Chapter 71

                                    

                                          

Medusa slowly tried to move her stiff arm.
"NO!" Stheno grabbed at her arm with all her, admittedly, pretty small strength, but it was strong enough that Medusa thought for a second that her arm would be broken any second now. At the very least it would be broken eventually before Stheno finally calmed down.
Right next to Stheno was Euryale, who was pressing her body even closer to Medusa, making her sigh as her sister's hands squeezed her body.
This peculiar situation has been happening for a whole day. Stheno and Euryale have been stuck to Medusa, literally trying to crush her in their arms, not daring to move away from her even a millimeter and also literally holding Medusa in place in her room, more precisely on her bed.
Medusa, of course, was glad that her sisters were a lot freer in expressing their emotions. Her sisters, when the three of them lived on the Shapeless Island, were much more... restrained in their actions. They were much more sarcastic, acerbic and perhaps even cruel. Of course not in an evil way, but rather in the way that an older sister can be cruel to their younger sister, constantly making fun of her, but still loving her.
However, from the very moment of their summoning, both her sisters seeked out Medusa and instead of their usual behavior, they literally tried to strangle her in their arms. It was very cute, pleasant even. But it hindered Medusa's daily activities. She, of course, loved her sisters, but still she didn't really want to lie in bed for 24 hours.
However, disregarding Medusa's complaints, her sisters clung to her with all their might, not letting go of Medusa even for breakfast - and even more they flatly refused to leave Medusa's room.
Honestly, if one would evaluate the situation solely in how it appears, then this behavior could be called if not "logical", then at least "explainable". Stheno and Euryale looked not much older than young adolescents, when compared to Medusa who looked to be in her twenties they looked really young. So two "young" girls seeking safety with their "older" sister made sense. On the other hand, given the characteristics of the Servants and their related legends - all this made no sense. Since in fact, Medusa was the youngest of the Gorgon sisters. And logically speaking, it was she who should have hidden behind the back of her older sisters. However, for some reason, their roles have been reversed.
The name of this reason was...
"Ainz," Medusa uttered the word almost inaudibly, but even so, Stheno and Euryale, barely hearing the name of Medusa's Master, pressed themselves closer to their sister, almost trembling at the mention of Ainz's name.
The reason for this conundrum confused Medusa greatly.
Ainz had killed her sisters, this fact was supposed to anger Medusa.
But at the same time, her sisters were enemies not only of Ainz, but of Medusa herself. They were Baal's subordinates, their enemy. So his actions were completely justified and logical.
But Ainz did not only kill her sisters, he did something else to them... Something neither Euryale nor Stheno would say what exactly happened during their encounter with Ainz - they would only say that it was incredibly painful - and humiliating. Such excessive cruelty should have revulsed Medusa...
It should... but at the same time, all this happened due to the fact that Ainz had lost his temper after learning that she, Medusa, had been betrayed and killed by her sisters. The thought of this warmed the soul of Medusa, forcing her to slowly pull the corners of her lips in an attempt to put a smile on her face.
In other words, this situation was complicated no matter from which side one was to approach it, therefore Medusa experienced all sorts of emotions from processing what had happened. She was angry with Ainz, and was also grateful to him. She condemned his actions, and yet also considered him extremely sweet and even, in a strange sense of the word, romantic. All these conflicting thoughts confused Medusa.