I Own A Brothel In Another World (Ch. 1-196)

Chapter 69 - The Weakness of All Succubi

With a cute, grey-haired feline Beastkin relaxing on my chest under the gentle stroking of my hand, I finally begin summoning all the windows I've intentionally sent away before when we were having our little moment. The first one is obvious and just states that Astrea joined the ranks of my contracted Partners. It doesn't seem that she has a surname or anything else besides her first name as it doesn't appear in there.

While in contemplation, I notice the lack of purring that pleasantly filled the air up till now. Astrea must have sensed that I'm thinking about her and is currently looking at me from below, with her previous, calm and neutral expression.

"Something wrong?" I ask.

She tilts her head for a bit and her ear twitches. "It's weird. I can feel you. Do your other mates feel you this deeply too?"

"Hmmmm... I guess the girls I've bonded with have a stronger connection with me than just the people I register as my Partners, but I'm also pretty sure it goes even a level higher with you girls who I actually wish to be with, and vice versa. Like, the deeper your feelings for me are and the more I love you back, the closer we actually get. You can think of Sirgia or Cornelia versus girls like Shawure and Zalia as an example. We are in a different level of relationship."

Astrea lowers her gaze for a moment and ponders, returning it up to me shortly after. "Does this mean that... you like me? Even though I've been avoiding you and you barely know anything about me?"

I smile gently and move my hand to rub her adorable ear a bit more. "Silly girl, of course, I like you. I might not know a lot about you, but you definitely had a reason not to share, right? I can at least tell that you are a good person and that's the most important. And I can feel that your feelings are real."

Astrea pulls herself up and starts rubbing her cheek against mine, beginning to quietly purr again. This time, I join her in this weirdly satisfactory motion and move my face too, effectively making us nuzzle against each other in a quite lively fashion. It kind of reminds me of the videos back from home where two cats would rub their cute heads together.

A faint smile paints her lips as we share some affection. "I love you..." Astrea whispers, seemingly not fully conscious of it.

"I love you too," I answer back with a faint chuckle, making her stop nuzzling to me and look me in the eyes.

"Really?"

"What? You think I accepted you as my lover on a whim? I was pretty interested in you, you know?"

"You were?"

"I admit that it was—and partially still is—mostly due to how cute and charming you are, so it kind of feels like I'm infatuated with your exotic body, but I'm sure it can grow much deeper if we just get to know each other better."

She keeps silent for a few seconds before moving her lips close to my cheek to present it with a gentle peck. "I'm alright if you love me for my body. Actually, I'm a little bit happy. It makes us... kind of similar."

"Oh, how so?"

"Well... I mean... It's like you are following your male instincts, no? And I fell for you because of my own, feral instincts, making me lust after strong individuals. Aren't I technically just after your body too?"

I stop for a moment to think. Astrea's words actually hold more truth to them than I expected. The most common reason for falling in love is getting infatuated with someone's beauty. It's pretty much the same in this case.

With a smile, I peck her forehead back. "You are right. It seems like I've been overthinking it even more than you. So, let's just agree we both love each other and move on."