Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: I Didn't Intrude...
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Iris and her companions strolled down the street. Though their numbers had grown due to an unexpected addition,
since it was an outing with a clear purpose from the start, their steps showed no hesitation.
But unlike the others, Iris felt a twinge of embarrassment.
'...This is driving me crazy.'
Just one extra person from the previous outing, yet cold sweat seemed to trickle down her back.
A sensation like walking on thin ice.
One misstep, and she'd plunge into the frigid water with a splash.
Iris glanced to the side.
On one side, Charlotte rubbed her eyes as she followed along.
Next to her, Michelle walked with her usual expression.
'...She was growling a minute ago.'
Why'd she go quiet?
Iris recalled the conversation she'd had with Leona just moments earlier. Afterward, Michelle had fallen as silent as a tamed dog.
The sudden arrival, Leona, had lobbed a straight ball at Iris.
"I wish the teacher would tell me."
A bit flustered, but knowing Leona's temperament, Iris quickly fired back.
"Irene didn't say anything, so wouldn't it be weird for me to bring it up?"
"...That's."
Leona's face flushed with embarrassment at Iris's retort.
Indeed, it was.
To pry behind her master's back into something she'd chosen to keep silent.
Perhaps shocked at herself for overlooking something so important in her worry.
Her flustered expression soon shifted from realization to self-reproach.
Michelle, overhearing it all, unwittingly lowered her bristled tail and reverted to her usual face.
Leona's goal didn't seem to involve Iris, after all.
...Though it was amusing she didn't pull that on Charlotte—who'd shared "that" experience—no one pointed it out.
Anyway.
Iris, having mulled over Leona's nature and struck her weak spot, swallowed a quiet sigh of relief.
It was only natural she couldn't blab about Irene's secret, and telling Leona felt deeply awkward besides.
The last ending she'd seen before arriving here was Leona and Irene getting together, after all.
They weren't one of those couples that clicked automatically in most routes, but to Iris, it felt like reporting an NTR to her lover.
'Did she come sniffing around for that?'
Either way, Iris knew Leona cared deeply for Irene.
Assuming Leona would head off after wrapping up her business, Iris continued on with the group.
But nope.
Leona turned and followed the group.
As if she'd been one of them all along.
Michelle, already relaxed, and Charlotte beside her turned to Iris. Meeting their eyes, Iris felt awkward and addressed Leona.
"Uh, um... You planning to tag along?"
"Is that a problem?"
"...I don't think anything about Irene will come up."
"Doesn't matter."
As Iris tilted her head, Leona continued slowly.
"Her Highness went out yesterday, so today it's my turn, she said. Whether I listen or not, I planned to go out anyway."
So, why not join while she's at it?
With even Charlotte already roped in, Iris couldn't find grounds to refuse and nodded.
Oblivious to the faint sighs from those behind her.
It didn't take long for Iris—who'd figured nothing major would happen—to realize she was wrong.
'....'
She walked, sensing the gaze fixed on her.
She felt Michelle and Charlotte glancing over, but Leona's stare—pursuing her with a stoic face—felt blatantly overt.
A gaze brimming with intent to scrutinize her every move without missing a thing.
'She didn't back off.'
Is she still fishing for something...?
Logically, while wandering around, the odds of yesterday's events coming up in talk or action were slim to none.
Even so.
'...It's so burdensome.'
Iris felt needless pricks in her heart.
In the world she'd entered, Irene and Leona developing into lovers seemed unlikely.
Even so.
Because the final scene she'd witnessed was Leona and Irene confirming their feelings for each other.
Iris found Leona's gaze deeply... unsettling. Like the stare of someone whose lover had been stolen.
She felt wronged, too.
For Iris, striving not to "intrude," it was par for the course.
But with that lingering aftertaste still faintly there, she couldn't muster words for Leona.
In this world with "futanarization"—absent from the one she'd seen—Iris might even be the victim, but whatever.
Amid that, a thought bubbled up in Iris's mind.
'...How would super-loyal Leona react if she knew what went down yesterday?'
No matter how it played out, Leona's anger—if any—would likely aim at her, not Irene.
While Iris tormented herself inwardly.
Leona observed Iris.
Without any attempt to hide it, just as blatantly as Iris sensed.
First to catch her eye: those enormous breasts.
Possibly the largest she'd ever seen.
There might've been bigger, but visually, Iris stood out most.
Leona quickly pinpointed why.
'Her height...'
Short.
Petite, if you put it nicely, but definitely short.
Such a dainty frame bearing something so disproportionately huge naturally amplified the effect.
'...Does Her Highness like big breasts?'
Why would someone who'd never sought contact before suddenly want to get close to another?
With Irene saying nothing, Leona had no clue why she wanted to bond with Iris.
She obeyed orders unquestioningly, but the bond between childhood companions Leona and Irene wasn't so straightforward.
Rather than resent Irene's silence, Leona opted to investigate personally via the opening she'd provided.
Stroking her chin while thinking of Irene, Leona glanced down at her own chest.
Not small enough to call tiny without guilt, but not quite huge either.
'No way...'
She wouldn’t choose someone for interaction or association based on breasts, right?
Leona dismissed it as absurd, yet recalled Irene's unpredictability since childhood.
'Nah...'
Shaking her head inwardly, Leona resumed observing Iris.
Flinch.
Her eyes met Iris's quick glance; Leona didn't look away.
Golden irises faintly laced with light green quivered.
Winner of the impromptu staring contest: Leona.
Staring openly, Leona found those eyes beautiful.
In that case.
'Are those eyes the reason?'
While hunting for why Irene took interest in Iris, Leona realized her criteria skewed heavily toward looks.
'Gotta check her personality.'
But it wasn't as simple as she'd hoped.
For whatever reason, Iris huddled tensely, staying silent.
She walked mutely, avoiding interaction with those nearby.
Wondering if her gaze was the culprit, Leona eased it off briefly, but Iris remained unchanged.
Leona felt troubled. They seemed stuck together awhile longer.
She'd already abandoned grilling about Irene's antics.
But Iris acting like she harbored some feelings toward her...
It reignited questions in the Leona who'd given up.
'Why's she acting like that?'
...No way.
Right?
While Leona's mind swelled with alarming speculations.
The group, steeped in that odd vibe, soon reached their destination.
The heavy silence shattered instantly.
"Teacher! How's this one?"
"Ah, um. I'll try it on."
"This looks nice too."
"...Hand me that one. I'll give it a shot."
Iris had volunteered as clothes rack, vanishing into the fitting room with an armful.
Leona, shoving thoughts aside, watched silently from a step back.
Soon, Iris emerged, drawing back the curtain after changing.
A white dress accentuating her bare shoulders, but she looked awkward somehow.
Her ample chest had bunched the hem upward, making her seem stockier overall.
Charlotte and Michelle gazed at her pityingly, grabbing other outfits. Plenty more to try.
"Hmm..."
Leona, well-practiced at dressing others in service to Irene, eyed it disapprovingly before scanning around.
Her gaze landed on some cute straps.
Leona snatched them up and strode over to Iris.
"Teacher."
At her low call, Iris—turning to swap outfits—looked her way.
Seeing Leona right there, Iris said with a slightly sullen expression.
"Ah, yes. Did you bring another...?"
"Not quite, but hold still."
Leona tidied the dress with the straps.
The curtain-like drape that had sagged straightened, bound into a makeshift "boob pocket," morphing the silhouette from R to P.
Leona nodded in satisfaction and stepped back; Michelle and Charlotte, selecting more, burst into admiration.
"Whoa, didn't know there was a trick like that."
"Looks great."
Under their pleased stares, Iris scratched her cheek.
'...Emphasizes the chest way too much.'
Won't this spark any sexual buzz?
She snuck glances at the others.
Michelle and Charlotte clapped with delighted faces.
No signs of arousal.
'Phew...'
Iris briefly wallowed in self-loathing for even doing this, but deeming it necessary, she steadied herself.
And checked Leona's face ahead.
"Hmm... Proportions are definitely solid."
"Ah, yeah... Um, thanks?"
The abrupt compliment left Iris fidgeting awkwardly.
Inwardly grumbling she wasn't thrilled, but the subtle good vibe was hard to hide.
'Still...'
Iris felt her vague unease toward Leona easing.
"Thanks. Makes picking clothes a lot smoother."
So Iris gazed at Leona with a faint smile.
As the indistinct anxiety faded from her face, only a shy smile lingered in Leona's eyes.
From behind came Michelle and Charlotte's echoes of agreement and praise.
Leona felt an odd sensation.
Nothing special—she got thanks from Irene too.
But acclaim like this from others? Unfamiliar.
A strangely fresh vibe.
'Is this why Her Highness sent me out?'
Not bad at all, so Leona smiled faintly and pitched in with outfit selection.
Unlike the start, the mood was now warm and lively.
Then.
Iris stepped out in a slightly peculiar dress.