Good Night

My body flinched at the sound of a knock. Was it because the timing was too perfect? I got off the squishy bed and carefully grabbed the handle.

Through the gap in the open door, red hair was visible. It was Veronica who knocked.

Indeed, if it had been Cecil, wouldn’t she have just burst in…?

Anyway, it’s bedtime, so why did she come? It couldn’t be that she was scared and came to sleep together… Could it be that she’s going to say she can’t do it anymore? That would be… problematic.

Looking at her face peeking out, I opened my mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh… hmm.”

Veronica hesitated for a moment, then said in a calm voice.

“It’s just… we haven’t had time to talk alone…?”

It seems like there’s something important she wants to talk about. Indeed, the only person who knows my entire situation, besides Master-nim, is Veronica, so there might be something we can only talk about alone.

Since I couldn’t just leave someone who came to visit standing there, I opened the door for her.

Watching Veronica carefully enter, I felt a subtle emotion. We used to sleep in the same room and go in and out without a care, but now that we have separate rooms, she’s become cautious… What should I say?

I… don’t really know. Am I feeling some kind of sadness, as if we’ve grown distant?

Come to think of it, for Veronica, who knows the situation, wouldn’t it have been uncomfortable to sleep in the same place as me? When she did ‘that’ to me, she wouldn’t have remembered anyway… And she knows the original me….

Right. This is probably the correct distance.

…Perhaps it’s because I’ve adapted too much to this changed body.

Is that why? I felt somewhat depressed. As I thought about how unusually emotional I was, Veronica’s voice cut off the branching thoughts.

As cleanly as pruning branches.

“Asha?”

“Ah, yes.”

While I stood there blankly without a word, Veronica, who had approached at some point, was looking at me. Her face was filled with concern.

“Is something wrong? Well, I guess… a lot happened today….”

“It’s nothing… just… thinking about other things.”

“Really?”

Following Veronica, who plopped down on the bed, I sat down with her.

“…Why are you sitting so far away?”

“Huh?”

“…No, never mind.”

After that remark, a subtle silence began to fill the room. A silence that wasn’t uncomfortable, but where there was nothing particular to say. While I was just crumpling the innocent Slime Bed, Veronica broke the silence.

“Um… are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed… quite anxious today.”

“Did I…?”

Thinking back to how I roughly threw off my equipment… I suppose I might have looked that way. I was just annoyed by the constant stream of visitors, I didn’t feel anxious.

“Not really? I was just… a little annoyed.”

“…”

Veronica looked at me with skeptical eyes. When I shrugged, not knowing why, she let out a deep sigh.

“If you say so… alright.”

As she said that, she began twirling the ends of her red hair. It seemed like she had something she wanted to say. In the past, I would have thought it meant nothing… but why? It just felt that way.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

“Uh… well, there is.”

Veronica released the hand that was twirling her hair and lifted her hips, moving closer to me. Her eyes, filled with seriousness, were visible.

Veronica, who glanced around as if wary of someone, quietly whispered.

“You… aren’t you too soft on Cecil?”

“Me?”

…No way.

I thought I was treating her strictly enough to control her milk supply.

Veronica, seeing my bewildered face, sighed.

You’ll make the ground sink at this rate.

“Why do you look so clueless? Just look at today, for example, right? You decided it wouldn’t work and gave her a separate room, then told her to come if she’s scared? Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“…She’s still a child.”

She looked at me with a face that asked if I really thought so. When I nodded slightly, Veronica shook her head as if to say I was hopeless.

“If I tell her not to do something, she won’t… And she’s a child who understands if you explain things properly… So it’ll be fine if I’m careful.”

“…You’ve already been… taken advantage of a few times.”

“If you put it that way, you too─”

“Wak!!!”

Veronica screamed and covered my mouth. Her face was extremely red. When I exhaled due to the stuffiness, she was startled and took her hand away, which made me laugh.

“What, what are you laughing at! I’m giving you a serious warning!”

“S-sorry.”

Calming my burst of laughter, I looked at Veronica. The girl with a slightly serious face was reflected in my eyes.

“Well, what happened back then… most of it, I won’t say much about… It was mostly because of the Beastification Potion anyway.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

…Of course, there are several reasons for forgiving her so readily… but since I can’t say them… I decided to act like a man and pretend it never happened.

“And now, if anything happens, you can… stop it, right? Right? Because you’re the only one I can tell everything to right now.”

“…”

It seemed her excitement hadn’t subsided yet, as Veronica’s face was still red. Since she didn’t say anything even after some time passed, I gently poked her shoulder and called her name.

“Veronica?”

“Oh, oh! Yes! Right, I’ll protect you! Asha!”

At her enthusiastic appearance, a soft laugh, ‘Puhuhu,’ escaped me.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary anymore, but… Thank you. Actually, it’s enough if you just do my work for me for a while.”

“…Now that you mention it, do you usually make this much?”

It is… quite a lot, isn’t it?

“You know, if you look at the Workshop… and the house facilities?”

“…”

How much would a facility that provides hot water gushing out at any time cost? Unless it was the world of my previous life. Besides that, there are still many facilities I haven’t been able to enjoy yet, like the Preservation Box…

Thanks to that, I had a rough time once using cheap tools… But now that Master-nim has sent me tools, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

After that, we chatted about things like the Potions I make. While we were talking happily, I saw Veronica yawn widely. She yawned so wide that tears welled up in her eyes.

“W-what are you looking at!”

…Why is she getting angry at me when she’s the one who did it? I gentlemanly escorted Veronica, who had yawned with a red face, back to her room. Leaving her, who blinked as if a little surprised, I moved to return to my room.

In the slightly chilly corridor… I saw the door to Cecil’s room, where she might be sleeping. Somehow… I couldn’t just pass by. She might be sleeping, or she might not have been able to fall asleep.

When I carefully knocked on the silent door, there was no answer.

Is she sleeping? Thinking that… I felt a little pleased. The heart of a parent raising a child… might be like this. Of course, it’s just a guess that it might be.

I’ve never… given birth. It’s my first… experience.

That sounds a bit strange, but anyway.

Because I was worried if Cecil was sleeping well, I decided to slightly open the door and peek inside. As I expected, it wasn’t locked. While I was debating whether to tell her to lock it or leave it, Cecil’s figure began to appear.

“…Oh dear.”

With her blanket thrown off, she was curled up like a shrimp, asleep.

I let out a small sigh and crossed the chilly air to approach Cecil. Then I gently stroked her back to straighten her posture. A warm and familiar body temperature was felt.

“Eum….”

I tucked a pillow under her head, and as I picked up the fallen blanket to cover her, Cecil was opening her eyes halfway. Her hazy red eyes were staring at me.

“Asha-nim…?”

As I silently stroked her head and covered her with the blanket, a voice full of questions was heard.

“You clearly… said we should sleep separately… but why… Asha-nim…?”

For some reason, feeling as if I had done something wrong, an excuse popped out of my mouth without me realizing it.

“…It’s because it’s a dream.”

Cecil blinked her hazy eyes and mumbled.

“A dream… Is Cecil dreaming right now?”

“U-uh, yes.”

“Is that so… Still… it’s good. Hehe….”

Then, she began to rub her face against my stroking hand. The warm, soft sensation was addictive. I quickly came to my senses and patted Cecil to get her back to sleep.

“It’s late, so go to sleep now.”

“Even if it’s a dream… do I have to sleep?”

“…You have to sleep to wake up in reality.”

I felt like I was getting more and more incoherent, but Cecil, drowsy with sleep, didn’t seem to notice anything strange.

“Understood….”

She mumbled that, then looked at me with hazy eyes and mumbled with her small mouth.

“Before I fall asleep… could you perhaps kiss Cecil? It’s a dream… after all.”

I froze for a moment at the unexpected remark. Fearing that doubt might enter her hazy eyes, I ultimately had no choice but to bring my face closer.

…I shouldn’t have lied from the beginning.

I can just do it lightly, like I did for Veronica this morning, right? She probably just wants a… greeting.

I kissed Cecil’s lips, which looked soft and moist. Then Cecil smiled contentedly, and began to breathe evenly.

I pulled the blanket up to Cecil’s neck, quietly left, and returned to my room. For some reason… the events of yesterday came to mind, and I shook my head.

…Let’s just sleep.

Somehow, I felt like I would have bad dreams.