Lillith Rosewood’s Melancholy (3)

Ethan quietly thought of a way to cheer Lillith up.

Before he put his plan into action, the first thing he did was usher Isabel, who shared the room with them, into the Servants’ Waiting Room.

No matter that Isabel was currently serving as his and Lillith’s Exclusive Maid, he didn’t want her to witness their ‘nightly affairs’.

“Isabel.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“I’ll comfort Lillith, so how about you go to your room early tonight and get some rest?”

“…Pardon?”

“…Also, if possible, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t come out of the Servants’ Waiting Room until late at night.”

“Ah….”

Thanks to her long years as a maid, she was quick to read others, and she knew Ethan and Lillith’s relationship better than anyone.

She vaguely understood the meaning behind Ethan’s words and simply entered the Servants’ Waiting Room with a bow.

“Yes, Young Master. Then, I shall now sleep soundly in my room until tomorrow morning’s wake-up time.”

“…Alright, Isabel.”

“Please, have a good time with Lillith.”

-Thunk.

“…….”

The vanilla-haired maid quietly entered the Servants’ Waiting Room after her goodnight greeting.

Ethan felt embarrassed, as if he had been caught in the act of what he was about to do, but separately, he felt no small amount of gratitude towards the perceptive Isabel.

He cautiously approached Lillith, who was still sitting on the bed, unable to shake off her melancholy.

He wasn’t yet sure if this method of comforting her, who was slumped in a gloomy mood, would work.

But at the very least, the Lillith he had seen in that moment had worn a happy expression he rarely saw.

If that could cheer her up, he was more than willing to endure being seen as the immature Prince of the Blackwood Family.

…His only concern was whether this action would cause Lillith to view him as she had before.

Therefore, Ethan started by asking for her permission in a way that would minimize her contempt for him.

If his actions, taken because he didn’t want to see Lillith’s gloomy face, instead caused her to harbor ill feelings towards him, it would only worsen the situation instead of cheering her up.

“Lillith.”

“…Ah, Ethan-doryeonnim. Are you going to sleep now?”

“No, I think I have something more important than sleep to tell you first, Lillith.”

“Pardon?”

As she tilted her head, seemingly unaware of what he was about to say, Ethan steadied his nervous heart.

He then lowered his body and leaned close to Lillith, who was sitting on the bed.

“E-Ethan-doryeonnim?!”

“Lillith, please!”

“W-wait a moment, Ethan-doryeonnim! For the Prince of the Blackwood Family to show such a side to his Exclusive Maid….”

“I’m begging you, Lillith! Just let me touch them for exactly one minute tonight!”

“Get up right now… Pardon?”

Lillith’s reaction was to question him after hearing his request to touch her breasts, just as she was about to make him stand up.

And it didn’t take even a few seconds for her reaction to turn into contempt.

“Really, just one minute! Just this one time today….”

“Are you in your right mind, Ethan-doryeonnim?”

“Th-that….”

“…I am truly disappointed. I clearly told you that I would let you touch my breasts only when you won a match against Master Harold.”

“…….”

“Have you lost your self-control after only two weeks at the Academy? I never imagined that Ethan-doryeonnim would be such a beast of that level….”

As expected, what returned was Lillith’s cold contempt.

Although he had somewhat anticipated this reaction, he couldn’t take back the words he had already uttered.

Ethan then tried to explain his reasoning, doing his best to touch her breasts without upsetting her.

“I-I’ll win two matches!”

“……Pardon?”

“I-I’ll win a total of two matches in my next sparring session with Father!”

“…Two matches?”

“The condition for Lillith letting me touch her breasts is that I get to do it every time I win a match against Father. And if I take the Fundamentals of Magic Swordsmanship class, I’ll soon have the opportunity to spar with Father, so I’ll have at least ten chances to cross swords with him during this semester.”

“…Go on and babble, no, please continue speaking.”

“I haven’t had a chance to spar with Father yet, so I haven’t won any matches, but starting next week, the date for sparring with Father will come around every week. So, I’ll win two matches in total during the upcoming period. Just let me touch them once now, Lillith.”

“…….”

After his desperate persuasion, Ethan bowed his head to the floor again, awaiting Lillith’s answer.

He already knew it was an unreasonable request, even to himself, but his goal was to touch Lillith’s breasts without upsetting her.

Ethan, feeling like a sinner, quietly kept his head bowed, waiting for Lillith’s next words.

Conversely, Lillith was stroking her chin on the bed, deep in her own calculations.

‘He used to let me touch them once per win, but now he’s asking for one touch for two wins, so it doesn’t seem like I’m losing anything…. Anyway, with Ethan’s skill, he’s bound to win two matches during the semester….’

As soon as she heard Ethan’s proposal, Lillith immediately began calculating the pros and cons of letting him touch her now versus refusing.

The displeasure she had felt towards Ethan for brazenly demanding to touch her breasts had already been pushed aside, and the Exclusive Maid was now coldly calculating her own advantage.

She then posed a question to Ethan, who was still prostrate on the floor, contemplating whether he should retract his seemingly ill-conceived idea.

“…Are you truly confident you can win two matches against Master?”

“U-uh…! Of course!”

“Then why are you asking to touch my breasts now, incurring twice the debt, instead of waiting to win the matches and then requesting it?”

“Th-that’s….”

He couldn’t say that he wanted to touch them to cheer her up because she seemed so depressed today.

If he said that, he would surely incur Lillith’s resentment, and she probably wouldn’t have given him permission in the first place.

If she granted permission based on that, it would be tantamount to her confessing that she felt good when her breasts were touched, and Lillith, being a woman, would naturally hide her desires.

Not to mention, she would despise him even more because of it.

To protect her honor and pride, Ethan chose a slightly different approach.

To make it seem as if he was asking to touch them simply because he wanted to, regardless of Lillith’s feelings.

“I-I really can’t hold back anymore….”

“Pardon?”

“W-while it might have been different when we had separate rooms in the mansion, n-now, Lillith, you’re sleeping and waking up in the same bed every day. And you even cling to me in your sleep. Living like this every day, I just can’t bear it anymore….”

“…….”

“So, I just couldn’t wait until I won the next match…. That’s why I’m asking like this….”

A lie. Ethan fabricated an excuse through a lie mixed with a bit of truth.

Ethan had blurted out what came to his mind in the moment, but he immediately regretted it.

Once he said it aloud, he felt that it sounded too much like an unreserved display of a young man’s desires.

Ethan had always tried to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor in front of Lillith in other aspects, but what he had just done felt quite vulgar even to himself.

Only after his head had cooled down did Ethan finally realize that what he had just done was wrong.

“N-no, it’s impossible, isn’t it?! Th-then, let’s just pretend this never happened….”

As the desire not to be hated by Lillith surged again in his chaotic mind, Ethan belatedly tried to salvage his crude actions, but-

From Lillith, who understood a young man’s sexual desires in many ways, came a response that was closer to affirmation than disgust.

“…You must definitely win two matches.”

“…U-uh?”

“Didn’t Ethan-doryeonnim just say it yourself? That you would win two more matches against Master Harold, and that’s why you’re asking to touch my breasts now?”

“…Th-that’s right. But if Lillith feels uncomfortable, you can refuse….”

“…Just this once.”

“……Huh?”

Ethan, dumbfounded, questioned her permission, which had come in an unexpected situation.

Lillith simply repeated the words that had come from her mouth to Ethan.

“I said just this once, Ethan-doryeonnim. If you cannot control your desires and make such requests again, I will firmly refuse you then.”

“Then today….”

“After hearing Ethan-doryeonnim’s words, I do find them quite reasonable. Ethan-doryeonnim is also a young man in his prime, so it’s not entirely incomprehensible that you would be excited by me sleeping next to you every night.”

“…….”

“Therefore, I will grant you a reprieve just this once. I will accede to Ethan-doryeonnim’s sudden request this one time…. But from now on, you must definitely learn how to control your heart.”

“Th-thank you, Lillith.”

Although they had taken a long detour, hiding their true intentions from each other, Lillith eventually granted him permission to touch her breasts.

Though the outcome was a bit sudden, their ‘nightly affairs’ began just like that.

A relationship where they hid their true feelings from each other, each misunderstanding the other’s true intentions.