Chapter 824: Couronne, You Want to Be the Mistress Who Breaks Us Apart? Confess Quickly!
At first, Couronne limited herself to a fervent, breathless kiss.
But soon enough, her hands began to wander, sliding down his chest and moving wildly with zero restraint. Realizing she was a hair's breadth away from doing something utterly outrageous in the middle of a public street, Ren firmly caught her wrists, halting her bold advance.
"Couronne," Ren said, a dryly amused smile playing on his lips. "Didn't you notice you have an audience right behind you?"
Her cheeks were flushed a deep, intoxicating crimson. Her eyes swam with a hazy, dream-like euphoria. Blinking slowly, Couronne turned her head to peer over her shoulder.
"Oh, it's just Riku and the others," she murmured, her voice thick with affection. She waved a free hand in a loose, dismissive gesture. "It's fine. It's all just a dream anyway. Don't mind them."
"Um, Couronne... what exactly are you talking about? What dream?"
Despite the suffocating awkwardness hanging in the air, Riku forced himself to speak up. He rubbed the back of his neck, his face a mask of deep discomfort. There was absolutely no way he could just stand there and watch his sister figure do anything more scandalous in broad daylight.
"A dream is a dream, what else could it possibly be?" Couronne rolled her eyes playfully. To prove her point, she raised her hand and pinched the soft flesh of her own forearm with considerable force. "See? It doesn't even..."
The words died in her throat.
Her relaxed, flushed expression suddenly contorted into a mask of pure agony.
"Hiss! It hurts!"
She had fully expected to feel nothing, intending to prove her invulnerability in this supposed fantasy. Instead, she found herself grimacing, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air as a very real, very sharp sting radiated through her nerves.
Couronne's entire body went rigid.
She stared down at her forearm. An angry red mark was already blooming against her pale skin, throbbing with unmistakable pain.
Slowly, mechanically, she lifted her gaze back to Ren. He was looking down at her, a thoroughly entertained smirk plastered across his face.
"Looks like you got it wrong," Ren chuckled, his voice laced with teasing warmth. "This isn't a dream."
Leaning in just a fraction closer, he deliberately added fuel to the fire. "And tell me... did you mistake me for someone else?"
Couronne froze as if struck by a bolt of lightning.
'Not a dream.'
Those three words echoed deafeningly inside her suddenly blank mind, shattering her reality into a million jagged pieces. The heat in her cheeks skyrocketed from a pleasant flush to a boiling, catastrophic red.
A second later, a high-pitched scream of absolute, soul-crushing shame tore from her throat.
Shoving herself out of Ren's embrace, Couronne spun on her heel and sprinted away as fast as her legs could carry her, leaving a trail of panicked dust in her wake.
"Ren, this..."
Riku stammered, his hand suspended in mid-air. He stared at the retreating figure of Couronne, completely at a loss for words to explain the bizarre spectacle that had just unfolded.
"Don't worry about it," Ren said casually, waving off the younger man's concern. "I'll handle her later. You guys go ahead and take care of your own business."
Riku gave Ren and the girl standing beside him a long, deeply conflicted look. Deciding it was better not to pry into whatever madness this was, he gave a stiff nod and walked off with his companions.
Once they were alone, Shuvi reached out and gently tugged at Ren's sleeve. She looked up at him, her large, mechanical eyes blinking with innocent curiosity.
"Ren-ge," she stated in her flat, yet strangely endearing tone. "We have not kissed or engaged in any physical intimacy in reality yet."
He paused, considering her words. That was entirely true.
Back in the hyper-realistic dreamscape, he and Shuvi had shared more than a few intense, highly enjoyable sessions. Despite being an Ex-Machina, her synthetic body was a marvel of engineering. She possessed tactile senses, thermal receptors, and physical reactions that were virtually indistinguishable from a flesh-and-blood human. In many ways, her design mirrored the complex biology of Ikaros and her fellow Angeloids from his other encounters.
Ren reached out, affectionately ruffling her metallic hair. "There will be plenty of opportunities for that later, Shuvi. For now, let's go check on your Couronne-jie. I'm going to need you to cooperate with me on a little prank."
"Waaahhh!"
Back inside the safety of her own home, Couronne was tightly rolled up into a human burrito beneath her thick quilt. Her entire body felt like it was burning up with a fever.
Every time her brain replayed the memory of her throwing herself at Ren, kissing him passionately in the middle of the street while fully believing it was a lucid dream, a fresh wave of mortification washed over her. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole straight through the floorboards and bury herself alive.
"Ahhh, I can't face anyone ever again!" she mumbled into her pillow, thrashing and writhing wildly across the mattress.
It took a long while for her frantic thrashing to subside.
As her breathing gradually leveled out, her mood finally began to stabilize. Slowly, she slipped one hand out from beneath the covers, bringing her fingertips up to brush against her own lips. They still felt sensitive, tingling with the phantom heat of that fervent, desperate kiss.
Even as fresh heat crept up her neck, her rational mind began to process the sheer impossibility of the situation.
'Why did Ren from the dream suddenly appear in reality?' she pondered, her brow furrowing in confusion.
And more, the girl who had been standing right beside him...
"Wait... was that Shuvi?!" she gasped aloud.
"Are you calling for me?"
A familiar, synthesized voice suddenly echoed through the quiet bedroom.
Couronne shrieked, violently throwing off the heavy quilt. She scrambled backward against the headboard, her chest heaving. Standing right at the foot of her bed was Shuvi, staring at her with an incredibly serious, unblinking expression.
And leaning casually against the doorframe right behind the Ex-Machina was... Ren.
"Miss," Shuvi began, her tone carrying the strict authority of an interrogator. "I am here to ask you a few questions."
"Eh?!"
Panic seized Couronne's heart. Her fight-or-flight instincts kicked into overdrive, heavily favoring flight. She lunged off the side of the bed, aiming for the door.
Unfortunately for her, Ren was infinitely faster. In a blur of motion, he shifted his position, blocking her escape route perfectly. Couronne crashed directly into his solid chest, bouncing back slightly before his strong arms wrapped around her waist, catching her effortlessly.
"Don't even think about running," Ren murmured, his voice a low, teasing rumble against her ear. "How about we sit down and have a nice, long talk?"
A few minutes later, the chaotic scene had settled into a makeshift interrogation.
Couronne sat rigidly on the edge of a wooden chair, her knees pressed tightly together and her head bowed so low her chin practically touched her collarbone. She fidgeted uncomfortably under their combined scrutiny.
Ren pulled up a chair opposite her, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your name is Couronne, right?"
She gave a tiny, jerky nod. "Yes," she squeaked, her voice softer than the buzz of a mosquito.
"Care to explain your actions out there on the street?"
Before Couronne could formulate an excuse, Shuvi leaned forward, her mechanical eyes narrowing sternly. "You just molested Ren-ge in broad daylight!"
Behind Couronne's line of sight, Ren subtly flashed Shuvi a thumbs-up. He had absolutely been the one enjoying the sudden physical contact, but Shuvi had flawlessly executed their plan, framing the poor, flustered Couronne as a total pervert.
Couronne bit her lower lip so hard it nearly turned white. Her fingers twisted and intertwined nervously in her lap.
She had absolutely no idea how to answer that accusation. What was she supposed to say? That she thought she was having a lucid, romantic dream about a man who somehow existed in the real world? No sane person would ever believe a story like that.
Seeing her struggle, Ren decided to throw her a lifeline. "When we were outside, you mentioned something about a dream, right?"
Couronne's head snapped up. "Yes! Yes, exactly!"
"Care to tell me about it?"
She hesitated, her eyes darting between Ren's calm face and Shuvi's stoic one. After a long, agonizing internal struggle, she finally nodded. Taking a deep breath, she began to recount the vivid, hyper-realistic dream she had experienced, detailing her interactions with the two of them.
"I see," Ren said slowly once she finished. He stroked his chin, intentionally feigning a look of deep realization. "So, Miss Couronne, you are claiming that you met both me and Shuvi inside this incredibly realistic dream of yours."
Couronne nodded furiously, her head bobbing up and down like a pecking chick. "I swear, everything I just said is the absolute truth! That's the only reason I made such a huge mistake earlier!"
She stared at him, her eyes wide and pleading. She desperately hoped he would believe her outlandish tale.
Ren held her gaze for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh. "Alright. I suppose I can believe you on that point."
Facing her anxious, hopeful expression, he decided not to crush her spirit completely just yet.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Couronne gasped, her shoulders sagging as a wave of immense relief and joy washed over her.
However, her relief was painfully short-lived.
Ren immediately leaned forward, dropping a sharp, inescapable question right into her lap. "But that still leaves one glaring issue. How exactly do you explain seeing me on the street, sprinting up to kiss me, and clearly trying to initiate something far more intimate?"
"Ah... well, that is..."
Couronne's eyes darted wildly around the room, desperately searching the bare walls for an excuse. She couldn't possibly tell him the truth. She couldn't admit that she had secretly developed a massive crush on the 'dream' version of Ren, and that she had fully intended to indulge her desires, even if it meant becoming a third party between him and Shuvi. That was entirely too shameful to say out loud.
Trapped by her own guilt, Couronne remained stubbornly silent.
But Shuvi was more than happy to answer for her.
"I have deduced the answer," the Ex-Machina stated faintly, her voice cutting through the silence like a knife. "Couronne is using this dream as a convenient excuse to become a mistress and break us apart!"
"I-I am not!" Couronne shrieked, instantly leaping to her feet.
Her chair clattered loudly against the floorboards. She refused to be looked down upon like some homewrecking villain. Even if her secret feelings were genuine, she would never actually stoop so low as to destroy someone else's relationship just to satisfy her own desires.
"Really?" Ren and Shuvi asked in perfect, deadpan unison.
The heavy weight of their combined, deeply suspicious gazes made Couronne stomp her foot against the floorboards in sheer frustration. How on earth was she supposed to explain this clearly? It was a complete disaster!
'Someone, please, just strike me down and save me from this nightmare!' she prayed internally, practically scratching at her own cheeks in distress.
Just as Couronne was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown, a soft sound broke the tension.
Shuvi couldn't hold her stoic facade any longer. A bright, distinctly un-robotic giggle slipped past her lips.
Couronne froze, her hands dropping from her face as she looked at the Ex-Machina in utter bewilderment.
"Sorry, Ren-ge," Shuvi said, blinking her large, expressive eyes apologetically at him. "I could not hold it in any longer."
"It's alright," Ren replied, a warm, genuine chuckle rumbling in his chest. His previously interrogative posture melted away into relaxed amusement. "The goal has already been achieved. I got to see Couronne's incredibly cute, flustered side."
A massive, invisible question mark practically materialized over Couronne's forehead.
"What... what are you two talking about?" she stammered, looking back and forth between them. "I don't understand."
"We were just teasing you, Couronne," Ren explained gently, pushing himself up from his chair. "In fact, we already knew everything you just told us."
He closed the distance between them in two long strides. Reaching out, he affectionately pinched her soft, flushed cheek. "That hyper-realistic dream you had? We know all about it, because we were actually there."
He let his fingers linger against her warm skin for a second before dropping his hand. "When you ran up to me on the street earlier, the very first thing I said to you was, 'Long time no see.' But you were so caught up in the moment, you completely failed to notice."
Triggered by his hint, the memory suddenly clicked into place.
Couronne replayed the encounter in her mind. Right before she had thrown herself at him, Ren really had smiled and said, 'Long time no see.' She had just been far too excited to process the words.
Her eyes gradually widened to the size of saucers.
She stared back and forth between Ren's amused smirk and Shuvi's innocent blinking, her brain completely short-circuiting under the weight of the revelation.
It took her a long, breathless minute to finally process the truth, and when she did, only one absurd sentence managed to tumble out of her mouth.
"Wait... so this really is a dream, isn't it?!"
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