The Hidden Notebook
"Huh, that's..."
Oh Makatasrama Ehin Huztaya Mia Arkebats. The self-proclaimed extremely cute genius beautiful girl alchemist turned her gaze toward the corner shelf the Counselor had painstakingly organized before leaving. Once the scattered materials on the floor were tidied away, something familiar caught her eye in the newly revealed space beneath the shelf. She stepped closer, moved a few more items aside, and there it was—a single notebook, covered in dust.
The thick notebook, bound in dark leather, bore the marks of many years. "I thought I'd lost it... to think it was this close all along."
She opened the notebook with a wistful expression, thinking it was like footprints hidden in the shadow at her feet, and ran her finger along the writing on the first aged, yellowed page. Witch's Forbidden Recipes. Every recipe listed here was one she had personally created and recorded—only those whose side effects were far from trivial compared to their effects made it into this separate section. And there were so many that even flipping through the pages rapidly didn't reveal blank ones anytime soon.
"...Hmm... Huh? What's this?"
Her finger stopped on a page, and her expression turned peculiar as she examined it. "This recipe... I'm sure I've seen it somewhere before..." It felt incredibly familiar, as if she'd just been making it moments ago. "...Ah."
She realized it immediately. The aphrodisiac she had given the Counselor earlier. She had thought she used a known recipe, but it turned out to be one of the forbidden recipes recorded here. "Side effects... the side effects..."
She hurriedly scanned the text with her finger, searching for the section on side effects that was surely written somewhere. "Ah, here it is. Where... When administered orally to an adult human male at the dosage of Urnero, it shows immediate effect... and the accompanying side effects include..."
Her finger trembled slightly as it came to a stop. With a small sigh, she parted her lips but remained silent for a moment. Then, as if nothing had happened, she gently closed the notebook. She returned it to its original spot and casually piled the items back on top, as though burying it. "This body saw nothing... Yeah, this body doesn't know anything."
Even a genius has things she doesn't know, and everyone makes mistakes, she told herself... and turned away from the ordeal awaiting the Counselor.
*
Today, I really hoped things would go smoothly with just conversation. But once again, Scarlet didn't let me leave work quietly. One of my shirt's top buttons came off, so it won't fasten properly now, and because Nero had been enthusiastically sucking on it, there's a clear lipstick mark on the once-white collar in the unmistakable shape of a woman's lips. She claimed it was an accident, but it was obviously deliberate—her goal, of course, being her rivalry with Nero.
Their little war of nerves was getting messier and more blatant by the day, and I was caught in the middle, suffering for it. When I placed a hand on my chest, I felt the cool touch of the glass bottle in my inner pocket. The aphrodisiac I'd received from Arke... I'd managed to bring it, but... an ostrich egg? No way. No matter how I thought about it, that side effect didn't seem trivial at all. She'd said the side effects were minor compared to the effect, so... maybe the performance was going to be insane. The other side effects weren't exactly reassuring either, but above all, I wanted to avoid the ostrich egg at any cost.
Of course, the best outcome would be resolving the situation smoothly without using the drug at all. "Nero, I'm home..." "Master, hehe..."
But that was just my wishful thinking. The moment I opened the door and saw Nero standing shyly in the entrance, waiting for me, I felt a sense of crisis. "Nero... where on earth did you get that outfit?" "You taught me how to order things last time, remember? You said if I needed anything, I should just buy it. So I did, and it really came right to the door."
"Something I needed..." Since she'd been handling all the meal prep lately while I was out, I'd told her she could buy whatever she needed. But that... was it a maid outfit? The basic black-and-white color scheme with ribbons and frills felt a bit excessive. And unlike the neat, modest, and tidy image that usually came to mind with maids, the fabric area was strangely minimal—more like a costume designed for something other than actual work.
The blatantly exposed cleavage and the thighs peeking out from under the short skirt, with the flesh pressed tightly by the garter belt holding up the stockings, kept drawing my eyes. She seemed aware of my gaze, subtly turning her body or bending at the waist to emphasize her figure. "...How is it?" "..."
Still... this much, I could handle. After all, we'd been intimate more than ten times in the past week alone. I wasn't going to fall for temptation that easily anymore. "Ugh..." But then there were the pair of cat ears poking out from behind the frilly headband, and the long tail hanging down from under the short skirt, swishing and making the hem flutter. The synergy with the maid outfit was devastating.
"Speechless, huh?" "Ah... well, that's..." "I'm your personal cat maid. Nyaang~"
...Ah. While I stood there dazed by the sudden display of cuteness, she approached like always, helped me out of my coat, and gave me a sly smile. Her pretty, cat-like eyes curved into an enchanting crescent, and as my gaze followed her retreating back, she had already fished the brown glass bottle out of my coat's inner pocket. ...I messed up.
"Come to think of it, today's the day, right? I wonder if our former master was doing well without me." She must have prepared the maid outfit knowing I was bringing something home today. Pretending not to know, she played innocent for a moment, then brought the glass bottle close to her ear and shook it once to check the contents. "Nero... actually..." "That lipstick mark... was it meant to make me angry?" "..."
I'd wanted to talk about the side effects, but I shut my mouth, guilty over failing to stop Scarlet's solo act. How long would Nero keep me trapped today? These days, Nero had become so skilled at nighttime activities that even I felt overwhelmed. It was like she'd caught a late wind—experience was making her noticeably better at it. I guess I have to use it, huh? The glass bottle seemed to grin sinisterly at me.
"Don't worry. Today, I'm your personal maid. I'll serve you properly after your hard day at work." "Yeah... right?" "Though there's only a few hours left until today ends." Since she was wearing the maid outfit, she'd serve wholeheartedly to match the concept—but the moment midnight struck, she'd go back to her usual intense self. The declaration made my knees weak.
"Ugh... ah... Nero, at least let me take off my clothes first... or wash up...?" As Nero slowly closed in, I fumbled at the entrance without even taking off my shoes, my eyes still darting to the aphrodisiac in her hand. No matter how I thought about it, using that thing felt like a bad idea. Maybe I was scared because of the side effects... or maybe it just felt wrong, leaving me uneasy. "No running away." "Ah, no, washing is just..." "You're going to sweat a lot anyway."
My attempt to buy even a little time by running away failed completely. I really felt anxious... She grinned mischievously, stuck out the tip of her tongue playfully, and grabbed both my hands, pulling me along. Unable to resist, I kicked off my shoes and was dragged inside. "Nero, I got it from Arke, but there's only one. Isn't it a waste to use it right away today? My condition's pretty good today too..." "Hmm?" "...?"
It was pathetic, but... I thought maybe I could manage without the aphrodisiac. The words left my mouth a beat too late. The cap on the glass bottle in Nero's hand was already off, and the contents were nowhere to be seen. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out, lips tightly closed as if holding something in her mouth, and she was looking at me. Only then did I understand.
"Mm, chu..." Before I could say anything more, she stretched forward and pressed her moist lips against mine. As our mouths naturally parted from the soft sensation, the liquid and its subtle taste flowed in, and I felt it on my tongue. The kiss, meant to silence my protests and make me drink the aphrodisiac, ended after a few tangled movements of our tongues and several swallows on my part. All that remained in my mouth was a faint lingering scent and the sticky mix of our saliva.
"Ah..." Just as I thought it felt surprisingly normal, "Ah?" A sensation I'd never experienced before surged up from my stomach like an explosion of heat. ...This wasn't so much an aphrodisiac as...