Prelude (7)

Pahwin, wearing a somewhat listless smile, tucked the jewel into her bosom along with a brief greeting.

“…I sincerely hope everything passes without incident.”

“It definitely will.”

“…Then, I’ll be going now. I enjoyed our conversation.”

The words, “Already?” came to mind, but I didn’t say them. I simply gazed silently at Pahwin’s face with a thoughtful expression, then followed her retreating back with my eyes.

The distance between Pahwin and me grew steadily. Just as her footsteps were being drowned out by the shouts of the excited crowd, I moved my feet and headed back into the sunlit street.

Today was clearer than usual.

Under the azure sky, without a single cloud in sight. Walking very slowly with a parasol, it felt as if the world was flowing by slowly in time with my steps.

And then, from time to time, I would stop and capture that bright color in my eyes.

Stop, and capture that bright color in my eyes… Considering the past, it’s a giant leap forward.

If I did nothing, I’d have a panic attack. The world was only gloomy and depressing. There was no time to capture anything else in my eyes. I was just holed up inside, gnawing away at myself.

• Tak.

I folded my parasol and basked in the clear sunlight all over my body. A pure white light fell on my expressionless face.

‘Let’s go back.’

Today, I didn’t avoid the light.

* * *

Back in his office, Shuriel was wearing his square glasses and staring intently at the documents.

“Did you enjoy your sightseeing?”

“The weather is lovely. It’s a perfect day for a walk. So I wandered around here and there… and met Pahwin.”

“Pahwin? Why was Angrid here?”

“Didn’t you know she was coming? Well, she did say she was just looking around. Nothing special happened. She just looked around and left.”

• Sreuk, sreuk.

The sound of turning pages tickled my ears. Shuriel fixed his gaze on the documents and twitched his eyebrows.

“More importantly, you’re wearing your glasses again today?”

When Shuriel wears glasses, his image changes 180 degrees. The aloof, golden-haired nobleman is nowhere to be seen, and a nerdy intellectual appears instead.

The subtle variations that golden hair brings are so diverse that no matter what clothes he wears, he never shows the same image.

“With so many late nights, it’s hard to concentrate.”

The documents he was fiddling with were all about the operational area’s movement routes and troop deployment issues.

He seemed to be racking his brains. He, who had been moving with no more than four or five people at most, was not used to such large-scale operations.

“Since everyone except the core forces is just a defensive force anyway, is there anything to worry about?”

I said, raising the glasses that had slipped down his nose.

The battle with Barpeu Ghos is all about a quick and decisive victory, so a deformed front line is formed where everyone except the special forces that capture the main body is doing defense.

Even a rural city can’t be easily penetrated by the Legion of the Dead if they decide to defend it properly. In the meantime, they track the main body’s life vessel.

But, you know…

“And why is Shuriel worrying about that?”

This isn’t Shuriel’s job.

“I suppose not.”

“What do you mean, ‘I suppose not’? Come on, put the documents down. On a nice day like today, you should go outside.”

He was working on documents that weren’t even under his jurisdiction. He must get anxious when he has nothing to do, just like me.

• Sreuk.

I snatched the documents and put them on the table, then took off Shuriel’s glasses and carefully folded them.

“…”

Shuriel obediently accepted my touch with a slightly sulky face. The square glasses came off, and his usual stuck-up nobleman’s face returned.

“It’s not good to live without any leisure. I know because I’ve lived like that.”

I fiddled with the glasses with a slightly worried tone. They were coated in silver and very shiny.

“Hmm~…”

• Dalkak.

The cheerful sound of the glasses frame snapping open spread out. Curious, I put the glasses on my eyes as they were.

The temples stretched out long behind my ears, and the size didn’t fit, so they slid down, but when I held my temples with both hands, I could somehow fix them on the bridge of my nose.

“Do they suit me?”

Then I smiled with a slightly dazed and innocent face.

“They don’t suit you. Take them off.”

“Hmm, that’s a shame.”

I quickly agreed and took off the glasses.

“Shuriel, Shuriel.”

“You want me to stop working and go outside?”

Shuriel answered immediately when I said his name twice in a row. The atmosphere was such that I was asking him to go outside or do something lewd.

“Uh-uh, no.”

Of course, I had that in mind too, but that’s not the main point. I said, looking at the handkerchief on the table.

“You know you’re going to see Aileen tomorrow, right?”

There’s still time to see her face before the expedition.

However, Aileen doesn’t know. She might be able to figure out the Barpeu Ghos subjugation plan since Amelda Cecilia is by her side, but a sudden visit would surprise her too.

“…It’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”

“Are you worried?”

“A little.”

I know how he feels. But it’s probably a slightly different feeling from me. If I’m afraid of being hated, he’s sorry for not fulfilling his responsibilities.

So there were attempts to prepare something. I had seen Shuriel passing by a gift shop in his spare time.

“But you don’t need to prepare a gift.”

I chuckled.

“Just showing up will be the best gift.”

“…”

“Ah, not in that sense. Don’t misunderstand.”

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“But… would a hug or a kiss be okay?”

Because Aileen truly loves her father, it will be hard to resist that taboo desire.

It’s not necessary, but it doesn’t have to be done, but the inner desire that keeps boiling up. Just like I sometimes cut myself for fun, it will keep coming to mind and tickling her heart.

“Aileen is trying to restrain herself, too. Please understand even if she does something lewd because she can’t stand it.”

I can’t bring myself to tell him to mix bodies again. If that becomes a daily routine… it feels like losing something huge before being a human, a parent.

“Just, showing your face once is enough. She’s made friends, so she won’t be lonely. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

“Talking like this, I’m comforting you.”

“I know you’re a softer man than you think. If you don’t hammer it, it’ll harden in a twisted way, you know?”

A man who is a sharper sword than anyone else, but like a soft lump of iron that can be easily broken.

“Take this opportunity to practice smiling, too. There’s no gift as big as a smile.”

Shuriel twitched the corners of his mouth after hearing my words.

It’s not like he’s a machine that can’t smile. He knows how to give a bright smile in a serious atmosphere. It’s just that it’s hard for him to do that normally.

Really, it was really hard. Seeing him smile was like picking a star from the sky.

He smiles when the atmosphere is right, but how often will he have the chance to set the mood with his daughter?

“Okay, follow me.”

I went right up to Shuriel’s nose and showed him a small smile.

“…”

• Twitch, twitch.

The corners of his mouth twitched again. After trying for a long time, Shuriel was finally able to draw a small arc.

That smile, well…

His excessively stiff eyes were wide open, and his teeth were clenched as if he were angry. In a word, it was evil.

But I couldn’t say that out loud.

“…Try harder later.”

I smiled awkwardly and distanced myself.

How did Shuriel usually smile? So, my ‘usual’ with him was only about hitting, slicing, raping, and pouring semen.

Having a conversation like this is also included in ‘usual’, but it’s just one of many things.

“Heu…”

My uterus throbbed because his smile was strangely sadistic. I cleared away the finished topic and brought up a new one.

“Oh, right, Shuriel. Did you know?”

“Hmm?”

“The milk we delivered the other day… I heard the reviews are so good.”

When I really have nothing to do, I milk myself. The milk bottles that piled up were entered into the grocery ledger as they were, and eventually reached the chef’s ears.

Shuriel said with a dumbfounded face.

“You supplied that to the mansion?”

“It was in the food you ate this morning, didn’t you notice?”

I understood why he was dumbfounded, but the chefs said that it was the best quality product that they wanted to replace all the milk they were using for cooking now.

“It’s much more hygienic than cow’s milk, tastes better, and is good for your health?”

It’s even popular because it has a beauty effect when applied to the skin. There have been countless times when people have been caught stealing several bottles of milk and scolded.

Of course, the maids who procured the milk had to be interrogated by the chef, and they had to lie that the milk was brought in from Lecante.

“Do you think that’s a problem?”

“Hmm, it’s okay as long as we hide that it’s my breast milk, right?”

Betty, Lena, Lorian… The maids in charge of coordination have already become excellent trainers and ranchers.

As I did it, I revealed my tastes, but other nobles are like that too. Even if it’s not to my extent, it’s not strange to have one ‘secret hobby’.

“Haa… So, why are you saying this?”

There’s a reason why I’m saying this. Shuriel, who knew that, said directly.

“Are you asking me to milk you like a cow?”

“It’s when the milk I’ve squeezed runs out… Hmm.”

I’m watching his reaction. Shuriel was still staring at me with an emotionless face.

“Did you call the maids again?”

It was almost certain. Shuriel gestured with his chin, mentioning the maids he had seen before.

“Wouldn’t you? First of all, those three are also recording the ledger.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Oh my, so suddenly-“

• Beonjjeok.

“―Heugyat?!”

When I opened my eyes, I was being held by Shuriel. He got up at the speed of light and hoisted me over his shoulder.

“Where is it?”

“Awoo, heuht… My, my chest is being crushed…”

“Answer.”

“Oh, ohheuk, th, th-that’s… the coordination room, or, the warehouse we went to back then….”

His execution was amazing. As soon as Shuriel heard my words, he strode down the hallway.

• Oh my, it looks like it’s starting again.

• In the morning? They’re so energetic…

Not a single person expressed strangeness even though he was carrying me like an object. They were already used to it. My and his lewd relationship.

• Deolkeong.

“The warehouse, is it.”

And so, the coordination room we arrived at was empty.

“Th, there. Shuriel?”

“Are you going to back out now?”

“Not that… there, if you press that wall lightly, a portal will appear.”

There’s no need to walk all the way to the warehouse, you can just take the portal.

• Gguuk.

Shuriel pressed the wall immediately.

• Jiing…

Then the wall split up and down, and a blue portal appeared. It was the way to the closed warehouse.

Shuriel stared at the split wall for a few seconds and said in a serious tone.

“…Are there any other places in the mansion that have been remodeled besides this one?”

“No. There aren’t. Really.”

• Poljjak.

He looked at me with suspicious eyes, but he realized that there was no point in thinking about it anymore and immediately entered the portal.

“I said it was brought in from Lecante, but I don’t know how long that will last.”

“Just keep it a secret in the future. Women become more beautiful the more secrets they keep, right? Just like our skin has become whiter now.”

“…That’s not because of the secret.”

“That’s the same thing. Okay, lift up your clothes over the bucket and raise your legs a little?”

As I expected, they were hanging out in the closed warehouse.

Even wearing only thin outerwear to cover their underwear, pouring my breast milk over their white exposed arms and legs.