“Hmm.”
A voice echoes.
Not only that, but the warmth surrounding me is strangely making my body feel damp. Despite just waking up, the comfort is making me want to close my eyes again.
“Huh?”
However, my brain realizes that this doesn’t make sense, so I quickly sit up and look around. It’s a place I’ve been to before.
“The royal bathhouse?”
I’m confused about why I’m here and when I get up, I’m shocked to see that I’m completely undressed. I hastily grab a towel nearby to cover my lower body.
“Why am I here?”
My memory is hazy.
Something seems on the tip of my tongue, but it just won’t come. It’s like the steam in the bath is clouding my mind and blocking my memory.
“Ah, what’s going on?”
I try to think, turning my head this way and that, but it’s just too weird.
Just as I’m about to move outside.
In come two women.
Rin and Adriana.
Of course, they’re in the bath, fully unwrapped except for towels hugging their bodies, which makes my heart race even more.
But instinctively, I try to hide by getting into the tub, but my body won’t move.
“Where are you going?”
“You have to wash before getting in.”
I’m pulled forward as if sliding.
Before I know it, I’m standing in front of the shower, with two people clinging to me on either side.
“What’s happening?”
“Huh? What do you mean what’s happening?”
“You’re the one who said let’s wash together.”
To my question, Rin and Adriana reply with expressions that show they’re more confused than I am. For a moment, I almost retrace my own memories, but—
“Isn’t that an overly exaggerated lie?”
After thinking for a moment, it’s so absurd that I can’t even laugh. Did I really suggest to these two that we wash together?
Where on earth is this nonsense coming from?
“Dammit, that’s why I said no!”
“Did you mess up the spell? I did it just like you told me.”
Look at them bickering right away. Rin crosses her arms, grumbling.
“Being too strong-minded is a problem, you know.”
“Honestly, trying to manipulate him with mental strength was a futile effort.”
“……”
Watching them analyze the reason for their failed experiment is quite annoying. Did Rin read my expression? She grins and pushes over some foam they brought from the basin.
“Let’s wash, Daniel. You look too tired, so I brought you here to wash you up.”
“……Hah.”
Since they’re not going to do anything dangerous, I just decide to go with the flow and sit in the bath chair. Rin and Adriana enthusiastically start lathering foam all over my body.
“I’ve seen you a few times before, but it seems like you have way too many scars.”
Rin looks at the scars on my body, touched, as she gently traces them with a sad expression.
But Adriana was different.
True to her name as a witch, she licks her lips slightly and looks at me lecherously.
“Isn’t the roughness enjoyable? I felt good the last time when I was on the bottom getting ravaged by a beast.”
“Don’t lick me.”
“I just like Daniel, no matter what.”
Our conversation feels like discussing what to buy at a store while I, the main topic, feel incredibly awkward.
Just in case, I say it outright.
“I’m not doing that.”
“You always say that, but you end up doing it anyway.”
“……This time, I really won’t.”
Even though I ended up doing it because the kids kept coming into the bathroom at home, this time feels different. The bathroom at home is so small that natural contact stirs excitement.
But this is a huge bath, and I intended to relax and leave while minimizing physical contact.
I came here to relieve stress, not to build more.
Surprisingly, Rin and Adriana don’t oppose this much and agree. We then head to the warm tub to soak.
It definitely feels good as my body slowly melts. The highlight of living in the royal palace briefly was precisely this bathhouse.
Back then, Elise often barged in without warning, so I couldn’t relax comfortably, but now it feels as if my body is floating as I close my eyes.
“Do you like it, Daniel?”
“Yeah, it feels really nice. It’s comfortable.”
The temperature is just right, and it feels like my muscles are gently relaxing. It’s like I’m dreaming…
“Dream?”
As I blurt this out, Rin and Adriana instantly avert their gazes.
Wait a sec.
“Is this a dream?”
The fog in my mind clears.
Now I can be certain. I shouldn’t be here.
Because I was supposed to be at Aios Academy in the dormitory, fast asleep. There’s no way I could be in the royal bath.
“Uh, you figured it out quickly.”
“We were going to tell you.”
Upon their reaction, I sit up abruptly, unable to hide my astonishment.
“No, where are you that you can interfere in my dream?”
I wondered if these two also came to Elgrid or Aios Academy, but Adriana sticks out her tongue and answers.
“We’re in your living room. Sen went to sleep in your bed after waiting for you.”
I’m slightly annoyed about why Sen left her own bed to go to mine, but anyway.
“How far is it to connect magic from there to Aios Academy?”
Even though I’m not well-versed in magic, I can tell that it’s incredibly difficult. Simply entering someone’s dream is crazy hard, and it’s a distance that would take days even on horseback.
Seeing my reaction, Adriana and Rin shrug their shoulders proudly.
“Who do you think I am? I’m a woman who reached the level of an Archmage at 21.”
“I’m the only witch in the world. We witches know various kinds of magic, you know. I share that with Rin, and she realizes it.”
In short, Adriana designs the spell, and Rin makes it a reality.
They make quite the perfect combo.
“Alright then. But don’t do it again next time. Let me sleep in peace.”
“That was our intention too.”
“Right, we were only going to watch for about 30 minutes.”
They nod and slowly move closer. Their movements cause the water to splash lightly, and it feels oddly prickly.
And I realize that it’s because of their chilly atmosphere.
Adriana leans close and whispers as if warning me.
“But who hasn’t been sleeping? You waited from 10 PM, but it’s now 4 AM before you fell asleep. What’s up with that?”
“……”
As I swipe my hand over my chest, Adriana bears a chilling smile. I can feel the pressure from her shoulder, clearly having a third-ranked chest.
“The, my memory… I can’t recall.”
I genuinely cannot remember.
Is this because of the dream? I can’t recollect what I was doing before I fell asleep.
Adriana rests her chin on my shoulder and licks my neck. This is the first time I feel she’s truly witch-like.
“I told you earlier. Sen fell asleep waiting for you. I bet she’ll coax you into doing it again tomorrow.”
“……I figured that out.”
For some reason, it feels like a tiger is holding onto my arms on both sides. Especially, Rin is biting down harder.
Without saying a word, she wraps my arms tightly, and her nails dig in, cutting off my circulation.
If it were Eve, my hand would have turned blue immediately…
“Ah.”
It hit me.
I remembered who I had been sleeping with.
“……”
Then Rin subtly releases my arm and snuggles into my embrace. She climbs onto my lap, draping her arms around my neck, and asks.
“Who?”
“……”
“Huh? Tell me quickly. Who?”
“Uh, wasn’t it that we all agreed on this, after all?”
You guys were the ones pushing for an agreement and not to make a choice! I wanted to say that bringing this up would be problematic, but—
“Mmm, I’m not angry with them.”
“……”
I don’t want to ask who she’s angry with.
But why does it still hurt, even though it’s a dream?
The magic is working all too well. It was crafted ridiculously well!
“I just feel like I’ve never spent time alone with Daniel.”
“Oh! Me too!”
“……”
Thinking back, that’s true.
For the entire month, we all tangled up living together, so there hasn’t been a time for just the two of us.
“Can I send you off today since we’ll see each other again tomorrow?”
“Hmm, just tomorrow?”
Rin strokes my chin with her fingertips. It’s alluring yet a bit scary, leaving me in a tricky spot.
“No… let’s do it three times a week.”
“Sure!”
Rin smiles happily, turning around to lean against my chest. Adriana pouts nearby, feeling it’s unfair, but I can’t push Rin away.
“Do you have a situation you like? I can make it special for you.”
“Uh… can you really do that?”
“Yep! We can do normal places or completely new ones. It may be a bit lacking if created with imagination.”
“Just, just something normal, please.”
“Okay! Got it!”
Swish.
Suddenly, my eyes begin to close.
I guess it’s time for me to wake up.
I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye, but that’s fine.
After all, I’ll see them again tomorrow.
Swish.
I cover my eyes with my hand from the sunlight coming through the window and check beside me. The bed is soaked by something of Eve’s, and we both fell asleep on the floor.
“Hah.”
I can’t even decide when to sleep anymore.
Feeling devastated, I glance at Eve.
Seeing her sleeping so cutely makes some of my fatigue lift.
Especially since she’s leaning towards me, her chest pressing against mine…
Poke.
I poke her gently with my finger before I rise.
Thanks to that action, I somehow feel like my luck for today has risen.
