episode_0298

“As soon as you took a step as a man, you left your opponent behind and ran away. Truly impressive, Lord Ethan.”

“Lilith, this is just…”

“I didn’t expect you to sneak away like this while I was briefly asleep. Did your inner Casanova nature manifest as soon as you broke free from the chains of empathy?”

“I don’t know what you mean by Casanova nature, but it’s not like that, Lilith…”

“Now that I have conquered you, you seem to have lost interest. If I had known this would happen, I would have savored you a little more before devouring you. Maybe around the time we graduated from the academy… that would have been ideal.”

“No, I haven’t lost interest in you, Lilith…”

Ethan stammered, caught off guard, as he blurted out various things while I held onto him from behind. Judging by his flustered expression, I could roughly guess what was going on in his head.

I peeked slightly to see if he had deliberately left me behind, but it seemed like he hadn’t. Well, I had already figured it out since the ignorant distraction training.

I enjoyed Ethan’s flustered face enough, so I decided to clear up any misunderstandings at this point.

“It’s a joke, Lord Ethan. I understand that you have complex thoughts and just needed a moment alone. You don’t have to worry, I completely understand.”

“…Sorry, Lilith. I should have stayed by your side a little longer.”

“Still, I’m curious as to why you were swinging your sword here. There must have been a valid reason.”

“I kept getting distracted by thoughts in my head, so I was trying to shake them off by swinging it.”

“Why couldn’t you do that in the room? There are many ways like reading or meditation to clear your mind.”

“Because… you were there.”

“…Me?”

“I kept getting distracted by you. I couldn’t maintain my composure.”

Well, if that’s the reason, there’s nothing I can do about it.

At that time, Lilith’s body wasn’t exactly a pleasant emotional subject for the guy.

Even I would find it a bit difficult to ignore a naked beauty with a chest circumference of 105 centimeters in the same room. I could somewhat understand why he moved to a different location.

“So, was swinging the sword part of your composure training? You seem to be sweating a lot.”

“Oh, um… I think it’s better not to get too close…”

“Why?”

“Because I sweat a lot… and it might leave a smell on you…”

“It can be cleaned. And I don’t think our relationship is at a point where sweating is embarrassing.”

“…That’s true.”

“And you’re going to wash up anyway.”

“Yeah, I have to wash… huh?”

With a puzzled expression, Ethan pointed to himself and then me alternately. I shook my head at him and half-forced him to follow me to the hot spring.

It would be uncomfortable to return to the freshly cleaned bedroom in sweaty clothes.

***

*Splash.*

“Phew, ahh…”

After washing up with Ethan and leisurely soaking in the hot bath filled with warm water, I lay down on the tub.

The heat enveloped my body from all sides as soon as I lay down on the tub. The slight muscle aches I had from the bed a while ago slowly dissipated.

“Would you like to join me, Lord Ethan?”

“Oh, um… y-yes…”

*Splash.*

Ethan, who had just been washed by my hands, cautiously dipped his feet into the tub with a slightly embarrassed expression.

As I washed my hands, the ‘young master’ below me seemed to pretend not to notice. There was a strange sense of embarrassment emanating from Edan since earlier.

“It feels like the roles have been reversed.”

Usually, after a first experience, shouldn’t the woman be embarrassed and the man be confident? Why does it feel like Edan and I are the opposite?

Sometimes, when I see him acting like a man, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed. It’s not like I expect him to act that way, but when he does, it’s a bit… nice.

“Come to think of it, whenever Edan pounces on me, there’s always some issue going on.”

Whether it was the day we sneaked out at night with Agnes, or when I felt jealous thinking there was something between me and the knight, or after drinking the strange tea from the suspicious perfume shop lady.

Usually, his actions were more assertive and aggressive when he showed his feelings through jealousy or worry. So, the quiet Edan on this side was probably closer to his usual self.

“Now, the reactions that intensify emotions like that will probably decrease.”

Anyway, since Edan was the one who took my ‘first,’ I shouldn’t worry about someone else stealing that experience from me. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll suddenly develop a taste for being stolen by Edan one day.

At least those periodic outbursts he showed towards me will definitely decrease. He’ll probably realize that he’s been overly guarded.

“I wonder if Edan won’t forcefully pounce on me like before. It’s a bit… disappointing.”

No, crazy. What am I even thinking?

Not long after my first experience, my mind was in turmoil.

“Edan, young master?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Why are you sitting so far away?”

“S-sorry… Should I come over there?”

“How dare a maid like me call the young master over. I’ll go.”

“W-wait, Lilith…”

– Chamber.

I walked over to Edan, who was staring at me with a flushed face from the opposite side of the bath, and as expected, he looked flustered and couldn’t find a place to look when I approached him.

If you were going to be that flustered, you should have sat far away from the beginning. Leaving me alone in the bedroom all of a sudden, and choosing only the worst behaviors after experiencing the first night in various ways, was truly the worst behavior for a man after his first night.

…If the opportunity arises, I should probably teach him a few things. If he keeps acting like this with his real wife after the first night, she’ll probably leave him in no time.

– Thump.

“L-Lilith…”

“I just told you earlier, Edan young master. After the wedding night, you shouldn’t act all flustered and clueless like a bachelor. How disappointed would your future wife be if she saw you like this?”

“…Sorry, Lilith. Are you disappointed?”

“I’m fine, Edan young master. I already knew you had some immature aspects. But if you marry someone else in the future and they see you like this, it will be a problem.”

“Someone else…”

“Marriage between nobles is a union of families, isn’t it? If you don’t cherish your wife, it will only lead to conflicts with her family in the future.”

“Conflicts with the family… Haha…”

Edan looked at me, smiling as if he were listening to me carefully.

“Come to think of it, Edan seems to be getting older. Why haven’t we heard any engagement news from him?”

Of course, externally, I am known as Edan’s fiancée (or something similar). From the beginning, the dormitory we share is also known as the engagement dormitory.

However, it was quite common among the nobles to have a fake fiancée while pursuing a relationship with someone else behind the scenes.

Having a fake fiancée was a way to ward off indiscriminate requests for socializing from other families. It was used to convey messages like, “I will find a fiancée and get married when the time comes, so don’t bother me.” Or “I already have a fiancée chosen, but I can’t announce it publicly, so don’t interfere.”

In reality, after Edan first showed his face in society, he received numerous love letters every day for a while. It was the other noble daughters’ way of expressing their interest in the handsome, talented, and well-off young nobleman.

Since I started playing the role of Edan’s public fiancée, the number of love letters has significantly decreased. Of course, I still receive about one letter a day, but that’s about it.

Thinking vaguely about what Edan might be preparing, I felt a bit curious. However, his response was that I didn’t need to worry about it.

“Thank you for your concern, but you don’t need to worry about that, Lillis.”

“Excuse me?”

“Whether the other woman is disappointed or there are conflicts with the family… those are things you don’t need to worry about, Lillis.”

“Oh, I see. I understand.”

Edan seemed to have someone in mind as well.

Seeing that he kept it a secret even from me, it must be important to maintain secrecy. So I didn’t ask any further.

…Although I felt a slight pang of doubt in my heart, wondering if it was really true.