Chapter 457: First Night (1)

After sending Sihee and Do Yehee back to the Dokyung Group mansion.

First, Eunbyul and I, after roughly tidying up the messy house, immediately began preparations for her to live with us.

The first thing to do would be unpacking her luggage, of course.

We gathered all the boxes Sihee, Eunbyul’s former Master, had brought, then identified and sorted their contents.

This was to get a rough idea of whether she had everything she needed or if there was anything else we needed to buy.

“I can manage perfectly fine on my own…”

“Let’s do it together instead. It’s getting late, so it’s better if we finish it together and get some sleep quickly. Don’t you think so, Eunbyul?”

“Sleep quickly… Y-yes, that’s right.”

For the record, we had reached an unspoken agreement to continue using the name Eunbyul.

It felt awkward to call her by the name Nari now, and in many ways, the name Eunbyul had felt more familiar to me from the start.

Speaking of which, while I was thinking about it, I also told them my real name, Sung Taekyung. Not just Eunbyul, but Sihee too, via KakaoTalk message.

The reactions from both of them were exactly as I had expected.

「Thank you for telling me, but honestly, the name Sungchul-ssi is still more familiar to me.」

“If that’s more comfortable for you, you can keep calling me that. It’s familiar to me anyway.”

「Okay. Then I’ll keep calling you Sungchul-ssi from now on.」

Sihee’s response was predictably nonchalant, saying she’d continue calling me Sungchul-ssi.

“I’ll keep that in mind… but for the time being, I plan to call you Master, so I probably won’t have many occasions to utter the esteemed name Sung Taekyung.”

“I only told you so you’d know. Besides, if it’s easier for you, Eunbyul, you can continue thinking of me as Kim Sungchul.”

“Ah, understood.”

Eunbyul replied that since she’d be calling me Master anyway, there wouldn’t be much difference.

Besides, Cha Yuri, who works at the same company, calls me Sungchul because she’s used to that name from our first meeting. It’s only natural that these two, who learned my real name much later than she did, would react this way.

I’d also gotten quite used to being called by a second name in various situations.

…Still, I’d rather not be called Alfred.

As I was unpacking the luggage boxes Sihee had brought, one by one, a box filled with black dresses of a familiar design appeared.

Seeing it, a sense of disbelief welled up inside me.

“……”

Even though Sihee was an active-duty Maid, this was a bit much, wasn’t it?

How could she pack so many maid outfits with not a single set of casual clothes…

“Ah, I’ll organize those clothes, Master. It’s easier to keep them separated according to their purpose…”

“According to their purpose…? Aren’t they all the same clothes?”

“No, they’re not. If you look closely, there are slight differences in the fabric and design.”

“……”

There seemed to be slight differences, but to me, they all looked pretty much the same.

Pointing to the topmost item among the clothes in the box, I asked Eunbyul about its purpose.

“If they’re different clothes for different purposes, what is this maid outfit used for?”

“That’s a summer maid uniform. The fabric is a bit thin and made of breathable material.”

“…And this dress?”

“That’s an outdoor maid uniform. It’s treated to be waterproof and stain-resistant, making it resistant to contamination.”

“…What about this one inside?”

“That’s a combat maid uniform. Since clothes are easily damaged during combat, it’s made from relatively inexpensive materials for ease of repair.”

“This one…”

“That’s a sleepwear maid uniform. Made with light and soft fabric to help you get a comfortable night’s sleep…”

What on earth is a sleepwear maid uniform? You’re supposed to wear this suffocating-looking outfit even while sleeping…?

I looked at Eunbyul, feeling like she was saying something as bizarre as sleepwear corsets, but she paid no mind and started explaining the other clothes I hadn’t even asked about.

“And this is a winter maid uniform. Compared to the summer one, you can clearly see the difference in fabric thickness. And this is a spare maid uniform. The difference from the existing outfits is…”

It was the moment I regretted ever thinking Sihee might have packed her things carelessly.

She just packed maid outfits because it didn’t matter if she wore any maid outfit.

After about 30 minutes, Eunbyul’s luggage for her temporary cohabitation was somehow completely unpacked.

The first night of our cohabitation was also slowly deepening.

And so, that night.

“……”

Perhaps because of the strangely tense atmosphere, my eyes refused to close even on the bed.

The fatigue that should have hit me the moment I lay down wasn’t easily overwhelming my body.

“Mmm…”

Normally, on a day as tiring as this, the standard procedure would be to fall asleep the moment I lay down. Especially considering I had gone through all sorts of mental and physical hardships today.

Between morning and afternoon, I tested the performance of the plant magic I newly learned in the Guild dungeon.

In the evening, after subduing Do Yehee, who had suddenly stormed into my house, with combat, I thoroughly educated her through sex.

And at night, I even completed an infiltration mission with that Do Yehee to break into the Geumhyang Shin family’s house in Yecheon and rescue Eunbyul.

Considering all the fatigue accumulated in my body throughout the day, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if I had collapsed much earlier.

Yet, the reason I couldn’t easily fall into a deep sleep was probably the faint presence I could sense from the next room.

Yes, Eunbyul.

Eunbyul, separated from me only by this thin wall, must be fast asleep in the room next to mine.

That fact alone was enough to keep my body, which should have collapsed long ago, awake with tension.

For the record, Eunbyul’s accommodation was decided to be the empty room next to my bedroom in the house, after tidying it up.

Actually, my original proposal was for Eunbyul to use the bedroom my parents used.

It was the only room with a bed besides mine, and since it was originally used as a bedroom, I thought it would be comfortable for Eunbyul.

However, she adamantly refused, saying she couldn’t use a larger room than her Master, and naturally, we couldn’t let our guest sleep in the living room.

In the end, we somehow reached an agreement: tidy up the empty room next to mine and sleep on thick blankets laid on the floor.

‘Should I order a bed or something?’

I don’t know how long this cohabitation will last, but I want to provide her with as much convenience as possible during that time.

She said she was fine sleeping on the floor, but objectively, a bed would probably help her sleep better than the hard floor.

The problem was the possibility of Eunbyul’s presence being discovered by outsiders during the process of bringing in a new bed, or it appearing as conspicuous behavior.

With the Geumhyang Group’s search potentially ongoing, we had to minimize any conspicuous actions.

It wasn’t that I thought there would be no problems, but it certainly was troublesome when I thought about it.

No matter how much Eunbyul and I had seen each other’s private parts, there was still a fundamental difference between having sex just once and actually living together.

I was keenly feeling that difference starting from the very first night.

‘I wonder if Eunbyul is sleeping well.’

In fact, judging by the amount of fatigue accumulated in our bodies, she must be feeling much more tired than I am.

I only went through a whole day of tiring events, but Eunbyul looked like she had been suffering for the past three days.

Although I didn’t ask what kind of ordeal she went through with Geum Jangmi’s phantom pain, not knowing the details didn’t make it impossible to guess the extent of her suffering.

Unlike me, she was probably fast asleep right now, recovering from her recent hardships.

In fact, that was the reason I didn’t call her into my room today.

I didn’t want to push Eunbyul further, already exhausted from the torture of phantom pain after being kidnapped.

Even if I had brought it up with absolutely no other intention than to sleep in the same bed, Eunbyul would naturally associate it with nighttime activities.

Having already experienced my lust a few times, she would likely try to accommodate me despite her exhaustion.

Rather than see Eunbyul act like that, it was better to eliminate the possibility from the start.

For the time being, focusing on Eunbyul’s recovery rather than sex would be better for both of us.

Besides, the reason I proposed cohabitation was purely out of a desire to protect Eunbyul closely.

There was no need to feel disappointed even if we didn’t share physical intimacy.

Eunbyul in the next room probably thought the same thing deep down, even if she didn’t show it…

‘…Huh?’

As I thought that, I glanced towards where Eunbyul was lying beyond the wall, but the spot where her expected acquisition points had been just moments ago was now completely empty, without any marker.

Just as I wondered if she might have woken up to go to the bathroom, a quiet knock sounded on my door.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Master, are you perhaps sleeping?”

“……”

The maid’s voice coming from outside the door along with the knock.

As soon as I heard that strangely shy voice, a natural intuition flashed through my mind.

The intuition told me that my sleep time would inevitably have to be postponed a little longer today.