Chapter 48
But here's the thing: Why isn't that guy leaving?
Vita kept being distracted whenever she tried to study, so she finally raised her head and glared at Carlisle for a moment.
“So when are you leaving?”
Carlisle stared at her blankly for a moment, then smiled—a somewhat mischievous smile.
“When my clothes dry.”
What a convenient excuse.
“Why don't you just take them off and leave?”
When Vita snapped that at him, he shook his head.
“That would be a little embarrassing.”
“I gave you clothes.”
Vita had given him clothes—her own clothes from before she became a woman, no less. But they didn't fit Carlisle at all, leaving him looking rather ridiculous with his stomach completely exposed. To be honest, it had gotten under Vita's skin a little.
So Carlisle was shirtless now, while Vita was somehow feeling a little wounded in her pride.
“The clothes are too small.”
I know, I know. You don't need to point it out.
‘Why did your body have to be so unnecessarily big…!’
It absolutely wasn't because she herself had been small when she was a man.
“But why are your brother's clothes here?”
Vita was a little flustered,
but she made up a vague excuse for the moment.
“How would I know? They just happen to be here.”
Carlisle tilted his head, but it wasn't important, so he merely chuckled as he ate the ice cream he'd taken from the refrigerator.
Vita sulked a little and turned her gaze away again.
‘Embarrassed, my ass…’
There was no way that thick-skinned guy felt embarrassed. That was what she thought, but she couldn't exactly kick him out while it was drizzling. This was all because she was far too kind.
“I'm going to study, so leave when your clothes dry.”
Vita finally decided to try studying again.
But Carlisle suddenly said something completely out of the blue.
“Then let's study together.”
“What, study…?”
Carlisle nodded.
“That's ridiculous.”
Vita found Carlisle's suggestion absurd and almost jumped to her feet in disbelief, but stopped herself.
“Who studies with their rival?”
“…What?”
Carlisle looked rather blank as he pointed at himself.
“You mean, me?”
“Yes, you! We need to keep an eye on each other, if anything…”
Her grumbling did not sound like a joke.
He could understand competing in bed, but was she going to compete here too?
“I'm your rival?”
“Y-yes!”
Bianca, her face flushed, spoke to him.
“Of course you and I are rivals. What else would we be?”
Of course, from Carlisle's perspective,
he didn't know the truth about ‘Bianca Shamal.’
‘Oh, right.’
Remembering that, Vita became a little timid.
“Anyway, that's how you should think of it. I'll beat you in the midterms no matter what!”
“Sure, whatever.”
Carlisle chuckled.
Her burning competitive spirit was so like Bianca Shamal. To him, behavior like that was simply cute.
Then again, she'd lost almost every competition in bed so far. Maybe she was channeling her competitive spirit into strange areas like this.
At the same time, he felt just a tiny bit dumbfounded.
No, in other words—
‘Then those photos she sent…’
Could they have been meant to distract him?
“So, you…”
Thinking that, Carlisle subtly tested her, and her expression confirmed it.
Astonishingly, it really was.
“What, me?!”
She was pretending not to know, perhaps because her conscience was pricking her. Carlisle was nearly moved to let out an incredulous laugh.
So that was what the distraction had been?
Those contextless photos—the ones she'd sent to provoke him—had been for that purpose.
But in a sense, he had to consider it a success, didn't he?
After all, there was only one thought he couldn't get out of his head now.
‘How do I seduce this woman?’
After pondering it for a while, Carlisle came up with a good idea.
“If I'm your rival, shouldn't we study together even more?”
Bet she hadn't thought of that.
***
‘Is this really right…?’
Even as she thought that,
Vita eventually sat down at the desk with Carlisle.
His logic had somehow persuaded her a little.
They said you had to know your enemy and yourself to win.
Vita had been persuaded by precisely that logic.
Carlisle had told her that it might be useful to watch how he studied and solved problems.
When she thought about it, though—
‘We already studied together earlier today…’
Even if it hadn't been intentional.
So Vita was now staring intently at Carlisle as he solved problems. She had even warned him that she'd kick him out immediately if he didn't study seriously.
Scritch—scritch—
The sound of his pen moving, the veins standing out on the back of his hand.
It was oddly novel, watching him concentrate.
At first, Vita had stared only at the workbook, but before long, without realizing it, she began looking at other things.
His high, sharp nose, his cleanly defined jawline.
His golden eyes, deepened by concentration.
Should she call him manly? Or simply say he was undeniably handsome?
‘Had this guy always looked like this?’
Vita suddenly felt a little strange.
Why did this guy have to be so pointlessly handsome? She felt a little envious of him, and yet her feelings were incredibly complicated.
So Vita blinked and stared at Carlisle's profile, then came to her senses. She opened her eyes wide and shook her head vigorously.
No, what was she doing?!
‘What am I doing right now…?!’
Thinking she must have gone crazy, Vita shook her head again, but fortunately, he was so focused that he hadn't noticed her at all.
‘Focus. Focus.’
She had to steal his trade secrets.
Vita focused once more on his moving hand.
‘He solves it like that…?’
It was fascinating—a rather unusual method of solving problems.
It was the so-called ‘shortcut’ method, solving problems quickly without relying on the basic concepts.
He was definitely fast.
Since this was a high-difficulty Magical Studies problem, his skill was glaringly obvious.
‘Why is this bastard so fast?’
While Vita was marveling at him, he seemed to finish solving all the problems.
“Well? Fast, right?”
Carlisle smirked, and Vita felt as though he'd read her thoughts, so she denied it for the moment.
“F-fast? Just solving it doesn't mean you got everything right…”
What? He got them all right.
Vita flinched and quickly hid the answer sheet she was holding behind her back.
“Give me the answer sheet. I want to see if you got them all right.”
“Check it later. Why don't you solve the next problem?”
“You got them all right, didn't you?”
Carlisle smirked, and she didn't want to admit it.
“What do you think of this method?”
But she couldn't deny the truth right in front of her, so Vita answered with effort.
“J-just a little…?”
“What, just a little?”
“…You are a little good.”
In the end, she phrased it indirectly.
Solving problems that quickly must have given him an advantage even among the top students. Magical Studies was usually a subject where you ran out of time.
“Want me to teach you the method?”
At his sudden offer, Vita was extremely startled.
“R-really?!”
He was going to teach her a trade secret? Even though they were competing against each other?
No, that was the point. He'd already shown it to her, and now he was saying he'd explain it in detail.
Vita swallowed hard.
“You're going to teach me…?”
It didn't make sense. But Carlisle didn't seem to care about things like that.
“I don't mind.”
“Oh, then!”
Of course, if that was the case, Vita had no intention of refusing.
Her pride stung a little, but she asked him to teach her.
She would do absolutely anything to beat him. He was practically handing over his own weapon.
‘You made a mistake, you idiot.’
In fact, she would make him regret teaching her this.
So Vita was quite enthusiastic about learning Carlisle's method.
“This one, like this?”
“You can't use that formula.”
“Then what do I use?”
As they studied that way, Vita failed to notice their hands overlapping and their bodies gradually pressing fully against each other.
Of course, she wasn't completely unaware of it.
‘Do we really need to do this just to draw a graph…?’
Carlisle lightly closed his hand over hers, after all. Even as she thought that, Vita focused on the problem.
“The graph goes like this.”
“Mmhmm, I see.”
She had to steal his secrets!
But Carlisle Schultz was shirtless, while Vita was dressed in loose clothing. As their bodies gradually pressed together and their physical contact grew more frequent, the atmosphere in the room slowly became rather strange.
***
Naturally, it was because a young man and woman were alone together in one room.
The more their contact continued, the more charged the atmosphere became. Vita could feel a strange tension in her body.
“W-wait.”
Vita sensed danger.
“You're acting a little strange.”
“Why? What's strange?”
His voice was perfectly calm. Meanwhile, Carlisle's arm was wrapped around Vita's shoulders. His low voice sounded right beside her ear, making her face flush.
‘W-what is this…?’
When had they gotten this close?
But today was no good. She had to study.
“Could you move away a little?”
Her shameless companion didn't bother answering and instead revealed his true intentions.
He lightly touched Vita's soft, pliant breasts with his hand. She wasn't wearing underwear.
‘Ngh.’
Vita's body stiffened for a moment. Then she took one deep breath and complained.
“Oh, come on…”
By then, her face had reddened, and her breath had grown a little warmer.
“No, not today!”
Today really wouldn't do. The exam was the day after tomorrow.
“If you keep going, I'll really get angry, okay?”
“Is it because you need to study?”
“Of course…!”
Vita started to answer, then drew her body in slightly.
Her indecently aroused body had faithfully heated up, sending goosebumps over her at the feel of his large hand.
‘Is this guy touching my breasts…?’
He had touched her so naturally. But Vita was susceptible to this kind of subtle contact too; her body heated up instead, and she barely managed to pull his hand away.
“…Really, not today.”
It was a fairly firm refusal, but hesitation was clearly present in her voice.
More precisely, it sounded as though she'd only just managed to pull herself away.
‘Maybe this will work.’
Carlisle thought so.
Bianca Shamal was rather softhearted. She was weak against someone pushing her. So his strategy would work.
Vita glanced at Carlisle beside her and became a little flustered.
“Ah, no…”
What was he doing now?
Astonishingly, Carlisle was making a dejected face.
It was so unlike him that she was dumbfounded by how ill-fitting it looked.
“Why are you making a face that doesn't suit you at all?”
“I'm a little hurt…”
His voice had dropped too,
like a large dog rejected by its owner.
Seeing Carlisle so dejected, Vita became extremely flustered.
“No, what are you doing?”
It didn't suit him at all. It was almost as though she had become some kind of bad person.
Only when Vita began fidgeting did Carlisle chuckle and return to his usual smile.
“You can't do that, Bianca.”
“W-what?!”
This time, Vita was flustered for an entirely different reason.
“You provoked me so thoroughly, and now you're going to run away by yourself?”
“When did I ever…?”
But then Carlisle held out the screen, and Vita was rendered speechless.
“Then what's this?”
Carlisle Schultz's counterargument.
“You sent me photos like this, and now you're telling me to hold back? That's too cruel, you know.”
“You, too…”
Even Vita herself had to admit how embarrassing they were.
But those had only been intended to throw him off. How had things turned out like this?
“No, those were…”
Seeing Carlisle smile, Vita finally realized it.
Ah, this was hopeless.
Only then did she realize she'd let an enraged beast into its cage.
‘B-but…!’
Even so, wasn't no still no?
But her lips had already been swallowed by his.
“Mmph… ngh—!”
She was startled only for a moment. She couldn't help being captivated by his gentle movements.
They had already kissed many times, so she was used to it—and because she was used to it, she knew how good it felt.
“You can study afterward.”
When their lips briefly parted,
Vita didn't know what Carlisle meant by that.
***
Vita knew her own body all too well.
She also knew all too well that she wouldn't be able to resist if Carlisle pressed her.
Even so, exams were important, so she absolutely had to study. Carlisle understood Vita's argument, of course.
“Then I'll be satisfied with this much.”
He sat her on his lap, wrapped his arms around her stomach from behind, and buried his face in her delicate, pale nape.
“Shouldn't you study, Bianca?”
And with that, he began.
They were studying together, after all.
“Hnng, what are you…!”
“If you study in such an unusual way, you might remember it better.”
“Please… stop talking nonsense!”
What kind of studying was this supposed to be? Vita wondered to herself.
Held from behind, embraced by Carlisle,
his large hands kept groping various parts of her body. Whenever he found an opening, he would press his lips to her nape or ear.
“Tell me what King Charles accomplished, Bianca.”
What she could clearly see was a history workbook.
But Vita couldn't focus on it. Forcing her trembling lips to move, she answered.
“…He introduced constitutional monarchy.”
“And what else?”
“He abolished the class system…?”
“No, he didn't. That was another king's accomplishment.”
Just then, Carlisle's hand lightly squeezed her breast, and Vita let out a moan.
Her lower triangle was already damp enough for her to feel it herself.
This was a problem. At this rate, it wasn't studying at all.
But Carlisle's low voice came right beside her ear, her body was completely restrained, and he kept touching her here and there as if playing with his hand, leaving her unable to think straight.
“You need to memorize it properly, Bianca.”
Don't act like some strict teacher. Who do you think you are?
She kept that thought to herself.
“Hnng, whose accomplishment was it?”
“King Manu's.”
Oh, right.
‘No, that's not the point…’
In the end, Vita couldn't take it anymore and turned her head to yell at him.
She really couldn't endure it any longer!
“Why? Can't you memorize it?”
Carlisle chuckled, and Vita shouted angrily.
“What kind of studying is this—!”
But in the very next moment, her lips were swallowed again.
Bianca Shamal was a woman who liked kissing quite a lot. Carlisle knew exactly how to effectively silence her.
“Hnng… mm…”
After a lingering kiss, Carlisle pulled his lips away. Feeling a little guilty for pushing things according to his own desires, he confessed honestly.
“I know. I'm being unreasonable right now.”
“I-if you know…!”
“But I want you. It's too hard to hold back.”
Carlisle spoke as if confessing, his expression serious.
“So will you let me?”
Please stop teasing me like this.
Seeing the sincerity in his expression, Vita was left speechless.
‘T-this is coercion.’
She thought to herself that this was absolutely coercion, and wondered whether he really thought it would work on her.
But whenever Carlisle acted like this, she found it hard to refuse.
No, why?
Why on earth?
‘Ngh… nnngh…’
So Vita agonized over it, but the answer was already decided. To be honest, there was still tomorrow if she needed the time.
Nod—
In the end, she accepted.
“I-if it's just a little…”
She said that while deliberately turning her gaze away.
He immediately embraced her again.
To be honest, Vita's body was already heated,
and embarrassed by that fact, she closed her eyes.
She closed her eyes as the heat in her body continued to rise.