It’s been 17 years since I was born. And there’s one more month before turn 18.
Of course — it’s sad to mention it this way — I’ve never been hugged by any man aside from my own father, unfortunate as it may be.
Speaking of which, my skinship with my fiance Eric was also limited to dancing during the balls we attended.
At that time, I was so desperately trying not to step on his feet, so I didn’t have the attention to spare towards my partner.
But, it’s different this time around.
The silence filled the air, and it’s as if time stopped inside this room.
I couldn’t help but wordlessly stiffen when I felt the soft, glutinous sensation on my skin.
“
Eleanor-san?”
Kami-sama peered at me in wonder — well, he appeared to as he jiggled.
I could keenly fill those movements through my clothes.
“What happened?
 Did you perhaps twist your foot?”
The anxious voice called out to me, but I couldn’t utter a single word of reply
I could only purse my lips, bite my cheek, and remain frozen like a block of ice —
‘Impossible!!’
My thoughts were in chaos.
‘See how jelly-like he is?! He doesn’t even have hands and feet!! This doesn’t even feel like being embraced, but engulfed, isn’t it?!”
I couldn’t see my own appearance, but I could somehow imagine it.
Half of my body
 was probably buried onto Kami-sama’s elongated body.
Somebody watching from the side might even comment that I was totally being preyed on.
If he was a monster, I was probably doused in digestive juices and dissolved as is.
‘It’s not a scene that should send my heart pounding like crazy!’
This scene was more appropriate in eliciting goosebumps as a reaction, right.
No matter how you look at it, it’s a horror scene. I’m pretty sure I saw this kind of illustration in a thriller novel before.
As a maiden, my heart shouldn’t go fluttering in this kind of scene.
If I said I shouldn’t then I shouldn’t!!
“Eleanor-san?”
“W-w-w-what is it!? My heart isn’t pounding!”
“Pounding?”
Kami-sama tilted his head, perplexed, when I unintentionally blurted those unnecessary words out of confusion — or so he appeared to.
I could feel the twitching of his body through my clothes, making me realize just how close we were to each other.
“Did I startle you? I’m very sorry, I was planning to let Eleanor-san relax for today
” And yet, I made you feel uncomfortable, instead — Kami-sama apologetically sighed without realizing my feelings.
Afterward, he shuddered, as if to shake off feelings.
“At any rate, let’s have you seated once again. You shouldn’t be standing for so long, after all.”
His voice was as calm as usual, no traces of anything strange.
A bit anxious, but still soft and gentle —
He then wriggled his body before spreading wide.
‘Eh’
It was too late before that thought struck.
Kami-sama’s body was about to engulf me — head first.
Yeah, this was now the perfect example of being preyed on.
‘E-eaten
.?!’
I felt a chill run down my spine this time around, and I braced myself.
Kami-sama wouldn’t — I was terrified for a moment.
What I felt next was a soft sensation that carried my legs up and supported my back.
It was as if I was bridal carried, and my body floated in the air.
With that same fluid motion — the black body lowered me down on the chair.
“Let me brew the tea again. Please relax for a moment, Eleanor-san.”
Kami-sama smoothly slid away from me before shrinking before my eyes.
The long, stretched out body returned to its original roundness in a blink of an eye, and he jiggled and swayed as if nothing happened.
“


..”
I still hadn’t returned to reality yet, sitting dumbfounded on the chair.
‘Did he just carry me in his arms?’
No, wait, was it alright to treat that as being “carried up?” in the first place?
That was just a stretched-out black lump.
Even the feeling that was left on my skin — it’s so different from the arms of a human.
It was just elastic, no feeling of hardness at all.
‘Really, this is too strange.’
Kami-sama turned around and left my vision, and I could hear him searching for the tea leaves behind my back.
The feeling was different again from his usual presence, but I couldn’t turn around now.
‘It’s not a situation to get all fluttery! This is horror, horror!!’
Moreover, Kami-sama himself was acting like nothing happened.
Not to mention eating me, he didn’t even feel anything about it — he simply lifted me and lowered me down, that was it.
That’s why this isn’t a big deal.
My heart throbbed because I was shocked, that’s the only reason.
So I told myself as I reach out to take the cup of tea that had already gone cold.
I sipped a mouthful of black tea to calm myself down, but — I could no longer taste the tea that was supposedly delicious.
____
T/N: Sorry for the very long hiatus!!! A lot of things happened, from holiday season to getting covid once again to work piling until it’s as huge as Mount Fuji..It was quite exhausting
 things pretty much eased up these days, so I’m backkkkk ack XD thank you so much for the patience!! I’m starting with this one, then slowly adding chaps with the other series too 🙂
Hi everyone, Hanazakura here, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hungry for more? Great news! You can read 5 chapters in advance for as low as $3 at Patreon 🙂 Still working on Ko-fi so that you can also read advance chapters there soon ~ <3