episode_0267

‘…Ah.’

As the morning sun streamed in, my consciousness naturally awakened.

Returning from the edge of unconsciousness, the first thing I felt was the warmth of someone beside me. Considering the events of last night, it was undoubtedly Ethan’s warmth.

In reality, sharing a bed with Ethan like this wasn’t something that happened every day. In the academy dormitory, with only one bed, we were forced to share, and even at Blackwood Manor not too long ago, Ethan had been considerate of me when my sleeping arrangements were disrupted for a few days.

However, the raw sensation of skin against the blanket was still unfamiliar, so even though my consciousness had returned, I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes.

‘I should have at least put some clothes on before sleeping…’

Last night, both of us ended up naked on the bed, so it didn’t feel embarrassing at the time. But now that morning had come and my mind was clear, I couldn’t recall a more absurd situation.

No matter how many times Ethan and I had crossed the line in our relationship, sleeping together naked was a first.

‘Even if we were both tired and just covered ourselves with the blanket…’

Looking back, my head must have been completely off. How did I think I could handle waking up the next morning tangled up naked with Ethan?

I should have pushed myself to at least wash up and put on underwear before getting into bed. But instead, here we were, both naked under the covers in the morning.

‘…Is Ethan still sleeping?’

He must have been tired too. It wasn’t that strange for him to still be asleep after our usual waking time.

Of course, considering the level of activity from last night, I should have been the more tired one. But my body clock was fully adjusted to being a morning person from my time as a maid.

At least that was fortunate. There couldn’t be anything more awkward than both of us waking up at the same time in this situation.

‘I should grab my clothes and go back to my room, change into something else…’

Thinking this, as I tried to sit up on the bed, something solid like a handle was grasped in my right hand.

‘…Ah, right.’

Yes, Ethan was naked too.

I had only tried to sit up quickly, but of course, that object was conveniently within reach.

Still, feeling the touch in my hand, I was relieved that I seemed healthy this morning.

…But really, feeling this in my hand, it was definitely an unreasonable size. How did I even think about putting this in my mouth last night…

“Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“Kyaaah?!”

“…It’s not that surprising.”

“…I-I’m sorry, Ed. Were you awake?”

“Yeah. Actually, for quite a while.”

…Then why didn’t you wash up and change your clothes if you were awake first? Why are you still lying next to me in last night’s state?

Feeling embarrassed for shouting out in surprise, I nonchalantly turned my head to cool down the heat rising in my face.

“Leaving that aside, you’re quite proactive in the morning, Lily.”

“I-I just grabbed it by mistake?!”

“No, I mean, getting up early to prepare is proactive. What do you mean by grabbing it by mistake, Lilith?”

“….”

This is really…

Somehow, it felt like her teasing had gotten even worse overnight. As if she was determined not to hold back after what happened last night.

I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to be caught up in a back-and-forth teasing game.

“Instead of just waking up, you should have washed up first, Ed? We have a long journey ahead of us from this morning, so why are you lazing around like this?”

“I was planning to, but Lily’s sleeping face was too adorable, so I kept looking at her.”

“Ah, well, um, okay.”

I really wish he had turned on the blinker before coming in. If I have to listen to this nonsense from the morning, I don’t even know how to respond.

After quickly turning my head away from Ethan, who had just blurted out something hard to make eye contact with, I roughly pulled the blanket off and got out of bed.

-Swish.

“I, I’ll go back to my room to wash up, so Ed, get ready too. We have to leave for the Witch’s Forest on a long journey today.”

“Don’t say that, let’s wash together. Since the bathroom is spacious in this accommodation.”

“I, um, ah, well, we don’t have time for that?!”

Actually, if you only think about washing, that amount of time should be enough, but I just made up an excuse.

I had a feeling that if we went into the bathroom together from now on, we would definitely delay the time.

“I really don’t have time to spare, Ed. If our meeting with Lady Lala is delayed for no reason, what will the knight say to us?”

“…Well, there’s no need to give that knight another reason to scold us.”

“We might have to ride the carriage for a few days, so I’ll change into clothes that are more comfortable for movement rather than a dress. Ed, you should wear clothes that allow you to move more freely than armor…”

“But Lily, it seems like you haven’t answered the morning greeting yet.”

“……”

“Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“…Yes, thanks to you, I slept well. Did you sleep well, Ed?”

“I did, thanks to you, Lily.”

Ethan answered with a relaxed voice and a gentle smile, looking at me.

His expression from the morning was… really unfair in many ways.

***

The biggest change in the world of the game ‘Luminor Academy’ becoming reality was that in this world, you couldn’t use the ‘skip’ function.

Having cleared it multiple times, I was tired of seeing the same cutscenes, excessively long skill effects during battles, and the unnecessarily realistic travel time when moving to different areas. In the game, there were often boring sections that needed to be skipped.

On top of that, this game without branching saves was so unfriendly in terms of accessibility that you had to raise new characters every time you saw a new ending, so if you had to watch all these unnecessary cutscenes one by one, the playtime would almost double or triple.

Of course, now that it had become reality, I had to experience the long journey from the Hwangdo to the Witch’s Forest without skipping any part. A journey that would take about 2 nights and 3 days.

“Haah, huuuuh….”

“Lily, are you tired?”

“Oh, no, Ed. I’m not particularly tired.”

“If you’re tired, do you want to lean on my shoulder for a bit?”

“…Oh, I’m not tired, so you don’t have to worry.”

After breakfast, we had been riding the carriage for about four hours.

It was a boring time more than enough to cool down the excitement of exploring a new area in ‘Luminor Academy’ after a long time.

‘If we have to ride for twelve hours a day for three days, that’s the same amount of time as eight more times….’

Just imagining it made my head feel fuzzy in the distant time that seemed to make me lose my mind. While I didn’t feel the distance to the Academy, Hwangdo, or Blackwood Territory was that far, the journey that required almost the entire two nights and three days was already making me feel overwhelmed just by imagining it.

Furthermore, last night, as the fatigue from staying up late due to Edan started to kick in, Agnes, who was sitting across from me, bluntly fired off a remark that hit me right in the gut.

“Who stays glued together until the night before a trip? Are we some kind of foolish couple?”

“I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Agnes. W-who stayed up all night together…”

“No use beating around the bush. Lily, your room is right next to mine, right? How am I supposed to ignore hearing your voice passing through the walls every day?”

“W-what are you talking about?!”

“Lily, calm down, calm down.”

“Agnes, please calm down as well.”

“…It’s annoying. I told you not to address me by my name.”

As the argument seemed to be escalating, Edan and Prince Antonio, who were sitting next to us, hurriedly intervened. Just so you know, Prince Antonio wasn’t originally part of the plan, but he tagged along this morning after hearing about Agnes going to the Witch’s Forest.

Well, Agnes might be right. I might have been too loud last night. If it were a room a bit further away, it might not have been noticeable, but if it’s right next door, I might have unknowingly disturbed Agnes’s sleep last night.

Still, the walls and floors of the Star Palace building are thick enough to block out most noises… well, most sounds, but Agnes’s room is right next to mine, so it could have easily seeped through…

Wait a minute. Come to think of it, there’s no way my voice from last night could have reached Agnes’s room, right?

Yesterday, I slept in my room, which is one more room away from Edan’s room. Even if my hearing is sharp, there’s no way I could hear sounds from a room two doors down.

I must have overreacted seeing how tired I was. There was no need to panic for no reason.

“Agnes. Are you aware that there’s a contradiction in your statement just now?”

“What contradiction?”

“The fact that you claim to have heard my voice from the room next door last night is a contradiction in itself!”

“…What?”

“I may not have entered your room without your knowledge, but since my room and Ed’s room are connected by a door, I spent the night in Ed’s room through that door. So, your claim of hearing my voice last night creates a contradiction!”

The sensation of all three pairs of eyes inside the carriage turning towards me at once was palpable. With a solid rebuttal, even Agnes seemed to be at a loss for words…

“So, in the end, isn’t it the same thing that we slept together last night?”

“W-what?”

“Lily, there’s no need to be so explicit about what happened last night.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear about the lady’s private life.”

From then until lunchtime, about two hours later, the carriage was filled with an awkward silence once again.

Agnes, resorting to such underhanded tactics…