Secret (3)

A series of completely unexpected situations had occurred one after another, leaving me confused, but after returning to my quarters, I managed to smooth things over. After throwing myself onto the bed and staring blankly at the ceiling, the heat in my head gradually cooled.

Even so, the thoughts in my head were still hopelessly tangled. Cecily's behavior toward me today was one thing, and Marie following us was another.

It had been an unavoidably complicated day. I blinked and stared blankly at the ceiling before letting out a deep sigh.

'Had I been a little too careless...?'

Unlike the imperial siblings, who had created an atmosphere bordering on interrogation, Cecily had guided me toward revealing the secret myself. Rather than threatening me, she had shown an attitude that genuinely respected my position.

On top of that, Cecily had declared of her own accord that she was prepared to devote everything she had to the author of The Chronicle of Xenon—in other words, to me. It had not been a joke; her words had contained determination, sincerity, and genuine resolve.

However, forcibly guiding my hand to touch her breasts and then putting my finger in her mouth could easily be interpreted in several ways. I would have to hear it from Cecily herself to know for certain, but to someone else—especially Marie—it could have looked as though she was trying to seduce me by using her body to entice me.

My reason had completely abandoned me at the time, making it difficult to understand what it meant, but now that I had thought it over carefully, I realized I had been too careless.

Of course, I could not tell whether Cecily had seduced me with that intention. I planned to meet her separately the next day and ask her directly.

'I've really been going through life with my head in the clouds.'...