“…And what I’m about to say next has absolutely nothing to do with before—it’s a personal request. If I’m not mistaken, you don’t have a lover, right? Then even if I kiss you next, no woman should have any objections, correct?”
Dorineya stood at the bedside, gazing down at the gray-haired youth, her expression solemn as she uttered a topic that even to her own ears sounded rather absurd.
She had felt somewhat nervous before entering this room, but strangely, the moment she truly saw him in person, she regained her usual composure.
She had already entrusted her secret to Morris—an expression of trust. From what she knew of Morris, he was someone worthy of trust.
But just in case, she decided to deepen the bond between the two of them.
Otherwise, if Morris revealed her true identity to Elvira, she would be finished.
That’s why she wanted to kiss Morris here, making them accomplices. This way, it would be even less likely for Morris to reveal anything about her identity to Elvira.
Though it was somewhat coercive, she was doing this for her country, so she felt no guilt.
…Of course, she didn’t deny that she herself wanted to do this. In fact, she had long harbored curiosity about affairs between men and women, but because of her status, romance—let alone marriage—was out of the question.
She didn’t want to bring unnecessary trouble upon herself, nor cause pain to others.
But Morris’s stance was already in opposition to Elvira’s.
In this country, no one’s position was more similar to hers than Morris’s.
So even if she did this, it wouldn’t matter, would it?
Besides, Morris had surely been with Elvira already. Even if she had him as well, he wouldn’t mind, right?
A glint of fervor flashed through the otherwise calm and rational blue eyes. Dorineya began to slip off her long, high-heeled boots, shed her unnecessary garments, and climbed onto the queen’s bed, wearing only the basic V-shaped Battle Suit.
She moved on all fours like a beast, quickly finding the best position to hunt.
Before truly feasting, she didn’t forget to continue in her polite yet succinct, serious tone, murmuring another question:
“…By not saying anything, you’re agreeing, right? Thank you for your cooperation. Then I won’t be holding back.”
Wait, what? What does “not saying anything means agreeing” even mean?
Wait a second! This, this feeling—is this—!?
Morris was already stunned by Dorineya’s forceful decisiveness. He hadn’t expected that among Elvira’s subordinates, aside from the Wolong who had just confessed and run off, there was also a Wind Master who simply assumed his agreement after asking.
But no matter how shocked he was, it was useless. Morris felt the Holy Sword he always carried was being touched again.
But unlike before, this time the sensation was subtly different.
It wasn’t the feel of human skin, nor the smoothness of silk. It felt more like latex… or the touch of a skintight suit.
A certain figure sprang to Morris’s mind.
Back on the day when the three attacked him, there had indeed been a Blue-eyed, Twin-tailed Masked Woman dressed in something akin to a battle suit. She wore Long Gloves of matching material, her fair shoulders and underarms exposed, her attacks swift and fierce.
Back then, Morris had been impressed by her spear technique—perhaps even more skilled than the female knight colleagues he’d met in Fastar.
But unexpectedly, her swordsmanship was no slouch either.
“…So that’s how it is. I see. Hm, not bad at all.”
“I was worried it’d be awkward if there was no reaction, but it seems, Mr. Morris, you really don’t object.”
“Then let me take it a step further. Don’t worry—the maids outside have already been dismissed by me. No one will find out about us.”
“This, this is… Hm, I can see now why some people are so keen on this.”
“……”
“Huff… my apologies. So Elvira doesn’t find out, I’ll make sure to handle Aftercare properly.”
“…Ugh? Hm? Why again…? Well, fine, one more time. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”
As before, once everything ended, the blonde subordinate who had sneaked behind Her Majesty’s back to indulge herself handled the crime scene with great seriousness and care so as not to let Elvira discover anything.
Though he’d already experienced it once, Morris should have been more or less used to it by now.
…Well, not at all.
Who would get used to having someone “clean up” by biting, then act so baffled about it?
Can you really blame him?
But seriously, could they really avoid being discovered? Even if the other traces were easy to clean up, what about the blood?
It was unbelievable—both Wolong and Wind Master dared to do such things even though it was their first time.
With his eyes closed, Morris couldn’t imagine how they managed it, but judging from their attitude before leaving, it seemed everything had been handled, with no evidence of their presence left behind.
Perhaps it was some kind of Convenient Magic. In any case, there was no point thinking too much, so Morris simply gave up on it.
He just let Dorineya enjoy herself, and then take care of the Aftercare as she pleased.
“Aftercare takes more time than I thought… Good thing I set aside an hour. Anyway, this should be fine now.”
“I’m sure you understand—this is a secret just between the two of us. It’s best not to let any third party know. When I see you under my public identity, I’ll pretend I know nothing, and I ask you to treat me the same.”
“Well then, Mr. Morris, I’ll take my leave. Until I reach out to you again, make sure not to provoke Elvira. Otherwise, it’ll only make escaping harder for you.”
Due to her personality, Dorineya took longer than Xiwei Lind, so pressed for time, she was slipping her boots back on as she gave her instructions to Morris.
How to put it—Morris now felt as if he’d just been taken advantage of for free.
This Wind Master wasn’t exactly wild during her “meal,” but she certainly wasn’t polite. And once she was sated, she left quickly after giving him her instructions, as if nothing had happened.
Like the previous Wolong, she confessed and then told him to forget it, which was bizarre enough, but her decisive “eat and run” attitude left Morris at a loss for words.
Morris could guess she’d deliberately left a trace of intimacy between them to keep him from betraying her.
But that was that—Morris still felt he was losing more and more of his dignity.
If he got a chance to meet her alone, Morris would definitely have to complain about what happened today.
After being “sampled” in succession by Xiwei Lind and Dorineya, and being hit with two shocking realities, regardless of his physical state, Morris was even more mentally exhausted than before he’d lain down.
To save some strength for dealing with Elvira tonight, Morris tried to fall asleep and get a bit of rest.
With darkness before his eyes, he didn’t know how much time had passed. Only when he faintly heard the door open for the third time today did he feel a strange sense of relief.
He never thought he’d actually feel reassured by Elvira’s return.
After all, Elvira’s return meant he wouldn’t have to maintain this ‘Sleeping Beauty’ state much longer.
But that sense of relief didn’t last, because before the approaching footsteps reached him, the other person paused at the door and called out to his immobilized self.
“…How disgraceful. Not only did you lose to a woman, you were left thrown on the bed like a doll. Don’t you have any pride at all? Or do you actually enjoy this?”
It was a female voice, sounding extremely displeased with him—maybe even a little contemptuous.
The heart Morris had just settled shot back up to his throat.
Wait, who is this? Why did she act so scornful when he had absolutely no recollection of her?
If Elvira weren’t so jealous, Morris would have suspected that all three of them were sent by Elvira just to mess with him!
Anyway, surely this one just came to verbally shame him and wouldn’t do what the last two did, right?
No one would insult and despise you and then… right?
No, actually… there are people like that… right?