something bad. But, I believe that there is plenty of room for lenient consideration.”
“I don’t know what I would need to do here. Can I leave it to you?”
“Yes, please count on me.”
Suzune’s case was entrusted to Tomoe.
“Aoi-san, Yukishiro-san.”
“”Yes.””
“Once Lilith-san’s examinations are over, I will come back, so please don’t worry.”
“”Yes!””
“Nanase-san, please excuse me for making you worry as well.”
“I’m just happy that you managed to wake up.”
“Ayaka-san…Manami-san…Moe-san…you too…”
Yuuta still couldn’t fathom why Layla and the person resembling Lilith were present.
“Yuuta-sama has woken up without any further complications. Let’s wrap up things here for tonight.”
Hearing Lilith’s words, the first one to move was Lyra. She muttered, “We will be waiting for the sperm of the compatible person,” so quietly that only Lilith could hear it and quickly left the room while taking Layla with her. Afterward, Aoi’s group also left. Ayaka looked like she wanted to say something to Yuuta, but she exited the room together with Tomoe and Suzune.
And then, at last, only Yuuta and Lilith were left inside the room.
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Translation Notes: