Fading Storm

“Are you okay?”

“…No.”

“Ahahaha….”

Claudia let out an awkward laugh and massaged my waist.

A tingling pain shot up from my waist and pierced through my head.

Along with a groan… I felt a sticky fluid leaking from between my legs.

‘…How much did she cum?’

Lying there prone, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

I quickly realized the source of the déjà vu. It wasn’t some old memory, but what had happened just yesterday in the greenhouse.

I shook my head inwardly and buried my face in the pillow.

Exhaling a sigh into the pillow, I quietly received Claudia’s massage.

It hurt a lot at first, but as I continued to receive it, I started to feel a little refreshed.

As I felt her calloused, firm hands press against my softened body, drops of Claudia’s sweat fell onto my back.

…Claudia seemed very tired too… but I didn’t particularly feel sorry for her.

There was no need to ask why; it was Claudia’s own doing, wasn’t it?

I grumbled to myself for no reason, and as if she noticed it.

“Euh-hit!?”

“Just bear with it a little longer.”

I felt her dazzling hand movements on my waist. As I groaned with strange moans, Claudia just repeated, “Just bear with it a little longer.”

How long had it been since I was moaning as if hearing, ‘We’re almost at our destination’?

Slap!

Claudia, who had slapped my butt, laughed with a tired voice.

“It’s really over.”

“…Why on earth did you hit my butt?”

“It was so tempting, I couldn’t help myself….”

“Never mind.”

As the pain that had concentrated in my waist disappeared, I felt a bit dazed and was fiddling around when I felt the mattress sink down with a thud.

I turned my head and saw Claudia’s face lying next to me.

When our eyes met, she grinned.

The sharp eyes from a moment ago had vanished as if by magic, replaced by her usual friendly and sly expression.

…Couldn’t this also be considered a transformation?

Claudia wiggled her fingers, then grabbed a handful of my hair, sniffing it as if intoxicated, and whispered softly.

“Still, I’m happy that Asha seemed to enjoy it.”

“…When did I ever?”

I retorted, startled by her absurd claim.

Claudia’s smile deepened.

My face felt inexplicably hot, so I buried my head in the pillow again, and Claudia’s voice reached me.

“I told you to shout ‘Money’ if you wanted to stop, but you didn’t, did you?”

“…That’s.”

“Wow… If I had known Asha liked such rough play-“

“St-Stop!”

My face flushed hot.

No, it wasn’t because I liked it; it was just that I didn’t have time to speak!

I think I rambled on to Claudia with words to that effect, but perhaps due to embarrassment, I just blurted out words without even knowing what I was saying.

Claudia said, ‘Yes, yes,’ and stroked my head.

After bickering for a while.

We got out of bed to take a bath. I was tired, but the sticky, damp fluids had hardened, making me feel uncomfortable, so a bath was essential.

As I came out into the Corridor, wrapped tightly in a blanket, it was already dark everywhere, as if the sun had set. Only the occasional lights hung in the Corridor emitted a faint glow.

However, by some magic, the Bathroom was filled with hot steam.

I looked at Claudia with a blank expression, and she smiled contentedly.

With a strange feeling, I first entered the Bathroom.

The discomfort of my body came before my questions.

After wiping my body, which was stained with various fluids, scraping off the semen that was still flowing from between my legs, and lathering my body with soap to clean it, I once again immersed myself in the bathtub.

Then, Claudia hugged me from behind, as if throwing a tantrum.

I didn’t even have the strength to resist… so I just let her.

And the sensation of her soft breast touching my back felt good.

As my mind, submerged in the hot water, began to soften.

Claudia opened her mouth with a peculiar voice.

“Asha, I have a question. Are you going to charge me for the material from what happened today?”

I wondered why she was suddenly talking nonsense.

But thinking about it carefully, I remembered the first time something like this happened with Claudia.

…That’s right.

Thanks to that, I recalled making the Breast-enlargement Potion, though it was still an unfinished work.

If I thought about it, it really felt like… a vulgar thing to do.

If I had made a killing with the Breast-enlargement Potion, I might have thought of something else… but well.

As I thought about it submerged in the water, I felt that I shouldn’t do that.

Maybe later… but not now.

“…Not really.”

“You really did enjoy it, didn’t you….”

“Th-That’s not it!”

Why does this damn adventurer Young lady keep spoiling the mood?

I turned my body and pressed my hand against Claudia’s lips. She blinked, then grinned and shut her mouth, which showed it was quite effective.

Then I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“…I still don’t quite understand why… but you’re doing this because you like me, aren’t you? How could I put a price on something like that? No matter how much I like Money… I’m not the kind of person to go that far.”

Honestly, back then… I didn’t really grasp my situation or anything like that, so it might be more accurate to say I didn’t think much of it. That’s why Claudia’s favor felt somewhat unsettling too.

But… thinking that she had thought of me that way for a long time… how could I do that?

I thought it was a cringeworthy thing to say, and I expected Claudia to burst out laughing, but she surprisingly looked at me with a warm expression.

It was a warm gaze, as if she had wished for me to say those words.

This time, my face flushed hot for a different reason.

I hastily removed my hand from Claudia’s lips and straightened my posture.

I heard the sound of water, and then I felt Claudia wrap her arms around my neck and pull me into a hug. Her strong heartbeat was clearly transmitted through our closely pressed skin.

After listening to her rapidly beating heart for a moment, I asked Claudia.

“…But Dia, why did you like me…?”

Claudia let out a strange laugh, then replied.

“Saying it like that makes it sound like I don’t like you now, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant….”

“It’s okay. It’s not bad, actually.”

“…What?”

“It’s fine if you don’t know.”

Claudia, who had uttered a meaningful remark, merely stroked my head as if I were cute and pulled my small body into her embrace.

In the end, she didn’t answer my question.

Whether it was out of shyness or if there was a story she couldn’t bring herself to tell, I didn’t know.

But her warmth and affection were clearly felt.

My heart… felt a little heavy.

Then.

My stomach rumbled.

This time, a hearty laugh echoed from behind me.

“D-Don’t laugh!”

“I didn’t consider it enough. Of course, you’d be hungry after not eating anything since breakfast… and going at it until night.”

“….”

“Let’s head out soon. I’ll make you something quick with what’s in the Kitchen.”

“…Okay.”

I got out of the bathtub, dried myself, and changed into the pajamas I always wore. The ones I had been wearing must have been a mess with all sorts of fluids, so Claudia must have prepared these in advance.

…It struck me again how thoroughly prepared she was.

Perhaps it was the kind of preparedness befitting a mercenary who acts freely without belonging anywhere.

Now that she wasn’t carrying me in her arms, the thought that everything since morning had been part of Claudia’s plan gave me a slight case of goosebumps.

As I glanced at her with that feeling, Claudia chuckled.

“Why? Do you want me to carry you?”

“…That’s not it.”

“That’s strange… your face clearly looked like you missed my embrace….”

“Dream on.”

We exchanged trivial banter as we headed to the Kitchen.

Even this, Claudia seemed to have anticipated. The Kitchen was as quiet as a mouse, with no one present, but everything was set up for immediate use.

In the prepared Kitchen, Claudia, as if to show off that she was the best bride material, successively prepared delicious dishes and presented them to me.

…As expected of the picky Claudia, the food was delicious.

After finishing our meal in a quiet atmosphere, I returned to My Room, and Claudia saw me off, saying she had to clean up, and headed to the room we had just been in.

I wondered if I should help, but as the tension released, my wobbly body felt like it would only be a hindrance rather than a help, so I quietly closed the door.

Looking at the firmly closed door leading to the Veranda, I saw the calm outdoor scenery, though dark, as if the raging Typhoon had passed.

It felt like it was almost time to return to the Workshop, so I lay on the bed and sighed.

Things had somehow turned out this way, but was it really okay?

Such thoughts kept swirling in my mind.

Someone might point fingers and call it a luxury problem… but what could I do?

Just as my worries deepened, the warm blanket and my full body began to complain, as if asking if it wasn’t time to sleep. My eyelids were heavy, and my breathing was even.

My blinking eyelids soon closed heavily, as if announcing the end of business.

My consciousness sank into a cozy darkness, yearning for rest.

Yielding to the signal for rest sent by my utterly fatigued body, I finally surrendered to it.

I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, and when I woke up, I felt the warmth of someone else next to me.

Assuming it was Cecil, I placed my hand where her head would be and stroked it, and then a familiar voice spoke.

“Eum….”

…It wasn’t Cecil?

I opened my closed eyelids, and the pure white light from the window attacked my eyes. I instinctively squinted and adjusted to the light.

Red eyes were looking at me. They were blank, as if she had just woken up. Veronica was lying on the bed, dressed and ready to go out.

Veronica, who had been rubbing her head against my hand as if throwing a tantrum, flushed red, then slapped my hand! with a smack!

Then she sprang up from the bed as if to fly, showing a drool stain near her mouth, and shouted at me.

“Th-The sun’s been up for ages, and you’re still sl-sleeping!?”

“…You were sleeping too.”

“I-I was awake, but you were sleeping, so…!”

As I scratched my head and tapped my mouth, Veronica wiped her mouth and said.

“A-Anyway, today’s a good day… so let’s go out.”

She seemed to have a screw loose, but.

Her very Veronica-like demeanor made me chuckle without realizing it.

“Wh-Why are you suddenly laughing?”

“…No reason.”

I got up, my body refreshed from a good night’s sleep.