I was expecting a disbelieving look or at least a laugh, but surprisingly, Ume didn't give any reaction. Her face was saying: I am all ears.

So I continued as I combed her hair and told her everything about how I reached here and what I went through before meeting her.

I deliberately left out the part about Vivi since it would have been too illogical for her to believe.

Seeing her listening to me curiously made me share the life I led back on Earth.

I told her about my Maa, my brother, and the modern world that was so different from Vyoman.

While I was at it, I braided the hair at her temples into neat little plaits, gathered the rest behind her head, and fastened it with a hairpin so the remaining strands flowed freely.

Without even realizing, several hours went by as I opened up completely before her.

"I was trying not to get too close with anyone here because I want to return to my family. But when Nymeria suddenly left us, I realized that I'm already past that point.

I…I don't want to get separated from you two. I am too greedy to let go of anything that I hold dear, so I made a decision."

Taking a brief pause, I declared, "I will find a way to freely travel between the two worlds."

Ume turned herself towards me, sat on my lap, and murmured, giving me a warm hug, "Thank you for telling me everything."

"You believed me?" I asked, a little surprised.

"I won't be a goddess if I can't even find the difference between truth and lie."

"So you can see through lies!!?"

"Why? Are you afraid of the times when you lied?"

"I haven't!" I stated firmly.

"Don't worry." She chuckled. "I don't have the specific skill to see through lies, but I have the years of experience to judge whether a person is being honest or not."

"Thanks for believing me," I murmured, accepting her hug. "My heart feels so light now that I finally shared it with someone."

As we drew back from each other's embrace, she asked, grabbing my hand, "Where is the engagement ring I gave you?"

"I…I removed it because I was afraid the guards in the mines might try to snatch it," I blurted.

"Are you still in the mines?" she hissed, pulling my hair, still sitting on my lap. "Why is your finger empty even now?"

"I'm-I'm wearing it right now," I blurted, immediately taking out the ring from the inventory and wearing it on my finger.

"Since we are on the topic, how far did you go with those hussies?" Ume demanded, tightening her grip on my hair.

"Ow-ow! Which hussies?"

"Still acting innocent?" Ume growled, almost ripping my hair. "Vyaghra has already told me everything."

"That boot-licking bastard must have told her about Aria and Silvia," I muttered inwardly before pleading, "p-please let go of my hair so I can explain."

She loosened her grip and folded her arms, waiting for my explanation.

I was trapped in a harsh dilemma. I couldn't bring myself to mislead her, but revealing everything about that night would be nothing more than suicidal.

After running my horses for five seconds, I came up with a plan.

"Ume, I can't discuss such an inappropriate topic with a lady," I coaxed, gently holding her hand.

She pulled her hand away, clutched my wrist, and muttered, digging her sharp nails into my skin, "You could do inappropriate things with those minx but cannot speak about it with your betrothed? Are you deliberately trying to anger me?"

"N-no... you are misunderstanding me," I blurted. "I'm embarrassed to tell you about it because you're my fiancée. I don't want to rush things between us."

Her grip on my wrist lightened, indicating that she was about to be convinced, so I continued in a dramatic tone, "But still, I cannot hide anything from you, so why don't we use a method that can be win-win for both of us?"

"What method?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"You ask me the question of what we did, and I will honestly reply with the truth."

She groaned for a brief moment but then finally agreed and let go of my wrist as she asked her first question, "Did you hold hands?"

"Y-yes."

"So you must have also embraced them?"

"I didn't. B-but they did."

"What about getting bare?"

"Shit, she's being too direct," I screamed inwardly, and replied, swallowing a big gulp, "W-we did."

Her gaze sharpened, her eyebrows furrowed, and her groan intensified.

"Oh man, she is pissed."

Suppressing her anger, she attacked me with another question. "Did you touch them on their private places?"

"I'm fucked. This was a terrible idea," I cursed inwardly.

"Ume, why don't we talk about something else?" I whimpered.

"Raj, YOU DID OR NOT?" she demanded in a low, cold tone.

"I-I did," I confessed with a sigh.

"Y-you libertine!!"

She shoved me back in anger, rose from my lap, and just as she was about to leave the room, I grabbed her wrist from behind.

"Wait, Ume, hear me out."

"Is there anything left to hear?" she snapped, trying to pull her arm away. "Let go of my wrist."

"Don't wanna."

"Don't test my patience, Raj. Leave me alone or I will really hurt you."

"You may hurt me, but I won't let you leave like this."

"Don't blame me then," she declared, and immediately moved her other hand toward my arm that was holding her.

The nails on her hand had already turned into sharp claws as she attacked.

I instantly pulled her close and clutched both her wrists in my hands.

"I accept that what I did was wrong," I explained, still holding her. "But there are many things that I didn't do with them."

"So what, you regret not doing those things with them?" she said, her voice loud.

"I'm not regretting it, silly," I sighed. "I'm telling you this because when I was about to lose my sanity, your face appeared in my mind and I couldn't make any move further."

"You're lying to get out of trouble."

"If I wanted to lie, I would have never admitted to any of your questions truthfully," I stated. "And don't you have the experience to see between the truth and lies?"

Only a little bit, but my words calmed her anger.

She took a deep breath and asked, her voice low this time, "What were the things that you didn't do with them?"

"There are many," I murmured, "and one of them is this."

I slipped both hands behind her head, pulled her gently toward me, and let my lips meet hers.

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