“You have?” Ayuna tilted her head, having an idea who she might be referring to.

 

Liana blushed, averted her gaze again, and nodded weakly. 

 

“Well, who’s he? Tell me about it,” Ayuna pressed, a slight smirk on her lips.

 

“W-Well, it’s not a he, i-it’s actually a she…,” Liana mumbled.

 

Ayuna pretended to be surprised. “You like women, Liana?”

 

Liana shook her head slightly. “I don’t know…” She paused. “I’ve never fallen in love with anyone until I met her. So… I guess, I do…?”

 

“She must be a very lucky girl, then.” Ayuna smiled faintly. “So, how did it go?”

 

Liana, red-faced, turned to look at Ayuna for a brief moment before averted her eyes again. “W-Well, I’ve never confessed my feelings to her.”

 

Ayuna tilted her head. “Why?”

 

“I-I don’t…” Liana paused for a moment. “I was scared. I-It just happened so fast, and I didn’t know what to do. I was confused, and…”

 

Silence hung for a moment as Liana looked as if she was trying to search for the right word to say.

 

Ayuna finally broke the silence. “Scared?”

 

Liana didn’t answer anything. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then after a while she finally nodded weakly.

 

Ayuna smiled. 

 

Liana looked so cute acting all bashful like this. Ayuna knew who Liana was referring to. She wasn’t that dense when it came to people’s reaction, especially one as obvious as this. More than that, there was nothing more obvious than what’s shown on the system screen.

 

Name: Liana

 

Race: Beastkin — Feline

 

Affection Point(AP): 215 — Lover(+)

 

Liana’s feeling for her was already at the Lover’s state. That meant she would most likely say yes if Ayuna tried to take a step further. 

 

It was really incredible now that she thought about it. They’d just met for less than a day, and here Liana had already fallen in love with her. 

 

But, was that because of the system’s influence? Or maybe it was in Liana’s nature to fall in love this easily? Anything was possible, but anyway, there was no point in thinking too much into it. Whatever happened, happened. Ayuna had learned to accept everything since the moment she was awoken here.

 

Though, Ayuna was beyond happy that Liana had fallen for her. Although she didn’t know how intense the feeling was at the Lover’s state. 

 

Wait, she could actually check it, couldn’t she? 

 

Ayuna focused on the “Lover”, hoping the system would give her more information.

 

And it did. A new screen popped up.

 

Lover

 

At this state, the target starts to fall in love with you for real. She will want to be around you more often and will feel good and comfortable in your presence. The possibility of the target willing to do sexual activity with you is very high.

 

As she expected, having the feeling at the Lover’s state meant that Liana had already fallen for her. Ayuna read until the last line and started to blush, her heart thumping in her chest.

 

A high possibility that the target would be willing to do sexual activity with her, huh? Ayuna couldn’t help but think back to the incident in the toilet, her face getting redder. She then changed that image into one with Liana and her, tangling in the bed, kissing madly, and then…

 

No, no, no! Ayuna shook her head and discarded the thought. 

 

What was she thinking? Although she really wanted to do that, but… they’d just met. Clearly, Ayuna had no problem doing it with Liana. She liked her too, very, very much. But that might just be an admiration of sorts. 

 

Liana was very beautiful, gentle, and cool. Ayuna really liked her, but she didn’t want to rush things. They’d just met each other for less than a day, even if the feeling was getting more and more intense by the seconds, she still wanted to at least get to know her more at least for a while.

 

She wasn’t scared of getting rejected. Heck, even the system implied that there was a high chance Liana would accept it if Ayuna wanted to take a step further. But she really wanted to get to know things more. 

 

No need to rush with this sort of thing. The fire that burned slowly could also become a huge and beautiful flame one day.

 

Discarding the system screen, Ayuna shook the thoughts out of her head and focused on Liana again. 

 

Gosh, she’s still acting cute… Whatever, she didn’t care anymore…

 

And then… Ayuna ended up hugging Liana again, very, very tightly.

 

[+ 10 AP]

 

———

 

After Liana showed Ayuna how to make a medicine and potion, the night was drawing near. The sky outside was getting darker and darker, and the warm air started getting colder.

 

Sure enough, after a tiring day, the two girls were getting a bit sweaty. Ayuna really wanted a nice, warm bath right now.

 

“Liana, where can I take a bath?” Ayuna asked.

 

Liana, just about finishing cleaning up the stuff, turned to look at Ayuna. “Did you notice a small shack beside the toilet? That’s the bathroom.” She picked up the collar of her blouse and took a sniff. “We’re getting a bit sweaty, aren’t we? Guess it's time to take a bath. Follow me, I’ll show you.”

 

Ayuna followed Liana out of the back door, and indeed she did see a small shack beside the toilet. 

 

She didn’t explore it before because she didn’t want to wander or sneak around too much. Liana was kind enough to let her stay here, so she didn’t want to cause her any trouble. It’d be wiser to let Liana show her around.

 

Liana opened the door and walked into the shack. Ayuna followed after.

 

The inside was similar to the toilet. There was nothing much aside from a lone wooden tub sitting in the corner. 

 

Seeing the empty tub and nothing else, Ayuna became puzzled. She tilted her head and looked at Liana. “Where do you fetch the water, Liana? Do you have a well nearby?”

 

Liana smiled and took out something from her pocket. They were two small stones, no bigger than Liana’s hand. One was blue and one was red.

 

“These are magic stones. Blue is of the water element, while red is of the fire element. You can easily make a hot bath with these stones.”

 

Ayuna’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the stones. “The magic stones? Wow…”

 

Liana offered them to Ayuna. Ayuna took them and looked at them curiously. “So there’s such things as well, huh? I thought I’d need to go fetch water back and forth until the bath is filled.”

 

Liana giggled. “I used to do that when I first built this tub. It was a back-breaking experience, I can tell you that. But I didn’t complain, though. A normal peasant like me is fortunate enough to be able to enjoy a bath. That’s already more than good enough for me.”

 

“A normal… peasant?” Ayuna repeated, tilting her head.

 

Liana took the stones back and explained, “I mean the ordinary people as opposed to the nobles and the royalty.”

 

Nobles and royalty… Yep, Ayuna definitely heard of those in the novels she’d read. Though, they were usually portrayed as the villain with a very high-pride and arrogance beyond comprehension.

 

She was in a fantasy world now, and it seemed to be set in the usual medieval era, so it was no surprise there would be the nobles and royalty in this world as well. Though, she wished they weren’t as arrogant or prideful as in the novels she’d read.

 

Seeing Ayuna didn’t say anything, Liana took it as her memory loss and continued. “Those are high-class people. They’re people with a lot of resources to spare, so having a bath like this is very normal for them.” 

 

“How are they like?” Ayuna asked.

 

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen one before, though I’ve heard some stories that they’re very benevolent people.”

 

“They are?” Ayuna asked, feeling a faint hope inside.

 

Liana nodded. “That’s what I’ve heard from—“

 

“The traveler.” Ayuna interrupted.

 

Liana was surprised for a moment, but then she started giggling. “Yep, that’s right.”

 

Ayuna started giggling with her. “I heard you say that like, what, a thousand times already.”

 

Liana clicked her tongue playfully. “Stop exaggerating.” 

 

“That’s how I feel.”

 

“Oh, you…”

 

———

 

The bath was finally ready. In the tub was hot water producing steam that covered the entire bathroom. Liana dipped her hand in the water. “Yep, the temperature is just right.”

 

Ayuna also dipped her hand inside and felt the same as Liana. 

 

“Alright. You go in first, Ayuna. I’ll wait until you’re done,” Liana said and turned around, walking to the door.

 

“Wait!” Ayuna suddenly shouted, her hand reaching out toward Liana.

 

Liana stopped, turned around, and looked at Ayuna, her head tilting “Ayuna?”

 

Ayuna was speechless for a moment as her face started getting redder and redder. 

 

Oh, no. She’d just shouted out in reflex the moment she saw Liana was about to leave. So now what? She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even know why she would want to stop Liana…

 

Yes, you do~ The voice inside her head was telling her.

 

Alright, Ayuna admitted. Actually, she did know why she wanted to stop Liana before she left. But…

 

Ayuna’s heart started beating faster and faster. “L-Liana, you…” She mumbled softly.

 

Liana didn’t seem to hear her. “What is it, Ayuna?”

 

Ayuna’s heart beat even faster, her face getting redder and redder. “I-I think we should…”

 

Liana didn’t seem to hear that as well as she tilted her head, confused.

 

Ayuna gulped, took a deep breath, and approached Liana. She stopped in front of her, tugged her sleeve, and looked up at her shyly.

 

Then, with a soft and whispery tone, she said, “W-Why don’t we go in together?”