Chapter 54 – Hallucination

Hallucination

“After all, the food Ariel prepares is the most delicious.”
“That’s right.”
Pang pang. Mona and Cherny patted their full stomachs as they spoke.

It was worth showing off my skills after a long time.
As I was watching them with a pleased expression, Saya and Puel approached me.

“Sister, we’re about to take a bath. Do you want to join us?”
“Let’s bathe together! Ariel!”
“Huh? It’s okay. You go ahead. I’ll bathe later.”

I tried to refuse as usual in response to the children’s words, but… somehow their reactions were strange.
“…Why?”
“Tch. Ariel’s always like this. She must dislike us, Puel…”

“T-That’s not it…”
Puel with a sulky expression, and Saya starting to tear up a bit. What should I do?
“That’s right! I want to bathe together too!”

To make matters worse, even Cherny, who was lying down with her belly exposed, joined in. Why are you doing this too…
“Come to think of it, Ariel strangely disliked bathing together. I don’t think you’ve ever bathed with me and Estelle, right? Don’t tell me you have a birthmark on your stomach or something?”

“That’s not it, Mona. When we bathed together before, sister had very beautiful skin.”
…For reference, bathing together refers to when Saya and Puel were younger than now. Back then, I used to bathe with them with the sense of taking care of children.

But now it’s different. Not just Puel, but Saya has also grown a lot, so bathing together at this point… is a bit troublesome. In many ways.
“Could it be, sister, that you’re embarrassed?”
“W-Well…”

When I hesitated to answer, Puel started to smile somewhat meaningfully.
“Hmm…. Saya, let’s just bathe together, the two of us. It seems our sister is shy.”
“Ariel-nim, were you embarrassed…?”

“…That’s right.”
I decided to just go with that. I can’t tell the truth, can I?
…If I say I’m embarrassed to see a girl’s naked body, it might lead to strange misunderstandings.

“Sister, are you excited by my naked body…? That makes me uncomfortable.”
“Ariel. That’s unpleasant.”
“I feel a bit uncomfortable too.”

If such a situation were to arise, I’d immediately erase my brain with a memory erasure spell.
“I want to bathe together too!”
“Alright. Saya, let’s go.”
“Okay…”

In the end, all the children headed to the bathroom, and only Mona and I were left in the living room.
“Haha. You’re living an interesting life, Ariel.”
“Thanks.”

Mona, smiling contentedly as she looked at me.
…For some reason, I felt a bit embarrassed, like I’d shown an unseemly side to a friend.

“Do you want to stay over tonight, Mona?”
“It’s okay. Actually, I came here by chance today, and Leon will be waiting for me.”
As soon as she mentioned Leon’s name, Mona’s face started to turn slightly red.

This cheesy couple. It seems they’re still in the honeymoon phase even though they’ve been dating for over two years.
“What’s Leon up to these days?”
“Leon? He’s preparing to establish an academy… and it seems he’s being called here and there a lot. Actually, we haven’t been able to meet often lately. Even today, it’s the first time in almost a week.”

If two people living together are meeting for the first time in a week, it seems they’re busier than I thought. Is it because of the symbolism of being a hero?
Seeing Mona looking somewhat lonely, I felt mischievous.

“You must be lonely, Mona. Not being able to be with Leon.”
“…I’m not!”
Mona’s face turned bright red, as if I had hit the nail on the head. It’s quite cute to see this side of the usually tough Mona.

‘Leon. You should pay more taxes.’
Really. I’m a person who sincerely believes there should be a couple tax.
…It’s not because I’m single or anything.

“Tch. Ariel. Do you have someone you’re interested in? A man, or even a woman.”
“Huh? Me…?”
Is this what they call girl talk? It’s a bit embarrassing.

‘Someone I’m interested in…’
Why is my forehead suddenly itchy? It was strange.
When I hesitated to answer for a moment, Mona asked me with sparkling eyes.

“Huh? Could it be you do? Who is it? Who’s the person who stole our Ariel’s heart?!”
“No, no. There’s no one.”
When I shook my head at her words, Mona made a disappointed expression as if she had expected as much.

“Sigh. Well, you’ve always been strangely uninterested in that kind of thing.”
“Haha…”
I could only laugh awkwardly. Actually, I’m very interested.

“I should get going soon. It’s getting dark.”
Mona said that and got up from where she was lying down.

“Shall I take you?”
“…Please. Just to the warp gate.”
Mona said with a slightly embarrassed smile. Naturally, I don’t feel any annoyance or such emotions. It’s not like it takes much effort.

“Then, see you later, Ariel.”
“Take care, Mona.”
After exchanging brief goodbyes, Mona, who was about to step into the gate, suddenly stopped midway and said to me.

“Ah, I almost forgot.”
“Hm?”
“When you have time later, go visit Marian. It seems Marian misses you a lot.”

‘…Marian?’
After leaving those words, Mona disappeared into the gate.
“…”

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I last met Marian.
…Marian, the captain of the Green Guard, is busier than one might think.

“Maybe I should go visit.”
Over the past two years, I’ve already become acquainted with Marian’s lieutenants.
Because Marian introduced her lieutenants to me, saying they were trustworthy people.

Thanks to that, it’s become easier to visit Marian’s office than before.
‘…It might not be bad to go visit sometime soon.’

“Kids, I’m back… They’re sleeping.”
After taking Mona back, I returned home to find the children sleeping soundly in the living room after finishing their bath.
It’s a bit early, but the drowsiness after a bath is a sleep inducer.

“Kuuu…” “Huuuu..”
“Ariel-nim….”
As I watched them for a moment, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘What should I do if the children grow up and say they have someone they like….’
Just thinking about it makes me feel heavy. I won’t allow it unless it’s the most wonderful person in the world.
…Or I’ll keep them with me forever.

“Hmm… Sister? Welcome back.”
“It’s Ariel…”
Saya and Puel, who woke up probably due to my presence, welcomed me warmly.
Maybe because I was having slightly sad thoughts just a moment ago, I felt a lump in my throat.

“Kids. Don’t leave me when you grow up…”
“Saya won’t leave Ariel!”
“Fufu, a spoiled sister. It’s been a while.”

Saya and Puel comforting me as I whined.
I might be failing as a big sister.
As Ariel drifted off to sleep, Puel whispered softly in her ear.

“Let’s live together in the future too, sister. …Forever.”
…And so, the quiet night in the forest passed.

“Marian. Stay still.”
Ariel, wearing a fox mask, whispers softly to me.
…Her lips approaching closer and closer.

I, mesmerized by her figure bathed in brilliant moonlight, could only watch silently.
At some point, the masked people surrounding us had all disappeared.
In this place now, there were only Ariel and me.

The thought that the black dress suited Ariel well crossed my mind briefly, but as her beautiful face came closer… my mind began to fill with thoughts of what would happen next.
“…”

At a distance where we could feel each other’s breath, I didn’t resist and gazed into her eyes that held the night sky.
Closer, even closer.
Just as our lips were about to touch – I woke up from the sweet dream.

“…Damn it.”
When I opened my eyes, Ariel’s face that had been right in front of me was nowhere to be seen, and only the drab wooden ceiling was visible.
It seems I had fallen into such a deep sleep that I even dreamed, when I had only meant to close my eyes for a moment.

‘What kind of dream was that. What’s wrong with me.’
A dream of kissing Ariel. It seemed like a bizarrely distorted memory of when we infiltrated the banquet hall.
“Sigh.”

I roughly brushed back my disheveled hair and sat at the desk in my office.
Seeing letters and reports that weren’t there before I fell asleep, it seemed my lieutenant had quietly placed them there.
‘Damn it. I can’t concentrate.’

The dream I just had kept popping up in my mind, making it impossible to read the contents of the report.
‘Why did I just stay still…’
In the dream, I clearly could have moved, but I didn’t refuse Ariel’s approach.

If I hadn’t woken up from the dream, then…
“Aaaaaaargh!!!!”
“Ma-Marian-nim?! Is something wrong?!”

…I ended up screaming due to the overwhelming embarrassment. Then my lieutenant burst in, startled.
“…I’m sorry. I was just trying to shake off sleep. Sorry for startling you.”
“W-Well, Marian-nim. You’ve been looking very tired lately…”

In the end, I unintentionally worried my lieutenant. I’m failing as a superior.
“There’s no need to worry. It seems I’m sleep-deprived from not getting enough rest lately.”
“…”

I absolutely can’t say that I screamed because I had a dream about kissing a former comrade from the hero party.
…Even though the Empire is relatively tolerant of same-sex relationships, there’s still the matter of a superior’s dignity.

After the lieutenant left without saying anything, I started reading the reports and letters on the desk again.
The reports mostly contained the usual content about incidents and accidents that occurred within the Empire… and most of the letters contained proposals of engagement to me.

‘…It seems they never tire of it.’
As the invitations to join their political factions have decreased recently, now engagement proposals and meeting requests are flooding in.
…Probably because I’m slowly passing the prime age for marriage.

The senders of the letters are diverse. Mostly eldest or second sons from quite well-known families, but also people who simply admire me.
Even letters from noble young ladies are occasionally arriving.

Seeing me constantly postponing engagement, they seem to wonder if I might prefer women…
Knock knock.

While I was holding my head reading the letters, someone knocked on the office door.
“Come in.”
Thinking it must be my lieutenant, I granted permission to enter, and soon the slightly worn office door opened with a creak.

After confirming the face of the person who entered the office, I softly muttered,
“It seems I’ve finally gone mad.”
“Hello, Marian… huh?”

Or maybe I’m still not fully awake from the dream.
…Seeing Ariel in front of my eyes.