The Transferred Cold

The morning after I caught a cold and had beast-like sex with Ethan in my room.

The moment I woke up at five in the morning, I kicked off the blanket and sat up, clutching my head in shame as I shook violently.

“……!!! …………!!!!!”

I wanted to scream out loud, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it-I could only grimace with my mouth wide open.

After just one night, everything I had said came rushing back like a dark history, and I couldn’t fathom what had possessed me to say such things.

‘I was actually a little excited from the moment Ed was apologizing while undressing me.’

‘In bed, you can think of me as just a sexual service maid rather than an exclusive maid or temporary lover.’

‘After all, I already know full well just how much Ed loves me normally.’

“……!! ………!!!”

-Thud! Thud!

Tormented by the lewd maid dialogue replaying in my head like a maddening montage, I could only flail my legs helplessly on the bed, unable to vent my emotions anywhere.

I must have been insane, absolutely insane. What? It’s okay to think of me as a sexual service maid? Are you out of your mind?

But no matter how much I cursed my past self now, I couldn’t change what had already happened or take back the words I had uttered.

-Grrr!

“Haa, haa, haa…”

‘Well, whatever… It’s only two years…’

We’d already done everything there was to do, so changing the way we had sex wasn’t that big of a deal. Besides, it would all be over once the remaining two years of academy life passed.

Right. This much was still within the barely acceptable range. And the contract where I allowed Ethan to do this as a “reward” was still valid.

I had only said he could treat me like a sexual service maid during the reward process-I never said he could demand it anytime he wanted, so it should be fine.

‘And, well…’

To be honest, it did feel better that way.

Though I felt terrible saying this about Ethan, who had always been considerate and gentle with me, I realized that rough, unrestrained passion made my heart race more than tender care.

At least I learned that sharing emotions was more important than physical pleasure when two people became intimate-that was a decent takeaway.

‘No wonder people would call me a lewd maid.’

Even in the middle of it, Ethan had been the first to call me a lewd maid. If others saw me that way too, then the title fit perfectly.

Besides, only Ethan and Gyeotmwa would see me like this. As long as it wasn’t someone like Ethan, Isabelle, or Agnes, it didn’t matter.

With those thoughts sorted in my head, I finished getting ready for work. No matter how awkward it was, I still had to go see Ethan’s face, so after mentally preparing myself, I knocked on his door three times around six.

-Knock, knock, knock.

“Are you coughing, Young Master Ethan?”

“…….”

“Young Master Ethan?”

“Ahem, uh, L-Lilith… I’m awake…”

…His voice sounded a little hoarse for some reason.

Uneasy the moment I heard Ethan’s voice, I opened the door without waiting for permission and checked on him.

-Creeeak.

“Is something wrong, Young Master Ethan?”

“Ack, ugh… N-No…? Nothing’s wrong, Lilith…”

“…….”

“I-I mean, it’s morning…? I’ll get up now, so just wait a little…?”

“Stop talking nonsense and crawl back into bed, Young Master Ethan.”

“…Is it that obvious?”

“Yes.”

The moment I entered the room, I saw Ethan’s flushed face and immediately realized he had caught my cold.

…I had a feeling this would happen.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Open your mouth, Young Master Ethan.”

“…I have enough strength to hold a spoon, Lilith.”

“I know. But there’s no harm in conserving your energy, is there? Even at the academy, we fed each other when we weren’t sick.”

“…That’s true.”

With that, Ethan obediently accepted the spoonful of soup I offered, looking slightly dazed.

It was absurd-an exclusive maid and the young master she served catching the same cold one after the other.

Then again, after all that lip-locking yesterday, this was somewhat inevitable.

‘Besides, now that I think about it, I was the one who started it with Ethan.’

It would have been better if Ethan had pinned me down first or initiated the kiss. But yesterday, I was the one who pressed my lips to his first.

Meaning, Ethan catching the cold was 100% my fault.

I had no excuses, so as his exclusive maid, I had to take care of everything for him.

Thankfully, despite being sick, he seemed energetic enough to slurp up the soup I spoon-fed him.

Watching him finish breakfast quickly, I figured he’d recover fully in a day, just like me.

“…Whew.”

“I’ll bring you more if you’d like, Young Master Ethan.”

“No, I’m fine. Eating too much will just make it harder to sleep.”

“Shall I prepare warm water for you? Or warm your blanket?”

“…Warm my blanket?”

“I can circulate my mana over the blanket to generate heat through friction. Or I could just ask Sally to do it.”

“O-Oh… That’s what you meant…”

“……?”

Ethan blushed slightly and averted his gaze, as if I’d said something embarrassing.

Wondering why he reacted like that, I tilted my head. Then, as if confessing, Ethan hesitantly admitted what he had been thinking.

“I-I thought you meant you’d crawl under the blanket and warm me with your body…”

“What kind of lewd maid do you take me for?”

“…….”

“…You’re supposed to deny that, Young Master Ethan.”

“Sorry, but it kinda suits you, so…”

“…….”

I’ll let it slide since he’s sick. If it weren’t for his fever, I would’ve said something.

But then again, I was the one who gave him the cold. If he really wanted that, I wouldn’t refuse.

“If that’s what Young Master Ethan wants, I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine, Lilith. If we get too close, you might catch my cold again.”

“Colds are caused by viral infections, so once you’ve had one, you develop antibodies and won’t catch the same one again. Of course, there are many variants, so you could catch a different cold, but since the one you have now is the same one I had, there’s no need to worry-“

“…Sorry, Lilith. I don’t get what ‘virus’ or ‘antibodies’ mean. Can you explain it simply?”

“I’m just saying that even if I crawl into your blanket, I won’t catch your cold again.”

“……Do you actually want to come in?”

“No. I’m only saying I’ll do it ‘if Young Master Ethan wants me to.'”

“Then it’s fine. The blanket’s warm enough as it is.”

With that, Ethan lay back down under the covers. It seemed his body was too exhausted to tussle with me in bed right now.

Considering what we did yesterday, that made sense. Though I had been the one getting roughed up, Ethan had been the one doing most of the work.

“I’ll return the dishes and come back. Rest well, Young Master Ethan.”

“I’ll just be lying here anyway, so you can rest until lunch, Lilith…”

“What if something happens while no one’s watching? I’ll just return the dishes and come back, so please rest, Young Master Ethan.”

“Got it… I don’t know what a ‘nurse call’ is, but…”

With that, he quietly slipped under the covers and fell asleep.

Feeling oddly guilty, I quietly left his room.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

And then, about two hours later.

“Uh, Lilith…”

“Yes, Young Master Ethan.”

“It might sound weird coming from a guy, but… aren’t you touching me a bit too much?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Young Master Ethan. I’m just wiping your sweaty body with a towel.”

I calmly rebutted Ethan, who was reading too much into a simple act of wiping him down, but he didn’t seem willing to back down.

“…You’re focusing on one spot for way too long.”

“You talk too much, Young Master Ethan. If you’re sick, you should lie quietly in bed.”

“You’re the one not letting me stay still. And you put the towel down a while ago…”

“Are you asking me to clean you with my mouth like yesterday?”

“That’s not what I meant… Are you sulking because I didn’t let you into my blanket earlier?”

“Don’t treat me like a petty maid, Young Master Ethan. This is just to help cool your fever.”

“I think it’s making it worse…”

Yesterday, Ethan had teased me mercilessly while I was half-delirious from the cold. Today, it was my turn-so under the guise of nursing, I played a satisfying prank on him.

And the next night, after Ethan gritted his teeth and won a sparring match against Harold, I had to pay him back-and in the process, I received more than double the payback for yesterday’s mischief.