[Episode 147] - The Experiment to Break the Curse
“...If I had known this would happen, I should have somehow pounced on you yesterday...”
“What...?”
Pounced? She’s going to pounce? The kind of pouncing I know? On who? Me?
I looked up at Titania in surprise, and she made a nonchalant expression as if asking what the problem was. Titania, who had let out an annoyed sigh, came close and began to stroke my head.
“...I was joking. I said I would wait, didn’t I?”
“Y-yeah...”
It definitely doesn’t seem like a joke...
If I hadn’t pushed Titania away yesterday, she really would have...
I unconsciously gulped dryly. The look in Titania’s eyes as she gazed down at me seemed to say it wasn’t a joke, and the expression on her face, which looked like she truly regretted not being able to pounce on me, left me confused.
To change this frightening atmosphere, I had to change the subject. I smiled awkwardly, looked down at my body, and asked Titania. Surely, what happened last night wasn’t a dream I had alone.
“A-anyway... why did the curse return? It definitely broke for a moment last night, right?”
“Yes, until I fell asleep, Mother was in her ‘adult’ form. But when I woke up...”
Titania let out another deep sigh.
I deliberately ignored Titania’s sigh and began to worry about my body. If the curse had broken even for a moment, wouldn’t there be a chance it could break again if I kissed Titania once more?
The moment I raised my head to look at Titania—
“Titania, what if—”
It really happened in an instant.
As if reading my mind, Titania lowered her head and pressed her lips to mine. I blinked at the suddenness of it and locked eyes with Titania.
The corners of Titania’s eyes curved as she smiled softly. She pulled away with a *smack*, then turned her head and kissed me again. Just as I thought the second kiss was lasting a bit longer—
“?!?!”
Titania’s lips parted slightly, and with a *lick*, her soft tongue swept across my lips. The moment she tried to slip her tongue through the small gap in my lips, I bounced up on the spot without thinking.
“Wh-what, what are you doing?!”
“An ordinary kiss didn’t break the ‘curse,’ did it? So I thought we might need something a bit more intense.”
Watching Titania lick her lips coquettishly, I felt heat spreading through me. Even so, did she really need to use her tongue? When I let out a groan, Titania giggled.
“Then, shall we try a few experiments before going to see Veronica?”
“...Experiments?”
“Yes, first of all, it’s true that the curse broke with a kiss. But the kiss we just did didn’t break the curse. There must be some ‘condition’ for breaking the curse.”
Titania gently lifted my chin and met my eyes. Certainly, Titania had a point. I had also wondered if there might be some condition for breaking the curse. But...
Couldn’t I just ask Veronica for help?
The moment I tried to say I would ask Veronica for help, Titania brushed my lips with her finger, cutting me off, and smiled. The smile she gave me as she looked down was a coquettish, seductive one.
“So today, we ‘just the two of us’ will experiment.”
“...You just want to kiss me, don’t you?”
“That too.”
As if she no longer had any intention of hiding it, Titania let out a *hoo-hoo* laugh and traced my lips with her thumb. Looking between my slightly parted, weakly opened lips, Titania smiled pleasantly.
Normally, I would have refused flatly and run away.
I would have shaken off this hand and scolded Titania as her “mother.”
Was it because I now knew how that child looked at me? Was it because I knew what feelings she held for me and how desperate she was? The words of refusal wouldn’t readily come out of my mouth.
This was surely because of pity.
It must be because of the pity I felt for Titania, who had suffered because of me all this time. Because of that, I clearly couldn’t refuse, and the words wouldn’t come out.
Because I felt sorry for Titania, because I had done wrong.
That was why my heart raced and ached.
That was why I felt pity and couldn’t refuse.
I quickly turned my head away, avoiding Titania’s gaze that seemed to devour me. Yes, we had to do the experiment anyway. A kiss was merely an act necessary to break the curse. So—
“...Do as you please.”
*
For now, I spent the day conducting experiments with Titania regarding the “curse” placed on me. Before meeting Veronica, I needed to know whether the curse had truly been broken.
[First Experiment Result]
The curse did not break merely from Titania kissing me.
Simply kissing was completely useless. Even when we kissed for over 30 seconds, even when we did a tonguing kiss, as long as Titania was the one “directly” kissing me, my curse did not break.
[Second Experiment Result]
To break the curse, I had to “directly” kiss Titania myself.
It wasn’t a forced kiss; only when I kissed her directly with the “thought” that I myself wanted to kiss Titania could I be freed from the curse. And it couldn’t be short; it had to be long.
Moreover, cheap tricks like cheek pecks or kisses near the lips didn’t work at all. Our lips had to meet exactly, and only after a certain amount of time did the curse react. What kind of curse is this?
[Third Experiment Result]
The curse-breaking duration was approximately “2 hours.”
Sometimes I reverted to a child within an hour, but mostly my adult form was maintained for about 2 hours. I thought there must be some “condition” to increase the duration.
I had a rough idea of what the condition was.
The moment I kissed Titania, my body returned to adult form, but after roughly 2 hours, I changed back into a child’s body. Furthermore, even if I kissed her right after reverting, I didn’t immediately become an adult again.
In other words, to use game terms, the curse had a “cooldown.” For as long as the curse had been broken, no matter how much we kissed, I couldn’t become an adult. Really, what kind of curse is this?
“...This concludes the report Titania and I have compiled...”
“Ha.”
*Crumple.* Veronica burst into a hollow laugh after reading the roughly organized report I had prepared. I glanced over at Veronica, and for some reason, I was reminded of the old days.
Veronica, who had truly despised me so much, had once made such a face.
Veronica, who had half-crumpled the report, tapped the desk with her finger. *Tap-tap-tap.* The nervously ringing sound told me how angry Veronica was. I really should have come yesterday...
“...So, you spent the whole day swapping spit with your daughter and now you’re here? Didn’t I tell you to contact me immediately if there was a problem with your body? Is that not why I gave you Ainsel’s powder?”
“B-but...”
“Am I wrong?”
“...You’re not wrong...”
When I sullenly hung my head, Veronica clicked her tongue in annoyance as if even that sight was unpleasant. Then she glanced at my appearance and let out another hollow laugh as she asked me.
“So, why are you in your child form right now?”
“It hasn’t been 2 hours since it broke... It’s almost time to be able to break the curse again, but...”
“Swapping spit with your own daughter before coming here...”
“...Could you please stop saying swapping spit...?”
Veronica let out a deep sigh, leaned back in her chair, raised her hand, and sipped from a teacup. She looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, “What am I going to do with this woman,” then soon rested her chin on her hand and opened her mouth.
“First of all, congratulations. You’ve found your fated partner like the protagonists in fairy tales. And it’s your daughter.”
“...B-but, the curse hasn’t completely broken yet... so for now...”
“You know best why the curse hasn’t completely broken, don’t you? It’s written in the report. That you have a rough ‘idea.’”
Veronica flicked the report with her finger and smirked spitefully. I had said I had an idea, not that I was certain. But Veronica’s attitude seemed to say that my “idea” was correct.
“It’s your ‘heart,’ isn’t it? You think Titania can’t be your lover because she’s your daughter. You think two women shouldn’t do this. Because you’re trying to avoid Titania with that mindset, the curse won’t fully break.”
Hit right where it hurt, I had no choice but to close my mouth. Veronica gazed at me steadily, as if observing my expression, let out a sigh, then tapped the report as she continued.
“Your heart has already leaned somewhat in that direction, hasn’t it? That’s why the curse broke. Well, this is entirely your problem, so I have nothing more to say.”
“Veronica...”
“Whether you wait a year and receive my help to break the curse, or pull yourself together and break the curse with Titania’s kisses. Do as you please. This is entirely your choice to make.”
It was an answer that seemed to neatly organize the thoughts I had been wandering between for the past few days. Honestly, I had known, but I had been too confused to decide.
“My choice...”
“Come to think of it, I’m suddenly curious.”
As I muttered blankly, Veronica looked at me with curious eyes. They were like the eyes of a child who had discovered a new toy, or eyes that couldn’t contain their curiosity.
Veronica grinned and asked me as if muttering to herself.
“Come to think of it, Titania and I are essentially the same ‘existence,’ aren’t we?”
“R-right? You’re ‘Titania’ from another world...?”
“Then if you kissed me right now, would the curse break? Could I also become your fated partner? Well? Aren’t you curious?”
“What?”
When I widened my eyes in bewilderment, Veronica crossed her legs, tapped her thigh, and looked at me. It was as if she were beckoning a puppy to come here.
“Come up here, Vivian. I want to try an experiment too.”