Chapter 57: If You Don’t Want to Take Them Off, Shall I Take Them Off for You?

Chapter 57: If You Don’t Want to Take Them Off, Shall I Take Them Off for You?

“..Are you playing a prank again this time?”

“Would you like me to?”

The girl, hearing my words, playfully held a firecracker in her hand.

She’s not going to set it off, is she? I shook my head.

Heehee.. But don’t worry too much. I didn’t just come out to watch.

Strangely, the girl was wearing a pretty dress today.

Is it my imagination that the design looks familiar?

I tilted my head and laid Scarlett down beside me.

She must have been extremely stressed, as she was still hugging me tightly in her sleep.

It felt a bit awkward to separate her like this.

So I continued the conversation while leaving her as she was.

“You always show up at the perfect timing. I thought you were going to give me another hint today.”

Hmm… Actually, I intended to do that at first…

The girl stared intently at my face.

Tap, tap.

Then, for some reason, she poked my solar plexus with her finger.

Her gesture was strangely embarrassing.

I felt my face heat up.

“Th-ah… Mister?”

“Would you mind taking it off for a moment?”

Huh?

Why is she suddenly telling me to take it off?

I fumbled with my hands in surprise at the sudden request.

The girl giggled brightly, watching my reaction.

She seemed to find me incredibly cute.

“If you don’t want to take it off, shall I take it off for you?”

And then, with her slender white hand, she gently grasped the collar of my shirt.

One hand slowly stroked my back.

And with the other hand, she slowly unbuttoned one button at a time.

Her hand movements were strangely skillful.

“Um… Ah, um. Cough! I… I’ll take it off. Just a moment…”

I felt like things were about to get weird if I let it continue.

So I quickly took off my clothes in front of the girl.

With each layer of clothing that came off, my face grew hotter.

Finally, I stood with my upper body bare, clasping my hands together.

“Let’s see…”

Tap.

The girl’s finger touched my solar plexus.

A slightly cold yet soft sensation.

Hit..”

I involuntarily let out a sound at the slightly unfamiliar feeling.

Her fingers traced circles around my solar plexus, then pressed firmly near my chest.

“You’re quite sensitive. Is it the effect of the medicine?”

The girl seemed to be enjoying my reaction immensely.

She slowly pressed against my skin, then placed her finger in the center of my solar plexus.

“Hmm… Your condition is much better than I expected. Is it the work of that fairy?”

“Yes… Oli… Hit..!”

Just as I was about to finish my answer.

The girl’s finger flicked my nipple with a tap.

Simultaneously, a tingling electric current spread.

I flinched and covered my chest with my arms.

Haah, hat..”

Hehehe.. I’m sorry. Your reaction was so good, I couldn’t help myself…”

Ugh..”

I couldn’t say anything to her sly and mischievous expression.

Her appearance seemed to have changed, and she seemed even more playful.

I sighed lightly, feeling the tingling sensation in my chest.

“You startle me when you touch me like that…”

“If I told you this was part of an examination, would you believe me?”

“As if…”

She never dropped her mischievous attitude.

Being toyed with by a girl who looks much younger than me was strangely humiliating.

And it also carried a strange excitement.

I felt my ears heat up.

“Then, let’s stop playing around…”

The girl smiled faintly.

She then helped me put my clothes back on and crouched in front of Lucy.

“Little lady. May I have your hand for a moment?”

And then, she took little Lucy’s hand.

Whoosh-

She emitted a strange light.

Ugh?!”

At the same time, Lucy’s eyes widened.

She mumbled for a moment, looked at me.

And then smiled brightly.

‘What did she do…?’

“I’ve conveyed Young Lady’s condition to the little lady, so it will be helpful for future treatment.”

I guess what she did earlier was like a preliminary examination.

Anyway, her attitude is playful, but she gets things done.

Lucy mumbled for a moment, looking at me.

Then she whispered something to Oli, looking at her.

“My part is done… The next hint will be given when your feet are fully recovered.”

Swoosh-

With those words, the girl’s form began to gradually lose its shape.

Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be returning to her patterned form.

I watched the girl.

“Wait, wait a moment, Mister!”

I called out to her urgently.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“Um… I have one question.”

The girl tilted her head in confusion.

I touched my chin for a moment and opened my mouth hesitantly.

“What’s your name…?”

As I voiced the question I had been wondering about, silence suddenly filled the room.

The girl looked at me for a moment, then widened her eyes.

She tilted her head.

Puh, puhahat..”

And then burst into laughter.

The girl, laughing heartily as if something was incredibly funny, then lowered her voice.

Was my question strange? I felt embarrassed.

“Is… is there a problem..?”

“No. There’s no problem at all. It’s just that it’s a very ‘Young Lady-like’ question.”

What’s ‘Young Lady-like’? I felt confused by her incomprehensible words.

In any case, the girl seemed to really like my question.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled leisurely.

“Would you call me Chris?”

Chris’s face looked very bright as she said that.

As if she had heard something pleasant.

“Chris… I understand. It’s a bit sudden, but please take care of me…”

Shuruk-

Just as I was about to greet her to commemorate our introduction.

Chris cut me off and returned to her patterned form.

Is this also Chris’s mischievous prank?

I smiled faintly and lay down on the bed quietly.

I’ve found the breakthrough with energy circulation and Lucy’s arousal fluid.

All that’s left is to utilize them to escape.

And the doubts that have arisen recently.

Scarlett’s relationship with the Kingdom.

‘I need to find a way to gather information from the outside.’

It seemed necessary to uncover those things.

****

“You want to go out together?”

Scarlett looked quite surprised.

She and I were lying naked in bed.

It was dark outside.

Scarlett, who had woken up a while ago, had clung to me and demanded sex.

As we mingled our bodies for a long time, it was already night.

I told Scarlett the request I had been holding onto.

“Yes. I want to go outside with Young Lady.”

“..No.”

As I expected, the refusal came immediately without any hesitation.

Slurp.

I didn’t even feel disappointed by Scarlett’s words.

I gave her a charming kiss on the lips.

Then Scarlett lowered her face slightly inward.

Is she embarrassed?

“Why?”

Her voice, moist with affection, was different from her recent indifferent demeanor.

Scarlett reacted immediately to that voice.

Yes. I knew this would get her attention.

“Cecil… is precious.”

I know how much meaning is contained in that word ‘precious.’

It means she wants to possess me, make me dependent, and hide me away in the mansion like a beautiful flower.

Unfortunately, I have no intention of participating in such possessiveness.

It’s an action I couldn’t have dreamed of before.

I smiled softly at her and warmly embraced her small body.

Twitch. I felt Scarlett’s body react slightly.

Along with my pounding heart.

The fact that I still love Scarlett carried a strange emotion.

“..I want to know more about Young Lady.”

You’ve been going out frequently lately, I added softly.

Then Scarlett moved her lips slightly.

She seemed to be aware of that herself.

‘There must be a reason why she’s trying to hide me like this.’

At first, I thought it was simple possessiveness.

But for that, my movements within the mansion are quite free.

If she had wanted to see only me, she would have broken my limbs and tied me to a chair long ago.

Why would she risk escape and leave me unattended?

At first, I thought it was a bizarre act to satisfy her sadistic tendencies.

But thinking about it now, the logic of ‘as long as you don’t leave the mansion’ also holds true.

After all, there was incredibly intricate and vast illusion magic installed outside the mansion.

“Is it not possible? It’s too stuffy to stay only in the mansion like this.”

“But…”

As I pleaded with a cute voice, Scarlett finally showed hesitation.

Scarlett’s mind has weakened considerably lately.

I don’t know why, but that means there’s an opening.

The tendon cutting she did to me recently.

That must have been the trigger, making her usually calm state fester.

Turn crisis into opportunity.

Her love and my pain are the only joker cards I can hold.

“If you’re that worried, why don’t you change your appearance and go? I want to go out too. It’s hard to stay only in the mansion.”

This was the first clear expression of my will in the past week.

Scarlett couldn’t betray her love.

She mumbled for a moment.

“Sigh..”

She sighed as if she had no choice.

“…Alright. But outside, you must follow my instructions. Understand?”

She answered in a slightly tired voice.

“Hehe.. I understand, Young Lady.”

Slurp. I gave Scarlett’s lips another short kiss.

This way, I succeeded in getting her permission.

I don’t know how much information I can gather from the outside.

But for now, I have no choice but to try.

****

“..Are you ready?”

Scarlett asked.

She was dressed in her usual going-out clothes.

I smiled and nodded at Scarlett.

Scarlett’s gaze lingered on my face in the wheelchair.

What is it? Is there something strange?

I awkwardly touched my hair.

“Is something on my face..?”

“Ah, no. You’re just… so beautiful.”

Scarlett’s face was completely captivated as she said that.

It wasn’t just a superficial compliment, but a genuine expression.

The compliment made me feel embarrassed.

I haven’t even styled my own face, just changed my appearance with makeup and a wig.

Ah, I also put on a magic item that changes eye color.

Scarlett stared at me blankly for a moment.

Then, realizing she was wasting time, she snapped back to reality.

“Ah, um… Let’s go now. Lucy. Can you push the wheelchair?”

“Auu!”

Lucy answered energetically, stretching her short arms.

Creak-

The wheelchair moved forward.

I don’t know where she got this from, but last night she showed it to me saying, ‘Cecil will use it tomorrow.’

Thanks to that, the problem of movement has been greatly reduced.

Auu, uughh!”

As expected, Lucy is also accompanying me on this outing.

The purpose of the outing is a transaction with an underground market dealer named ‘Carlson.’

After a brief transaction with him, we plan to look around the town.

The fact that she’s bringing me along suggests he’s a fairly trustworthy dealer.

‘That means he’s confident in his magic skills…’

Anyway, we quickly left the mansion and reached the carriage waiting in front of it.

There, the knights I saw during my first meeting with Scarlett were on horseback.

I haven’t seen such knights at the mansion.

They seemed to be staying somewhere other than this mansion.

“Welcome.”

A very sturdy-looking knight greeted us.

He had a large build and a face that looked a bit old.

Scarlett introduced him as Knight Commander Euston.

‘Knight Commander…’

Normally, knight commanders belong to the kingdom.

I’ve never heard of a knight commander who escorts someone personally.

As expected of Scarlett. The more I learn about her, the more mysteries there are.

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work again today, Euston. Let’s depart immediately.”

“Understood. Please come this way.”

The carriage we were going to ride in was a very luxurious design.

Scarlett and Euston got in first, and I boarded inside with Lucy’s help.

The inside of the carriage was very spacious. It looked large enough for eight people.

I looked around the interior of the carriage for a moment.

“..Is the Knight Commander also accompanying us on the outing?”

I voiced the thought that suddenly came to mind.

Euston looked at me for a moment.

He seemed to be searching for the most gentle and comfortable expression possible.

His eyebrows twitched, and the corners of his mouth spasmed.

And then he gave a slightly awkward smile.

“We will not be accompanying you the entire way. We are merely escorting you because our paths happen to coincide.”

It seemed too coincidental to be just a coincidence.

But it’s not my concern.

“Giddy up!”

Then, I heard someone shout loudly from the front.

It seemed we were about to depart.

I sat Lucy, who was the perfect size, on my lap and enjoyed her small, warm body.

The carriage was surprisingly fast.

It hadn’t been long since we departed, but the forest scenery was whizzing by in an instant.

After how long?

Clatter, bang!

As soon as we passed the forest and emerged into a wide wilderness, an ominous sound was heard from somewhere.

Ha..”

At the same time, Scarlett let out a deep sigh.

Fwoosh, bang!

I heard the sound of something piercing the carriage door, but I couldn’t react.

Because.

Creak-

The carriage was slowly tilting.