Priscilla (1)
After we shook hands again, Larilura suddenly pulled back as if embarrassed.
“Yes♡! Then shall we head back? The unnies are probably waiting.”
“……Already?”
I asked without thinking, a little surprised. Larilura paused while putting on her hat and tilted her head.
“Already? It’s already eleven, you know?”
“Well, yeah, that’s true, but…”
“……Hmmm~? Or did you have some other weird expectations♡?”
When I started mumbling, Larilura giggled as if she had seen right through my dirty thoughts. I scratched the back of my head and gave a vague answer.
“No, it’s just… you went out of your way to bring me all the way here. I figured you’d at least use that wish from the bet we tied on last time.”
“Ah, that’s right. We did have that, didn’t we? Today was so much fun that I completely forgot.”
Larilura put a finger to her lips as if it had only just occurred to her.
After the bet we made inside the Underground Tower, we had agreed to grant each other one wish.
Mine had been that she would never mention my old profile slogan again, while Larilura had put hers on hold. Several months had passed since then.
“Hmm. But that kind of obvious development doesn’t really suit a flashy junior like me, does it?”
Larilura thought for a moment before waving her hand as if it didn’t matter.
“It’s fine. I can’t really think of a wish anyway. Since it was a tie, let’s just say neither of us had a wish. Done.”
“……You’re really okay with that?”
“Yep, totally!”
Larilura, now wearing her hat, gave a cheeky little smile and grabbed my hand.
“Let’s hurry before we catch a cold. The Janus Order is going to ring the New Year bell tonight. We should listen to it together with the unnies!”
“……Yeah, alright.”
I felt like I had swung and missed, but there was nothing actually wrong with what she said. Insisting on it now would only make me look pathetic. So I bought some liquor and we returned to the inn where we were staying.
Larilura said she would order some snacks at the counter, so I went up to the room first.
“I’m back.”
“……Huh?”
Dana, who for some reason was already dressed in her outdoor clothes, stared at me with her mouth hanging open.
“What the hell? Why are you back so soon?”
“Oh? Nord’s back already?”
Franc, who had let her hair down and finished preparing to go out, widened her eyes in surprise. Wait, were all three of my wives planning to sneak out without me and Larilura?
“Hmm. I figured it would be about this late, so today must be the day… but this is rather unexpected.”
Veronica, who had also hidden her horns and finished getting ready to go out, spoke in the same tone. Dana continued with a suspicious look.
“Where’s Larilura?”
“She’s downstairs ordering snacks. I came back early so we could all drink together before the New Year.”
“……For real? Now I feel like the bad guys here. We were just about to have our own little drinking party without you.”
“Just the three of you?”
When I asked, Franc took the liquor I had brought as naturally as if she were helping her husband with his bags after work—her effortless, breathing-like movements somehow captivated me—and gave an awkward smile.
“Yeah. We thought you might come back to the inn, so… we figured Larilura had waited long enough, and we should at least give her this small celebration.”
“That’s right. But seeing how the husband came back early, it looks like our unnecessary consideration was pointless.”
With that, Dana took off her outer coat and casually pulled out a bottle. The way she grinned showed she was clearly pleased.
“Whoa, this looks seriously strong just by looking at it. Our youngest is pretty brave.”
“I bought it thinking I’d water it down a bit if it was too much. Honestly, the only low-alcohol stuff they had was beer.”
“Mm. Good job. If we need more, we can always buy from the inn.”
My wives were just as flustered as I was, but it seemed they had considered this possibility. Without making a big fuss, they set out glasses on the table.
Since everyone was already in their outdoor clothes, the room somehow ended up with a proper party atmosphere. It was a relief. If I had been even a little later, we would have completely missed each other.
“I’m back~♡! Did the unnies wait long?”
Once everything was ready, Larilura came up carrying the snacks. Since we had already eaten, she brought easy-to-eat cookies and some soup dishes.
The time was already 11:59. The countdown to the New Year was about to begin.
We sat close together and poured Larilura a drink as well. Dana chuckled and nudged my shoulder.
“Hey, husband. Why don’t you give a little toast?”
“Me? ……Ahem, sure.”
This was also a kind of year-end gathering, I suppose.
There were still mountains of things to do, but none of them could be solved by rushing right now, so my heart felt a little lighter.
Even in the middle of such busy days, it was fine to have a day like this once in a while.
“Then, let us celebrate Larilura’s coming of age, and pray that next year will be a happy New Year without any major incidents…”
““““Cheers!!””””
─Clink!
In the inn room where our glasses clinked together, the clear sound of bells ringing from the order echoed like background music.
That was the last moment I could clearly remember.
“Senior. Senior.”
“Ughhh……?”
I opened my eyes to the voice ringing in my ear, feeling like my skull was splitting open.
The familiar pain told me it was a hangover. I clutched my head. I should have realized it when the restaurant staff warned me about the alcohol content. The punch hidden behind that sickeningly sweet taste had been far stronger than I imagined.
I had deliberately loosened the tension in my body instead of circulating mana—since mana would have sobered me up instantly—but that decision had clearly backfired.
“Senior. Are you okay?”
“Ugh…… yeah, my head hurts a bit, but why…?”
“I just woke up too, but you looked really pale. Let’s go down to the counter for a moment and get some medicine.”
Larilura looked at me with worry. I rubbed my blurry eyes, which felt like I was wearing wet glasses, and nodded.
The liquor must have been incredibly strong. Even Dana was still sound asleep and showed no signs of waking.
I tried to circulate mana to strengthen my liver, only to realize there was almost no mana left in my body.
Had I done something while drinking? Oh, right. I had stored the remaining mana in my jade seal so I could get properly drunk. But even after fumbling inside my clothes, I couldn’t find it.
“Ughhh……”
“Careful. We’re going down the stairs.”
Larilura, who had been knocked out after just one drink, seemed to have less of a hangover. She supported me as we went down to the counter.
The inn staff seemed used to this. True to the inn’s expensive rates, they gave me simple treatment and left. This was when the magic of this other world was truly convenient.
“Senior, are you feeling better? Can you make it back up?”
“Yeah…… sorry. You must have a headache too.”
“……It’s fine. I already got treated first.”
Leaning on Larilura’s support, I climbed the stairs. Then, a sudden sense of unease hit me and I lifted my head.
“Rari, this isn’t our room──”
─Click.
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“Ah, no… it’s nothing. Did I see wrong?”
When Larilura, who had unlocked the door with a key, asked again, I answered in a daze.
I thought it was a different room, but since she opened it with a key, this had to be the right one. There was no way the door would open if the key didn’t fit. Even drunk, I knew that much.
─Creak.
Larilura opened the door and laid me down on the bed.
The treatment must have had some effect after all. Once I lay down and caught my breath, the headache slowly began to fade. I groaned for a while before sitting up. I was thirsty.
“Larilura, is there any water over there…?”
Only after sitting up did I finally realize the answer to this twisted game of spot-the-difference. I looked around the room and muttered in utter confusion.
“……Why aren’t the others here?”
“……Because it’s a different room?”
Even after hearing Larilura’s answer, I couldn’t understand.
My brain, still foggy from the alcohol, felt like it was floating in rose petal soup. Something pink approached me from the hazy lantern light.
Hair?
No. It was the face of a girl flushed red from intoxication and other emotions.
“When I ordered the snacks earlier, I rented a separate room.”
─Slide.
Larilura quietly murmured as she gently stroked my cheek as if touching something precious. Her cold, soft fingers felt nice against my burning skin.
“……The unnies, and even you, senior… you all secretly left me out every single day until yesterday, didn’t you?”
─Chu.
But that cold touch didn’t feel nearly as good as the warmth that followed when her lips met mine. With her clothes slightly disheveled, Larilura smiled faintly and whispered.
“You remember, don’t you, senior? That I’m not the type to just take it lying down.”
“…Larilura? Wait, this is──”
“When it’s just the two of us… I’m Priscilla.”
Her cold fingers touched my lips, which had grown as hot as fire.
I drew in a sharp breath. As the drunkenness faded, I began to see clearly the eyes of the girl I had thought was still a child. Within them swirled a woman’s secret possessiveness and heated desire.
“Even that name I hated so much… when you call me by it, senior, it sounds like praise.”
Her heated breath dyed her pale skin, illuminated by the faint lantern light, a rosy pink. The breaths brushing against my awakening senses were so stimulating they made my body hair stand on end.
“So the right to call my name… and the chance to give me my first surname… I will only allow you, senior, to have them.”
Her fumbling hands undid my belt. Blood rushed to my waist.
The disheveled clothes and lifted hem of her skirt were no accident caused by drunkenness. Nor was this some impromptu decision.
“I told you, didn’t I? We canceled the promise we made last time. So now… I can say it too.”
This was the work of a girl who had been aiming for this very moment all along—calculated with ruthless, meticulous precision.
─Slide.
Larilura moved the finger that had been covering my mouth to her own lips and spoke the exact line that some idiot had once uttered.
“Can I… like you too, senior?”
