Does a Doll Deserve to Live a Happy Life? (Patreon)

Chapter 54: I’m Home

No sooner had my Shroud returned to my body than a familiar head of blonde hair collided against me. Jeanne wrapped her arms around my back as tightly as she could.

“Sieg! It’s really you!” she mumbled into my chest. My hands moved on their own, hugging her back and pulling her even closer even as I felt my shirt growing damp with her tears.

A few seconds later, Jeanne pulled her head back just enough to look up at me with teary amethyst eyes. “It is you, right? You’re my Sieg?” she asked softly, searching my red eyes with quiet intensity.

“Yes, it’s me, Ruler. Welcome back,” I answered gently, offering her a small smile.

Her eyes lit up with pure happiness before she rested her head over my heart again, listening to the steady beat beneath her ear.

“I’m home,” Jeanne whispered, her hold on me tightening as she let out a soft, contented sigh.

“This new power of yours that you gifted me is a blessing~” she continued in a slightly dreamy tone. “Not only do I feel the will of the Lord much more clearly now… but if I simply close my eyes and concentrate, I can feel your feelings and emotions as well.”

‘That must be her Revelation Skill working overtime now that it’s been upgraded to EX Rank and turned into At the End of the Pure and Clear Prayers,’ I realized. A flicker of nervousness followed the thought.

The Company was insidious in the way it affected people, and Servants were especially vulnerable because of certain skills they possessed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the voice or guidance Jeanne once received from God had been subtly replaced by the desires of the Shroud… which, in truth, were my own unconscious wishes.

‘I really hope that’s not the case,’ I thought silently.

I was reminded that we weren’t alone when I was suddenly pulled from Jeanne’s embrace. My face was shoved firmly into a familiar, soft chest.

“Stop hogging my boyfriend, you stupid Saint!” Tamamo exclaimed, her voice thick with jealousy as she pressed me deeper against her. I did my best to hold my breath so I wouldn’t pass out from lack of oxygen.

Though I couldn’t see Jeanne’s expression, Conjunction let me feel her emotions perfectly. She was both surprised and intensely jealous, which was confirmed by her next words.

“Let go of Sieg, Caster! Can’t you see that you’re suffocating him?!” Jeanne cried, already trying to pull my arm free from Tamamo’s grip.

“I won’t! As his first girlfriend, it’s only natural that I’m this close to my beloved!” Tamamo shot back with equal passion, her tails wrapping tightly around me as well.

“F-First girlfriend?!” Jeanne repeated, Tamamo’s earlier words finally sinking in. She paused in her efforts for a moment.

“Huhuhu, that’s right~ My beloved Sieg-kun and I have been dating for a while now, and I won’t let someone who arrived late to the party monopolize all of his time!” Tamamo declared smugly, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of my head.

That only made Jeanne renew her efforts with even greater strength.

“E-Even if what you say is true and you and Sieg are dating, you’re wrong about one thing!” Jeanne shot back, her voice embarrassed but determined. “I’m Sieg’s first girlfriend, not you! I’ve known him the longest after all!”

“Hihihi~ Actually, if we’re talking about who knows Master the longest, then that position goes to me!” Astolfo suddenly jumped into the conversation, making everything worse.

“Stay out of this, you gender confused Paladin!” Tamamo immediately barked in annoyance.

“R-Rider!? So you’re here too?” Jeanne asked in surprise.

“Yeppers~” Astolfo replied cheerfully. “I just want to say that while I might have stepped back in the past, that’s no longer the case. With a new chance at life by Master’s side, I don’t plan to lose to anybody~”

His declaration took me by surprise and left me with a complicated mix of emotions. On one hand, I was flattered that someone who had once saved me felt that way. On the other… I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I was fairly certain I liked girls. Astolfo, while appearing at first glance to be an extremely beautiful girl, was still a man.

‘Da Vinci was in a similar situation, but she was in an actual female body, so it’s a bit different,’ I thought, a light blush rising to my cheeks. ‘I guess the possibility exists that Astolfo could get a female body in the future…’

Unaware of my internal turmoil, the argument continued without pause.

“Fufufu… Aren’t you forgetting something, Tamamo-san?” Kiara jumped in with an amused laugh. “Everyone here feels the same about Sieg. We are his lovers… even if some of us aren’t quite ready to accept that title yet.”

Her coy words only made me blush harder.

“Indeed. My student seems to have quite the appetite for both the opposite and same sex,” Scáthach added calmly, looking almost bored.

“S-S-Stop speaking such ludicrous things, Kiara!” Artoria sputtered, clearly embarrassed. Both her voice and the emotions flowing through Conjunction made her feelings obvious. “I have no such feelings for Sieg! He’s simply someone I deeply respect and admire, who makes me delicious food, whom I trust to have my back, and whom I wouldn’t hesitate to follow into battle… and a great student of the blade!”

“Pft. Sounds to me like you’re in denial,” Alter scoffed quietly.

Artoria sputtered again, launching into more denials before Alter muttered under her breath, “No wonder you didn’t hesitate to give him your sheath.”

Those final words made Artoria fall completely silent. I could practically hear a teapot boiling as her embarrassment spiked through the roof.

“M-Master… Husband,” Fran said quietly, the usually silent girl speaking up without hesitation.

“Berserker is here too?!” Jeanne asked, sounding less surprised now and more resigned.

“M-Me and Senpai!? T-Together!? Hyeeeeek! My heart is not ready!” Mash let out an adorable squeal of pure embarrassment. Another metaphorical teapot seemed to whistle somewhere nearby.

“I-I can’t believe Sieg managed to find so many lovers…” Jeanne said in genuine surprise. “Just how long has it been since our last meeting?”

I stiffened slightly in Tamamo’s embrace.

‘This is it,’ I thought, nervousness tightening in my chest as I wondered how Jeanne would take the news.

“…Haah. I guess it doesn’t matter,” Jeanne eventually said, her voice calm. “It must have been the will of the Lord that led to this and made our reunion possible. He must have a plan for him and I will be there by his side.”

I was taken aback. I couldn’t detect even a hint of anger in her tone. ‘Just how pure is this girl?’

“Hmph. That idiot was worrying for nothing, just like I thought,” Scáthach revealed with an amused huff. “He even stubbornly refused to have sex with any of us until he met you again and explained everything.”

My face turned beet red. I finally managed to pull myself free from Tamamo’s heavenly prison and turned to face Jeanne, who was equally red-faced but surprisingly smiling happily.

Tamamo let out a small, disappointed whine, but she still released me.

“That last part didn’t have to be said, Scáthach,” I muttered, glancing at the woman. Jeanne still seemed unable to speak, her hands pressed to her flushed cheeks as she looked at the ground with a soft smile.

“Tsk. Someone had to say it,” Scáthach replied with a roll of her eyes.

“Ahem… We can save talk about things like that for later,” I said, trying, and mostly failing, to keep my voice calm while the blush lingered on my cheeks. “For now, I think it would be wise to bring Ruler up to speed on why we’re here and what’s waiting for us. Now that she’s back to full power, her help would be greatly appreciated.”

Jeanne blinked, willingly pushing the blush down as a serious expression settled over her face. When her eyes met mine again, a faint flush returned, but it didn’t stop her from answering.

“I think that would be for the best.”

=====

A While Later

We took our time explaining everything to Jeanne about the situation and what we were doing here. She listened patiently to every word.

Eventually the conversation turned to how I had even arrived in this world. I told her everything that had happened since the day I woke up in my Demiplane months ago. The others thoughtfully left us alone for this part, though Kiara had to drag a pouting Tamamo away so they could set up a perimeter and a bounded field.

Night had fallen, and we would be camping here before moving out the next day.

One thing I noticed about Jeanne, however, was that the moment we were left alone her face began to grow red. By the time I finished explaining, she was softly panting, her eyes slightly clouded.

“Umm… are you okay, Jeanne?” I asked gently, a little worried by her current state.

It was late now, and we were alone inside the tent I would be staying in.

“I-I can see it,” Jeanne muttered softly as she locked gazes with me. Then, slowly, she rose from her seat and walked toward me on unsteady steps.

“What?” I asked in confusion, carefully watching her so she wouldn’t trip. She looked almost drunk. “See what?”

“The path the Lord has chosen for you,” Jeanne whispered. Before I could react, she straddled my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. I blinked in surprise as a blush rose to my cheeks, my hands unconsciously settling on her hips to steady her.

“It’s beautiful~” she continued in a dreamy, almost trance-like voice, a soft smile on her lips. “A path that will save countless lives… and one where many others will join you in your noble cause.”

“What you’re doing right now must have been the Lord’s plan from the very beginning. I finally understand the true purpose of my summoning here. It wasn’t only to resolve this Singularity… but to join you in your quest to save all those who need saving~”

She spoke in a quiet yet passionate tone that I might have believed was a genuine revelation from God, if not for the one detail that made a shiver run down my spine.

Jeanne’s beautiful amethyst eyes, normally filled with pure innocence and quiet joy, had been replaced by literal glowing pink heart-shaped pupils that stared intensely into mine.

‘What the hell is going on right now?’ I thought, stunned as I looked down at the woman in my arms, unsure what to do or say.

‘Is she actually drunk on something? Faith? My emotions? The whispers of the Shroud?’ Several possibilities raced through my mind before I focused on Conjunction and reached out to feel her emotions.

I was immediately hit by a wave of overwhelming love and lust so intense that I physically flinched.

‘So it really is the Shrou—’

I never finished the thought.

A pair of soft lips met my own, and my mind went completely blank. My eyes closed on instinct as I kissed her back.

A shy but determined tongue brushed against my lips, asking for entry. Having grown used to such requests, I granted it, and my own tongue gently met hers.

“Mmn~”

Jeanne’s soft moan brought me back to my senses, but by then it was already too late to pull away. She used her hands to draw me even closer, and I felt her begin to grind slowly against my lap.

The moment my body reacted to her movements, she noticed. Her efforts only intensified. Any attempt I made to pull her off failed; she held me tightly, and unless I was willing to hurt her, she wasn’t going anywhere.

Thankfully, she still needed to breathe. Moments later our lips separated, a thin string of saliva connecting us that she slowly licked away. The sight made my member twitch beneath her.

Looking at Jeanne now, she was almost unrecognizable from her usual self. She panted softly, her face flushed, those glowing pink heart-shaped pupils still locked on me.

“My first kiss…” Jeanne murmured with a gentle smile. Then she leaned up to my neck and began planting small, lingering kisses down my throat, making me shiver with pleasure.

“J-Jeanne… what are you doing?” I asked hesitantly. My hands instinctively squeezed her hips as she bit lightly at my neck, drawing another soft moan from her. All the while her hips never stopped grinding against my erection.

“Mmn… the Lord has approved of our union, Sieg~” she whispered against my skin. “There’s no reason to hold back now that we’ve been blessed by the Lord Himself. Don’t worry… it’s my first time as well.”

She took one of my hands, dismissed her armor with a soft glow, and guided my palm onto her left breast.

“You see… mmn—” Jeanne moaned as she forced my hand to squeeze the soft flesh. “You see how fast my heart is beating for you? I’ve only ever felt this way with you. That means the Lord must have known, even during our first meeting, that you were my other half.”

Now that she mentioned it, I could hear her heartbeat clearly, loud and rapid, despite all the soft noises she was making.

“So please… touch me~” Jeanne pleaded, pulling away from my neck only to draw me into another kiss.

Overwhelmed by the sensations she was creating and by the way Jeanne, a literal Saint, was acting right now, I found myself swept away by my own rising feelings and desire for her.

I began squeezing her breast more firmly while my other hand traveled down her back, cupping her soft rear and giving it a gentle squeeze. Sweet moans rewarded every touch as she returned to kissing her way down my neck and across my upper chest.

“W-We should stop…” I whispered, though the words lacked conviction, my hands never ceased their movements.

“Let us become one, Sieg~ Just as the Lord intended,” Jeanne whispered against my chest. Then she pulled back slightly, a shy smile on her lips, and began removing her top. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

I was met with the sight of Jeanne’s beautiful, full breasts, topped with small, hardened nipples that seemed to beg for attention.

Holding them gently, she looked at me with a demure expression as she presented herself.

“D-Do you like them, Sieg? They belong to you now… just as it was always intended.”

“I-I love them,” I managed, swallowing hard as my eyes drank in the heavenly sight before me.

Unfortunately for both of us, we had completely forgotten that nothing prevented the sounds Jeanne was making, and she was quite loud, from carrying outside the tent.

Just as things threatened to grow even more heated, a sickeningly sweet voice drifted in from the entrance.

“Fufufu… I knew you couldn’t be trusted, you perverted Saint. I knew it was only a matter of time before you tried seducing my beloved with that sinful body of yours~”

I turned toward the voice, my face going pale. Standing there was Tamamo, glowing eyes locked on us, a wide smile on her face and her tails waving menacingly behind her.

‘Fuck… I’m dead.’