The Road to the Witch’s Forest (1)

‘…Ah.’

As soon as morning broke, the sunlight streaming in naturally awakened my consciousness.

The first thing I felt upon returning from the boundary of unconsciousness was someone’s warmth beside me. Considering what happened last night, it must undoubtedly have been Ethan’s warmth.

In truth, sleeping and waking up in the same bed with Ethan like this wasn’t a new occurrence. In the Academy Dormitory, there was only one bed, so we were practically forced to share it, and even recently at Blackwood Mansion, Ethan had been considerate of me when I had trouble sleeping for a few days.

However, the raw sensation of skin-on-skin contact felt beneath the blanket was still unfamiliar, which was why I couldn’t easily open my eyes even though my consciousness had already returned.

‘I should have at least put on some clothes before sleeping…’

Last night, both of us ended up naked and rolling around on the bed, so it didn’t feel particularly embarrassing then. But now that it was morning and my mind was clear, there was no situation more insane than this.

Even though Ethan and I had engaged in intimate acts a few times, this was the first time we had slept together naked.

‘Even if we were both tired and just pulled the blanket over us…’

Looking back, my head must have been messed up at the time. How could I have done something like that, expecting to wake up naked and pressed against him the next morning?

I should have pushed myself a little to wash up and put on at least my underwear before going to bed. Because if I hadn’t, Ethan and I would be naked and pressed against each other in bed this morning.

‘…Is Ethan still asleep?’

Ethan must have been quite tired too. It wasn’t that strange for him to still be asleep past his usual waking time.

Of course, considering the intensity of what we did yesterday, it should have been me who was more tired, but I had lived as a maid for so long that my biological rhythm was completely adjusted to being a morning person.

If there was any silver lining, it was this. In a situation like this, there would be nothing more awkward than both of us opening our eyes at the same time.

‘I should just grab my clothes, go back to my room, and change into something else…’

As I thought that and tried to casually get up from the bed, something firm and handle-like was grasped in my hand on my right side.

‘…Ah, right.’

Yes, Ethan was naked too.

I was just trying to get up from the bed, but of all things, *that* object had to be right where my hand landed.

Still, the sensation in my hand told me it seemed healthy this morning, which was a relief.

…By the way, feeling it in my hand like this, it really is an absurd size. How did I even think of putting this in my mouth yesterday…?

“Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“Ughkyaaaak?!”

“…There’s no need to be *that* surprised.”

“…I-I’m sorry, Ed. Were you awake?”

“Yeah. Actually, I’ve been awake for a while.”

…Then why didn’t you wash up and change your clothes if you woke up first? Why are you still lying next to me in that state from last night?

It was a moment where only I felt embarrassed for screaming in surprise, so I deliberately turned my head away, feigning nonchalance, to cool the heat rising to my face.

“Anyway, you’re quite proactive this morning, Lily.”

“I-I just grabbed it by mistake?!”

“No, I mean you’re proactive in getting up early and getting ready. What do you mean you grabbed it by mistake, Lillith?”

“……”

This guy, really…

Somehow, he seemed to have become even more brazen overnight. As if the events of last night had given him license to hold nothing back.

If I tried to argue, he’d just twist my words and tease me more, so I quickly changed the subject.

“More importantly, if you were awake, why didn’t you wash up first, Ed? We have a long journey ahead of us starting this morning, what are you going to do if you dawdle like this?”

“I was going to, but Lily’s sleeping face was so lovely that I kept watching you.”

“Ah, guh, huff, ah.”

Oh, please, I wish he’d give some warning before saying things like that. I don’t even know how to respond when I hear such nonsense first thing in the morning.

I quickly turned my head away from Ethan, who had uttered words that made it hard to meet his gaze, then casually pulled back the blanket and got out of bed.

-Sreureuk.

“I-I’ll go back to my room to wash up, so you should get ready too, Ed. We have a long journey to the Witch’s Forest today, don’t we?”

“Don’t do that, let’s wash up together. It’s a rare chance to use a spacious bathroom.”

“Th-huff, ah, th-there’s no time for that?!”

In truth, there would be enough time if I only considered washing up, but I just mumbled a convenient excuse.

I had a hunch that if we went into the bathroom together this morning, we would definitely end up wasting time.

“There really isn’t any time to dawdle, Ed. If we’re late meeting Lady Lara, what will the Hero-nim say to us?”

“…Indeed, there’s no need to give that Hero another excuse.”

“We’ll be riding in a carriage for several days, so I’ll change into clothes that are easier to move in than a dress. Ed, you should also wear something that allows for more freedom of movement than your formal attire…”

“More importantly, Lily, I don’t think you’ve answered my morning greeting yet.”

“……”

“Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“…Yes, thanks to you, I slept well. Did you sleep well, Ed?”

“I also slept well, thanks to you, Lily.”

Ethan replied with a relaxed voice, looking at me with a profound smile.

That expression he wore first thing in the morning… was truly unfair in many ways.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The biggest change since the game world of 『Luminor Academy』 became reality was that the ‘skip’ function couldn’t be used in this world.

The same cutscenes I’d seen countless times while clearing multiple playthroughs, the excessively long skill effects during combat, and the unnecessarily well-implemented realistic travel times when moving to other regions. These were all tedious sections that I often had to skip in the original game.

This game, which already had unfriendly accessibility because it lacked branching saves and required raising a new character for every new ending, would have its playtime nearly double or triple if I had to watch every single one of these unnecessary cutscenes.

Of course, now that it was reality, no matter how long the journey from the Imperial Capital to the Witch’s Forest was, I had to experience all of it without exception, without skipping. That long, long schedule of a two-night, three-day carriage trip.

“Haaah, hweeeooohhhm…”

“Lily, are you tired?”

“Ah, no, Ed. I’m not particularly tired.”

“If you’re tired, do you want to lean on my shoulder for a bit?”

“…Ah, I said I’m not tired. You don’t have to worry about me.”

About four hours had passed since we started moving by carriage after breakfast.

It was a sufficiently boring time to cool down my excited feelings about exploring a new region in 『Luminor Academy』 after a long while.

‘We have to travel twelve hours a day for three days, so that’s eight more times this exact duration…’

Just imagining that dizzying amount of time, enough to drive one mad, made my head feel numb. I hadn’t really felt it when traveling to the Academy, the Imperial Capital, or Blackwood Territory, which were only a day’s journey away at most. But a trip that would take almost two nights and three days felt boring just thinking about it.

Moreover, perhaps because I hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night due to Ethan, just as the accumulated fatigue from the night began to weigh on me again, Agnes, sitting opposite me, openly made a remark aimed directly at me.

“Well, who told you two to stick together all night before a trip? Seriously, you’re such a foolish couple.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lady Agnes. Wh-who was sticking with whom all night…”

“It’s no use trying to gloss over it. Your room, Lillith, is right next to mine, you know? Even if I didn’t want to hear it, what can I do when your voice comes through the wall every single day?”

“Wh-wha-what did you say?!”

“Lily, calm down, calm down.”

“Lady Agnes, you should calm down too.”

“…Shut up, I told you I didn’t allow you to call me by my name.”

As the argument seemed like it would drag on, Ethan and Prince Antonio quickly stepped in from the side to mediate between me and Agnes. …By the way, that Prince wasn’t originally in the plan, but he forced his way along this morning after hearing Agnes was going to the Witch’s Forest.

Well, as Agnes said, I might have indeed been too loud last night. If it were a room a bit further away, maybe not, but if it was a voice coming from the room right next door, it might have disturbed Agnes’s sleep last night.

Still, it was a Royal Palace Annex building with fairly thick walls and floors, so most moans… no, most voices would be muffled, but Agnes’s room was right next to mine, so it might have leaked through enough…

‘No, wait. Come to think of it, there’s no way my voice could have reached Agnes’s room last night, right?’

Yesterday, I slept in Ethan’s room, which was one room further away from my own, so no matter how sharp her hearing was, there’s no way she could have heard sounds from a room two spaces away.

It seemed she just tried to trick me after seeing I was tired. It meant there was no reason to get scared and confess prematurely.

“Lady Agnes. Are you aware that there’s a contradiction in the statement you just made?”

“…What contradiction?”

“It’s the very fact that Lady Agnes claims to have heard my voice from the next room last night that is the contradiction!”

“…What?”

“Lady Agnes, you wouldn’t know this, never having entered the room I stayed in at the Royal Palace Annex, but my room and Ed’s room are connected by a door in between them.

I spent the night in Ed’s room through that connecting door yesterday, so Lady Agnes’s claim that she heard my moans… my voice last night creates a contradiction!”

“……”

“……”

“……”

I felt the gazes of the three people inside the carriage simultaneously turn towards me at my statement. I had refuted her with proper logic, so even Agnes had no choice but to lose her words and shut her mouth…

“So, what? It’s still the same fact that you two slept together last night, isn’t it?”

“…Huh, huh?”

“…Lily, I don’t think there was any need to so openly talk about what happened last night.”

“…As it’s a lady’s private matter, I shall pretend not to have heard it.”

After that, until lunchtime about two hours later, the inside of the carriage was once again filled with awkward silence.

Agnes, this is… cowardly entrapment…