Ch.257[Chapter 257] Lord Dominic of Wonderland

“Ah- here you go, darling. Ah-“

Sir Dominic looked at Unryu Hime as she handed him a wrap with lettuce, pickled radish, meat, dried radish strips, and ssamjang sauce, and suddenly wondered if all this might be a dream.

And as he chewed on the wrap in his mouth, he realized.

Ah, this is a dream.

For some reason, Sir Dominic was having a lucid dream.

Sir Dominic looked carefully at Hime’s face.

Hime was wearing a wide-sleeved kimono with her hair down, and the kimono was decorated with black and gold dragons and clouds.

The ends of her hair were cut straight as if measured with a ruler, and it shone like ebony, perhaps from oil that had been applied.

“Is there something on my face?”

Hime blushed and touched her face in response to Sir Dominic’s deep gaze.

“No, I just thought all of this might be a dream.”

“It is like a dream, isn’t it?”

Hime covered her mouth with her sleeve and giggled at Sir Dominic’s joke.

Sir Dominic realized that this was definitely a dream when he thought about Hime’s personality in reality.

There was no way Lady Hime would approach Sir Dominic so naturally and actively.

…

Hime was dreaming.

This was a dream she had been having continuously since meeting Sir Dominic.

She had dreamed it so many times that Hime was now more familiar with the Sir Dominic in her dreams than the real one… no, perhaps not quite that much.

Dreams scatter and disappear when you wake up.

But sometimes, parts of them remain, don’t they?

Hime had collected pieces of dreams one by one to create an almost complete dream, and now she could remember what happened in the dream even after waking up, and had reached the stage where she could recognize that it was a dream while in the dream.

In other words, it was like a delusion as real as reality.

Today was like that too.

It was the day she had asked her father to help with training because she felt she wasn’t being helpful enough to Sir Dominic lately.

Unryu Musashi was delighted and faced Hime with all his might, and Hime passed out after just three exchanges.

The sword hadn’t even touched her; it was due to the wind pressure created by the sword.

It was truly a display worthy of a sword master, a performance to show Hime his impressive skills, but Unryu Musashi forgot one thing.

Since Hime had fainted, she couldn’t see his impressive display no matter how magnificent it was.

Anyway, Hime had fallen asleep while unconscious and had a dream.

It was the dream she always had.

There was a door, and behind it were buildings and a maglev train.

There was a department store and a train station, and each of those buildings was fully furnished inside.

It was a world created by repeatedly having the same dream for a long time.

But Hime liked what was beyond this door the most in this dream world.

It was only natural.

Hime grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Inside, there was a dining table.

Seeing that no one was there yet, it seemed that the Sir Dominic in her dream was still upstairs.

After dreaming this dream repeatedly for a long time, Hime had come to know where the dream Sir Dominic was.

The dream Sir Dominic was usually in the house, and he was always in one of these places: the bedroom, living room, bathroom, or kitchen.

Of course, this was a manifestation of Hime’s unconscious desires.

The things Hime wanted to do if she married Sir Dominic were being revealed through the medium of dreams.

Of course, Hime had never studied dream interpretation psychology, so there was no way she could know this fact.

But such things didn’t really matter.

Hime smiled brightly.

In reality, she was someone who couldn’t even properly confess to Sir Dominic, but knowing that this was a dream and that the Sir Dominic sitting there was a fake dream Sir Dominic, there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Who would peek into someone else’s dream, and who would notice their own delusions?

With that thought, Hime let down her hair, thinking about how she would spend a happy time with the dream Sir Dominic today.

Yes. Today I’ll be a good wife, she thought, and instantly her clothes and hair changed.

Indeed, it was a dream… though it wasn’t that surprising since she could change skins in reality too.

Hime passed through the living room and headed to the kitchen.

Sir Dominic wasn’t in the living room or kitchen.

Hime headed to the bathroom.

She tried to calm her pounding heart, thinking that if she was lucky, some kind of happening might occur with Sir Dominic.

Of course, Hime’s expectations were completely shattered.

The dream Sir Dominic wasn’t in the bathroom either.

Then there was only one place left…

Hime looked up at the stairs leading to the second floor.

Up those stairs was the bedroom.

The bed was spacious enough for two people, as if to indicate that it was a bedroom full of love between Sir Dominic and Hime, but Hime had never used that bed even once.

Even in a dream, when there wasn’t enough time to just look at Sir Dominic, how could there be time to close her eyes and sleep?

“I wonder if I seem like an obsessive woman.”

Even Hime thought the dream Hime was too aggressive and bold.

Of course, that was Hime’s own thought.

Hime smiled as she climbed the stairs.

It’s a dream, so I can be a little aggressive, she thought as she climbed the last step and stood in front of the bedroom. She heard an alarm going off in the bedroom.

Oh. This is a bit different from usual.

I see. Since I decided to be a good wife, I should start by waking him up in the morning.

Hime was once again surprised by the detailed dream world and knocked on the door.

Then she carefully opened the door and went inside.

There, as Hime had thought, was Sir Dominic.

Good. Now act like a good wife. Naturally.

“Oh, darling. Are you up? I’ve prepared breakfast. Come down and let’s eat together.”

Hime smiled brightly as she spoke to the dream Sir Dominic.

The dream Sir Dominic seemed unstable, as if he might disappear like smoke if touched, but for some reason, his form was clear in this dream.

I must have had the same dream too many times. Or maybe it’s because I explored Glitchburg with Sir Dominic recently.

With that thought, Hime smiled brightly and said to Sir Dominic.

“You look handsome even in the morning. I get up early because I don’t like looking messy.”

Ugh, my goodness.

Hime felt her hands and feet curl up, but soon she began to enjoy the cringiness.

It’s just a dream, so what’s there to be afraid of?

“Come down for breakfast. Um, maybe… could I hug you once before you come down?”

Hime approached Sir Dominic shyly and gently embraced him.

The dream Sir Dominic didn’t move at all, like in previous dreams, but Hime was quite satisfied to be able to be like this, even if only in a dream.

…

“Ah- here you go, darling. Ah-“

Sir Dominic and Hime sat at the table in the kitchen eating breakfast.

Since they were eating in a dream, she wouldn’t feel full, but Hime felt full just watching Sir Dominic eat breakfast.

That meant she was satisfied with the current situation.

Hime was doing all the things she had wanted to do.

Making wraps for Sir Dominic to eat, fondly looking at Sir Dominic with his cheeks full…

Isn’t this cute in its own way?

As Hime stared at Sir Dominic, she suddenly realized that Sir Dominic was also staring at her.

“Is there something on my face?”

Hime asked Sir Dominic.

Even though she knew that no answer would come from the dream Sir Dominic.

“No, I just thought all of this might be a dream.”

“It is like a dream, isn’t it?”

Hime covered her mouth and laughed at Sir Dominic’s words.

…Wait.

“…Sir Dominic?”

“Why do you call me?”

“…”

The dream Sir Dominic answered Hime’s question again.

“…You can talk?”

Hime asked Sir Dominic cautiously.

“Well.”

Sir Dominic answered.

“I’m missing an eye, not my mouth.”

Hime’s mind became confused by Sir Dominic’s words.

Why can Sir Dominic talk? Is this a dream? Ah. It is a dream.

This is my dream, so am I hearing my feelings for Sir Dominic like an auditory hallucination?

Or perhaps, are there people who can manipulate dreams causing an incident, and the real Sir Dominic is in front of me?

Numerous hypotheses and thoughts flashed through her mind.

Her eyes rolled rapidly, matching the speed of those thoughts.

Or not? Maybe I’m actually dreaming about collapsing during training with my father, and in reality, I dozed off while I was with Sir Dominic?

Could this be reality, and that be the dream?

Hime fell deeper and deeper into the abyss of her thoughts.

And in the most bizarre direction.

Hime shook her head.

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find an answer.

It was only natural.

There were too few clues to begin with.

The only thing that could be called a clue was the dream Sir Dominic right in front of her.

Of course, Sir Dominic would say he was real, but still, Hime called out to the dream Sir Dominic with a glimmer of hope.

“Excuse me, Sir Dominic!”

Hime called Sir Dominic with her eyes tightly shut.

For Hime, who was careful with every word, even calling out loudly like this might seem disrespectful.

“…”

But there was no answer from Sir Dominic.

Hime slightly opened her eyes and looked at the dream Sir Dominic.

The dream Sir Dominic was in a fluffy, smoke-like state, about to scatter, just like the Sir Dominic in her previous dreams.

Phew. Thank goodness. This is a dream after all.

Hime sighed in relief.

Grateful that she hadn’t been disrespectful to the real Sir Dominic.