Chapter 20
“Strong and mighty morning! If you ask who I am, I’m Yu—……”
I’d broken from my usual routine and come to wake that bastard a little earlier than usual.
Wait, fuck. Is he so pent-up lately that he’s taking care of things even in his dreams? Or did he only start running hot later in life because he’s a Taeeumin?
After seeing Derek sprawled out like a starfish, having thrown off all his pajamas, just like last time, I seriously considered whether I should crack him over the head with the silver candlestick today.
Not that I knew whether I could even leave a scratch on him with my strength.
At least he was wearing underwear, so I wouldn’t have the misfortune of seeing the greatsword he usually carried.
But a greatsword doesn’t shrink just because it’s in its sheath, and the sight of a three-story tent was still burned onto my retinas. Fuck.
Judging by the outline, I’d suffered a crushing defeat…… Yeah.
Right now, it had shrunk so much it was practically negative, but even at full mast, it had never reached that size.
I’m so fucking pissed.
Still, my boobs are bigger than yours, so call it a draw.
Since Derek had to get ready to deploy as soon as he woke up—earlier than usual—I pretended not to notice the pillar standing at attention and shook him awake.
“Mmm, Yuria……”
“Don’t go back to sleep. Get up and put some clothes on, you big lug. Who showed up in your dream today to leave you looking like this?”
“Haaah…… Yeah, I have to get ready to head out…… Huh? Wait, hey!”
Apparently realizing what sort of state he was in, especially below the waist, Derek hurriedly shoved me away and searched for the blanket rolled up nearby.
“Wh-why are you still looking?”
“I’ve already seen everything. It’s fine, I’m a guy too, so I understand. It’s normal to get morning wood. But for fuck’s sake, think about me having to wake you up every morning and stop taking care of your urges in your dreams. And quit throwing your clothes off!”
I said as I picked up the clothes scattered across the floor and handed them to him.
Sigh. The servants could handle the washing and ironing, but I was the one who had to lay everything out and get him dressed.
All my hard work, sullied by his pent-up lust.
Just how pent-up was he to pull this shit at night?
“Seriously, hey. If you’re pent-up, take care of it while I’m not around. If you just let loose in your dreams whenever you feel like it, what am I supposed to do?”
“No, um, I…… Sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“Yeah, be a little more careful…… Wait, ‘more’? So you’ve been doing something this whole time while trying to be careful?”
Derek flinched.
I’ve got you now, you little shit.
“I can understand you taking care of yourself. I’m a guy too, after all. But when I’m around—especially when I’m in the room—try to restrain yourself a bit. You know, I’m, well…… You can see for yourself.”
“I-I don’t. It’s a misunderstanding, really.”
“I know, I know. Enough excuses. Hurry up and…… No, you don’t smell, so you don’t need to wash. Just get dressed already. Aren’t you going?”
I was a little sensitive about it since I was a woman now, but from a man’s perspective, it was something I could understand, so I let it go.
Honestly, if you looked at it one way, it was something to be grateful for.
It wasn’t easy to keep all that pent-up desire bottled up or take care of it in secret when your gorgeous, big-boobed childhood-friend maid, two years younger than you, was sleeping peacefully in the next room.
Even if it was a little uncomfortable for the gorgeous, big-boobed, two-years-younger childhood-friend maid in question, I figured I should just write it off as a little mishap and move on.
I was apparently a little flustered too. I turned my back so I wouldn’t see him changing his underwear, then touched my cheek and found it slightly warm.
I guess seeing something so unexpected startled my body.
Well, it was a pretty fragile body, after all.
……
Mmm.
“A-are you…… dressed?”
“Y-yeah.”
Changing clothes was unusually quiet.
Derek seemed to have no experience with this sort of thing either, judging by how obviously awkward he looked.
Sigh. I’m the mature one here, so I guess I should break the tension myself.
“There’s still half an hour before the knights’ special task force assembles…… Wait here a moment.”
I left Derek to strap on his armor over his clothes and went back to my room.
It wasn’t as if I could help him put on that armor anyway.
But I had prepared something in advance to put on him before he left.
I grabbed what I’d prepared before bed and returned to Derek’s room.
“Here, put this on over your armor.”
The leather coat Derek had worn over his armor on our last inspection tour.
I’d made it by hand, pricking my fingers with the needle, because Derek always wanted something over his armor in winter, when the light reflecting off it was blinding and the snow was falling heavily. It had worn out ages ago.
There weren’t any materials to mend it with, and my own coat was too small to lend him instead.
So what I’d prepared was……
“A cloak? Why a cloak all of a sudden?”
“Well, now that I’ve got it on you, it does look kind of shabby. Sorry, I was in a hurry, so I just slapped it together.”
I couldn’t make a proper coat to go over his armor, so I simply gathered up some large scraps of fabric I couldn’t use anymore, cut them to roughly the right shape, and made a cloak.
Yeah…… The material was what it was, so aside from its practical use, it wasn’t great.
“Sigh. Let’s just take it off. It looks weird no matter how I look at it. For now, let’s just tell everyone to put up with it, and paint it matte when we have time. But can you even paint adamantium?”
“This fabric feels strangely familiar. What did you make it out of?”
“That? It’s my bathrobe. I hung it up wrong after a bath and it stretched out so much I couldn’t wear it anymore. I thought I’d recycle it before throwing it away, but it looks awful and shoddy. Let’s just toss it.”
“A bathro— No, it looks PERFECT on me, and I love it. You put so much effort into it; I’ll make sure to wear it. Thanks!”
“Huh? No, hey, hey! Where are you going, you idiot!”
Derek dashed out of the room, leaving me with nothing but a word of thanks.
I was glad he appreciated the effort, but his fashion sense was absolutely terrible.
His armor by itself looked genuinely cool, even to me, another guy. How on earth did he think a cut-up bathrobe suited it?
At any rate, I wouldn’t see him again for a while, and he left without even saying goodbye.
That hurt.
******************
The first day without Derek.
With a rare day off, I spent the whole day relaxing, reading books, and doing little odds and ends.
Though the only thing I did for fun was cross-stitching, which I’d gotten into lately.
Even those cross-stitch pieces were meant to go inside the pendant Derek wore, as decoration, so in a way, I didn’t have much time for myself.
I also spent some time playing with Maria.
And then came the second day without Derek.
“I’m bored……”
Since my whole routine had been centered around Derek and spent with Derek, I had nothing to get absorbed in during all this free time.
It’s been four years, but I still miss computers sometimes.
By now, back on Earth, the game I used to play must have wiped out all the hackers it couldn’t catch and reclaimed the top spot among Korean RPGs.
Sigh. No.
What would be the point of going back?
Even if I went back, the only answer waiting for me in life would be to jump headfirst off the roof of the apartment building where I used to live. I’d rather keep living here, even if it’s boring.
Still, it’s so boring without Derek.
Two years ago, I think, there was a time when Derek and I were apart for a while, but I don’t remember being this bored then.
Should I make some friends when we get to the capital? Have I gotten too attached to Derek?
Unable to stand it any longer, I decided I might as well get up and do some cleaning.
The servants usually handled the cleaning, but doing this much would help pass the time.
Yeah, that’s it. I’ll clean the whole place, then see if Derek notices I did it when he gets back.
If he doesn’t notice, um…… maybe I’ll dock his friendship score?
All right. Not a bad idea.
……
……
……
Oh. Fuck.
Barely ten minutes had passed since I started cleaning.
I found something in a cleverly hidden spot, and after straining to reach in with my aching arm, lo and behold……
“You little shit. No wonder you’ve been so pent-up lately, if you’re looking at this kind of stuff.”
Having seen the modern wonders upheld by Hitomi and Pixiv, I wasn’t exactly impressed, but I’d still pulled out a few books filled with some pretty decent illustrations.
So he really did sneak erotic comics into his room and hide them from his personal maid, because he’s a man, after all.
Well, what could I do but understand?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt I could let it slide. Derek clearly had a normal sex drive, but unlike other nobles, he still didn’t think about jumping his personal maid and having his way with her, childhood friend or not.
I’ll just pretend I didn’t see them and quietly put them back…… Wait a second.
W-well, maybe I should take a quick look at the contents.
I mean, wouldn’t I be curious about the tastes of my master—and friend—and what gets him going?
Especially as the personal maid responsible for every aspect of my master’s life, I should have his preferences memorized.
That way, I can put that knowledge to use when the need arises.
Hmm.
I sat on Derek’s bed and picked up the book that looked the most worn.
It had clearly been used for a long time; the well-worn spots stood out distinctly from the untouched ones.
This should make it easy to figure out what he’s into.
I opened it around the middle.
“Agh, fuck! This is fucking gross.”
Even in a world where demi-humans rarely lived among humans, they still had to go and put furry porn right in a book like this, for fuck’s sake.
Fortunately, Derek didn’t seem all that interested in furry stuff.
At least I wouldn’t have to procure a bunny-girl outfit or a tail-style anal plug for some future wife of Derek’s.
As I flipped through the pages, I came across one that looked especially well-worn.
The next page would surely reveal the truth.
Just as I was about to turn it slowly……
“Yuria! I got back early…… Huh?”
Seeing Derek come back far too soon and go pale as he realized what I was holding, I went pale too.
What impeccable timing.