The Hero Stole My Lover, So I Decided to Steal the Hero's Lover Instead - Chapter 42-43

Chapter 42

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“…Uu.”

After the kiss, Alicia let out a small whimper.

“Um, uh… uuuh…”

She couldn’t put it into words, but she probably meant something along the lines of how incredibly embarrassing it was. Her whole body was flushed and burning hot—like her blood might be boiling.

After casting a quick glance at me, Alicia hurriedly took a step back. The kiss had embarrassed her, but the hug probably did too. Seeing her so innocent and shy, I couldn’t help but smile.

“So? How was the kiss?”

Sharon asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Uh, well… I mean…”

Alicia was visibly flustered. If I remembered right, this had been Alicia’s first kiss. In that case, it made sense—any first experience is nerve-racking. I’d been pretty nervous when I had my first kiss too… Probably.

Still. I never expected we’d end up kissing right in front of Cain… I wasn’t trying to show off or anything like that. Both Alicia and I had been swept along by Sharon. Swept along…

Though it was not like we were actually forced to kiss or anything. It was more like… Going along with the flow? Basically something hard to define just carried us into it.

Even so, I was glad we kissed today. That kiss had brought Alicia and me much closer together.

The goal was finally in sight… Goal? I wasn’t even sure what the goal was. A deeper—more physical—relationship might be the endpoint of the now mostly symbolic “Project NTR.” For me and Alicia, the real goal would be marriage.

Well, people always say marriage isn’t the goal but a new beginning.

“Still…” 

Sharon said.

“Did you see his face? The guy looked completely crushed.”

“Hey.”

I spoke in a low voice, almost a whisper.

“Isn’t it enough already? I mean, at this point, you could probably get rid of Cain if we wanted to, right?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure about that…”

But Sharon made a hesitant face.

She seemed to view the Hero—and the Holy Sword—as an immense threat. Better safe than sorry. She was extremely cautious. She wanted to thoroughly break Cain’s spirit before anything else. She wanted to confront him only when everything was firmly in her control.

“What do you think he’ll do now? What options—or actions—do you think he’ll take?”

Sharon asked me, subtly shifting the topic.

“No idea.” 

I answered honestly. 

“He might finally give up on Alicia this time, or he might not be able to let go and send another communication crystal—”

“Or he might go for a more extreme measure.”

“Extreme measure?”

That was an ominous phrase. It sounded like Sharon thought the likelihood of him taking drastic action was high.

“You know—he might come all the way here, to Zwein, and forcibly take Alicia away with him.”

“In short, kidnapping or abduction…”

“Exactly.”

Sharon nodded. Kidnapping—abduction. A serious crime. One of the more heinous kinds, too. It was sad that I couldn’t outright deny the possibility that the Hero would do something so depraved. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he did.

“But Cain can’t use teleportation magic like you can, right? …Wait, don’t tell me—can he?”

“No, he shouldn’t be able to.” 

Sharon replied. 

“If he could use teleportation magic, he wouldn’t have bothered with that communication crystal nonsense—he’d have just shown up in person to talk to Alicia.”

“True.”

“Even without teleportation magic, if he takes the time, he can still get to this town.”

Which meant, Sharon continued.

“We have to keep a close eye on what he does next.”

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Chapter 43: The Hero’s POV

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Kiss.

A kiss. A kiss.

A hug, and then a kiss.

It clung to his mind and wouldn’t let go. The image was stuck there like glue. No matter how hard he tried to think about something else, it was no use. That scene played on repeat, over and over, with vivid clarity.

The stress, the frustration—it felt like his mind was going to snap. Breathing heavily through his shoulders, Cain searched for some way to distract himself. He decided to take out his frustration on the first chair he saw.

Crack, snap…

“Damn it! Damn it, damn it!”

He went around destroying everything in sight. One by one, the furnishings in the house were smashed to pieces, until the place had fallen into such ruin it was barely livable anymore. It helped distract him—somewhat. But only just. It was like pouring a cup of water on a wildfire.

Cain sat cross-legged on the floor. Feeling the discomfort of sweat running down his body, he covered his face with his hands. He wasn’t just sweating—tears and snot were dripping too.

“Shit! Damn it all!”

This time he clutched at his hair, furiously messing it up.

Just then, Sheryl came home. She widened her eyes at the scene of destruction, as if a hurricane had swept through the place. 

It didn’t take long for her to realize Cain was the one who’d caused it. But of course, she had no idea why. Even guessing would’ve been difficult.

“Wh-what happened…?”

Sheryl stood frozen at the entrance, clearly shaken. Naturally. Anyone would react like that—coming home to find their furniture wrecked and the place in shambles.

“Sheryl, huh.”

“Answer me. What is the meaning of all this?”

“I got pissed off, so I took it out on the furniture. That’s all.”

“You got pissed off…? What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business.”

Cain didn’t want to answer her questions.

“That’s not true. This is my house. I’m the one who has to clean this up. I’m the one who’ll have to buy new furniture. You don’t have to apologize—but at the very least, give me an explanation. You owe me that much.”

Her tone pissed him off. It only made his irritation worse.

Alicia wouldn’t talk to me like this.

Sheryl stepped toward him, stepping over the shattered wood scattered across the floor. She was beautiful, but compared to Alicia, she fell short in every way. What she especially lacked was “grace.” She had a boyfriend, Luke, and yet she’d fallen for Cain without much resistance. Grace was never something he expected from her anyway.

Still, a woman without grace wasn’t necessarily bad. But a graceful woman was undoubtedly better. If it were just a fling, the former might have the edge. But if you wanted a real relationship—or marriage—the latter was overwhelmingly preferable.

If I punched that graceless face, would I feel a little better?

Cain thought that as Sheryl leaned down to look at him sitting there on the floor. He clenched his fist tightly but stopped himself. Hitting her would be a bad move.

“Hey. Just explain, will you?”

“…Fine.”

Cain decided to be honest. No lies. Even if Sheryl got mad, she wasn’t much of a threat. If he really wanted to, he could kill her in an instant (not that he had any intention of doing so).

He told her everything.

That he had a girlfriend named Alicia. That Alicia was now apparently dating Sheryl’s ex, Luke. That he’d tried to return Sheryl to Luke and take Alicia back in exchange—but failed.

And so on.

As Cain talked, Sheryl’s expression gradually hardened. Then it twisted into pure rage. And the moment he finished explaining…

“Don’t screw with me!”

Sheryl shouted furiously.

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