When it came to matters concerning Rita, Cecilia had never asked too many questions.
Indeed, before she even knew Rita’s true identity, Cecilia had made countless guesses about her. However, not once had she revealed any of these speculations in Rita’s presence.
After all, Rita was the only one who could see the full extent of her curse, so there had to be something that set her apart from everyone else.
When Cecilia discovered that Rita’s true identity was simply that of a Dream Demon, she suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
It was a somewhat mundane answer, but it could explain everything Rita had done and all her secrets up until now. Even if there was some hidden truth behind this answer, it was, at the very least, real.
Although being around a Dream Demon was a bit unsettling, that unease was nothing compared to the anxiety brought on by the unknown.
Besides, Cecilia had a certain intuition: as long as she kept Rita by her side, more and more of the unknown would become known.
As for whether Rita had any ulterior motives…
When Rita pushed her away and took the blow from the Bloodthorn attack in her stead… No, even earlier—when she was willing to reveal her own identity just to save Cecilia—Cecilia had already let her guard down around Rita.
There was only one explanation for this: to Rita, Cecilia was important enough that she would risk exposing her identity for her sake.
Whether it was because Rita truly needed something from her, or simply wanted to protect her, all of it pointed to the same known conclusion as far as Cecilia was concerned.
Therefore, these reasons may not be so important, and she didn’t need to be in any rush to dig up Rita’s secrets.
Still, there were some secrets Cecilia was genuinely interested in uncovering.
“Even if Lady Cecilia asks me what exactly counts as ‘eating’ for me, I really don’t know how to explain it. The simplest way is probably that kind of thing, right?”
While speaking, Rita was using a damp towel to wipe Cecilia’s body clean.
Although Cecilia had said she’d ‘feed’ her, she didn’t act on it immediately, instead demanding that Rita finish what she was supposed to do first.
The inn was indeed quite nice, but it didn’t have anything like the modern conveniences of a plumbing system. It was almost impossible for every room to have its own bath.
Cecilia refused to use a large bath barrel or squeeze in with others at the public bathhouse, so this compromise was the best she could do.
At the moment, Cecilia was wearing only a thin camisole and a pair of privacy shorts, arms outstretched as Rita wiped her down, all the while scrutinizing Rita up and down for quite some time.
That look made Rita feel uneasy, as if Cecilia always looked at her like this right before something bad happened.
Bad for her, specifically.
To be honest, Rita really was a little hungry. Back before the fight even started, when Cecilia gave her Golden Blood, she’d managed to replenish a bit of energy; otherwise, she might not have had the strength to hold out against Dorothy.
But being stared at like this by Cecilia, Rita couldn’t help but wonder if she was actually the prey here.
“Rita.” Cecilia called her name.
“I’m here!” Rita instantly stood at attention, gripping the towel tightly. Hot water wrapped in the cloth dripped down onto the floor.
“Come here.”
Even though she was already right next to Cecilia, Rita moved a little closer.
“Sit.”
Rita immediately sat cross-legged on the fluffy carpet—only to have her head knocked.
“Don’t be so careless, kneel properly.”
“…” Only then did Rita change position, obediently kneeling before Cecilia.
“Open your mouth.” Cecilia continued her command.
“Ahhh—” Rita opened wide, like a child at the doctor’s office.
Immediately, Cecilia’s slender fingers slipped into Rita’s mouth, gently touching the inside of her cheek.
“Cecilia… mmph!” Rita was confused about what Cecilia was doing. She had barely managed to utter Cecilia’s name, muffled, before Cecilia rapped her on the head again.
“Keep your mouth open, don’t talk, and don’t bite.” Cecilia said, then experimentally traced the inside of Rita’s mouth with her fingertip.
The sensation of her oral mucosa being touched was indeed strange, but Rita had absolutely no idea what Cecilia was trying to do.
Cecilia noticed the confusion in Rita’s eyes and, not even waiting for Rita to ask—though she wouldn’t have been able to anyway—she gave a brief explanation.
“I want to know what kind of actions actually count as a Dream Demon’s ‘feeding’.”
Everyone knew Dream Demons attacked others to feed, but Cecilia had never seen Rita attack anyone else—at most, she just snuggled with her.
So, figuring this out was actually somewhat important to Cecilia.
After all, she was a princess; she couldn’t always use her lips and tongue to feed Rita. Here it was fine, but once they returned to the Capital, if she slipped up, others might find out.
The Fourth Princess and her personal knight having an inappropriate relationship would be… quite a scandal.
Though, as things stood, neither Rita nor Cecilia knew that in the future, everyone would already have accepted their relationship.
“So, do you feel full now?”
Rita shook her head.
Far from feeling full, if Cecilia poked a couple more times she’d probably end up gagging!
“Hm…” Cecilia mused, her fingertips brushing Rita’s evasive tongue.
“How about now?”
“…”
“I told you not to bite.” Cecilia rapped her again, continuing to probe what it would take to trigger that so-called mechanism.
“Anything?”
Shaking her head, shaking her head.
“And now?”
Still shaking her head.
Strange. Why was it that kissing Cecilia’s toes had worked before, but now, even after all this, Rita still didn’t react?
With a puzzled heart, Cecilia lowered her gaze, scrutinizing Rita’s expression—only to finally see just how pitiful she looked.
Those dark red Dream Demon eyes were glistening with tears—not from embarrassment, but from struggling to breathe. But in Cecilia’s eyes, the difference was negligible.
Curled toes, hands placed awkwardly at her sides, cheeks flushed with color, lips pulled to one side by Cecilia’s finger, and more tiny details that Cecilia’s eyes caught but couldn’t quite commit to memory.
Thump.
Cecilia felt her heart give a heavy beat, as if someone had fired a gun at it.
“…Got it…” Rita’s dazed eyes suddenly brightened.
So, for Dream Demons, it wasn’t about what they themselves did—what mattered was the other person?
Whew… Cecilia had thought she’d have to go so far as to strip down and get intimate with Rita. This wasn’t so bad after all.
In other words, she didn’t necessarily have to be the one acted upon. Doing something to the other person worked in theory, too.
They still had plenty of time, so she could experiment a little further.
“Rita.”
“Ah?” Rita still had her mouth open.
“Could you… just bring your tail out a bit? There’s something I want to check.”
The Shame of the Dream Demon.
At this point, that was all Cecilia could think of.
First, Cecilia confirmed her hypothesis: it didn’t matter whether something was done to her or not. As long as she felt a certain emotion during these acts, that emotion would turn into food for the Dream Demon through their close contact.
Although this theory had plenty of holes, as far as current research on Dream Demons went, nobody had discovered this—at least, no one had publicly mentioned it.
Next, after just rubbing Rita’s tail a few times, why had Rita ended up like this?
Although… although Cecilia did find Rita’s attempts to endure it rather amusing and wanted to see what other cute reactions she might show, which made her unable to resist rubbing a few more times—though admittedly, it was more than a few.
Now, Rita was on all fours, her hips raised high, her tail flopped limply to the side. Every so often she trembled, and let out an “aba-aba” sound.
Even if Cecilia did overdo it a little, shouldn’t Rita’s reaction be a bit less… intense?
It was almost as if…
If she really did something to Rita, wouldn’t it be…
Although Cecilia had never experienced anything too outrageous—her boldest act was simply kissing Rita—just imagining it now, she couldn’t help but feel an odd urge to take things a step further.
Now, she could finally understand, just a little, why Dorothy had gone so far in pursuit of an unsolved mystery.
Anyway, since Rita was in no condition to resist, maybe she could just…
Cecilia patted her own cheeks, trying to shake off those wild thoughts.
No, no, this won’t do. Rita’s already in this state. What if she accidentally broke Rita?
Cecilia thought this as she looked at the drooling, “aba-aba” Rita.
Sigh, the shame of the Dream Demon.