Fleeting Clouds

As I stared intently at the pristine white whipped cream on the silver fork, I saw Claudia smear the whipped cream she had painstakingly scooped with a fork onto her own hand.

Such precious whipped cream, to smear it on her fingertip?

“What are you doing, ha-eup?!”

The moment I opened my mouth, unable to bear Claudia’s outrageous act any longer, Claudia’s slender, long finger, smeared with whipped cream, entered my mouth.

As the sweetness touched my tongue, I instinctively licked it, and along with the rich taste of the whipped cream, Claudia’s finger delved deep into my mouth, rubbing the cream onto my tongue as if spreading it.

Feeling the savory and rich flavor of the whipped cream and Claudia’s body heat in my mouth, I felt a slight daze before I came to my senses and pushed Claudia’s hand away.

From Claudia’s fingertips, which receded without resistance, and my mouth, a long, silver thread, like the gleam of a fork, stretched out.

“…What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“You asked me to tell you its original purpose, so I just did.”

“What do you mean by that….”

As I waved the stretching thread and got heated, I vaguely realized what other purpose Claudia had been talking about.

Feeling a deep sense of self-loathing for realizing it myself, I bowed my head deeply, and Claudia’s laughter echoed in my ears.

“Why are you so embarrassed?”

“…Shut up.”

Thinking that I was the only one who got caught, I felt extremely displeased.

I picked up a fork, scooped a small amount of Claudia’s cake, and smeared it on my hand. Then I immediately shoved it into Claudia’s mouth.

I felt the sensation of my index finger being enveloped by a warm, slightly rough tongue. Far from being flustered, she sucked on my finger as if licking a lollipop, so I quickly pulled my hand away.

The strange, peculiar sensation even made me feel as if my breathing had become slightly ragged.

Feeling somehow like I was the only one who lost out, I took out a handkerchief and wiped my finger.

Then, this time, Cecil’s voice was heard.

“Asha-nim.”

“…Hm?”

Cecil pushed the cake that had been served for her towards me and spoke.

“Could you feed Cecil too?”

“Ah, no… this isn’t like that….”

Along with a question filled with pure curiosity, her abundant silver hair tilted. 

“Isn’t it for feeding?”

…Saying it wasn’t for feeding was also strange.

If I said no, what should I answer?

Simulated sexual act…?

I shook my head inwardly and sighed.

In the end, I scooped Cecil’s cake with a fork, smeared it on my finger, and put it into Cecil’s mouth.

This time, I felt the sensation of Cecil’s soft tongue.

A higher body temperature than Claudia’s.

As if she intended to lick it all up without leaving anything, Cecil strongly sucked on it, jjokjjok.

There was clearly no sign of her rolling her tongue like Claudia, so why did these strange thoughts keep coming to mind?

‘…Is it because I’m tired?’

Isn’t there a saying that men’s libido increases when they’re tired?

Although my body is currently female, my mind is still male, so in a way, it might be a natural thing.

As I cooled my gradually heating face, I pulled my finger out.

I saw a perfectly clean finger.

It was so cleanly eaten that my finger was practically sparkling.

Again, wiping my finger with a handkerchief, I cautiously asked Cecil.

“…Isn’t it better to use a fork than your finger?”

“I prefer Asha-nim feeding me!”

“Uh, um… then I’ll feed you with a fork, so let’s not eat with fingers anymore.”

Cecil smiled brightly and nodded.

‘…That’s a relief.’

I wondered what I would do if she stubbornly insisted on being fed by hand, but it turned out to be a needless worry.

Come to think of it, Cecil was a good child who listened when spoken to.

In fact, because of that, I was reluctant to send her anywhere alone.

‘What if she gets tricked by bad guys?’

As I looked at her with concern, Cecil’s eyes widened, and she asked why I was doing that.

“It’s nothing.”

As I stroked her fluffy hair, I cut a piece of cake and put it into her mouth, and she giggled, hehe, saying it was delicious, smiling brightly, saenggeul saenggeul.

As I also smiled back contentedly, Claudia spoke in a gruff voice from beside me.

“I always think this, but you’re too soft only on her.”

I turned my head and saw Claudia, holding a fork in her mouth with a displeased expression.

Seeing her cheeks, which were modestly puffed compared to her ample breasts, a chuckle escaped me.

Perhaps it was because I saw the seemingly innocent side of someone who had been acting so lewdly.

Seeing her eyes narrow, I cleared my throat and replied.

“…Not really?”

Claudia snickered with an expression as if she’d heard the funniest thing in the world, then pouted her lips.

As the atmosphere became a little strange, I felt awkward.

Perhaps it was because Claudia had revealed feelings of disappointment that she hadn’t expressed well until now.

I felt a bit… strange.

As I stiffened slightly, Claudia giggled, kikik, and whispered into my ear.

“Still, it seems you’re not completely thoughtless.”

As if hot breath branded my ear, each word of Claudia’s heated voice was clearly etched.

Startled, I pushed Claudia’s face away, and unlike when I pushed her hand earlier, she receded slowly, just a little.

I felt Claudia’s hot breath between my fingers.

From Claudia’s gestures, hand movements, and voice, I felt a stickiness.

It felt as if a viscous thread was tightly wrapping around my body.

The fact that her words about targeting me weren’t a joke hit me anew.

‘…Why is she targeting me?’

However, the moment I thought of asking that, I felt as if it would be irreversible, so I didn’t have the courage to ask Claudia for the reason.

The thought that it would be an act like putting scissors to a thread.

I deliberately avoided Claudia’s gaze and looked to my side, seeing Cecil.

She had somehow pulled her chair next to mine and was sticking close.

‘…Come to think of it, Cecil said she loved me… didn’t she?’

I recall the first time I met Cecil.

She called me Mother… didn’t she?

If so, the love Cecil feels… must be the kind of love one feels for a parent.

…It must certainly be that.

Somehow, I felt restless.

It was because once I excluded the idea of returning to my original body from my mind, all sorts of random thoughts flooded in.

Veronica’s goodwill… or Master, whom I met after several years.

And similarly, Claire’s strange appearance, whom I met after several years.

Encounters with Her Highness the Princesses, with whom I had no intention of getting involved at all.

After my body changed, there were so many events and encounters.

If I had to decide whether it was good or bad, I would answer that I don’t dislike it….

But in a corner of my heart, I kept feeling uneasy.

‘If I return to normal, will things go back to how they were before?’

I hadn’t seriously thought about this.

It’s more accurate to say I didn’t have the time because I was preoccupied with thinking about returning to normal.

Although these were originally connected relationships… it’s true that things began to change rapidly after my body transformed.

Is that why?

When I’m surrounded by people.

Perhaps I don’t have to go back?

There are times when I think that.

‘…Was I actually longing for people?’

I thought I knew myself well, but it seems I don’t know myself as well as I thought.

The very act of having these thoughts might be an effect of my body changing.

I shook my head to clear the strange thoughts that kept filling my mind.

Recalling what Master had told me, I stuffed cake into my mouth, wagu wagu.

‘…I am me.’

Seeing me suddenly devour the cake as if inhaling it, Claudia and Cecil looked surprised, but I paid them no mind and crammed it in.

The cake, which was delicious even just tasting the whipped cream, was indeed truly delicious.

The savory richness of the thick milk was impressive.

Pushing away all the complex thoughts with the sweetness of the cake.

Along with the two people who were looking at me with bewildered expressions, I returned to the mansion with the packaged cake.

I gave cake to Master, and since Veronica was asleep, I asked the kitchen to store it.

After eating the dinner provided by the servants and lying in bed, strange thoughts kept coming to mind, so I put on an outer garment and stepped out of the mansion.

As I headed to the back, I saw the sandy beach that had first caught my eye when I arrived here, far in the distance.

‘…Should I go?’

This entire vicinity was said to belong to Kaltz… that is, Veronica’s family, so there shouldn’t be any particular problem.

Just in case, I asked a servant working at the mansion if I could go for a short while, and they readily nodded.

Looking at the sky and the distant, rippling sea, I headed towards the sandy beach.

I walked blankly, accompanied by the sapak sapak sound of sand being stepped on.

Seeing the seawater rush in and crash against the rocks, I recalled something that had happened recently.

…My body, trembling for no reason.

I lightly pinched my arm, my body trembling just from imagining it.

‘…Something’s definitely strange.’

Of course, ‘that act’ isn’t… bad, but it’s true that I’m reluctant because every time such a thing happens, I feel something inside me keeps changing.

Especially when something large is stirred inside.

I shook my head vigorously.

I came out for a walk to avoid strange thoughts, yet I keep having them.

Just recalling that brief moment, I felt my underwear become damp.

“…This is ridiculous.”

Letting out a sigh, I sat on a rock and took in the moonlight-bathed sea.

From the moon floating in the sky, a sense of nobility was felt, but the moon reflected in the sea appeared to ripple and distort this way and that.

‘…Strange.’

While listening to the sound of the seawater rushing towards the sandy beach.

I felt someone approaching me.

As I slowly turned my head, a familiar silhouette came into view.

Her silver hair, fluttering in the wind, caught the moonlight and emitted a mystical glow.

Her pristine white skin felt slightly pale, but her face had a reddish tint, giving off a warm feeling.

As our eyes met, she smiled brightly and ran towards me, dododo.

“Asha-nim!”

Without needing to ask who it was, it was Cecil.

As I stroked Cecil, who hugged me.

Suddenly.

A little.

No.

Very much.

I impulsively asked a question.