Adele's Bouquet
"Elysia."
"…What?"
"Why are you sitting so far away?"
"…No reason……."
"Hmm."
From the opposite side of the bath, Adele looked at me with a faintly dissatisfied expression, then rose to her feet.
"…Ngh."
The white towel covering Adele's body was the only thing still holding my reason together, but—
"Adele? Wait a second."
The towel, soaked through with bathwater, clung to her figure so tightly it felt like a deliberate test of my self-control. On top of that, the wet fabric faintly revealed the bare skin beneath it… Wait.
Do towels even go see-through when they get wet?
"Don't tell me, Adele… that towel."
"Hm?"
While I was still turning that over in my head, Adele had already closed the distance and was standing right in front of me.
"What about this towel?"
She leaned down, bringing her face close to mine as I sat in the water. The lower edge of the towel—barely covering her from chest to thigh—and her cascading platinum hair settled against the surface of the water. The way she held the towel pushed her chest together, and the sight of it was pure provocation.
"Ah, um, just a moment…."
I tried to rise slightly and slip sideways out of her reach, but her long, slender arm shot out with a sharp thwack and blocked my path. The hand that had been holding the towel was now free, and one edge of the fabric covering her chest slipped just a little.
"What's wrong, Elysia? This isn't like you."
She asked as if she didn't already know, smiling with deliberate mischief.
"Ugh…."
I tried to escape the other way, only for Adele's other arm to bar me again.
"Ah… ahh……."
With no hands left to hold it, the wet towel clung to her body for a few more seconds by sheer dampness alone—then fell with a heavy slap onto the water and sank beneath the surface.
Her fully exposed, pure-white body was so beautiful it blanked my mind for a moment. And with both her arms braced on either side of me, she was far too close….
The scent of roses washed over me. Adele dipped her head a little lower and gently bit the tip of my ear.
"…Hnn!"
A shiver ran through me—startling, a little painful, and yet strangely pleasant. Her arms bent, drawing our bodies closer, and one of her knees slid between my legs, stopping near my thighs. The soft curve of her chest brushed across mine as she passed, and the right hand that had been blocking my escape closed around my shoulder.
Hot breath spilled from the mouth still holding my ear, tickling my cheek before scattering into the air. Then she bit down lightly again, chewing gently, and a weak moan slipped from my lips.
"Hnn……."
I sat frozen, unable to do anything, as her left hand slipped beneath the water, sliding down the line of my waist until it rested on my hip.
"Wait…."
Our bodies were already pressed as close as they could get. Even when I tried to lean back, bare skin grazed bare skin, and Adele's knee between my legs tapped lightly against my inner thigh, sending little jolts through me. I reached out, grabbed the arm resting on my hip and her waist, and strained to push her away—
"Haah…."
—but the difference in strength was so overwhelming she didn't budge an inch.
Adele stayed like that for a long while, gently working at my ear, before finally straightening up. She brought her face close, cupped both my cheeks with her hands, and stroked them tenderly as a small smile curved her lips. Even the strands of hair stuck to her damp cheeks only made her look more beautiful.
"That's enough for today. Your cold still isn't fully gone."
Then she settled into the water beside me. She was still pressed close from the side—but it was better than before, at least.
"Still…."
Adele's hand covered mine and laced our fingers together tightly.
"You'll allow me this much, won't you, Elysia?"
I covered my face with my free hand and could only manage a small nod.
By then my body was already burning hot. Whether it was the heat of the water or the lingering fever of my cold, I had no way of knowing.
In the end, it was quite a while longer before we finally left the bath. Adele hadn't said a single word the whole time—she'd simply held my hand in silence.
As I put on the clothes she'd prepared for me in advance—
"……?"
These black dolphin shorts and this white short-sleeved shirt… they fit me perfectly.
"Adele, is this the right size…?"
"They're my clothes."
"But you and I aren't the same size—"
"They're my clothes."
"…Okay."
The silent pressure radiating from Adele's gentle smile made it clear I shouldn't ask any further, so I shut my mouth. I must have looked a little dejected, because Adele suddenly called out to me.
"Elysia. Come here."
"…Hm?"
Something about the way she beckoned reminded me of what had happened in the bath, and I flinched for a second—then scurried over. When I reached her, she pulled out a chair so I could sit.
"Sit down."
I perched on the chair without a word, and she picked up a hair dryer and began drying my hair. The soft touch of her hands gently combing through my damp hair felt so nice that sleep started to pull at me. Just as I thought I might actually drift off—
"Elysia."
"……."
"Elysia."
"…Hm?"
I opened my eyes at Adele's call and found that my long hair was already soft and completely dry.
"…Did I fall asleep?"
"You did. You were out cold."
"…Sorry."
Adele smiled without a word, took my hand, and helped me to my feet. We left the changing room and walked slowly as she asked,
"You're still not fully recovered, so do you want to just go rest in your room? Or…."
She trailed off, tilting her head as if considering something, then continued.
"Since you're already here, want me to give you a tour of the house?"
I'd been curious about what kinds of places this ridiculously vast mansion held, so I nodded vigorously and accepted.
"A house tour! I want one."
There was something else I'd always wondered about, too. In comics and novels, grand mansions showed up all the time… but did the people who lived in them actually know the entire layout? What was down this hallway, what that room was for—things like that.
I looked at Adele with expectant eyes, and she suddenly clapped her hands twice. An elderly butler who had been nearby appeared in an instant and bowed respectfully. Watching that, I realized something.
Of course the butler would know the house layout inside and out. There was no real need for the master of the mansion to memorize every last detail herself.
I'd imagined something extraordinary when I thought of a mansion—and it was extraordinary, but it also felt unmistakably like a place where people actually lived. Behind the artistic exterior, the traces of the household staff were surprisingly easy to spot: a red carpet with a slight wrinkle, a plate still faintly damp, the marks left by the gardener's shears, a kitchen currently locked in real-time combat with ingredients. All those little things gathered together until the place almost felt warm and familiar.
The interior held just about everything imaginable. Adele's enormous personal chambers and the rooms used by the staff. A kitchen, a storage wing, and—true to this modern world—a gym, a swimming pool, even a small private theater for watching movies.
The food we ate in the kitchen ranked among the best things I'd ever tasted in my life. And it was so obviously made from expensive ingredients that I trembled a little with fear just looking at it.
A true grand mansion—the kind every child dreams of at least once. My reaction, mouth hanging open in continuous awe, must have pleased Adele, because she wore a thoroughly satisfied smile.
"I think we've seen almost everything… shall we look at one last place before we go to bed?"
"Yeah!"
Holding my hand, Adele led me to the final stop: the mansion's rooftop.
The moment we stepped up, cool air greeted us, along with a night sky laid out in pure black—and the moonlight brilliantly illuminating the world below. Adele walked a few steps ahead, then turned to face me.
She reached a hand toward the sky, and the moonlight moved at her will, beginning to swirl around us. Adele's power was moonlight. She could command it as she pleased, solidify it, and sculpt it into form.
With a soft gesture of her hand, the moonlight painted pictures in the air, connecting the stars embroidered across the night sky one by one. The lines met in empty space, burst apart and scattered, then reformed again and again, gradually taking shape.
Linked and linked once more, what finally took form high in the night sky was a single painting meant for me alone—a bouquet of moon and stars, a gift from the beautiful girl of the moonlit night.