Chapter 32: The Freshman Doesn't Hide His Slave (2)
Chapter 32: The Freshman Doesn't Hide His Slave (2)
Upon seeing Carla’s state, Elisha’s sky-blue eyes went wide and round. She began to stammer.
“I—I didn’t mean for you to go this far…?”
“???”
No.
You told me to do it. You even left me with something bordering on a threat, saying you’d be watching!
Dumbfounded, I glanced back at Carla.
“……?”
Carla was tilting her head in equal confusion.
It seemed even she hadn't expected Elisha to react this way.
Amidst the noisy crowd gathered for class assignments, a strange silence fell only around us.
We both realized there had been a massive misunderstanding, but that only made it harder to speak up.
I looked at Elisha with a hollow expression, and she returned the same vacant stare.
This is ridiculous….
But seeing her like this made me realize something.
Despite everything, Elisha was a major supporting character in H&A. She had her issues, but at her core, she was a good person.
I shouldn't have put her on the same level as those prideful nobles I’d been wary of outside, or the generally insane mages.
No matter how much Elisha felt inferior to or obsessed with Carla… she probably didn't actually want Carla to be completely broken.
Then what was the point of her mentioning "night service" and telling me to discipline Carla strictly…?
I frowned instinctively, but then it hit me.
The look in Elisha’s eyes as she glanced back and forth between Carla and me felt strangely familiar.
“Ah.”
Now I remembered.
That was the same look Carla had the first time I made her perform fellatio.
…Come to think of it, Elisha was just as much of a sheltered lady as Carla used to be.
The Sylvan Magic Tower was the tower of the elves. Having grown up there as a High Elf, she must have been treated like a princess her entire life.
Naturally, her knowledge of sexual matters would be at the same level as Carla’s when I first bought her.
Thinking back, Elisha had been quite innocent in H&A as well.
At the time, I thought it was just because it was an all-ages game… but what if Elisha’s actual sexual common sense was truly that close to an all-ages rating?
If so, the "night service" Elisha knew was likely much "softer" than what Nana or Carla understood it to be.
It was probably around the level of the sex education a typical noblewoman like Carla had received.
Just to be sure, I decided to ask Elisha.
“Um… Lady Glenziel?”
“W-What is it, Yandel?”
Elisha, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden address, stammered.
High Elves were said to have sensitive senses, so speaking at this distance should be fine.
“May I ask what exactly you meant by ‘night service’?”
“…Normally, that would be an incredibly rude question, but I suppose I shall make an exception this once.”
Elisha let out a soft sigh and snapped her fan open.
Hiding her mouth behind it, she leaned in slightly and whispered while glancing at our surroundings.
“Is it not when a subordinate serves their superior while sharing a bed?”
“Uh… then if you had to strictly punish a slave who was performing night service, how would you do it?”
Elisha blinked her sky-blue eyes a few times, pondering for a moment before answering.
“A spanking…?”
“…….”
Okay.
That confirms it.
When it comes to this sort of thing, Elisha is practically a baby.
By now, Carla seemed to have realized what the misunderstanding was as well, as her jaw dropped.
Well, it wouldn't have been hard for her to figure out; she just had to imagine herself before she became a slave.
However, Elisha seemed to interpret our reaction differently. Her expression gradually brightened, and she began to wear a triumphant smile.
“Oh my? It seems you, Yandel, may have slightly over-interpreted my words.”
“Yes, well….”
As I gave a noncommittal nod, Elisha started to nod back as if she understood everything, only to freeze again when she saw Carla’s disheveled appearance.
“Ahem. While I appreciate you responding so earnestly to my concerns, I would be even more ‘grateful’ if you kept in mind that this is the Academy, a place of learning.”
Her tone was calm and instructive.
But if you listened closely to the subtext, it was more like: ‘I think there was a misunderstanding, so shall we just act like this never happened?’
And the fact that she emphasized being "grateful" likely meant she would provide an even better reward than previously mentioned.
The only problem was… how Elisha’s words sounded to the people around us.
To someone who didn't know the context, it simply sounded like she was criticizing my nighttime activities.
From Elisha’s perspective, she was offering a smooth compromise, but to an outsider, it made everything look like my fault.
In fact, even now, if I listened closely, I could hear the murmurs of those pretending not to listen while eavesdropping on our conversation.
“My goodness… they say you shouldn't judge a person by their face… with a handsome face like that, how could he…?”
“Did they say he was a commoner? This is why vulgar people always show their true colors.”
“Tsk. What does he think the sacred Academy is?”
Ah, as expected. It’s going like this.
While my reputation isn't the most important thing for my future plans, there’s no reason to let it tank for no reason.
According to the original plan, even if my reputation took a hit, I would gain Elisha as a backer for three months, and I could use the excuse that "Elisha ordered me to do it!"
But if things stayed like this, I would just end up being the sole villain.
That was a bit problematic.
There was no way Elisha, a High Elf, couldn't hear what I was hearing.
Did she not realize that her attempt to clear the misunderstanding and move forward would sound like this?
Though her mouth was hidden by her fan, Elisha’s eyes visible above it were shaking uncontrollably.
She must have realized too late that she’d phrased things in a way that was perfectly designed to be misunderstood again.
“No, I mean… that is….”
Elisha stammered, trying to find a way to fix the situation… but Carla was one step faster.
Spreading her arms wide, Carla blocked the path in front of me and cried out.
“M-Master did nothing wrong!”
“…Carla?”
Elisha flinched, clearly not expecting this.
She probably couldn't understand why Carla was defending me even after being put in such a state.
“It’s because I, a mere slave, dared to speak to Lady Glenziel as familiarly as I used to! That is why Master punished me!”
“Carla, are you really….”
If what Carla said this morning was true, Elisha could tell whether Carla was speaking from the heart or weaving a lie.
And from the current Carla… even I could feel a sense of desperate sincerity radiating from her.
“Because of this lowly slave’s mistake, Master had to bow his head and apologize to Lady Glenziel, so I simply had to apologize to Master with my body!”
“W-With your body? What on earth did you…!”
Gulping, Elisha couldn't take her eyes off the kiss marks on Carla’s neck.
Carla lightly covered the marks with her hand.
“Hehe… it’s my fault for being stupid. Master did nothing wrong. He simply reminded me of my place, just as Lady Glenziel said.”
Carla’s eyes flickered restlessly, and her slender limbs trembled.
The way her lips were forced into an awkward curve made it look as if she were recalling a painful memory and suffering.
…In reality, it was just a person who couldn't lie suffering a system overload from trying to lie.
In the first place, those kiss marks were just some of the many I’d left all over her because she’d begged me to kiss her; there was no way they were "bad memories."
But the people around us wouldn't think that.
The gazes that had been blaming me just moments ago shifted toward Elisha.
Unlike when they were judging me, they didn't whisper—perhaps out of caution—but one doesn't always need words to convey a message.
By now, a story must have been completed in their heads.
Two people who were once close as the daughter of the Lindelheit family and the heir to the Sylvan Magic Tower.
But as the gap between them became apparent, they grew distant, and that space was filled with jealousy and inferiority.
Then one day, the Lindelheit family fell due to suspicions of cult involvement, and she became a slave.
Whether by a prank of fate or not, she returned to the Academy as a slave and greeted her old friend happily.
But what she received in return was a cold rebuke. And a reprimand directed at her master.
Because of that, I had disciplined Carla a bit excessively, and now Elisha was trying to wash her hands of the whole thing.
Even now, Carla was stepping forward to take all the blame, fearing that if her master took the fall, the repercussions would reach her.
It was inevitable that the crowd’s gaze would turn cold.
Elisha, who had likely imagined the same scenario, spoke with a distressed expression.
“Stop! That’s enough! Carla!”
She then turned to me and continued in a voice that sounded utterly exhausted.
“Yandel. It seems your discipline has been sufficient, so as a master, please show some mercy.”
“I shall take Lady Glenziel’s advice to heart.”
“Sigh… then I shall take my leave now. We are in the same Class A, I believe. I look forward to working with you, Yandel.”
“I, too, consider it an honor to be in the same class as Lady Glenziel.”
As I gave an appropriate response to match the atmosphere, Elisha gave a slight nod and hurried away with her attendant.
I lightly patted the shoulder of Carla, who remained standing before me.
“Good job.”
“Master?”
Whether she had intended for this or not, Carla kept tilting her head at the sudden change in the situation.
Seeing her like that gave me a good idea, so I leaned in and whispered softly into her ear.
“Carla. For today, let’s proceed as planned.”
“Uh… don’t we not need to show Elisha anymore?”
“I’m not trying to show Elisha.”
I’m trying to show everyone else.
At least until the rumors die down, people will think that no matter how I treat Carla, it’s all because of Elisha’s coercion.
Since she’d been leading me around by the nose until now, this much petty revenge should be fine, right?
“Ah, of course, like you said, you don’t have to do it, so tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind. It’s what we agreed to do anyway, and more than anything, it’s what Master wants. …But you’ll give me a reward if I do well, right?”
“Of course. Is there something you want to eat?”
“Hmm….”
At my words, Carla looked around for a moment before rising slightly on her tiptoes.
Then, as if sharing a deep secret, she whispered in a tiny voice.
“You, Master.”
“…….”
You little minx.