What Cannot Be Yielded

Unlike the other noisy floors of the mansion, the corridor was quiet, without even a single ant.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor, where even silence could be felt.

It was Ariel, holding a small basin filled with water and a towel. 

Ariel’s face, as she opened the door and entered, held a hint of difficulty.

It was because she had never experienced Asha suffering in this manner before.

Before the change, she had been robust, without any minor illnesses.

‘…I told her to be so careful, yet.’

It seemed her disciple still hadn’t realized how frail her body had become.

Or perhaps… she simply didn’t want to admit it.

While Ariel understood Asha’s feelings… she wished Asha would be a little more careful.

Then, Ariel’s eyes fell upon Asha, who was leaning her upper body against the headboard.

She was blinking her hazy eyes and staring blankly out the window.

Ariel, rushing over, asked Asha.

“Why are you awake?”

But Asha’s reply did not come.

She merely turned her head, her eyes half-closed from the fever, and looked at Ariel.

Ariel sighed and placed a hand on Asha’s forehead to check her temperature.

Feeling the lingering heat, it seemed her condition had not improved.

As Ariel approached to lay Asha down on the bed, Asha, who had been blank, nestled into Ariel’s arms.

At the sight of her acting like a spoiled child, Ariel let out a small laugh, then sat on the bed and embraced Asha in return.

Perhaps due to the fever, Asha’s body scent felt somewhat sticky.

Soon, Asha, burying her face in Ariel’s chest, began to mumble something.

“…lk.”

“Hmm?”

Ariel, feeling the tickling breath on her chest, leaned down and strained her ears to hear the voice.

Then she understood what Asha was saying.

“Milk… I want to drink milk.”

“Milk, you say…”

She’s sick, so she’s looking for what she likes, I see.

Ariel felt pity, but also tried to coax Asha to let go.

Because to get milk, she first had to leave the room.

Even if it was just to ask for it.

However, was she truly acting like a spoiled child?

Asha held Ariel tightly and wouldn’t let go.

On the contrary, the more Ariel tried to pull away, the more Asha clung to her.

Ariel, flustered, stroked Asha’s head, coaxing and soothing her.

“…My disciple.”

“Milk… please give me…”

“I’ll bring it to you, so won’t you let go?”

“….”

But Asha shook her head against Ariel’s chest, refusing.

Since she couldn’t forcibly separate a sick person, Ariel felt helpless.

‘This is troublesome…’

Just then, she felt the presence of the door opening.

Along with the sensation of a breeze entering the room, a flustered voice was heard.

“…Ariel-nim?”

It was Veronica, who had come to check on Asha as soon as she woke up, worried.

Only then did Ariel, with a relieved expression, stroke Asha and speak.

“…Good morning, Veronica-yang. This situation might seem a bit strange right now… but it’s nothing. My disciple just seems to want milk and is pestering me for it.”

“Pe-pestering?”

Her bewilderment quickly turned into a question.

Ariel nodded as if understanding and continued.

“Yes, it seems… she’s not in her right mind because of the fever.”

“Ah… just a moment.”

Only then did Veronica, having roughly grasped the situation, open the door and leave with hurried movements.

It didn’t take long for Veronica, who had rushed out of the room, to return.

Veronica, who had brought ordinary milk and warm milk on a tray, carefully placed them on the table.

Ariel smiled with a satisfied expression.

“I apologize that my disciple is in such a state.”

“…No, it’s something I should naturally do as the one who invited her.”

Veronica was relieved that Ariel was focused on Asha.

Because the events of yesterday had inexplicably come to mind, making her face flush.

‘…I thought she was being cheeky, but seeing her sick, my heart feels this way again.’

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Veronica approached the bed to help Ariel.

Then she saw Asha, tightly nestled in Ariel’s arms.

She certainly seemed not to be in her right mind.

Because whether before or after her change, Asha being tightly embraced by someone in that manner was an unfamiliar sight.

…Though this excluded when she unconsciously embraced someone while doing ‘that’.

Anyway.

The two moved to feed Asha the milk.

“My disciple, I’ve brought the milk, so please lift your head a little.”

“Yes, don’t trouble Ariel-nim.”

At the mention of milk, Asha peeked her face out from where it was buried in Ariel’s chest.

Her disheveled, tangled hair and half-closed eyes.

Her untidy appearance somehow exuded a strange charm.

“…Hmm.”

Veronica, who had been staring blankly, hurriedly grabbed the milk from the tray.

‘What am I thinking, looking at a sick person like this….’

Veronica deliberately avoided that hazy gaze and handed the milk glass to Ariel.

Ariel, taking the milk glass, held it out next to Asha’s cheek.

“Sniff, sniff…”

Then Asha began to sniff.

The two tilted their heads at her sudden action, but Asha didn’t care.

After sniffing the milk glass with her face for a moment, Asha mumbled as if whining.

“…Not this… milk…”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

If this wasn’t milk, then what on earth was milk?

Ariel and Veronica exchanged bewildered glances.

“…Is there another kind of milk?”

“Well…? As far as I remember, I’ve never seen anyone drink anything other than cow’s milk…?”

Then what kind of milk was Asha looking for?

While the two were flustered, Asha, taking her face away, puffed out her cheeks and said.

“Milk… please give me.”

“….”

“….”

The two, who had been staring blankly at a sight they normally wouldn’t see, snapped back to reality when they saw Asha burrowing into Ariel’s chest.

“My-my disciple?”

“Hey, what, what are you doing?!”

Asha reached out with her fair hands, unbuttoned Ariel’s clothes, and buried her face.

Then, searching for the milk that would be beyond the underwear, she diligently mumbled with her mouth over the underwear.

…Of course, there was no way milk would come out.

Asha mumbled as if whining.

“Milk… why isn’t it coming out….”

Ariel and Veronica, watching the scene, paused in their thoughts for a moment.

…Because they had never in their wildest dreams imagined that the milk she had been wanting all this time… was breast milk.

“…Could the reason she clung to my chest from the beginning… have been that?”

Unlike Ariel, who chuckled in disbelief, Veronica’s face was dyed bright red.

“Th-this is troublesome, though… it’s not like we can suddenly bring in a pregnant person….”

“Hmm…”

As Veronica fanned her face, trying to cool her flushed cheeks, ‘that’ suddenly flashed into her mind.

“…There is one way.”

“…There’s a way…?”

At Veronica’s words that there was a way, Ariel looked at her with a strange expression.

“Ah, no, please don’t misunderstand, it’s nothing strange….”

Veronica waved her hands, continuing to speak.

“Well… among the things Asha recently made, there’s a br-Breast-enlargement Potion… and one of its si-side effects is that it causes br-breast milk to come out….”

“…Hmm.”

How truly bizarre.

That means… she must have tried it, doesn’t it?

No… she must have done it to test it on herself.

Ariel recalled Asha’s dainty-sized breasts in her mind.

‘It seems it shrinks if you drink it.’

Ariel, nodding to herself, said in a calm voice.

“Judging by what you’re saying… it seems she brought it with her.”

“Yes… I saw her pack it last time. Well… she probably brought it with the intention of improving it, though.”

…She thought it was truly coincidental, but.

Seeing her disciple whining in such a weak state, she couldn’t just leave her.

“Would you go find it?”

“…Yes?”

“Hurry.”

At Ariel’s serious voice, Veronica rummaged through Asha’s luggage.

It must be an important item, so she would have kept it in her room.

Rummaging through the bag, Veronica found a familiar box.

It was a box she remembered.

‘…I think this was what she took out on the train.’

Recalling a hazy memory, she opened the box and saw the pill she remembered.

‘This is it.’

Veronica checked the contents, then carefully closed the box and returned to Ariel.

“This is it.”

“…Hmm.”

Ariel, who had been gazing intently at the box for a moment, reached out her hand towards it and said.

“Would you step out for a mo-“

The moment Ariel’s hand was about to touch the box, Veronica unconsciously stepped back.

Veronica, looking at Ariel who was staring at her with a questioning face,

grabbed the box in her hand and replied with a determined expression.

“Um… I’ll take it. After all, I’ve been watching from the side… and, Ariel-nim, you have your dignity, don’t you?”

In other words, she was saying she would breastfeed Asha.

Ariel somehow felt a strange sense of defiance welling up.

She certainly thought in her mind that it would be fine to just tell her to do it.

But somehow… she didn’t want to.

Ariel shook her head slightly and replied to Veronica.

“No, it’s fine. Since it’s what my disciple wants, it’s right for me to take it.”

However, Veronica did not back down either.

“Since your species are different… wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“I can take such risks. I’ve also experienced many such trials and errors. And since my disciple made it, how could that be?”

Veronica’s red eyes and Ariel’s emerald eyes clashed.

“It seems you’re embarrassed… how about just letting it go?”

“…Thank you for your concern, but… since it’s a matter for her peer, how about entrusting it to someone of the same age?”

Neither of them backed down from their claim to breastfeed Asha.

Meanwhile.

“…What are you doing?”

“Asha-nim! How are you?”

Claudia and Cecil came into the room.

Their eyes saw Ariel embracing Asha and looking at Veronica, and Veronica holding the box with her face flushed red.