My wife believes me; how could I be a cuckold?

But how could she survive in this city with its extremely high cost of living, all alone and without anyone to rely on?

So Makoto Asano lent his house to Eriko Miyajima free of charge, under the guise of friendship, in exchange for simply cooking her a meal every day and cleaning her room twice a week.

And so, the two gradually became acquainted and seemed to have truly become friends.

after that……

……

Eriko Miyajima suddenly snapped out of her reverie.

Why, why did it turn out like this...?

Thinking this, she couldn't help but close her eyes in pain.

She didn't want to believe that what happened in this nightmare was real, but the dream was just too real.

Whether it was Yuta Yamada's peaceful yet pale face lying in the coffin, or Makoto Asano's broad and solid chest, everything was crystal clear.

It's as if those things really will happen in the future.

Author's Note: I have a favor to ask, which is that I hope all the readers who have read this far will continue to follow the updates from today until next Wednesday.

Even if you really want to read a book, please at least open the latest chapter and read it a few times!

This is really important to me because it will affect my recommendations for this book in the future.

As long as I can get the recommendations I want, this pervert will immediately start extra chapters!

……

There will be another update tonight, but it might be a little late, around 1 a.m.

You can read it after you get up tomorrow morning, because there will be another update around 5 or 6 a.m., and you can read it together then.

Besides that, I still owe everyone two more chapters. I've got it all in mind, and I'll make it up to you all next week.

That's all I wanted to say. Thank you so much for your support, readers.

Chapter 53 Offenders Before the Funeral Hall

Eriko Miyajima eventually regained consciousness.

No matter how cruel the events in your dreams may be, life in reality must go on.

So after quickly tidying herself up, Eriko Miyajima left home at 8:10 a.m. as usual.

This is the time she spends going downstairs to take out the trash and buy groceries every day.

Normally at this time, Asano-kun would also be...

Just as Eriko Miyajima was closing her door and thinking this, she heard the sound of a door opening next door.

Eriko Miyajima turned her head and saw that the person who opened the door was indeed Makoto Asano.

Perhaps due to yesterday's conflict and her dream last night, when Eriko Miyajima noticed Makoto Asano looking at her, she subconsciously raised her right hand as if to greet him.

However, before she could even speak, Asano Makoto, upon seeing that it was her, turned away with a cold expression and took the elevator downstairs alone.

Eriko Miyajima stood there, staring blankly at his departing figure.

Didn't we agree that when we meet again today, we'll go back to our previous relationship?

But...why?

Eriko Miyajima doesn't have mind-reading abilities, so she doesn't know what Makoto Asano is thinking, and naturally, she can't figure out this problem either.

But for some reason, she suddenly remembered the time after she met him, and the incredibly vivid dream she had last night.

In her dream, Makoto Asano accompanied her through the most difficult time after losing Yuta Yamada, and even lent her his house for free. Moreover, he never did anything inappropriate for her during their time together, only occasionally praising her.

Just like him before...

Eriko Miyajima was stunned.

Yes, from beginning to end, Asano-kun has never changed; he has always been the same.

Just like he said yesterday, he has always only considered me a friend and has no intention of doing anything to me.

Even when he occasionally praised me, he simply looked at me with an appreciative gaze, without a trace of lust that went beyond the boundaries of friendship.

He did nothing wrong. From the beginning, he dreamed that he did those inappropriate things to him, and then he developed feelings for him that he shouldn't have, and then he decided to keep his distance from him.

Thinking about this, Eriko Miyajima suddenly felt a little regretful, regretting what she had said yesterday, regretting her decision to distance herself from Makoto Asano, and regretting that she had disappointed him.

I'm going to lose him...

The moment she realized this, Eriko Miyajima felt her heart clench.

She dropped the trash bag in her hand, ran quickly into another elevator that hadn't gone down yet, pressed the button, and hurried downstairs.

During this obviously short period of time, Eriko Miyajima felt as if she had lived through a century.

Once the elevator finally reached the first floor, she rushed out of the apartment building, constantly turning her head to look around.

No, no... still no.

After searching around, Eriko Miyajima still couldn't find the figure she was looking for.

Realizing that the other person had already left, she stood there stunned, feeling a sharp pain in her heart.

She didn't know why, but she knew it must be abnormal, and she shouldn't feel heartbroken because Asano Makoto was distancing himself from her.

After a long while, Eriko Miyajima silently walked back to the apartment building, took the elevator back upstairs, picked up the trash she had just thrown away, and went downstairs again.

Taking out the trash, buying groceries, doing housework at home—everything seemed no different from before.

But if someone were to observe her closely at this moment, they would notice her unfocused gaze and the frequent pauses in her hand movements.

No one knows what she's thinking, perhaps not even herself.

……

After a full day of working out at the gym, Makoto Asano returned home at 7 p.m.

He sat on the sofa, recalling what had happened last night and this morning.

Actually, the dream I had last night wasn't entirely something he created himself.

His initial plan was simply to use his dream demon skills to project reality into his dreams, then create a precondition for Miyajima Eriko to continue distancing herself from him, and finally guide her future in a way she didn't want to see through simple means.

However, before he could even begin to control it, the Nightmare skill had already deduced a tragic ending based on the conditions he provided, namely, the death of Yamada Yuta.

If Makoto Asano had known things would turn out this way, he certainly wouldn't have done it this way; he would have thought of some other way to resolve the incident.

However, by the time he noticed the anomaly, the dream had already been constructed and could not be changed.

In order not to waste the opportunity, he could only go along with the mistake and attend the funeral, and take the opportunity to comfort Eriko Miyajima and increase his importance in her heart.

At that moment, Makoto Asano recalled his "chance encounter" with Eriko Miyajima that morning.

This time, contrary to his usual behavior, he didn't greet the other person. Instead, he deliberately acted distant and left the apartment directly.

If it were him yesterday, he would have greeted her before she even spoke, and then tried his best to eliminate the barrier between them.

However, while waiting for Eriko Miyajima to fall asleep last night, he suddenly realized something.

He felt that perhaps he shouldn't always be so proactive; sometimes deliberately distancing himself would be more effective.

So he simply took care of Eriko Miyajima meticulously all night in his dream, earning her 9 points of favorability as a minimum, and then decided to give her a little space for the next couple of days.

If it works, he will continue to play hard to get; if it doesn't work, then it's okay to be more proactive later.

As it turns out, the wisdom of our ancestors is indeed useful.

After deliberately distancing himself from Eriko Miyajima when they met in the morning, her affection for him began to rise rapidly and unstoppable.

In just one morning, Eriko Miyajima's favorability rating increased by a full 10 points, and her immorality rating also increased by 10 points.

This gain was even greater than the favorability he had cultivated by taking care of Eriko Miyajima all night in his dream last night.

……

After sorting out his day's gains, Makoto Asano went straight back to his room and lay down on his bed.

Because of what happened last night, he suddenly became somewhat wary of the "Nightmare" skill, so he didn't plan to use it to do anything tonight and instead prepared to go to sleep and rest.

To his surprise, even though he hadn't used the Nightmare skill card today, he still entered Eriko Miyajima's dream again after falling asleep, and it was the same dream that the Nightmare skill had deduced from last night.

Asano Makoto immediately became alert and began to look around.

Yuta Yamada's black and white photographs: a coffin, white ribbons, and large flowers.

Yes, that's right, this is indeed the dream I had last night.

But why can't I move today?

Makoto Asano finally noticed something was wrong.

He used to be able to change the dream world at will in his dreams, but now he can't even move.

Just as he was feeling confused and even a little anxious, wondering if there was some new problem with the Nightmare skill card, he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes.

When his vision returned, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him—it was Eriko Miyajima.

Upon seeing the familiar figure, Makoto Asano breathed a sigh of relief, even subconsciously forgetting that he was in a dream, and wanted to ask Eriko Miyajima what her current situation was.

Before he could even speak, Eriko Miyajima, dressed in black mourning clothes, took the initiative to hug him.

Then he tiptoed and kissed her.

Chapter 54 Small Gift

When Makoto Asano woke up in the morning, his mind was still foggy.

However, he soon understood something.

Eriko Miyajima dreamed of him without his guidance and even took the initiative to approach him.

In other words, Eriko Miyajima's affection for him was higher than expected, and her previous intention to deliberately distance herself had completely disappeared.