Chapter 25
When Vita's fingers fidgeted at the strange sensation.
Carlisle Schultz thought.
‘Does she want me to feed her?’
His faint smile wasn't for any other reason.
Regardless, he liked that Vita was willing to let him come close.
Perhaps because Vita had just woken up, his hair was a little mussed; though wary of Carlisle, Vita didn't seem to mind his presence.
Bianca Shamal was like a kitten, so she was entertaining even to watch.
Carlisle wasn't normally affectionate enough to do things like this. He was the type to receive rather than give.
He scooped up a spoonful of porridge himself and held it out to her.
“Here, eat.”
The spoon hovered in front of her mouth.
‘I’m not a child…’
With that thought, Vita pouted, but this wasn't exactly unpleasant either.
Moving his arms felt like such a bother, and he was lying down anyway.
So Vita Shamal wrestled with it for a moment before making his choice.
He raised only his upper body slightly and obediently accepted the bite.
It was definitely a little embarrassing and irksome, but the other person's effort made it worthwhile.
‘…!’
And then.
“How does it taste?”
Carlisle's matter-of-fact question.
After eating the porridge, Vita was quite surprised.
It was watery, like plain water.
It was so damn tasteless.
“You, um… You don't know how to make porridge, do you?”
This wasn't porridge. It was closer to a random stew.
Carlisle's expression seemed to stiffen slightly at that. Then he immediately tasted it himself, only to furrow his brow as well.
“What do you think? It's bad, right?”
“No, it's good.”
A rather shameless response.
Just look at that face. He was saying it tasted good with his face scrunched up like that.
Vita let out a snort of laughter. Carlisle's face clearly said it was awful.
Carlisle scratched his head, then admitted his failure in a somewhat roundabout way.
“…To be honest, it's my first time making it.”
Well, sure.
That could happen.
But at that moment, Vita realized something.
‘Oh, wait…’
At last, he had found it.
Even this perfect guy had something he couldn't do.
‘I think I'm definitely better at cooking, though?’
The porridge had been damn awful, and besides, he was fairly confident in his cooking.
One of Vita Shamal's few small hobbies was cooking.
He had followed videos on his phone and made this and that more than a few times.
Anyway, Vita was just starting to feel a little pleased when his expression turned strange.
‘But is this really something worth being happy about…?’
When it came to cooking, wasn't it commonly regarded as a woman's domain, something men were often bad at?
This meant—
If he judged it strictly, hadn't he lost yet again in the realm of being a ‘real man’?
‘Damn, is that so…?’
So while Vita was lost in thought,
Carlisle couldn't help but chuckle as he watched him.
One moment he had worn a triumphant expression, and the next he had turned serious.
At least, he certainly looked like he was feeling much better physically.
After all, Vita was a woman who could amuse herself that well even when alone.
Anyway.
Vita kept stuffing the porridge into his mouth.
“You said the porridge was bad.”
“It really does taste bad, though?”
“Then why do you keep eating it?”
How was he supposed to explain? In truth, Vita himself didn't really know why he was eating it.
“…Just because.”
Simply because he appreciated the effort.
Someone who couldn't even cook had nevertheless made it for him as a gesture of consideration.
Nor was that all. Carlisle had gone out of his way to come see Vita because he was sick, and he was worried about him.
And that was when it started. From the moment he realized it, Vita's heart began to pound, much to his embarrassment.
Thump—thump—
This made no sense!
Maybe a woman's heart was smaller than a man's, which was why it beat pointlessly at moments like this?
Suddenly, for no reason.
‘What is this…’
Vita was flustered, but still didn't know why his heart was beating.
Vita Shamal's confusion didn't end there.
After he finished the porridge.
“You look pretty when you eat well.”
“……?”
Carlisle suddenly said it, and at the same time reached over to stroke the crown of his head; Vita's face immediately turned tomato-red.
So this was…
A shameful feeling, right?
“I-I’m your pet?!”
And Vita shouted.
He had been eating obediently in front of Carlisle, only to be petted like some domesticated animal.
If he had to put it into words, it felt like being raised as someone's pet, so he decided that his heart was pounding from shame.
Carlisle chuckled.
“You're not a pet, though, are you?”
“Then why do you keep…”
Why did Carlisle keep petting him and saying such strange things? Every time, Vita's feelings grew stranger.
Vita couldn't bring himself to say the rest aloud and swallowed it down.
***
It was late afternoon before he knew it.
Vita was fast asleep, while Carlisle lay beside him with Vita in his arms.
What happened was this: after they finished the porridge—
“Lie down, Bianca.”
“What? Why…?”
He looked wary.
But Carlisle's intentions were genuinely innocent.
He did have other thoughts too, if only the tiniest bit, but he had no intention of doing anything with a woman who was sick.
“I won't do anything dirty.”
After Carlisle's continued persuasion, Bianca Shamal finally gave him a dubious nod.
And what Carlisle did was simply lie beside the woman and gently rub her lower abdomen over her clothes.
“…What is this supposed to be?”
Naturally, Bianca Shamal complained, but Carlisle's words afterward quieted her somewhat.
“When my stomach hurt when I was little, a teacher used to do this for me.”
“Your teacher? Why all of a sudden?”
“My teacher at the orphanage.”
An orphanage, out of nowhere.
‘Could Carlisle Schultz possibly…?’
Vita was a little flustered and, at the same time, caught off guard, so he wasn't sure what to say.
“Hmm, I see…”
He uttered only those words, let his eyes wander, and soon fell asleep.
He'd eaten porridge, wasn't feeling well, and Carlisle was gently soothing only his lower abdomen with entirely innocent intentions; for some reason, drowsiness came over him.
And that was how things had ended up.
“Mmm…”
Every so often, the woman's body in his arms burrowed unconsciously into Carlisle's embrace.
It was an almost unconscious seduction. She had let him into her home far too easily in the first place.
Carlisle Schultz thought.
‘It’s nice that Bianca trusts me, but…’
Bianca didn't act like this with other men too, did she?
He believed she didn't. Of course, he wouldn't stand by and let that happen either.
At the same time, Carlisle Schultz
felt a little strange about the situation.
The room was utterly quiet. And they were alone together.
It was a peaceful, leisurely atmosphere, with the sunset gradually filtering through the curtains.
The woman in his arms was sleeping softly. He had to remain mindful of her, and couldn't move for fear of waking her.
But it felt entirely different from simply lying together after sex.
Rather than physical pleasure or its afterglow, he felt filled with emotional satisfaction.
Before he knew it, Carlisle had begun to smile.
When he was young, he'd looked out at the night view beyond the window. Watching the people then, he'd learned what loneliness felt like.
But that was no longer the case, making this feeling strangely new to him.
If this was a dream, it would be a pleasant, drowsy dream.
‘How did things end up like this…?’
Carlisle Schultz thought.
The truth was, they hadn't known each other for very long, which made it all the stranger.
Carlisle found he liked having Bianca Shamal in his arms quite a lot. She felt precious to him, too.
He enjoyed watching her sleep peacefully while relying entirely on him, and of course, she was a pleasure to watch even when awake.
Her words were amusing, her actions cute; she looked feminine, but her personality was easygoing and eccentric.
And despite all that, her body was shamelessly seductive,
‘…And yet, she was innocent.’
At first, he had thought it was all just an act, but Bianca Shamal's personality really was innocent.
Before he knew it, he had fallen for her.
She was such a changeable woman.
“Ha—”
Carlisle let out a deep sigh. This moment was simply so satisfying to him.
Then he stole a kiss from the lips of the sleeping woman and finally let his true feelings slip out in a low, hushed voice.
“…I like you, Bianca.”
Once the words left his mouth, he knew for certain.
In Carlisle's nineteen years of life, this was the first time he had ever made such a sincere confession.
It was unfortunate that the person he confessed to was asleep, utterly unaware.
‘Well, whatever.’
Before long, the cozy atmosphere and unfamiliar sense of security lulled Carlisle Schultz to sleep.
So he knew nothing of what followed.
When Carlisle had secretly kissed her like a thief earlier,
Vita had actually been awake ever since.
[…I like you, Bianca.]
He had heard those words.
They were the deep feelings that the usually arrogant and unruffled Carlisle Schultz had finally revealed with complete sincerity.
“……”
No way.
It had to be nonsense.
Of course, Carlisle had asked him out before.
[Will you go out with me?]
Back then, it had sounded almost like a joke.
‘But this is different…!’
He couldn't move. Fortunately, Vita managed not to give himself away until Carlisle had completely fallen asleep.
But still.
Thump—thump—
His heart was beating so strangely that he squeezed his eyes shut, afraid Carlisle might hear it.
***
Thankfully, Carlisle eventually left without anything else happening.
“Go! Right now!”
When Vita tried to throw him out the moment he woke, Carlisle wore a bewildered expression.
Vita couldn't admit he'd heard Carlisle's words, so his face flushed hotly.
“What's wrong, Bianca?”
“I said I want to be alone.”
Carlisle thought for a moment, then nodded.
“All right, got it.”
Seeing Vita suddenly so full of energy, Carlisle could tell that his condition had improved considerably.
“See you tomorrow, Bianca.”
Perhaps because he'd slept so soundly, Carlisle smiled as he said goodbye.
“Ngh…”
Even that farewell flustered Vita a little, and he shoved Carlisle away.
Bang—
Then he immediately shut the door and shook his head hard, as if trying to drive the thoughts away.
‘Shouldn't I have at least said thank you…?’
A final shred of conscience suddenly moved Vita's hand.
After all, Carlisle had come to see him because he was worried, in his own way.
So he opened the door, but thankfully Carlisle had already left.
“Ha—”
Vita let out a sigh of relief. Then he wondered why he felt relieved in the first place.
In other words, when he thought about it—
‘Whether that guy likes me or not…’
What did it matter?
The guy who was supposed to give him bread wasn't thinking about Vita at all, so why should it matter whether Carlisle dreamed whatever he wanted?
‘Was it just a hallucination after all…?’
Vita thought about it for a moment.
Maybe he had simply heard wrong. As he pondered that, Vita touched his own face.
It felt strangely hot.
He'd felt physically off all day, leaving Vita with a confusing jumble of emotions.
His mind was so confused he couldn't express it in words, and he ended up burying himself in bed.
Was it because he'd had his first period?
Because he'd been bewitched by a woman's magic?
‘Yes, that's it. I definitely wasn't in my right mind!’
What he'd heard earlier was merely a hallucination.
Vita decided to think of it that way.
Really, was that all?
Was it just going to end like this?
“Aaaah—!”
Vita kicked at the blankets for no reason and raked his hands through his hair.
The strange dream he'd had today, and Carlisle's nonsense.
“What the hell was that guy saying—!’
What kind of nonsense was that? Why had he gone and said something so strange for no reason…
Yet his thoughts kept drifting in that direction.
That Carlisle Schultz?
That arrogant bastard who thought he was the center of the universe and cared about no one but himself had fallen for Vita after Vita became a woman?
‘Come to think of it, he has no idea who I really am, does he?’
‘Poor guy. Of all people, why did it have to be me…’
Vita kept mulling it over until he reached a conclusion.
This was strange.
I'm the one acting strange.
If he kept this up—if he kept dwelling on those words—it was almost as if he were starting to have romantic feelings for that guy…
Vita's face turned red.
The truth he had finally realized made his face burn.
This was bad.
‘…No, wait.’
But that was truly absurd.
A feeling bordering on shock.
Could it really be?
I'm a man, aren't I? But I'm feeling this way about Carlisle?
Mm, no……
…That… There’s no way…
……….