The System Sent Me to Breed an All-Female Amazon Tribe

Chapter 435: Is My Body Not Desirable?

Knock! Knock!

A soft knock rang on Marina’s door in the morning, the sound carrying through the wooden surface and into the quiet interior of her European-style cottage.

The knock was gentle but deliberate, the kind of knock that came from someone who wanted to be heard but did not want to startle or alarm.

She was standing some feet away from the door, her back turned to it and watching a painting on her wall solemnly.

The painting depicted a landscape from her distant past: rolling hills, a winding river, a sky painted in shades of amber and gold.

It was a scene from Stoneveil, from even the days before everything had become complicated and painful.

She stared at it as if searching for answers among the brushstrokes, as if hoping the memory of simpler times could soothe the turmoil in her heart.

She already knew who was knocking, by the signature of their magical energy.

Every being in the world had a unique magical signature, a fingerprint of energy that was as distinct as their voice or their appearance.

And the signature on the other side of that door was clear. It was Benjamin Mark.

The man she had spent yesterday with. The man she had given her virginity to. And the man whom she had pushed out of her home while blushing and flustered.

This would be the second time he had knocked on her door since they knew each other: the first time had been when he came to confront her about the "disgusting" comment, and now he was back again.

"Who is it?" Marina asked, still watching the painted landscape, her voice calm and controlled, betraying none of the turmoil that churned beneath the surface.

"It is me, Benjamin," the gender-neutral voice resounded from the other side, with the familiar warmth that she had come to associate with him.

He sounded earnest and sincere, like someone who had come with real intentions rather than ulterior motives.

"My, to what do I owe your visitation yet again?" Marina asked, her voice dripping with mild malice, each word carefully chosen to convey her displeasure at his presence. "I thought I made it clear that I had nothing more to say to you."

"I want us to talk... about yesterday..." He answered, his voice sounding a note of seriousness that made her stomach tighten.

He was not here for casual conversation. He was here to address what had happened between them.

Hearing him bring up the matter about what happened yesterday, Marina blushed a little, but still kept her composure.

The heat crept up her neck and into her cheeks, a faint pink that she was grateful he could not see through the door.

Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she found herself gripping the fabric of her gown to steady her nerves.

"Wh-what about yesterday?" Her hand gripped and squeezed her red flowing gown even more, the silk bunching between her fingers as she fought to maintain her dignity. "Are you telling me you d... did not have enough, and want more... bribe from me? How immoral. I thought you were better than that, Benjamin. I imagined you’d have more self-control than to come crawling back for more the very next day."

"No! You are mistaken!" Benjamin immediately said, his voice ringing with a note of urgency as he sought to avail himself of any lewd intentions Marina might think he harbored.

He sounded almost offended, as if the very suggestion was beneath him.

[Eh?! I am mistaken?!] Marina was taken aback by Benjamin’s declaration, her deep green eyes widening in disappointment and shock.

The heat in her cheeks shifted from embarrassment to hurt and confusion, something that she had not expected to feel.

[So... he did not enjoy the sex yesterday? Was it not good enough for him? Did I do something wrong? Maybe I was not satisfying enough? I thought... I thought it was good. I thought he felt what I felt. But apparently I was completely wrong.]

"I want to ask about what you said," Benjamin continued, his voice lower now, more serious, the playful edge gone completely. "About hating me. Please, open the door and let us talk. I am not here to argue. I just want to understand."

"No!" Pissed from essentially being told she cannot have sex with him right now—that he was not here for her body, that he did not want her the way she had convinced herself he did—Marina yelled and frowned, her voice evoking a sharp edge of frustration. "I have nothing to speak with you concerning that matter! There is nothing to discuss! What I said was what I said, and I have no intention of explaining myself to someone who will not even—"

She paused, her voice catching. "B-But if you want to take my body once more, you know, I am willing to allow—"

"I refuse!" Benjamin declared firmly, his voice cutting through her words like a needle through fabric.

[H-He refuse?! Was I truly so bad at it yesterday?!] Marina turned sharply to stare at the closed door for a moment, her eyes wide with disbelief and wounded pride, before turning back and folding her arms across her chest.

The gesture was defensive, protective, as if she were trying to shield herself from the rejection that had just been delivered so bluntly. [I think it is incorrect... but is my body not desirable?]

"Then we have nothing more to discuss, idiot!" Marina concluded, her tone sounding with a finality that she hoped would end the conversation. "Go away! Leave me alone! I do not want to see your face or hear your voice any longer!"

"I refuse!" Benjamin declared again, his voice firm and unwavering, with none of the hesitation or doubt that she had hoped to hear.

[Oh goddess Artemis, what does this brat want from me this morning?!] Marina was scratching her skull mentally at Benjamin’s stubbornness. [I am slightly sure he cannot hear my thoughts due to measures I have taken, so he cannot possibly be doing this intentionally... but why will he not just leave me alone?]

However, Benjamin’s thought process was something else entirely;