Chapter 56 – Good Night

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My body flinched at the sound of knocking. Perhaps it was due to the exquisitely perfect timing. I got off the soft, yielding bed and carefully grabbed the handle.

Through the crack of the open door, I could see red hair. The one who knocked was Veronica.

Well, if it had been Cecile, wouldn’t she have just burst in…?

By the way, it’s bedtime, so why is she visiting? She’s not here to sleep together because she’s scared… Maybe she’s coming to say she can’t continue anymore? That would be… troublesome.

Looking at her face peeking through, I opened my mouth.

“What’s up?”

“Um… well.”

After hesitating for a moment, Veronica spoke in a calm voice.

“Just… we haven’t had time to talk, just the two of us…?”

It seems she has something important to discuss. Well, the only person who knows my entire situation… besides my master, is Veronica, so there might be things we can only talk about between us.

Anyway, I can’t leave a visitor standing outside, so I opened the door.

Watching Veronica enter cautiously, I felt a subtle sensation. We used to sleep in the same room and come and go without hesitation, but now she’s being cautious because we have separate rooms… how should I put it?

I’m not… sure. Am I feeling a sense of distance, as if we’ve grown apart?

Come to think of it, Veronica, knowing my circumstances, might have been uncomfortable sleeping in the same place as me. She probably didn’t remember when she ‘did that’ to me anyway… and since she knows who I originally am…

Yes. This is probably the right distance.

…Maybe it’s because I’ve adapted too much to this changed body.

Is that why? Somehow, I felt gloomy. Along with the thought that I was strangely emotional, Veronica’s voice cut off the extending branch.

Cleanly, like pruning.

“Asha?”

“Ah, yes.”

While I was standing blankly in silence, Veronica had approached at some point and was looking at me. Her face was filled with concern.

“Is something wrong? Well… there was a lot going on today…”

“It’s nothing… I was just… thinking about something else.”

“Really?”

I sat down alongside Veronica, who had plopped onto the bed.

“…Why are you sitting so far away?”

“Huh?”

“…Nevermind, it’s fine.”

With those words, a subtle silence began to envelop the room. Not uncomfortable, but a silence where there wasn’t particularly anything to say. While we were just wrinkling the innocent slime bed, Veronica broached a subject.

“Um… are you okay?”

“About what?”

“Today, you seemed… quite anxious.”

“Did I…?”

Remembering how roughly I had thrown off my equipment… I thought perhaps I might have appeared that way. I wasn’t feeling anxious, just annoyed at the people who kept coming.

“Not really? I was just… a bit irritated.”

“…”

Veronica looked at me with dubious eyes. Not understanding why, I shrugged, and she let out a deep sigh.

“If you say so… Well, alright.”

She started twirling the ends of her red hair round and round. It seemed like she had something she wanted to say. In the past, I might have thought it was meaningless, but I don’t know why… I don’t feel that way now.

“Do you have something else you want to say?”

“Uh… well, I do.”

Veronica released her hand that had been tangling her hair, lifted her hips, and moved closer to me. I could see seriousness in her eyes.

After briefly looking around as if wary of someone, Veronica whispered quietly.

“Aren’t you… too soft on that Cecile?”

“Me?”

…No way.

I think I’m being strict enough to control her milk intake.

Seeing my puzzled face, Veronica sighed.

She’s going to make a hole in the ground at this rate.

“Why do you look like you don’t understand? Just today, for instance? You decided to give her a separate room because it wouldn’t work, but then said she could come if she’s scared? Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“…She’s still a child.”

When I nodded faintly in response to her look of “Do you really think so?” Veronica shook her head as if I was hopeless.

“She doesn’t do things I tell her not to… and she understands if I explain properly… if I’m careful, it’ll be fine.”

“…You’ve already been… attacked several times.”

“By that logic, you also—”

“Uwah!!!”

Veronica shouted and covered my mouth. Her face was deeply red. When I exhaled due to discomfort, she jumped in surprise and removed her hand, which made me laugh.

“Wh-what are you laughing at! I’m seriously warning you!”

“S-sorry.”

I calmed my burst of laughter and looked at Veronica. A slightly serious-faced girl was reflected in my eyes.

“Well, what happened then… I won’t say much since most of it was because of the beastfolk transformation potion.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

…Of course, there are several reasons why I’m forgiving so readily… but since I can’t talk about that… I decided to let it go, like a man.

“And now if anything happens, you can… stop it, right? Right? You’re the only person I can confide in about everything right now.”

“…”

Perhaps her excitement hadn’t subsided yet, as Veronica’s face was still red. When she didn’t say anything for a while, I lightly touched her shoulder and called her.

“Veronica?”

“Ah, ah! Yes! That’s right, I’ll protect you! Asha!”

Her enthusiastic demeanor made me laugh softly.

“I don’t think there will be such incidents anymore, but… thank you. Actually, just taking over my work for a while is enough.”

“…That reminds me, do you usually make this much?”

It is… quite a lot, right?

“You can tell by looking at the workshop and… the house facilities, right?”

“…”

How much do you think it costs to have hot water flowing freely at any time? Maybe in the world of my previous life it’d be a normal thing, but not here. Besides that, there are preservation boxes and… many facilities that I haven’t been able to enjoy yet because I’ve been busy.

Thanks to that, I once suffered because I had to use cheap tools… but now that I have the tools my master sent, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Afterwards, we chatted about things like the potions I make. In the midst of our pleasant conversation, I saw Veronica yawn widely. She yawned so big that tears welled up in her eyes.

“Wh-what are you looking at!”

…Why is she getting angry at me when she’s the one who did it? Like a gentleman, I escorted Veronica, who was blushing while yawning, to her room. Leaving her behind as she blinked as if somewhat surprised, I moved to return to my room.

In the slightly chilly corridor… I could see the door to the room where Cecile would be sleeping. Somehow… I couldn’t just pass by. She might be asleep, or maybe she couldn’t fall asleep.

I carefully knocked on the door, which showed no signs of life, but there was no answer.

Is she sleeping? Thinking that… I felt somewhat pleased. The feelings of parents raising children… might be like this. Of course, this is just a guess.

Since I’ve never… given birth. It’s my first… experience.

That sounds a bit strange, but anyway.

Concerned if Cecile was sleeping well, I decided to slightly open the door and peek inside. As I expected, it wasn’t locked. While I was wondering whether to tell her to lock it or leave it, I began to see Cecile.

“…Oh my.”

She was sleeping curled up like a shrimp, having kicked off her blanket.

Letting out a small sigh, I crossed the cold air and approached Cecile. Then I gently stroked her back to straighten her posture. I could feel her warm, familiar body temperature.

“Mmm…”

As I was putting a pillow under her head and picking up the fallen blanket to cover her, I saw Cecile’s drowsy eyes open. I could see hazy red eyes gazing at me.

“Lady… Asha…?”

As I silently stroked her head and covered her with the blanket, a questioning voice reached me.

“You said… we should sleep separately… so why is… Lady Asha…?”

For some reason, feeling as if I had done something wrong, an excuse involuntarily burst forth.

“…Because this is a dream.”

Cecile blinked her dreamy eyes and murmured.

“A dream… is Cecile dreaming right now?”

“Y-yes.”

“I see… but that’s… fine. Hehe…”

Then, she began to rub her face against my stroking hand. The warm, soft sensation was addictive. I quickly gathered my wits and patted her to help her fall asleep.

“It’s late, so you should go to sleep now.”

“Even in a dream… I need to sleep?”

“…You need to sleep to wake up in reality.”

“I see…”

It was starting to feel increasingly incoherent, but sleep-drunk Cecile didn’t seem to notice the strangeness.

“Alright…”

She murmured that, then looked at me with hazy eyes and puckered her small lips.

“Before I fall asleep… won’t you kiss Cecile? Since this is… a dream.”

I froze momentarily at the unexpected statement. Afraid that confusion might settle in her hazy eyes, I had no choice but to bring my face closer.

…I shouldn’t have lied from the start.

Should I do it lightly, like I did for Veronica this morning? She must be wanting a greeting.

I kissed Cecile’s lips, which looked soft with moisture. Cecile smiled broadly, seemingly satisfied… and began to breathe evenly.

I pulled the blanket up to Cecile’s neck, quietly left, and returned to my room. For some reason… recalling what happened yesterday, I shook my head.

…Let’s just go to sleep.

Somehow, I felt like I was going to have troubled dreams.