What’s going on? I wonder if he hates it.

In the middle of Azel’s groaning, I decided to think about the proper course of action for my plan.

But what should I do…?

It had been a really long time since I thought about falling in love with someone and trying to get them to like me somehow, so I didn’t know how to get closer to him.

I had never hit on a man in the first place.

I felt like I had to show off my attractiveness if I wanted to get a man to like me, unlike when it came to women.

But I didn’t have an ounce of attractiveness in me, so I didn’t have much to show to begin with.

If I was as pretty as Ulysse, even I would’ve tried my best despite being a guy, but… I wasn’t.

I wasn’t pretty enough to be loved, nor beautiful enough to be cared for, nor handsome and muscular enough to be admired and relied on.

I was just normal. I felt hopeless. Speaking of which, even in my previous world, pretty men were popular.

Uhh, I think some person called Shota Kon1shotacon, the interest or attraction to young boys, but he mistook it as someone’s name was famous for that… And, there was also this thing they called a ‘boy’2A play on words. 男の子 (otoko no ko) means “boy” or “male”, but there’s a slang where you replace the character 子 (child, boy) with 娘 (daughter, girl) or 男の娘 (otoko no ko) which is a slang, or term for men who adopt feminine gender expression, usually through crossdressing. that became widespread. ‘Boy’… There was nothing unusual about that, though. Did I remember it wrong?

This wouldn’t do. I wish I had remembered it properly if I knew I was going to fall in love with a man.

Whatever the case, I wasn’t young and pretty, but a respectable twenty-six-year-old man.

My body didn’t show any signs of aging ever since I came here, so my actual age was much higher. I wanted to cry.

…No, I shouldn’t be dismissive. Ulysse said that demons didn’t care much about gender differences, I think. I decided to believe him.

I had no choice but to stick to my plan of going on the ‘offensive’. I had to try my best to treat Azel that way, little by little, and see if he wouldn’t hate it.

And, if that kind of attitude didn’t push him away, then maybe there was hope. If that was the case, then I might be able to make an effort to get him to like me.

With my heart still beating loudly, I squirmed around and shifted my position, while Azel struggled in agony.

Then, I got to face him directly. I couldn’t move my right arm under my body, so I just gently wrapped my left arm around his body, and embraced him.

“Hae…?”

“Azel. I’m really, really sorry about today. And, well, thank you. While I was fighting desperately at that time… I-I was thinking that I wanted to see you.”

“!”

Alright! Somehow, I managed to say that without feeling embarrassed. I clenched my pounding chest with my right hand.

Azel just stared at me when I embraced him. However, this time, he froze.

Why did he freeze up…? I-I don’t understand. Does he hate this? If so, then it’s sad… no, it’s terrible. I didn’t mean to make him feel uncomfortable.

I suddenly lost my nerve, and tried to move my left arm to remove it from him.

But, as if to cancel it out, Azel’s arms on my back and under my neck embraced me tighter, though he remained frozen.

O-Ohh…? He doesn’t hate it…?

I sighed in relief. Okay, then, uhm…. I think I should do a little bit of physical contact, and say ambiguous words to tease and probe into him, and to show that I was interested in him.

I vaguely remembered the knowledge I had gained from the television long ago, and swallowed down, trying to put it into practice even though I was not very good at it.

The first one was physical contact. I moved my right hand from my chest, directly to his chest right in front of me.

“Alright…”

“……”

I tried to keep my spirits up, and gently touched him. …Hm? His pulse is really fast. Is this normal for demons? Is there a reason for this?

But, no, it was probably as fast as this whenever he held me or when we hugged each other.

I furrowed my brows as I stared at Azel, who was frozen in place with a face like a boiled octopus, wondering if it was all normal or if he was ill.

Is he alright? Maybe he’s got a fever, too…?

“Azel, your… heart is beating so fast. Your face is also flushed… Why? Are you feeling ill? If you’re tired, do you want to sleep with me? Please tell me, so I’d know.”

“Auu…. Ha! Gh… What an airhead… So dangerous…! I-I’m fine though, but Shal… Y-Your h… hand… D-Don’t listen… Nghhh…!”

“You look like a tomato. Are you sure you’re okay?”

I was puzzled, so I asked him about it. But, the demon lord, who had been acting strangely no matter how you looked at it, desperately shook his head and took several deep breaths.

His reaction was quite hard to decipher. If he wasn’t ill, then what could he be so worked up about… Huh?

“…I see. So that’s how it is…”

Don’t tell me this is… No, but that’s just… Ugh… But the way things are going, there’s only one way to go. There’s no other reason.

I slowly raised myself up, while keeping my hand on his chest.

As I tried to get up, he looked at me with concern and strengthened his arms again, but I nodded at him, telling him that I was okay.

Then, just like that, I placed my weight on my hand that was on Azel’s chest.

“W-what is it…?”

Azel asked me, flustered, as he lay on his back in the dimly lit bed, further shadowed by my body.

I didn’t mean to hold him down like this, but being on top of Azel as he lay on the bed and looking at him from this side, made my head feel all quite warm and fuzzy. I’m sorry about that, but I’m a man too, so I can’t help it.

But more importantly, this was the turning point. The fact that he was so flustered just because I placed my hand on his chest, was certainly a nice development.

With my hand still on his chest, I felt my face flush as I looked down at him, gathering my courage to make a suggestion.

“Your heart is pounding this much… I-If you like having your chest touched, then… do you want me to?”

“……”

Yeah. It’s really the only way.

Azel went all speechless from the shock of me hitting the mark, but he didn’t have to worry.

I would still go out with him, no matter where his erogenous zones were, and I would do my best to satisfy him.

I would rather take responsibility if this was what would happen when I put my hand on his chest.

In addition, I had to carry out the wisdom of our ancestors, which was to show that I was interested in him by doing physical contact.