Chapter 51

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Estelle’s mansion, located in the northern part of the city, was incredibly grand.

It was only natural, given that it was the residence of Cressia’s mayor, but it resembled a small castle.

The garden was filled with beautiful flowers and trees, and the lawn was neatly maintained.

The building was made of marble, and the large windows were decorated with moonlit patterns.

“Whoa…!”

Finn kept looking around in amazement.

“This is amazing! So cool!”

Finn’s gaze was particularly drawn to the flowers blooming in the garden.

Fairies, as a species, were naturally obsessed with flowers.

Of course, they were also obsessed with alcohol, but Finn didn’t drink much.

Every time he drank, he ended up causing trouble.

Not long ago, before Finn had crossed over to this continent, she had gone to a forest with a lake with her older brother and drank a lot of fruit wine.

At the time, Finn, completely drunk on the fruit wine, had picked a fight with a certain being there.

It was the elf her older brother respected the most.

― Hey, you! You think you’re so strong, huh? Wanna fight me?

― …

― What, cat got your tongue~? Are you scared? Hehe, now that I look at you, you’re just a kid, huh? Huh? What are you chewing on? Cake? Hey, give me some!

If Finn’s older brother had been sober, he would have stopped Finn.

But Finn’s older brother was also completely drunk, lying on a rock and fast asleep.

― Give it to me! Are you the only one who gets to eat? Hey, let me have some too!

Finn climbed onto the cake the elf was eating and thrashed around.

The cake was smashed into a mess, and Finn was covered in cream. Even so, Finn laughed and seemed delighted.

― …

The elf’s eyebrow twitched.

He seemed angry, but he didn’t lash out.

He just got up and tried to leave.

― Hey, where are you running off to!

Finn jumped up and quickly flew toward the elf.

Then, with her cream-covered body, she crawled into the elf’s clothes and rolled around.

― Hehe, how’s that? Ticklish?

― …!

The elf flinched and tried to pull Finn out of his clothes.

But Finn dodged the elf’s hand with dazzling movements.

And because he moved so erratically, he ended up—

‘…’

Finn stopped her thoughts and blushed.

That day, she had been rude to the elf.

Literally, she had been rude to the elf’s body.

Just like she had been with Amon’s hand.

Even so, Finn had kept causing trouble, saying things like, “Huh, it’s so warm~,” but her memories after that were strangely hazy.

Later, according to her older brother, if a dragon and a human saintess hadn’t rushed over to stop Finn, she might have ended up as wolf food.

After that, Finn decided to quit drinking.

Not just because of her life, but because she was too embarrassed by the disgraceful mistake she had made.

That’s why she had been so flustered when she made the same mistake with Amon’s hand.

Even worse, she wasn’t even drunk this time, and she still did this? She had scolded herself.

‘At least I passed it off as sweat…’

Anyway, Finn wanted to properly apologize to that elf if she ever saw him again.

After that day, she had been too ashamed to face the elf.

According to her older brother, the elf didn’t seem to care much, but you never know.

He might suddenly get angry and throw Finn to the wolves…

“H-here’s my room…”

While Finn was lost in thought, they arrived at Estelle’s room.

“Oh-ho…”

Estelle’s room was quite simple.

Instead of lavish decorations, the walls were adorned with a tasteful blend of white and silver.

The bed was placed in the center of the room, and it looked slightly larger and more plush than the one at the Moonlight Inn.

Next to the bed was a bookshelf.

The bookshelf was neatly filled with fairy tales and adventure novels, and on the chair in front of it sat some cute dolls.

“And the bathroom is over here…”

Estelle guided them to the attached bathroom.

“Whoa!”

Finn’s eyes sparkled instantly.

Sure enough, the bathroom had a large bathtub.

It was big enough to fit ten people at once.

“Can I take a bath right away?”

When Finn asked, Estelle smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I’ll draw some warm water for you.”

“Thanks!”

Estelle lightly touched a gemstone attached to the side of the bathtub.

“Now, if you do this…”

A blue light sparkled from the bottom of the tub, and water began filling it along a magical pattern.

Steam rose gently, indicating that the water was warm.

“Wow!”

Finn’s eyes widened.

“This is incredible! Is this magic?”

“Yes.”

Estelle smiled shyly.

“Cressia uses a lot of magical devices like this…”

“Amazing!”

Finn fluttered her wings and flew over the water.

The rising steam warmed her body, making her feel good.

“I’m going in right now!”

Unable to wait any longer, Finn threw off her clothes and jumped into the water.

Splash—!

“Ah, wait…”

Before Estelle could finish speaking, Finn popped her head out of the water.

“Ugh….”

Finn’s face was bright red.

“It’s hot…”

“Th-that’s because the water comes out a bit hot at first… If you touch the gemstone again, the temperature will adjust to the right level.”

When Estelle touched the gemstone again, the water gradually became lukewarm.

“Ah…”

Finn let out a sigh of relief.

“Now it’s just right.”

“…”

Next to her, Lucy dipped her hand into the water to check the temperature.

It was warm and pleasant.

Lucy nodded, then took off her clothes, folding them neatly and placing them to the side.

She slowly submerged herself into the water.

“…”

The warm water enveloped her entire body.

It felt like all her fatigue was melting away.

“U-um…”

Estelle spoke, her gaze lowered shyly.

“I’ll wait outside… When you’re done washing…”

“Why? Let’s wash together!”

Finn shouted.

“It’s fun to bathe together with friends!”

“…F-friends?”

Estelle’s eyes widened in surprise.

“D-do you really think of me as a friend…?”

“Well, yeah…? You let us use this amazing bathtub, after all.”

Finn answered, her face slightly red.

Estelle quietly bowed her head.

“Th-thank you… I haven’t had any friends before…”

Her voice trembled faintly.

“I-I’ve always wanted to take a bath with a friend…”

Estelle slowly untied the strings of her dress.

“…Ahh, this is nice.”

Finn floated on the water, muttering to herself.

“I could stay like this forever…”

Estelle smiled softly as she watched Finn.

Her body felt like it was melting in the warm water.

Across from her, Lucy was splashing water with her hands.

Splash— Splash—

Lucy seemed to be trying to create a whirlpool with the water.

It didn’t seem to be working very well.

“…Lucy, where’s your home?”

When Estelle asked, Lucy stopped her hands and looked up.

“Leyton Territory.”

“That’s not too far from here. I’ve heard that no monsters appear there.”

“Yeah, there’s a guardian living in the forest. It’s at our house now.”

“A guardian?”

Estelle tilted her head.

But Lucy didn’t elaborate.

She just stared blankly into the air, lost in thought.

After a while, Estelle asked again.

“…So, did you come to Cressia to see the Moonlight Festival?”

“No.”

Lucy shook her head slightly.

“I came to meet my mom.”

“Your mom? Does your mom live in Cressia?”

“I don’t know… But we agreed to meet here, and I haven’t found her yet.”

“Ah…”

Estelle decided not to ask further, as it seemed like a sensitive topic.

Lucy started splashing the water again, trying to create a whirlpool.

“By the way, won’t you get in trouble with your dad for sneaking out of the mansion?”

“Ah, no… My dad’s always so busy, so he probably doesn’t even know I left… He’s not at the mansion right now either.”

“I see.”

Lucy nodded, then swam closer to Estelle.

Her movements were almost like a dog paddling.

“Oh, by the way, I have a favor to ask…”

“Y-yes? What is it?”

“Can we have some food after the bath? I didn’t get to eat dinner.”

“Oh, of course. Don’t worry about that. Do you have any favorite foods?”

“Anything but mushrooms is fine.”

“Got it.”

Lucy smiled slightly at Estelle’s response.

“Thanks.”

“…”

Estelle, who had been looking at Lucy, soon blushed and averted her gaze.

Then she muttered quietly.

“…I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

◈

After finishing her bath, Lucy borrowed Estelle’s pajamas.

Since their body sizes were similar, the pajamas fit her quite well.

But there were no pajamas for Finn to borrow.

“Ah, I’m fine. I don’t really wear clothes when I sleep anyway. Besides, I’ll sleep inside Lucy’s clothes.”

Finn said this, then fluttered around the room naked.

“Th-then, I’ll go get some food… Please wait just a little…”

As Estelle left the room, Lucy shook her wet hair and walked over to the window.

Outside, the moonlight shone brilliantly.

It truly felt like a city bathed in beautiful moonlight.

“Lucy, look at this. There are so many fairy tale books on the shelf. Hmm, what’s this? An elf and a fairy going on an adventure? Pfft, how childish.”

Finn was talking behind her, but Lucy wasn’t listening.

She had noticed a white object flying quickly toward them from a distance.

“…?”

The white object was heading straight for them.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
I have given up on the fairy, but if it’s a female… 

I’m going to kill someone.