Chapter 130: Epilogue Side Story – Cecil’s Chapter

Chapter 130: Epilogue Side Story – Cecil’s Chapter

“Haaahm..”

It’s bright outside the window.

The bed creaked so violently yesterday that I thought I’d wake up late.

But strangely, my biological clock woke me up promptly.

“Hehe… Young Lady..”

Beside me, Lucy, covered in the blanket naked, was mumbling in her sleep.

Perhaps it’s a habit from the mansion, but Lucy always calls me ‘Young Lady’ when she talks in her sleep.

After all, that title probably stuck better in her mouth.

Even if it’s a title from the mansion days, I don’t feel particularly bad about it.

Actually, I don’t mind at all.

That was then, and this is now.

I’m incomparably happier here than I was then.

Chup.

I kissed Lucy’s forehead as she slept and smiled brightly.

She’s so pretty. The sight of her blonde hair flowing over the blanket was so lovely.

“Uum..”

As I unconsciously stroked her cheek, Lucy’s eyelids fluttered.

Slowly, Lucy opened her eyes.

Did I wake her? Feeling a little sorry, I opened my mouth.

“…Are you awake?”

“Uung.. Did you sleep well..?”

“Yes. I woke up earlier than expected.”

“I smelled you, unnie… so I wanted to smell you more..”

She’s probably still groggy from just waking up, her voice slightly hoarse.

She buried her face in my chest.

It seems she really wanted to smell me.

Lucy sniffed, inhaling my scent deeply, and then smiled, “Hehe.”

“I like your scent, unnie..”

I found her so cute that I unconsciously stroked her cheek.

I’m a little curious about what scent she likes so much.

“What scent do you like so much?”

“Skin scent… soft… and it smells like milk..”

“M-milk scent?”

“Uung… And… I just like it… I like it a lot…”

Lucy, describing the scent, hugged me tightly.

I smiled brightly and kissed Lucy’s neck.

As if reminding me of last night’s events, a clear hickey remained on my neck.

We were supposed to go shopping in town today.

I was a little scolded for leaving marks like this.

Still, she quickly forgave me when I apologetically gave her a cute apology.

“If you’re sleepy, sleep a little longer. I’m going to wake Oli and Aileen.”

“Okay.. We’re going to town later… Don’t forget..”

“I know. I love you.”

“I love you too..”

We said a light farewell, and I left the room.

My destination was Oli and Aileen’s room.

They should be awake by now.

Aileen, being a former soldier, has a regular lifestyle, and Oli is a fairy.

I stood in front of their room and knocked on the door.

“Haaam.. Oli, Aileen. It’s morning. Wake up.”

“Uh, uh? Just a moment..!”

Udangtang!

But.

Suddenly, Oli’s urgent voice was heard, followed by the sound of something falling.

What is this noise?

Startled, I grabbed the doorknob to enter the room.

“Just, just a moment! Don’t come in! Something… f-fell!”

“What…?”

Is there a reason to make such a commotion so early in the morning?

I idled for a moment, rotating my ankles.

When I heard the words ‘You can come in,’ I finally stepped into the room.

“Haa, haa… So early in the morning… What’s going on..”

The scene inside the room had a strange, ambiguous atmosphere.

It was slightly warmer, and Oli was drenched in sweat.

Oli wiped the sweat from her forehead and caught her breath.

Her clothes were disheveled, and her face was very red.

She was clearly caught in the middle of ‘something.’

“Ah… We were supposed to go to town today. I thought we should prepare a little earlier.”

“Aha~! Y-yes! That’s right. We were supposed to go to town… Oli and I will prepare breakfast later, so could you please leave for a bit..?”

“Understood. Then I’ll be going… back to my room.”

Aileen’s demeanor was also quite unnatural,

And I wondered if it was what I thought it was.

‘The two of them…?’

Come to think of it, Aileen and Oli had been spending a lot of time together lately.

They got along well.

Since we were having sex every night, it was natural for them to feel that way.

I quietly closed the door and held my breath.

“..Did she leave?”

“Uum.. I think so. Hoo.. I didn’t expect Cecil to barge in so suddenly..”

“You should have locked the door… Let’s continue what we were doing. My body hasn’t cooled down yet..”

I felt a bit uncomfortable, like I was eavesdropping.

Then I heard a squelching sound, so I quickly ran back to my room as if fleeing.

Lucy was fast asleep on the bed, purring.

I stroked Lucy’s head,

And swallowed dryly.

That scene… it felt like I had seen it somewhere before.

Anyway, it seemed like it would take a while for Aileen to come out.

Until then, I should get some more sleep.

Hugging my lovely Lucy tightly, I slowly closed my eyes.

****

“Hmm… Isn’t this too hot? This shows too much skin… And this one isn’t pretty..”

“Haha… Lucy… Can’t you just pick anything..?”

“No. It’s an outing, so you have to dress well.”

“We’re going to buy clothes there anyway..”

“Still. First impressions matter, so people will look at you favorably.”

“Hiiing..”

I made a playful, disappointed sound and stuck close to Lucy.

“Uhaha… Lucy, don’t worry too much. The villagers are all good people.”

“Even so, first impressions are important. I don’t want you to be seen with strange eyes..”

It must be because of the previous rumor about the ‘spirit of the forest.’

Attention would naturally be focused on me, and she seemed to dislike me being noticed by others.

It was a form of jealousy, and also due to what happened at the mansion.

Lucy probably worried that I might attract the attention of a bad person.

“Uum… I like this one. What do you think, Lucy?”

“This one is pretty too… but I think this one suits you better. You’re tall, so both skirts and pants look good on you.”

“Aigoo… How long do I have to watch their antics? Hurry up and choose, you brats..”

Oli, who had already finished preparing, was sitting on Aileen’s shoulder.

Then Aileen chuckled and stroked Oli’s head, saying, ‘Please indulge me just this once.’

Oli rubbed her head against her hand, saying, ‘I’ll indulge you just this once.’

“I’m sorry. I’ll choose quickly and we’ll go. So Lucy, please let me pick any outfit..”

“Eek.. Oli..! Do you know how I feel?”

“I don’t know, bitch. So let’s just go. I’m bored to death.”

We finished preparing under Oli’s sharp reprimand, feeling rushed.

The outfit I finally chose was a slightly tight turtleneck and leather pants.

It was the cleanest and warmest outfit.

“By the way… What are we going to do in town?”

Oli asked as we finally set off for the town tour.

“First, I’ll buy clothes. I need winter clothes too… and some ingredients. How did we decide to split the tasks?”

“Oli and I will buy clothes, and Cecil and Lucy will get groceries.”

“Good. We have enough money… Let’s start now.”

Nodding at Lucy’s words, our party walked towards the town.

As expected, the town was only about a 20-minute walk away.

Passing through the simply decorated entrance of the town,

I looked at Oli and Aileen and spoke.

“This is my first time sightseeing like this, so let’s just take our time and meet before sunset. The town is bigger than I thought, so there’s a lot to see.”

“Understood. We’ll be going now. Have a good date.”

“See you later, Oli! Don’t be too harsh on Aileen!”

“You too, lanky bitch! And don’t cling too much!”

With Oli’s crude curses as a finale, we each took our positions and entered the town.

“Wow..”

And I widened my eyes at the sight of the considerably large town.

Everyone was loudly hawking their wares,

And on the protruding display shelves, ingredients and foods of good color were displayed.

How long has it been since I came out like this to people-watch?

Excited by the rare outing, I looked up at Lucy while looking around here and there.

“Lucy, look at that! It’s grilled lizard tail. Isn’t it amazing?”

“Wow… It looks delicious..”

“That’s meatball made from frog hind legs. What do you think it tastes like..?”

“Hmm… It probably tastes chewy.”

“Look at that too. It’s a star-shaped fruit! It’s really amazing..”

Lucy looked at me with adoration as I explored the surroundings with wonder.

Although we were originally here to buy groceries,

Since sightseeing was also a purpose, we decided to explore the town first.

How long had we been engrossed in exploring the town like this?

“Lucy, next time let’s go eat that. It looks delicious-“

“..Hey, look over there. Isn’t that the person..?”

Suddenly, people’s gazes began to focus on us.

The voices, which had been only one or two, grew louder,

And even the vendors hawking on the street turned their attention to me.

“Huh, huh..?”

What is happening all of a sudden?

Did I do something conspicuous?

I felt anxious, not knowing what was going on.

My excited mood instantly deflated, and I felt intimidated.

“Oh, it’s true?”

“Who’s next to her?”

“I don’t know. But she’s pretty.”

Lucy and I were suddenly surrounded by a crowd.

“…It’s okay.”

As my body trembled uncontrollably,

Lucy hugged me tightly and whispered softly.

There’s one lingering side effect I haven’t been able to shake off since escaping the mansion.

It’s scopophobia.

Perhaps when I first crossed the border, I felt extreme anxiety about ‘being discovered.’

My experience of being locked up in the mansion’s underground prison also contributed.

Because of that, I can’t stand it when people’s gazes are fixed on me, or when something like a doll stares at me.

“Ah, ugh.. Ugh..”

I was too scared to speak properly.

Why are they staring at me with both eyes, focusing their gaze on me?

And I soon understood the reason.

“It’s the spirit of the forest..”

“The rumors were true!”

“The spirit has appeared in our village!”

“It must have come to bestow blessings!”

“Ah..”

So that was the reason for all the attention.

However, that didn’t alleviate my fear.

Lucy, knowing my condition well, tilted her head up,

And shouted with all her might.

“The spirit has bestowed blessings, so you must return to the forest now!”

Although the content was a bit strange,

Lucy immediately lifted me and leaped with all her might onto the roof of a building.

At the same time, cheers erupted from all directions.

Tap-

Lucy, displaying astonishing physical abilities, landed lightly on the roof,

And with a wry smile, she placed me on the roof.

“Ahaha… This has gotten a bit out of hand…”

“I’m sorry, unnie. There were more people than I expected..”

“No, no. It’s okay. By the way…”

I smiled at Lucy and gave a slight smile.

I had originally planned to look around the town briefly before buying groceries.

But at this rate, we wouldn’t even be able to sightsee, let alone buy groceries.

“We were going to buy groceries, weren’t we? What should we do..?”

“Right. Hmm… I guess we have no choice. If we continue like this, you’ll get overwhelmed, so let’s leave the rest to that couple.”

“Oh.. you knew about that?”

“Yeah. Oli smells so strongly of it, it would be strange not to know.”

It was more impactful that Lucy knew about their relationship than the fact that we were passing on our tasks.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

We then secretly moved over the rooftops and managed to reunite with the fairy couple.

Hearing Oli’s vulgar curses was a bit painful,

But thanks to leaving the shopping to them, we were able to complete our town tour by moving through secret alleyways.

The two teams reunited several hours later, in the evening.

“Aigoo… Thanks to some people, I had to do twice the work and it’s so annoying.”

“Oli.. Didn’t I carry all the luggage..??”

“..Anyway, that’s what I’m saying! Cough, cough. I’ll forgive you because you said you’d pick flowers for me. Okay?”

“Puhaha… Okay, Oli.”

The four of us stood at the entrance of the town, chatting and laughing.

Despite the unexpected incident, it was thrilling, which I liked.

The family, having finished their shopping, walked home, bickering amongst themselves.

Hearing that tonight’s dinner would be beef stew, Lucy beamed.

Winter is coming soon, so we’ll see snow within two months.

Maybe we’ll have a snowball fight then.

Thinking so, I wore a refreshing smile.