“Ugh…”
“Are you tired from working after a long time?”
“Ah… Yeah. Well… I haven’t worked in almost three weeks.”
“Hehe! We’ve had about three weeks of fun too, so it’s all good!”
“…Yeah.”
It was hard to respond easily to Midori’s innocent words. It wasn’t just the weariness of working after a long time.
Sure, it had been a while since I worked, but the reason I was out of breath since morning was something else.
‘Jihyugan… panpan… gumaan…’
‘Ha… huff…!’
‘I have to go to work tomorrow!’
“…Let’s just take it easy today. It’s my first day back to work and I should also take a look around the ship since it’s been a while.”
“Yay!”
Seeing Midori cheerfully shouting “Hooray!” since morning put my worries at ease.
In fact, I was a bit worried because the Commander had been rather intense yesterday, but those concerns vanished.
I naturally hid any traces of what happened with the Commander yesterday.
There was no reason for anyone to find out in the first place.
I didn’t have any x-ray vision to see the kiss mark on my neck or the bite marks on my chest.
“Ms. Dolores, would you like some coffee?”
“Ah, um… I’m okay…”
“…Really?”
Her response seemed a bit strange… But it was morning after all. Maybe she had a rough night.
“Commander, you’ll have some, right?”
“Yeah.”
“……..”
“Then I’ll just make three cups.”
Anyway, I ended up making three cups of coffee.
Of course, one was sickly sweet for the Commander, and the other two were at a reasonable level for me and Midori.
Originally, Dolores liked her coffee a little bitter, but she said she was fine, so I went along with it.
For now, I prepared breakfast while making three cups.
Honestly, it felt kind of nice to be working in the office after a long time.
It was more enjoyable to be lounging around with the Commander in the car, but it was nice to return to my routine.
I had gotten so used to it that it felt completely normal.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah.”
I served the coffee and sat down next to the Commander.
Just like always, I took the seat next to him.
I had already decided to keep things under wraps in the office and on the ship.
I didn’t show any signs of it.
I just sat down and immediately started preparing for work.
I tightened my tie a bit more than usual, which was slightly uncomfortable, but it was the right move to hide the marks on my neck.
It would be worse if the loosened tie exposed it.
“Ms. Dolores?”
“N-no!”
“…Are you alright?”
“Y-yes…”
“……….”
For some reason, Dolores didn’t look well today.
After entering the office with the Commander, her face had been a bit flushed since.
She seemed to be in worse condition than usual.
I didn’t know why, though.
“Um… If you’re feeling very unwell, you can take a break. It’s not like there’s a lot of work today…”
“N-no! I’m totally fine…!”
“Is that so…?”
Though she said that, she still looked a bit off.
Of course, since she claimed she was fine, I decided to let it go.
After all, the agents are healthier than me, even if they were sick.
“Ah, Lindera.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s take a quick break and go to the cafe later.”
“Do as you like.”
“Okay.”
Anyway, I started working again after a long time.
Honestly, it didn’t feel awkward at all starting this time, even though it had been quite some time.
I had been worried about getting back into the flow after about three weeks off, but it was so comfortable that I felt my concerns were unfounded.
Looking back, it had only been about three months, and soon it would be a whole year.
Of course, I would be completely used to it by then.
*
“Excuse me…”
“?”
“Um… Uh…”
“What’s wrong?”
While taking a break from work, Dolores suddenly approached me.
The Commander had stepped out, saying he was going to the bathroom.
But even though Dolores’s complexion wasn’t good today, she looked extremely unwell, which made me worried.
Dolores sat down a bit further away from the Commander, and I couldn’t help but feel concerned.
It wasn’t that worrying was essential, but every time I spoke to her, she seemed really startled, and her face was red, making it impossible to ignore.
“Um… N-no!”
“…?”
She suddenly fled.
What was that?
I couldn’t help but be startled by Dolores’ sudden behavior.
That was very out of character for her…
“…Did something happen?”
“…I don’t know!”
“……..”
“Did I eat something wrong?”
“…That might be possible.”
Since I was left alone with Midori in the office, we had to discuss that.
I was genuinely surprised that Dolores had suddenly run away.
She was the one who came and talked to me, but then she just ran off… What could that mean?
“Um… Have you been eating a lot of spicy food lately?”
“…That could be.”
“Maybe it’s possible! What if she has a terrible stomachache?!”
“Whoa…”
Maybe that was it?
Even though we were both women, that seemed a sensitive subject.
Thinking about how Dolores usually acted, it could very well be possible.
Maybe because she was a maid, she liked things to be clean and kept the office better than anyone else.
It would be embarrassing for her to talk openly about such things.
I could understand that.
“But Lindera, did anything happen while you were with the Commander?”
“…What?”
“I mean! You two were in the same car and stayed in the same accommodation, right? Of course, something must have happened… Heh heh!”
“………”
Oh?
“Nothing happened.”
“Really? I was really! Super! excited… Did nothing happen at all?”
“…Yeah.”
“Aww… how boring!”
“…Is that so…”
For a moment… I was a bit surprised.
I didn’t expect Midori to say something like that all of a sudden, especially since something had actually happened.
If someone else heard about it, they would probably be shocked.
“Really? Nothing at all? Like the Commander getting drunk and doing something weird…?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Aw… Really?”
Actually… it was me who was doing something weird…
Hmm.
Thinking it over again made me feel embarrassed in several ways.
Of course, it was things I did, but…
“Let’s not indulge in weird questions and just take it easy. Isn’t it your first time being off work?”
“Ah! That’s right!”
“…Yeah.”
So at least I managed to dodge a bit of the inquisition.
I hadn’t really confirmed anything either, so that helped.
Of course, if I had, I might’ve been a bit fearful.
After all, in our current situation, it would be impossible for anyone to know about our relationship.
What would they think if they found out the Commander and I were rolling around in bed after just returning from a business trip?
The only person who could even hint at such a thing was probably the hotel boss.
There were no records of it, after all. It was just a situation where it was completely hidden, so I thought it was fine to ignore it.
“Ah, Midori.”
“Yeah?”
“What about the garden…? I completely forgot to check it out yesterday.”
“Oh! The garden? It’s super popular!”
“Is that so?”
Actually, I had originally planned to check it out yesterday.
But then due to some pervert, I completely lost my chance to go through the indoor garden that night.
I had tried to tone it down and just enjoy it, but…
“…Sigh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing. I just thought I should’ve taken some time to check it out yesterday…”
“I see! But you were tired yesterday, right? Taking a day off was okay!”
“…Haha.”
Yeah, that was true.
It was alright to take a day off… yes.
Though I still thought the Commander was a bit too much, returning and feeling that way was normal.
Yes.
Of course, waking up this morning feeling exhausted because of last night’s activities was a mistake on my part.
I should’ve handled things moderately so it wouldn’t affect me when I went to work the next day.
If I had gone all out like last time… I would’ve probably really hurt my back.
Though there were more places to hurt before my back…
“What were you talking about?”
“Oh, just about not checking out the garden yesterday… we chatted a bit.”
While we talked, the Commander entered the office.
He was holding a cup of coffee.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I was really bummed about not going yesterday… I’m definitely planning to check it out today.”
“Well, we can just go together a little later.”
“Right.”
Actually, I had wanted to take a little stroll through the garden while having a mini date yesterday.
But because of someone… I couldn’t help it.
Of course, the garden wasn’t big enough for a long stroll over ten minutes.
It was just an indoor garden to sit and relax in.
But still, I wanted to go.
“…Why.”
“…It’s nothing.”
“…Oh.”
Did I just bring up the fact that I kept insisting on going out of the Commander’s room yesterday?
Well… from the middle on, I had only screamed to take it easy, so I could overlook the garden conversation.
Honestly, I felt a bit annoyed about it.
“Then are we going to the garden this afternoon?”
“Probably… yeah. I was thinking of checking the inside of the ship then anyway.”
“Yeah. A lot has happened while we were gone, so we should definitely take a proper look.”
“Then we’re just having fun!”
Well… that’s how it turned out.
I had originally planned to sneak around with just the two of us last night, but someone kept insisting on doing it.
“…Hmph.”
I shot a sideways glare at the Commander.
Going with the office crew was enjoyable, but I wanted it to just be the two of us.
Of course, even if I said that since it was popular, other agents would’ve already settled in there.
But still, starting with two instead of four made a huge difference.
“…We’ll finish our current tasks first since it’s afternoon work, then we can see if we have time to go.”
“Okay!”
“Yeah.”
Actually, I had more to say to the Commander.
But it wasn’t worth saying in front of sensitive agents.
If I wanted to, I could always send a private message…
“Uh, shall we… get back to work?”
“Yeah, I was about to start again.”
“Oh, I see…! Then I’ll sit down and get started too! I won’t do anything weird!”
“…Yeah…?”
But seriously, what’s wrong with Dolores?
I was starting to get genuinely worried about her.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
