Chapter 76: Solving a Problem

"...The explanation... well..." Nio tries to think of an explanation that would be plausible, wouldn’t seem like betrayal, and wouldn’t make Typhon violently obliterate her head.

"...It’s because two wives are better than one, right?" She speaks nervously without even being able to assert it, so her answer comes out more like a question.

"..." Typhon grabs Nio and looks like she’s really going to kill her.

"I’m being serious!! Think about it!! I’m Nio! And she’s also Nio!! So our marriage is just a way to give you more of us, right? Imagine how good it would be to have two of us!!"

"You’d have two Nios to love, two Nios to kiss! And all the advantages of having two wives, but at the same time they’re the same being!! Just with some personality changes." What Nio says brings back a bit of Typhon’s rationality as she glares at Nioh cowering on the floor.

"I see no reason, logic, or circumstance where you being married to her and her being married to you benefits me. You were already two before, and this marriage is a dangerous provocation."

"O-Of course there’s an advantage!!...v-visually!! Visually it must be pretty interesting, right?" Nio’s mind tries to work toward something that sounds minimally coherent.

"L-Like we could have great teamwork!! It’s not like it’s a competition when we’re the same being."

’Besides, we both hate you, so it’s not like this changes anything...’ Nio obviously doesn’t say that, but Typhon doesn’t look convinced at all and prepares to attack Nio.

"W-Wait, I can prove it!!! Isn’t it good that it’s like this? Like, as long as you have one of us, you’ll have the other guaranteed to help!! If you had me, Nioh would obey to help me, and if you had Nioh, I would obey to help her." When Nio says this, Typhon’s expression shifts at the opportunity.

Her breathing calms a little, though her killing intent remains practically the same.

"Then prove it. Share my kiss with her and make her like it. If Nioh expresses any interest, I’ll consider it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her satisfied."

’Make her like it...’ Nio’s heart races wildly, unsure if this would work and not knowing how much time is left before the two of them wake up.

"H-Hahaha, of course! I can prove it!!" She accepts, acting confident so it doesn’t seem like it’s all a lie.

"Good." Typhon grabs Nio’s waist, lifting her up and kissing her. Typhon pushes her tongue into Nio’s mouth while her grip is dangerous, as if she wants to snap Nio’s spine if she reacts wrong.

"..." Nio accepts the kiss while Typhon holds it for some time, the mix of her saliva and Nio’s building up as Typhon breaks the kiss, having left that mixture of the two of them in Nio’s mouth.

"Share that with her, make her like it, but if she expresses disgust or lack of interest, I’ll crush your trachea for lying, and then I’ll rip out every tooth you have, and with tweezers I’ll tear out every fiber of flesh from your cheeks slowly. That seems like a good punishment for a girl who lies to her wife." Nio, with the mixture of saliva in her mouth, shudders as she’s set down on the floor.

"And don’t swallow. That’s hers, not yours. If you swallow, I’ll consider it a lie."

"..." Nio hides her expression of disgust as she crouches down in front of Nioh, giving her a somewhat terrifying warning look. She grabs Nioh’s cheeks with her hand and kisses her, sharing Typhon’s saliva with Nioh.

"..." Nioh tries to look at Typhon, but Nio stops her, forcing Nioh to look only at her with her hands.

’Listen, you idiot, if you look at her you’ll get scared!! Look at me!! Act like you’re enjoying this, swallow that stuff before she follows through on her threat!!’ Nio speaks mentally, not knowing if Nioh can hear, as she pushes her tongue into her mouth.

’Close your eyes! Imagine something tasty!! A cake, our wedding cake, it tasted good, right?’ Nioh closes her eyes while Nio holds the kiss for a long time, waiting for a minimally positive reaction from her.

Nioh ends up blushing as her tongue moves, mixing with Nio’s. They share the kiss for a while as Nioh ends up swallowing Typhon’s saliva without realizing it.

"Haaa... haaa..." Nio ends the kiss breathless, seeing Nioh flushed, which makes Nio’s heart practically stop beating from relief.

’Fuck... that... that genuinely scared me... any reaction from her could have screwed me over...’ She stands up while looking at Typhon, who still seems suspicious.

"...It seems... it seems there’s some merit to your words..." Typhon is still torn. In her view, this is a betrayal of their marriage, but logically Nio and Nioh are the same being, and being married to each other technically means nothing.

This divergence leaves Typhon uncertain about whether she should react with pure hatred, or whether she should accept it since Nio said it helps them.

"Hey! You saw it, she even blushed!! I-It was wonderful, right?" Nio smiles falsely at her.

"...I suppose... yes... so you heard what I said before, right?" Typhon smiles, deciding to accept the proof she received.

’What I heard before?... Oh!! She’s talking about that thing about how here in dreams we don’t need to fight!!’

"O-Of course!! Hahahaha, yeah, I think we don’t need to fight in here!! A-After all, we’re all wives here, s-so we can leave the fighting for the outside... yeah..."

’I’m still going to kill you outside...’ Nio chooses to accept this. It’s better they don’t fight in a place where Nio doesn’t even know if she could win and where victory wouldn’t even be real. She prefers to avoid getting hurt or feeling pain unnecessarily.

"I’m sorry for my loss of composure. I should have been more proper. I didn’t even prepare a place for my first wife..." Typhon walks to the table while Nio crouches down to Nioh’s level.

"Don’t ever do that again." Nio slaps Nioh across the face as a small act of revenge for her having told the truth so immediately and almost ruining everything.

"..." Nioh bites her lip as she turns her face in another direction, the red mark appearing on her cheek, but she says nothing because she knows Nio just saved both of them from something very painful.

Typhon found a concrete advantage in what Nio said about the two of them helping each other. Because it changes the situation from two wives competing for attention, which would make Typhon be left in the background.

To two parts of the same wife working together to please Typhon in order to protect the other.

And for a yandere like Typhon, that is MUCH more interesting than just punishing them for getting married. Since Nio managed to prove that it works, though barely, Typhon ended up calming down and not punishing the two of them.

’That idiot...’ But Nioh has already seen the downside of this. They saved themselves now, but they created another problem. Now Typhon will want the obedience of at least one of them to protect the other. If both of them are rebellious, Typhon will get even worse.

So inevitably one of the two will have to keep Typhon satisfied with this intimate arrangement or both will pay dearly.

’Wait... ah...’ Nio ends up hearing Nioh’s thoughts, which makes her realize her mistake. She looks at Typhon, who seems happy again, and understands why she’s happy.

’Ah... of course... of course it wouldn’t be that easy...’

’Idiot.’ Nioh insults Nio for the idea that saved them only in the moment, but gave Typhon an even worse tool.