Chapter 13
“That was exhausting….”
Belver barely managed to send off the two people who’d stuck with him to the very end, trying to pry even more out of him.
Only after they were gone did he finally let out the sigh he’d been holding in.
They’d been so persistent that he’d ended up telling them all sorts of things.
Including that mortifying thing he’d said.
Thanks to that, he wanted to run away right this second.
He was frantic with anxiety because there was so little time left before he had to report everything exactly as it happened.
Would Bellatrix interrupt him while he was reporting?
She seemed likely to reach for him the moment she heard about the first mishap.
Just remembering that lewd, heated teasing made him shudder.
He wondered if he could even get through the report while enduring it all.
And even if he did, he’d have to spend the entire day being teased as his predetermined punishment.
Belver cursed his past self for saying he’d accept punishment if he messed up, all because he wanted to work up his courage.
This was why you shouldn’t speak carelessly.
“Haa… I don’t want to go….”
When the two of them were there, he couldn’t wait to get back, but now that it was all over, he desperately didn’t want to go.
Because Bellatrix was waiting for him in the tiger’s den, jaws wide open.
Just a few more doors and he’d reach the carriage where she was waiting.
There were several doors between them, yet he could already feel her presence.
The presence of her slyly smiling as she teased him while he couldn’t put up any resistance.
Belver really didn’t want to go, but in the end he got up and slowly headed for the carriage.
Since it was already decided, he figured he might as well put it off as long as he could.
And give himself a little time to mentally prepare.
“Welcome back. Why do you look so exhausted?”
The distance was so short that it took less than ten minutes to reach the carriage.
As he got close, Bellatrix noticed right away and opened the carriage door for him.
Seeing her after several hours apart, Belver felt himself relax.
Of course, he still hated and dreaded the teasing punishment, but being by Bellatrix’s side seemed to be the most comfortable place for him now.
Was it because Bellatrix was the only person he’d grown attached to?
Whenever they spent a long time apart, he was especially happy to see her.
So this must be what having a friend felt like.
For now, Belver decided to take full advantage of being in a woman’s body.
He sat right beside her and leaned his exhausted body against her shoulder.
Surely she’d let this much slide as being cute.
He was cute right now, after all.
“Ah… I missed you, Lady Bellatrix….”
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“I had such a hard time….”
Feeling relieved, Belver naturally started whining.
How persistent they’d been, how hard it had been, and how embarrassing.
And how hard he’d tried.
For now, he left out the part where he’d messed up.
Bellatrix would probably figure it out, but he secretly hoped she’d let it slide this time.
Of course, there was no way that would happen.
She hadn’t done anything yet, but she exposed what he’d hidden with just one question.
“What did you mess up?”
“Do I really have to tell you…?”
“Of course. Tell me everything, from beginning to end.”
“Okaaay….”
Belver sulked when she didn’t cut him any slack despite how exhausted he was, but immediately began his report.
How Roho had approached from behind and made him let out a chick-like squeak; how he’d ended up talking to Roho; how Tiel had made him let out another chick-like squeak; and how Tiel and Roho had questioned him in an almost oppressive atmosphere.
By the time he got that far, he didn’t even know what he was saying.
His head felt hazy and he kept nodding off, making it hard to speak.
“And th-thenn….”
Belver tried to keep talking until the very end, but it was hard to resist the drowsiness that had finally caught up with him.
He’d been tense the whole time, and now that he was beside Bellatrix, all that tension had released at once.
In the end, he stopped mid-sentence, let his head fall against Bellatrix’s shoulder, and fell fast asleep.
“He must’ve been really exhausted.”
Bellatrix eased Belver out of his uncomfortable position against her shoulder and laid him down.
With nothing else to use as a pillow, she rested his head on her lap for now.
She had absolutely no intention of canceling his punishment, but she was willing to let him rest for the moment.
Belver was so exhausted that, despite always being so alert, he was sleeping with even breaths. How could she wake him?
In any case, the cold, calculating image she’d cultivated had long since been eclipsed by that of a girl who’d learned about love.
And it was obvious that he’d made an effort, in his own way.
Of course, once he woke up, she’d ask what happened next.
She had a feeling that the next part was the most important.
***
“Mmm… It’s hot….”
“Want me to open the window?”
“Yeees….”
“Feel cooler?”
Belver answered by nodding.
The warmth and softness beneath the back of his head, along with the cool night breeze coming through the open window, made him not even want to speak.
He wanted to stay here, being pampered, for a hundred years.
Bellatrix gazed at Belver, who was acting even more spoiled than usual.
An unshakeable smile rested on her lips.
He was always cute, but when he was this completely defenseless, he was several times cuter.
Seeing how naturally affectionate he was, Belver really would’ve suited being a woman better.
It was a shame, but they’d soon arrive at the academy, so it was time to wake him.
She still had to hear the rest of his report, too.
“Then, will you tell me what happened next?”
Flash! Belver’s eyes flew open as if he could hear that sound.
The moment he heard her words, he immediately understood the situation.
He was lying with his head on Bellatrix’s lap.
He tried to sit up in shock, but she pressed firmly on his forehead and stopped him.
As a result, he ended up meeting her eyes while still resting on her lap.
He wanted to hide his burning cheeks, but there was no way he could turn away in this situation.
Remembering how spoiled he’d acted while half-asleep, his mind blazed crimson, as if someone had hurled red paint across a blank white canvas.
He wanted her to let him go, but she wouldn’t.
“I’ll let you off for all the trouble you caused if you stay like this until we get out of the carriage.”
“Yes!”
When Belver thought about it, being like this wasn’t so bad.
If he just lay there comfortably, his punishment would go away.
The situation itself was embarrassing, but he could endure it.
Bellatrix could see that perfectly well, too.
He was gradually getting used to simply being close to her, to the point that he could bear it despite his embarrassment.
It was time to add something besides just clinging quietly.
“Now, will you tell me what happened next?”
“D-do I really have to…?”
“Of course.”
Belver’s eyes darted around at Bellatrix’s actions.
While pressuring him to tell her about the mistake he absolutely didn’t want to talk about, she’d started kneading his soft, flushed, marshmallow-like cheeks.
He was caught between embarrassment at the situation, fear of what awaited him after he told her, and shame over having put himself in a position where he had to tell her.
Even so, he forced words out with a tongue that stubbornly wanted to insist he didn’t want to say it.
“I made a slip of the tongue, and they misunderstood that Lady Bellatrix and I only have a physical relationship….”
“Mm. Right. Go on.”
Bellatrix felt her mind reel as he spoke.
What on earth could he have said to cause that kind of misunderstanding?
She wanted to grab and tug at his cheeks, which looked even plumper than when they’d been hers, but held back.
There was more.
Belver noticed her ominous air and shuddered, but there was no taking it back now.
If you start something, you have to see it through.
He swallowed dryly and worked up the courage to speak.
“I tried to clear up the misunderstanding….”
“Mm.”
“I-I told them I was a virgin…!”
After saying it, Belver squeezed his eyes shut.
He was terrified of what kind of punishment she’d give him.
As a result, he didn’t see Bellatrix freeze with a smile on her face.
Bellatrix was very confused right now.
Was the person lying on her lap really a man?
Did people usually say they had no experience, or call themselves a virgin?
Even women rarely used that word, and he’d declared himself a virgin in front of people he’d barely met?
Someone who said he was a virgin and turned bright red—was that really a man?
It wasn’t important how he knew what being a virgin meant.
Belver’s instincts and common sense might be pointed in odd directions, but she knew he definitely had both.
What mattered now was that she increasingly felt he’d been born the wrong sex.
Though he didn’t seem to think so himself.
“You little troublemaker. Whose body are you saying that in? You’re always going on about how indecent things are, but you’re the most indecent one of all.”
“No! It’s your fault, Lady Bellatrix! You keep teasing me so indecently!”
“So you’re the lewd one after all! Do you go around touching my body at night?”
“I absolutely do not?! And that’s sexual harassment!”
Belver was startled and protested.
He really had never touched her.
He hadn’t even seen her naked properly.
Whenever they changed clothes or showered, he did it with his eyes shut.
Bellatrix knew that, too.
She was only poking at him because she’d recently discovered it was a weakness that made him spring up.
After poking him once, she pushed Belver back down when he sprang up again.
“You touch my body every night—that’s sexual harassment, you know?”
“I told you I don’t touch you?! That’s unfair! You’re the one who touches me!”
“Of course I do. It keeps getting bigger.”
Bellatrix shook her head as if it were a real nuisance.
It was true that it kept getting bigger.
Belver fumed at the way she said it so matter-of-factly.
Deep down, he was ashamed of his body being teased, even as he envied Bellatrix, who could touch him freely while he was too embarrassed even to look.
Bellatrix watched his expression and delivered the final blow.
“Sob, sob. I can’t go back in this sullied body. I guess I’ll have to spend the rest of my life fondling this body.”
“That’s sexual assault!!! And give me back my body!!! I’m a man, I tell you!!!”
In the end, Belver couldn’t hold back today either and let out a loud shriek.