Could you do it for me?

…I had a lewd dream.

I lay in bed for a long time with my face covered by my hands. The embarrassment simply wouldn’t subside.

Immediately after waking up, I let out a strange sound, and once I realized what state I was in… I’d been like this ever since.

Self-loathing washed over me. It was a good thing the rooms were separate; if they weren’t… that wouldn’t be a pleasant thought….

After clearing my muddled thoughts, I got out of bed. I was going to wash up. Just as men have wet dreams, when women have lewd dreams… something seems to be discharged, leaving my body feeling sticky.

Looking out the window, it seemed the sun would rise soon. The sun, scattering orange light everywhere as it ascended, felt as if it were scolding me.

…A person can have a lewd dream sometimes, can’t they?

I knew it was pointless anger… but what could I do? I was in a bad mood.

“This is the worst,” I muttered as the curtains were drawn. Satisfied that the yellowish light staining the window was blocked, I opened the door. Only a chilling silence lingered in the empty corridor.

It seems everyone is still asleep.

As the cold air hit me, I realized I hadn’t brought clothes. I turned around and headed for the closet.

But… there was nothing to wear. Strictly speaking, only the clothes I used to wear were left.

Normally, I’d just put them on and then wear a gown… but the thought of the dream I had today made me a bit reluctant.

It was more like I wanted to wear clothes that fit me perfectly, just right.

In the end, I rummaged through the room full of clothes Master had sent me and picked out the most ordinary shirt and shorts. After all that commotion, my already sticky body became even stickier with sweat.

Discomfort and a sense of uncleanliness filled me.

With the thought of needing to wash quickly, I grabbed a Potion from the Workshop and arrived at the Bathroom. I put the sticky clothes, soaked in what I presumed was sweat, into their usual collection spot and looked at them… it was a mountain of laundry.

I stared at the piled-up laundry, which I had put off again and again, with tired eyes, then hugged the overflowing basket to my chest.

…It was a bit heavy.

“Kueung…”

Before, even if there was more than this, it felt light.

A sigh escaped my lips naturally. Grumbling, I dumped the laundry into the large bathtub. After that, I turned on the water and poured in the Potion I had brought from the Workshop.

…Should I be glad that at least there was nothing dirty enough to require handwashing?

My chilled body felt like it was heating up. I pushed my even stickier body into the pouring water. As I blankly stood under the cascading water, I sensed someone outside.

It seemed someone had woken up while I was looking for clothes and doing laundry. There was nothing to be embarrassed about now, so I just… let the water hit me.

Before long, a red, disheveled-looking silhouette began to appear. I didn’t even need to ask who it was; it was obvious. A voice still heavy with sleep mumbled.

“What… you’re already up? How diligent…”

If it hadn’t been for the dream… I might have slept a bit longer? But I didn’t want to risk being asked what kind of dream I had if I brought it up, so I just gave a vague answer.

Veronica nodded and took her place under the showerhead. 

“Oh, put the clothes you were wearing in there.”

At my words, Veronica, who had been staring blankly at the bathtub, blinked her eyes and then mumbled with a look of horror.

“…What in the world is that?”

“Laundry?”

“No, no, I know that… but who put that in there… Never mind.”

As she quietly put her clothes into the bathtub and began to stand under the water stream, I glanced at Veronica… and the dream came to mind again. Still… Veronica was at least okay. The current Veronica was… shiny and clean.

She was… harmless to me right now, I suppose.

…At this rate, I’ll be thinking about the dream all day.

To shake off the lingering images of the dream, I violently shook my head, causing my wet hair to swing with a bungbung sound.

“Wha-what are you doing!”

“…Just a little mental boost.”

“Are you sick?”

“…”

Do I look like it…? As I stood blankly under the water stream, feeling suddenly depressed for some reason, Veronica flustered in a panic.

“Di-did I say something too harsh?”

“…That’s not it.”

Then, she let out a sigh of relief, which was a little cute. After that, I finished showering in silence and dried myself. With Veronica’s help, I was able to finish quickly.

I fumbled a bit, confused by the direction of the buttons, but… it was minor.

I thought about hanging up the things in the bathtub… but since it would take some time anyway, I decided to think about it later. While I roughly got dressed and made breakfast, Cecil came downstairs, rubbing her eyes.

Cecil came down and approached, sniffing her nose.

“Asha-nim. Good morning.”

“…Right.”

Cecil, who had greeted me, then amiably greeted Veronica as well, before returning to me and chattering.

“Asha-nim. Cecil saw Asha-nim in her dream last night.”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

“Oh… is that so? I’m cooking right now, so how about we talk later?”

“Understood! Cecil will prepare the tableware!”

When I turned around, Veronica was looking at me with narrowed eyes. I focused on cooking, afraid our eyes might meet.

Avoiding Veronica’s continuous stare, I finished my meal and finally… moved to the Workshop. Veronica, who had been looking at me, returned to her serious expression as she began to make Potions.

After watching the two of them start their work for a moment… I put on my equipment. It was the same stuffy equipment I had taken off twice yesterday without any results.

As I took out a beaker with white essence sloshing inside from the Preservation Box… I recalled the memory of unknowingly sucking it up with my mouth and swallowing it.

…Perhaps the problem was that I stopped experimenting from that point on, feeling reluctant.

Anyway, it’s fine now. Master has sent me tools.

To be using advanced tools for the first time in my life… to experiment with Cecil’s essence. No, this is important work. More important than anything else. So… it’s not strange.

I took a suitable amount of the essence filling the beaker and began to experiment with various things. Things like finding materials that reacted when mixed with it.

Still, it felt good to conduct an unplanned experiment after a long time. It would have been even better if the subject hadn’t been… the essence of the Homunculus I created.

As I was concentrating for a long time, someone tapped my shoulder. I looked up to see Veronica.

“Did you have any results?”

Checking the time, it was already close to lunchtime. I tidied up my surroundings roughly, took off my protective gear, and replied.

“…Not really.”

There was nothing particularly unusual.

I couldn’t find a reason why it had that effect on me and caused growth when consumed by others. There were some results, like it reacting well with certain materials, but… it wasn’t particularly important.

I dedicated myself to experiments for several days like that. Sometimes I would make Potions entrusted to Veronica to change my mood, but… I felt frustrated because no clues appeared.

That’s why… I might have become a little impatient. It had been a long time since I hit such a wall.

I rolled a small, pure white pill in my gloved palm.

…I think it’s probably similar to… no, identical to the pill Master-nim was said to have made. It’s just… Cecil’s essence hardened to make it easier to consume.

The reason I made this was to find out… how the essence produced from something that grew after consuming Cecil’s essence was different. I wanted to know that. In a situation where no clues were visible, it seemed like the only breakthrough for me.

First of all… don’t things that appear after consumption disappear? …Because what was attached to Master disappeared.

…I’m not certain, but what appeared on Veronica also seems to have disappeared.

So… it seemed there might be some clue there.

As the day ended and the sun began to set, I finished dinner and asked Cecil to clean up. Cecil smiled brightly and gathered the tableware without a word.

Next, I called Veronica. Veronica, who tilted her head for a moment, also obediently followed me. It was awkward to talk standing up, so we moved to the room where Veronica was staying.

Since I had seen the arrangement with my own eyes, there was nothing particularly different… but somehow, it felt like Veronica’s scent was present. However… that wasn’t important right now. I handed a box to Veronica, who had a questioning expression.

“What is this?”

“…You’ll know if you open it.”

It didn’t take long for Veronica’s eyes, which had opened the box with a strangely expectant expression, to fill with questions.

“This is…”

“What you’re thinking is probably right.”

“I see… So? You’re not showing this to me just to tease me, are you?”

…Now that I think about it, Veronica originally came because she wanted to know how to make ‘this,’ didn’t she? How fortunate for her… to be able to learn that method today.

Veronica’s face, which had been full of questions and dissatisfaction, instantly turned to horror and surprise. To her, who was momentarily disoriented… I made a request.

…In truth, if I had thought about it just a little more… I might not have asked. But in my impatience, I spoke to Veronica as if pleading.

“You want me to… eat this?”

“Yes…”

“Why?”

“…Because I need a sample.”

“A sample?”

Even for me, in my impatience and urgency… it was a request that made my face burn. But… I thought it was necessary.

“I want to obtain the… essence that comes from something that grows after consuming that.”

I needed Veronica’s… essence.

Because if I ate that, I would only go into heat and wouldn’t be able to extract it.

Upon hearing the request, Veronica’s face turned as red as her own hair.