The reluctance came from feeling like she was being manipulated like a puppet, while the shyness came from the fact that Ryuji was willing to offer so much just for her.
"You're so beautiful, sensible and you have such a great figure. It's only natural that I'd like you and want you. But I want the real you. So, I won't force you to make any decision… even leaving me is an option."
Ryuji was clearly coaxing her, because in reality, that outcome was impossible. If it ever happened, he would make sure that whoever made Helena leave him would be seeing their ancestors in no time.
This was simply a way to break down Helena's psychological defenses.
"I'll wait until you accept me… and…"
Ryuji let go of Helena's full breasts and spoke with a faint sense of reluctance.
"There's also something I need to tell you."
He held Helena's firm waist and turned her around, then spoke word by word.
"I won't give up on Mai. Even if what she brings me isn't as much as you and she's not as sensible as you, I still won't abandon her. Because she chose to accept everything about me, so I'll resolve her troubles and fulfill all her wishes, whether it's revitalizing the Shiranui-ryū or being with her family, I'll make it happen."
Ryuji reached out and lifted Helena's chin as she stayed silent.
Her earlier request for an embrace had already made things clear: she was willing to sacrifice herself for Ryuji's protection of her and her mother. But Marie Rose was another matter.
Helena wouldn't oppose his relationship with Mai, but Marie Rose might not be the same.
Because she possessed a kind of kindness that didn't quite match her status.
"So, if getting you means I have to betray her, I won't do it… But if your wishes don't conflict with hers, then I'll fulfill all your desires as well."
Helena didn't know what to say. Ryuji was too straightforward, so much so that she didn't even know how to respond.
Should she call him a bastard? He had just saved her. And anyone in her position wouldn't think his terms were harsh at all; in fact, many would wish for exactly this.
"I understand. It's just... I'm still a little concerned."
Helena looked into Ryuji's eyes, but after a moment, she couldn't help turning her head away.
"I understand. So, I won't force you."
Ryuji gave his answer.
And indeed, he wouldn't force her. He would simply guide things so that every choice she made would eventually lead back to him.
"But you're my only choice."
Helena gently stood on her toes and pressed her lips against Ryuji's. She had accepted her fate; she would come to love him and take on the role of harem manager.
Ryuji responded in kind, pulling Helena's voluptuous figure back into his arms, holding her soft, full body close. He then skillfully pried open her lips, capturing her soft tongue, and making her understand just how wonderful kissing could feel.
Helena was startled at first. Though she was of European descent, her upbringing had been strict and refined, she knew of such things, but had never experienced them herself.
She knew… but not deeply.
And that partial understanding placed her in a strange state...
And before she realized it, she was already sinking into it.
Their tongues intertwined, stirring together and producing soft, intimate sounds, and in that moment, Helena's reluctance and her complicated feelings toward Ryuji completely erupted.
Two lines of tears slid from the corners of her eyes, yet she quickly forgot them because of the overwhelming sensation brought by the kiss.
The physical pleasure of their bodies pressing together mixed with the faint unwillingness in her heart, blending into a strange and complicated emotion.
For Helena, this kind of feeling wasn't difficult to erase. From a young age, she had seen wealthy men with multiple wives and mistresses, and her peers did not value their virginity at all.
If not for her strict upbringing, she would have dated long ago, perhaps even given away her virginity already.
So, when Ryuji's hand moved to her hips, gently kneading that soft, elastic flesh, she no longer cared about emotional entanglements.
The strong vitality in Ryuji's body, along with his mysterious attraction, made her instinctively want to press herself even closer to him.
This was a feeling she had never experienced before.
It wasn't like she had never been close to other men, normal social interactions like handshakes had happened but none of them had ever made her feel such a vivid sense of vitality just by being near.
She felt her carefully trained hips being firmly kneaded, her full breasts pressed out of shape against his body, while a warm current began to rise within her body.
And so, like many girls who had their first close contact with Ryuji, a thought surfaced in her mind...
Am I… really this lewd?
Under the influence of hormones, she found herself growing to like Ryuji more and more and her heartbeat was racing uncontrollably.
Even though Ryuji hadn't really done much, just kissing her and knead her hips, Helena felt as if she were under a spell, as though she was about to reach some indescribable sensation.
But just as she nervously rubbed her thighs together, feeling something about to leak from her body, Ryuji suddenly withdrew his hand.
The abrupt loss made her feel as though she had fallen from the clouds. Instinctively, she even pushed her hips back slightly, trying to find his hands again.
Helena shot him a dissatisfied look, biting her soft lips, tears of unwillingness still lingering in her eyes. Yet what she felt now was an empty, unfulfilled frustration.
Ryuji simply smiled.
Just as he had thought female martial artists in this world had suppressed a great deal of their desires within their bodies.
Training and combat naturally increase a person's desires, let alone for female fighters like them.
Could Mai really not resist the pleasure that followed after being taken from behind?
It wasn't that her willpower was weak. It was simply that their bodies craved these things more intensely.
If desire only accumulated, it could still be endured.
But once they experienced a taste of pleasure?
"Ah!"
With Helena's startled cry, Ryuji slid his hand beneath her, drawing away a drop of moisture from her most sensitive place. Under her flushed, embarrassed gaze, he calmly brought it to his lips and tasted it.
Ryuji then looked at the ashamed and flustered Helena and asked.
"How is it, Miss Helena?"
~~~~~~~~~~
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