Ch.78Oh, It’s Fine. You Guys Go Ahead and Have Fun. (1)

Last night, I slept deeply for once and woke up in the dim dawn before the sun had even risen.

When I turned my head, my vision filled with Lael sleeping soundly beside me.

Long eyelashes, adorably delicate features, and hair red as fire.

Her breath escaped with a soft “phew—” sound.

‘She’s so lovable.’

After fully experiencing her last night, I felt this even more strongly.

I can still clearly see her face as she smiled through the pain.

I removed a strand of hair from her mouth, tucked it behind her ear, and got up to approach the window.

‘Beautiful.’

The navy sky gradually turned red, with the sun hanging halfway over the horizon—a sight worthy of being called spectacular.

I’ve seen many breathtaking views during my adventures, but what I saw now was undoubtedly the best among them.

As I continued admiring the scenery outside the window, a voice came from the bed.

“Mmm… Crow…?”

Turning toward the voice, I saw Lael rubbing her eyes and frowning as she looked in my direction.

I slowly approached her, sat on the edge of the bed, and asked:

“Did you sleep well?”

“Hmm? Ah, yes. I slept well. How about you?”

“I slept well. The bed was so soft, I think I slept deeply.”

“That’s good…”

Lael let out a relieved sigh and buried her face in my chest. Then she shook her head from side to side and took a deep breath.

I could feel her determination to inhale my scent.

When I stroked her head…

“Hehehe…”

She started giggling.

Her slightly silly appearance made me chuckle.

‘This is another side of her I haven’t seen before.’

She always seemed to have such high pride, but now she was nothing short of a clingy girl.

If asked which side I preferred, I would definitely say the latter.

If this was her true nature, her real personality, then her usual self must always be under a lot of strain.

I hope she can relax a little, at least in front of me.

Of course, there’s also the fact that this side is cuter.

As these thoughts continued, Lael lifted her face from my chest and met my eyes.

Thinking she might have something to say, I tilted my head slightly, and she gently pushed out her lips and closed her eyes.

Despite her bold gesture, one of her eyes was trembling slightly, suggesting she was peeking to see what was happening.

‘I want to tease her.’

You know how it is.

That urge to play around and tease, like children do with someone they like.

I caressed her cheek and gently pressed my thumb against her trembling eyelid.

Her body twitched slightly before settling down.

Well, with my hand on her cheek, she must have been certain I was going to kiss her.

But I didn’t kiss her. More precisely, I was just stalling.

I was curious about her reaction.

Lael’s body squirmed.

She wiggled her hips and repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists.

Then, when her other eye started trembling, I placed my other hand there and gently pressed that eyelid too.

Now she couldn’t see ahead even if she wanted to.

Her body squirmed more, and this time her lips quivered too.

Finally, as if she couldn’t bear it anymore, Lael spoke up.

“Crow…”

A voice tinged with desperation.

She was begging me for a kiss.

Of course, she didn’t say it outright, but the circumstances made it obvious.

I tilted my head slightly and moved close to her lips.

Her lips jutted out to meet mine, but they still didn’t touch.

With a “phew—” she exhaled through her nose.

“Really… you’re so mean.”

As she said this with a deep sigh…

The moment her protruding lips retracted, I kissed her.

Not the sticky kiss from last night, but a brief peck.

A light kiss that could serve as a morning greeting instead of asking if she slept well.

Smack—

With a short suction sound, our lips parted, and I removed my hands from her eyes.

Lael stretched her arms high above her head.

Her clothes pulled up slightly, creating deep wrinkles below her chest.

“Mmm! I’m satisfied!”

She said this and hopped off the bed. Then she reached out her hand to me and said:

“Let’s go wash up!”

“Together…?”

“Isn’t that obvious? We’ve bathed together before anyway.”

Seeing her confident demeanor, I smacked my forehead.

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

Only when it was absolutely necessary.

Like when we were covered in flesh-melting poison.

Or during missions when time to wash was extremely limited.

It was rare, but it had happened.

But the situation now was different, wasn’t it?

Even as I thought this, I took her hand.

Honestly, I didn’t mind.

We might take a bit longer to wash, but…

Well, that’s not a problem.

* * * * *

In the workshop interior, so quiet it felt almost chilly.

Riano stood in front of the mirror checking her appearance, trying to recall if she had forgotten anything.

‘I installed the notice board.’

A notice stating that the shop would be closed.

She had specially ordered it from the carpenter’s workshop next door for this vacation.

She had set it up well in front of the door this morning, so there probably wouldn’t be any customers waiting.

Thinking this, Riano tried to recall once more if she had forgotten any clothes.

She packed her dress, pajamas, comfortable clothes…

In fact, she had packed almost everything from her wardrobe since she didn’t have many clothes to begin with.

‘Swimsuit…!’

She had to check the one thing she had prepared to win this battle.

Rummaging through the small bag at her waist, Riano pulled out the swimsuit.

She needed to check it visually because it could be confused with underwear.

‘Is it too small?’

It had less fabric than underwear.

Of course, it wasn’t as revealing as what courtesans might wear, just covering the essential parts, but it would probably show more skin than a typical swimsuit when worn.

But that wasn’t important.

She bought it to win the battle, after all.

Thinking this, Riano stroked her lower abdomen.

“They say it’s harder to have babies when you’re older…”

Maybe it’s about time.

One boy and one girl would be nice.

As happy thoughts circled in her head…

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A clean and polite knocking sound was heard.

* * * * *

As the time for the second group to arrive approached, Lael and I had already left the villa and were chatting casually.

A sticky breeze blew by, brushing against our skin and making our hair flutter.

‘They should be arriving soon.’

According to Lael, the servants of the Duchy of Gideon had never once broken a promised time.

It’s natural for servants attending their master to behave that way, but…

It was somewhat surprising that they would arrive at exactly the right time—neither early nor late.

‘Being late is one thing, but being a little early would be fine.’

As long as the other party doesn’t have to wait.

Of course, that was just my opinion, and the servants might see it differently.

As these thoughts continued…

In the distance, a carriage could be seen coming down.

Looking at the magical device on my wrist, it was about 1 minute earlier than the appointed time.

They would probably take about a minute to come down from there, and then…

‘This is unbelievable.’

They really were arriving at exactly the right time.

Clop, clop, clop.

The sound of hooves grew closer, and when the carriage arrived, the servants, including the coachman, bowed their heads to Lael in perfect unison.

Their disciplined and dignified actions made me nod in approval every time I saw them.

“Did you sleep well?”

Although I knew the greeting wasn’t directed at me, standing so close to Lael made it feel as if it was.

“You’ve all worked hard. Raise your heads.”

She spoke with an authoritative voice.

To think that just moments ago, she was being cute with me and holding onto my waist.

The enormous contrast made me chuckle involuntarily.

At Lael’s command, the servants raised their heads in unison and lined up in front of the carriage. Only the white-haired gentleman moved alone.

Yesterday and today, he seemed to be the highest-ranking among the servants.

As I was thinking this, the door of the luxurious carriage opened, and those we were waiting for appeared.

“Ahhhh… my back…”

Riano, who got out of the carriage with a hunched posture, tapped her back with her fist.

“Riano, you look like a completely aged auntie.”

Elin smiled at her.

“You’re the strange one. My back hurts too.”

Finally, Derin, with a frown on her face, massaging her back, also got out of the carriage.

“You must be tired from the long journey.”

As I offered this brief greeting…

The gazes of all three pierced right through me.