Ch.273Side Story: Birthday Banquet – 7

I woke up with a start, feeling something pressing against my body. My head was surrounded by something soft. A familiar sensation. I had a rough idea of what it was.

I grabbed the pudding-like breasts enveloping my head and pushed them aside. The heavy mass shifted, brightening my field of vision. Looking around, I recognized the bedroom that had been prepared in the banquet hall.

“Hmm… darling, squeezing so hard is troublesome…”

A voice I had completely expected came from above. I pulled my head out from between the breasts to confirm where I was.

I was sitting on Erestica’s thigh. Given that I didn’t feel any stiffness despite waking up in such a position, she must have been quite considerate about my comfort.

Though if she had truly wanted me to be comfortable, she would have laid me on the bed rather than sitting me on her thigh.

“Where am I… ugh.”

“Are you alright, darling?!”

When I tried to get up, my head suddenly went fuzzy, causing me to stagger. Erestica urgently grabbed my waist. Her strong hands forcibly lifted me up and placed me back on her thigh.

As she used healing magic, my head began to clear a bit. For whatever reason, it seemed I had been experiencing some unpleasant symptoms.

“I’m fine. I was just dizzy for a moment.”

I obediently followed Erestica’s lead. There was no reason to resist at this point. Seemingly pleased with my compliance, Erestica chuckled softly and stroked my head.

I looked up. My head was nestled in a soft valley, and Erestica’s face came into view as she looked down at me with a motherly smile. Her yellow vertical pupils dripped with affection and lust.

“You should have drunk in moderation, darling. You’ll upset your stomach. Be careful.”

“…What exactly happened?”

“First, tell me what you remember. I’ll explain from there. I was perfectly conscious and saw everything.”

I briefly retraced my memories.

After finishing my brief 30-minute “meeting” with Nika, the Emperor sorted out the situation in the rapidly awkward atmosphere. But the mood didn’t change so easily.

It was understandable, considering a Succubus Queen had suddenly appeared, taken her son away, and returned him 30 minutes later.

My parents seemed unsure how to start a conversation, Diana and Trisha were giving me looks that demanded I spill everything that had happened, and the Sword Saint had a slightly surprised expression. The reason for his surprise remained unclear.

Kang Yuna’s face was pure shock, while the others reacted as if they had expected this. Another piece of evidence that Nika’s appearance had been pre-arranged.

“…The Emperor suggested a drinking contest to ease the atmosphere. Thinking about it now, he probably did that because I needed to be isolated to sort out the situation.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head.”

At first, I had declined, saying I wouldn’t dare challenge His Imperial Majesty, but when he provoked me by saying he’d understand if I was intimidated by this old man, I joined in out of disbelief.

And then…

“…I don’t remember anything after that.”

It probably wasn’t meant to be a brief affair. There must have been many things prepared and arranged. But when the Emperor wanted to take his son away, they couldn’t force the issue.

During that suspended moment, they could easily manage the situation. The Emperor had probably made his suggestion with that in mind.

“Do you truly not remember, darling?”

At my words, Erestica narrowed her eyes slightly. The playfulness emerged in her eyes, which had been filled with affection and lust.

“After such a wild night?”

“Wild night? Why are you making me nervous like that?”

“Ask the children beside you, and you’ll get your answer.”

The arms embracing me loosened slightly. I turned around. Leona, Latina, and Priscilla were sprawled across the large bed, each sleeping in a different position.

Latina and Leona were hugging each other affectionately as they slept, while Priscilla was curled up on her side. She seemed to be clutching some article of clothing in her hand.

Though they were covered with blankets, their bare shoulders gave me a good idea of what they were—or weren’t—wearing underneath.

“What happened?”

“What happened? I think it’s quite obvious at a glance.”

Laura, who had opportunely opened the door and emerged, answered instead. Behind her, I could see a steamy bathroom. She was wearing a shower robe, her hair still damp.

Though she maintained her usual confident demeanor, there was a slight awkwardness to her. I observed her more carefully. Her gait was a bit strange. If I had to describe it, it was like when someone’s backside is sore—

“…”

“That expression tells me you’ve finally figured it out. Your suspicion is correct.”

Laura grinned. She apparently had no intention of hiding it from the beginning.

“Now that we’re at this point, couldn’t you have been a bit gentler? My back passage still stings. If it’s this bad even after healing magic, I can’t even imagine how roughly you handled me.”

Given her reaction, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened with the three on the bed and Erestica.

I looked up. Now I understood the source of the motherly love and lust filling those yellow vertical pupils. These were emotions that could never emerge from simply watching someone sleep.

“…Was it the same with you, Lady Erestica?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I merely fed you milk so you wouldn’t upset your stomach. Of course, you fed me milk as well.”

It wasn’t difficult to grasp the true meaning of her words. I wondered what on earth I had done while drunk.

Until now, I’d never drunk enough to black out, so I didn’t know, but perhaps I was the type who turned into a beast when intoxicated. I made a mental note to always use healing magic promptly in the future.

‘How much did I drink?’

Even when the other seven had attacked Erestica and all been defeated, I had managed to hold my own reasonably well. I wouldn’t succumb to an ordinary amount. And the Emperor couldn’t have won either.

“It wasn’t bad, though. I’ve realized that if I want it rough, I just need to get you drunk. Even if I tear, I can always heal.”

“I won’t drink.”

“Do you think we’ll let you choose not to?”

As soon as Laura finished speaking, she flopped back onto the bed and said she needed to catch some sleep, immediately falling asleep. Her hair was already dry, thanks to magic.

“She must be very tired. The aftermath of overexerting her body last night. Hehe, I wonder who’s responsible for that.”

“…Indeed.”

I was captured by Erestica again, and after spending quite some time fooling around with her, I was finally able to leave the bedroom nearly an hour later.

“Are you feeling well, Young Master?”

Beatrice, who had been waiting by the door, bowed her head as if she had been expecting me. She had changed from her party dress back to her usual maid uniform.

“Have you been waiting? The whole time?”

“It’s my duty as a maid serving my master. There’s no need to apologize, so please don’t worry.”

Reading my expression, Beatrice preemptively spoke. I had been about to apologize but stopped, and with my hand now at a loss for what to do, I patted her head instead. This time, Beatrice flinched.

After a moment, her head tilted slightly forward. I felt that Beatrice had become considerably more emotionally expressive recently. The old Beatrice only showed fuss, worry, or a blank expression with occasional mischief.

“It’s a shame, though.”

“What is, sir?”

“The party dress. It was so pretty—why didn’t you keep wearing it?”

“T-That…!”

She had no resistance to this kind of teasing, which made it all the more enjoyable. It made me proud to see her responding like a normal person rather than always introducing herself as “Head Maid Beatrice,” something she had been doing for nearly 20 years.

“If Young Master wishes, I shall wear it again for you.”

Then came an unexpected counterattack. Beatrice looked up at me slightly as she said this.

I froze momentarily before smiling lightly and saying I would look forward to it. A strange sound escaped me: “Hmm.”

“Where are the others?”

“Which people are you referring to, sir?”

There were quite a few others, indeed.

On the smaller scale, there were Rosaria, Ellisiere, and Karna; more broadly, Diana and Trisha; even more broadly, Kang Yuna and the Sword Saint; and even more broadly, the Emperor. As for the others, my parents would have handled them.

“Starting with Rosaria and Ellisiere.”

“They should be having tea in the back garden. The two of them slept in separate rooms.”

I was about to ask why they slept separately but held my tongue. It would be a bit awkward to sleep nearby while such activities were taking place inside.

“They said it would be inappropriate while you were intoxicated.”

Judging by that comment, they probably had no intention of joining in. Though we both fully understood what those words meant, we pretended not to for each other’s sake.

“I see. My parents would be elsewhere… What about my older and younger sisters?”

“They stepped out briefly with Ms. Kang Yuna.”

“And the Sword Saint?”

“No, he remained in the banquet hall until the very end, but I returned to attend to you after that, so I’m not sure. I apologize.”

I reassured her that there was no need to apologize. Beatrice followed behind me as if nothing had happened. Her words were likely not a lie, and since I said it was fine, she probably believed it was.

I decided to head to the back garden where Rosaria and Ellisiere were supposed to be. I wanted to hear what had happened at the drinking party.

“…Huh?”

Upon arriving at the back garden, I was greeted with an unexpected sight. Beside Ellisiere and Rosaria were three additional people.

Diana, Trisha, and Kang Yuna.

As I was wondering why these five were together, Rosaria spotted me and waved her hand slightly. She seemed more demure than usual, apparently playing the role of a saint.

“Hey, what’s with you?”

Diana said as soon as I approached.

“What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’? Is that all you have to say? You get close to the Saint and then go off with a demon? The Succubus Queen, no less?”

“Nothing happened. Really, it ended just as you said it would.”

Diana snorted.

“A man disappears with the Succubus Queen and nothing happened? You don’t actually expect me to believe that, do you?”

“I do expect you to believe it.”

“As if.”

It was an unbelievable situation for anyone.

It’s widely known, even to the point of being written into novels, how powerfully succubi can influence males, and Nika is the queen of such succubi.

Moreover, I had shown a moment of weakness when I returned, my legs briefly giving out, which made it all the more suspicious.

But what could I do? I could simply insist nothing happened. Without evidence, they could only suspect but not press beyond that.

“By the way, why is that person here?”

When I pointed at Kang Yuna, she, who was already frozen, shrank even further. Diana responded with an expression that suggested my question was absurd.

“Oh, Yuna unnie?”

“…Yuna unnie?”