Chapter 23
“There, all done?”
“Thank you.”
After making it safely back to Fortune, I signed my name on the contract Heter held out as soon as I returned to the residence.
“With this, the head of the house’s hand is mine.”
“…I suppose.”
Seeing Heter gaze at the contract with a satisfied expression gave me a creepy feeling.
Because it reminded me of when he had held my hand all day long just because I’d injured a finger.
‘Should I not have signed it?’
I did have that thought, but soon shook my head.
‘What’s the worst that could happen if I hold his hand all day? It won’t wear out.’
The looks from those around me couldn’t get any worse because of what had happened before.
“Fine, have it your way!”
Having steeled myself, I squeezed my eyes shut and held out my hand to him, but—
“It’s all right for now.”
“Huh?”
“Then I’ll go return the horse to Paul.”
“Uh… all right.”
Contrary to my expectation that Heter would go crazy over my hand like before, his reaction was quite matter-of-fact.
‘What?’
Why was he suddenly acting like that?
Could he be planning to hold my hand all day after returning the horse?
But contrary to my worries, he didn’t hold my hand after returning to the residence.
That night.
Whoosh.
“Ahh….”
As I soaked in the bathtub to ease the fatigue of the journey, my mind was filled entirely with thoughts of Heter.
“Why on earth isn’t he holding my hand?”
Isn’t there a saying in Korea that when someone suddenly changes, they die soon?
Heter’s sudden change in attitude gave me an inexplicably ominous feeling.
‘Could something have happened while he was defeating the mage?’
Like perhaps he’d suddenly become terminally ill.
“Ugh.”
When I remembered how he hadn’t been breathing after I rescued him from inside the snow worm, my heart sank.
“What if that’s what happened?”
“Is something wrong, my lady?”
“!”
Ruby called out from outside while heating water, bringing me back from my thoughts.
“N-no, it’s nothing, Ruby.”
Apparently, what I meant to think only in my head had slipped out of my mouth.
“It didn’t sound like nothing to me.”
“No, it’s fine. More importantly, I’m going to soap up now, so could you prepare some clothes for me?”
“Yes~.”
At first, it had felt strange to have someone else prepare my change of clothes, but I’d been living as Alice Fortune for nearly twenty years.
Now, my memory of ever fetching my own clothes when I bathed had grown hazy.
Swish.
After scooping up some of the still-warm bathwater and thoroughly rinsing off the soap, I stepped out into the dressing room.
“Brr….”
“Cold? I’ll dry you off right away.”
Ruby, who had been waiting with a towel ready, began drying me, but her expression was strange.
“What’s with that look on your face?”
“Hmm? What about it?”
Her eyes curved like crescent moons and her cheeks were raised as though they might ascend to heaven, yet she pretended not to know.
“You look desperate to tease me about something.”
“Hehe, you’ll find out when you return to the office.”
“Hmm?”
‘What is it? Did she prepare some kind of present?’
While I tried to guess why Ruby was acting this way, she dressed me in the clothes she had brought, but… huh?
“What is it?”
“No, these aren’t my clothes?!”
My usual pajamas were a loose-fitting négligée that covered most of my body.
But the clothes Ruby had put on me now were the exact opposite.
The neckline was cut so low that my cleavage was fully exposed, and the skirt was so short it didn’t even cover my knees. On top of that, whatever fabric it was made of was so sheer that my underwear and body were half-visible through it.
“Eek!”
It was far too indecent to be sleepwear.
It was as though it were meant for an entirely different purpose.
“Yes! These are what I was going to wear, but I’ll lend them to you specially just for today!”
“No, who asked you to lend them to me? Stop fooling around and bring me my clothes at once!”
“N-no! I can’t do that! I’ve already helped you change, so I’m off to bed!”
“Hey!”
Before I could grab her, Ruby dashed out of the dressing room.
“Tsk….”
There was no point in chasing after her in slippers now.
In the end, even if I wanted to change, I would probably have to make it to my room dressed like this.
‘You’re dead when I see you tomorrow….’
I went upstairs, pondering how I could scold Ruby enough to bring tears to her eyes.
Now all I had to do was cross the corridor and reach my office, which also served as my bedroom.
“Huh?”
Someone was standing in front of my office?
“Heter?”
“Have you finished bathing?”
Why was he here when he should have been training outside at this hour?
No, that wasn’t important right now.
“Why aren’t you holding my hand today?”
Perhaps because I’d spent the entire bath thinking about why he had acted that way.
The question slipped out the moment I saw him.
“Hmm.”
Heter smiled as though pleased by my question.
“It seems you were looking forward to holding my hand. If I’d known, I would have held it for you from the beginning.”
“What? No, I wasn’t!”
I was serious, but seeing him answer so playfully made my insides boil.
“You used to hold my hand and never leave my side, so it was strange when you suddenly changed!”
“Ah, is that so? If that is what you say, my lady, then so be it.”
“Grr….”
Even if I threw a punch at him like this, Heter would dodge it with ease.
This was one of those moments when I regretted not training myself in the past.
“Well, back then, we only had one day, you see. Now your hand is mine, isn’t it?”
Hmm… Listening to him, it seemed that when I had allowed him to hold my hand as punishment before, he had done so because there had been a time limit and he wanted to get his money’s worth.
“Are you planning to hold my hand this often from now on?”
“I suppose I’ll hold it a little more often than I did today. Of course, if you wish, I can hold it all day….”
“No, that’s enough!”
I cut him off before he could finish.
‘So if ownership of another part of my body is transferred, it’ll be similar to this?’
This was good news.
Not only had nothing happened to Heter, but it also meant that even if more of my body parts were transferred to him in the future, I wouldn’t be stuck with him holding on to me every hour of the day.
Thinking that, I felt I could afford to relax my standards a little when it came to signing.
‘Well, I still won’t sign things indiscriminately.’
In any case, learning the answer to what had been bothering me made me feel as though a weight had been lifted from my chest.
“So why were you standing in front of my office?”
“I came here because I had some business, but….”
“?”
Heter suddenly let his voice trail off while speaking.
Why was he suddenly acting like this?
“First of all, it looks good on you.”
“Huh? What does… oh.”
I realized when I saw what his finger was pointing at.
I was wearing not my usual négligée, but the indecent one Ruby had brought me!
“!”
Feeling my face rapidly grow hot, I sank down, covering my chest with my arms.
“No, this isn’t what I usually wear. Ruby brought it to me!”
“I know. Ruby saw me waiting here and suddenly turned around and went back the way she came.”
‘Ruby!!!’
Only then did I understand why Ruby had been wearing that expression
and why she had suddenly brought me her own clothes instead of my usual ones.
“Shall I take mine off for you, then?”
Heter fidgeted anxiously as he looked down at me crouched on the floor.
“You’re only wearing a tunic. What exactly are you offering to take off?”
I counted to three in my head, then slowly stood up.
Heter was flustered, which made me calmer, and besides, I had memories of being a man.
‘Showing my underwear to another man isn’t something to be embarrassed about….’
It wasn’t embarrassing….
‘Fuck, of course it’s embarrassing.’
Even so, I didn’t cover my underwear with my arms.
The more self-conscious I acted for no reason, the more embarrassed I would become.
“Enough staring at my breasts. Just answer my question.”
“N-no, I wasn’t looking!”
Heter protested, sounding aggrieved, when I told him to stop looking at my breasts.
But I was sensitive to where other people looked on my body.
Even the usually kind people of my territory had, at some point, begun glancing at and staring at my body countless times, regardless of age or sex.
“It’s instinctive for men to look at large breasts, so I won’t say anything. Now hurry up and tell me why you came!”
“Haa….”
Heter, his face nearly as flushed as mine, covered it with one hand and let out a deep sigh.
“I came to inspect your hand.”
“My hand?”
I held out the hand I had washed clean, even beneath the nails, while bathing.
Slender, delicate fingers, neatly trimmed nails, and the back of my hand with a subtle peach tint.
He had no idea how much attention I had paid to caring for my hands ever since the day I injured my finger and was punished.
“Well? No problem, right? Now go back.”
I kept urging him on, telling him to check quickly and return to his room.
“Yes, I know very well how beautiful your hand is, my lady. But now that I’ve been given ownership of it, I thought I should take care of it as well. That’s why I came.”
“Take care of it?”
“Yes.”
Eventually, he pulled a bottle containing something like oil from the pouch at his waist and shook it.
“What’s that?”
“It’s an oil said to make hands smooth and soft. I originally intended to apply it to your hand, but….”
Then he put the bottle back in his pouch.
“It doesn’t seem like the right day for that. I’ll be going now.”
“Oh… all right?”
It was a huge relief that he was leaving so obediently.
Even though I was getting a little used to it, it was still embarrassing all the same.
But….
‘Fuck. Have I lost my mind?’
Even though I had urged him to leave, why did I feel disappointed when he actually said he was leaving?!
I didn’t know what was wrong with me, either.
Once Heter returned to his room, all I had to do was change clothes and go to sleep.
“Have a good night.”
“Wait.”
Then my body moved on its own, and I grabbed the hem of Heter’s clothes as he passed me and headed for the stairs.
“M-my lady?”
“I… I was wondering what this oil you mentioned is like….”
I was clearly out of my mind from exhaustion after returning to the territory today.
“Why don’t you come back and apply it for me?”
“!”
Otherwise, there was no way I would have said something like that.