Sleeping Together (2)
“······?”
For a second, I thought I must have misheard. Isabella, of all people, hiccupping? No way.
“····Umm. You suddenly wrapped your arms around my waist, so I got startled and I didn’t mean to—hic!”
Just as she tried to come up with an excuse, another hiccup slipped out. I couldn’t see her face since I was holding her from behind, but the way her ears had turned an even deeper shade of red told me she was incredibly embarrassed.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered how much of a shock it must be for her to be embraced like this from behind.
‘Well, she’s never had any physical contact with a man before…’
Witch. That was the nickname people gave Isabella, but the rumors were definitely exaggerated. Others might not know it, but I understood that deep inside, she possessed the same delicate, girlish emotions as any other young woman.
“Hic! Aah… Why, why is this happening? Haha… Commoner, don’t mind me. It’ll stop soon—hic!”
It looked like the hiccups had properly taken hold. At this rate, they’d probably last at least thirty minutes. That would make it impossible to put her to sleep within fifteen minutes.
“Just wait a moment. I’ll fix it right away.”
I pulled back the curtain surrounding us and headed over to the instructor. I needed a cup and some cold water.
“Cold water and a cup? That won’t help with sleep.”
“It’s to stop the hiccups.”
“····? Well, alright. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
The instructor handed me the cup and water while saying, “I’m sure you have your reasons.” It seemed my reputation had reached even her. Still, she passed them over without much fuss.
Anyway, when I returned to where Isabella was with the cup and water, I found her sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her dry face with both hands. She must have felt mortified.
“Um, Lady Isabella.”
“!”
Isabella flinched so hard it looked like a cat whose fur had suddenly stood on end. She shot me a glare, her face flushed bright red. Hic! After another hiccup, she continued in a tiny, shrinking voice.
“Y-you’re back? But is that all? You said you’d stop the hiccups—hic!”
She stared at what I was holding with clear distrust. I simply chuckled and walked over to her. I filled the paper cup to the brim with water, stood in front of her, and spoke.
“You can stop them just by drinking water. From now on, just copy exactly what I do.”
I demonstrated as I spoke. First, I stood up straight, then bent at the waist until my upper body was at a perfect ninety-degree angle. Isabella’s face twisted into a bizarre expression. I ignored it and kept staring straight ahead. Bent at ninety degrees while looking forward. It was an incredibly ridiculous pose, but it was perfect for stopping hiccups.
In that position, I took a small sip from the paper cup and said,
“If you drink water in this difficult posture… you can stop the hiccups. You have to drink all the water in the cup.”
“······”
She looked at me like she’d just witnessed something she could never unsee. Yeah, it did look pretty weird. But this was a real method to stop hiccups, and now it was Isabella’s turn to do it exactly as shown.
“Alright, your turn.”
I filled the cup with water again and handed it to her. Isabella answered with a sullen expression.
“Does this actually work—hic!? …The posture is just too…”
“I guarantee it. Just do exactly as I say and it will definitely stop. Give it a try.”
This hiccup cure was something I’d looked up on YouTube back in the day. And so far, it had stopped every single case of hiccups without fail.
Eventually, Isabella snatched the cup with a clearly displeased face and said,
“It better work.”
She stood up, cup in hand. As expected of a daughter from a prestigious archduke’s family, she kept glancing at me, clearly conscious of my gaze. But when I urged her with a “Go on,” she finally bent at the waist to ninety degrees. Then she lifted her head to look straight ahead. Her ears were so red they looked ready to burst.
-Gulp… Gulp… Gulp…
Even with that sullen expression, she followed my instructions perfectly. The water sloshing inside the paper cup gradually disappeared. Once the cup was completely empty, she hurriedly straightened her upper body.
“······.”
And then she waited. To see if the hiccups would return.
“Oh…?”
They didn’t. My method had worked. Isabella broke into a wide smile and said,
“It really… worked?”
“See? I told you it would.”
A natural smile spread across Isabella’s face. It wasn’t her usual artificial, condescending smirk, but the pure, innocent smile of a child.
“You really know a lot. Even something like this.”
“Just random trivia. Shall we try again? We have less than ten minutes left.”
“Oh, right. We were in the middle of class.”
Isabella let out a soft chuckle and climbed back onto the bed. The embarrassment seemed to have faded somewhat; she now looked relaxed as she waited for me.
“Ahem.”
Her defenseless posture was rather sensual, so I cleared my throat awkwardly. Then I climbed onto the bed, moved behind her, and wrapped one arm around her waist.
Flinch!
Her body trembled, but only for a moment.
“······.”
But this time, the problem was me. My mind went completely blank. I had to do something, but how exactly had I put her to sleep before? As expected, the game and reality were on completely different levels. There was no way I could stay calm while holding such a beautiful girl from behind.
“Pfft…”
At that moment, Isabella burst into laughter. She suddenly grabbed my hand and said,
“Your breathing is pretty rough. So even you get flustered sometimes.”
“······.”
“That’s a relief. I felt like a child until just now, but now it feels like we’re on equal footing.”
As she spoke, Isabella provocatively pulled my arm tighter against herself. But judging by how her ears were burning red, she was clearly forcing herself to act composed and putting on a brave front. Strangely, that helped me relax instead.
“Ahem. Then let’s begin. Shall we start with image association?”
I closed my eyes as I spoke. Then I recalled the memory of how I had put her to sleep in the previous round. A pure white snowy field unfolded before me. But scattered everywhere were the flesh and corpses of monsters and demons. The stench was so strong it made my head throb. Yet in the middle of it all stood Isabella and me.
Isabella was nestled in my arms, breathing heavily.
Haah— Haah—
With every ragged breath, white puffs of air scattered and vanished into the air. Then she reached up and gently stroked my cheek.
—One last time, put me to sleep. I want to fall asleep listening to your voice.
The massive hole pierced through her abdomen. My heart grew icy cold. Why did the memory of the moment I had to let Isabella go come to mind now of all times?
But regardless of my will, the memory continued to flow. Just like before, I held Isabella in my arms and began the image association technique in a low voice.
—The whole world is a snow country.
“The whole world is a snow country.”
And I recited the memory exactly as it played. The Isabella from the memory and the Isabella in reality overlapped.
—No matter which direction you look, it’s nothing but a world filled with snow. A pure white horizon stretches out.
“No matter which direction you look, it’s nothing but a world filled with snow. A pure white horizon stretches out.”
In the memory, Isabella looked at me and gave a faint smile. The blood on her fingers that had stroked my cheek trickled down my face.
—But then, a blizzard starts to rage.
“But then, a blizzard starts to rage.”
Cough—
In the memory, Isabella spat out blood. When I frantically tried to stop the bleeding, she grabbed my arm and shook her head. Realizing the end was near, my shoulders began to tremble.
—Keep going.
But at her request, I continued reciting the image association. In a low voice, I said,
—The blizzard grows stronger and stronger. The freezing wind tears at your skin and dries it out. The snow piles up so quickly that your steps become heavier and slower.
The real Isabella began to shiver. She gripped my hand tightly, pulled her legs inward, and curled up. Still, I kept reciting the imagery from the memory.
—And in the middle of it, far, far away, you see a cave. Warm light is flowing out from the entrance of the cave.
In the memory, Isabella smiled faintly. She murmured, ‘The cave I like so much…’ and took my hand. I nodded and continued with the next line.
—We head straight for the cave. Even if the freezing gusts block our path, even if our legs keep sinking into the endlessly piling snow, we never stop to rest. And so, we finally reach the cave.
The real Isabella began to calm down. Her trembling shoulders grew still, and her labored breathing started to ease. I delivered the next line.
—We step inside the cave. Surprisingly, we can’t feel any of the terrifying blizzard outside. Just what is this mysterious cave? The deeper we go, the brighter the light becomes. At the end of the cave, there is a bonfire. A warm fire that melts our frozen bodies.
Cough— Cough—
Every time Isabella coughed in the memory, blood sprayed out. Blood was pooling around her mouth. Yet she smiled faintly and said,
—As expected… your sleeping method… always works… Now that we’ve reached the cave, I feel sleepy…
The life in Isabella’s eyes began to fade. When I took her hand, she silently nodded. It meant to continue.
—Surprisingly, around the bonfire sit the people we love. Our precious friends, our comrades, the professors, and even your sister. They’re all smiling at you. And you smile back at them. This cave is a place where your power doesn’t work.
Blink— Blink—
Isabella’s eyes began to close. Even though they weren’t fully shut, she said she could still clearly see inside the cave. She could see the faces of the precious people sitting around the bonfire, and she smiled faintly as she spoke.
—You’re sitting there too.
And she said that I was sitting among them. Right beside her. She rested her head on my shoulder, and I gave her one of my shoulders while we held hands.
—There, we… became completely connected.
And there, we finally became one. We, who could never have been together by any other means, were connected like this on the verge of death.
—I love you.
And that was it.
Isabella, held in my arms, smiled brightly. The tears that had welled in her eyes finally spilled over. Then the hand that had been stroking my cheek dropped limply like a puppet with its strings cut, and the white breaths that had been coming from her lips fell silent.
At last, she was freed from her long suffering.
“Snoooore… Snoooore…”
Only then did I snap out of my thoughts. Isabella was still nestled in my arms. She had fallen into a quiet sleep.
“Huuuh…?”
Her eyes snapped open. When exactly had she fallen asleep? She bolted upright and looked around, but Ed was nowhere to be seen. She hurriedly got off the bed and pulled back the curtains that had been blocking the view in all directions. The training room was completely empty. Class had ended.
“Huh…?”
Had she really slept for that long? Isabella clutched her head with both hands. To have shown such a defenseless side of herself—this was the first humiliation of her life. How could she have let herself look so sloppy!
“Wait…”
Suddenly feeling a chill, Isabella touched her mouth. Her fingers came away wet with drool. She had fallen asleep in such an unsightly manner. In a panic, she returned to where she had been sleeping and checked the pillow. It was soaked with a large wet patch from her drool.
“······.”
Cold sweat broke out. Why had she fallen asleep in such a completely defenseless state? What if her emotional control had failed?
“·····Ha, but I do feel refreshed.”
Still, it had been a deep, honey-like sleep. It had been a long time since she’d slept so soundly. Her mind, which had always felt foggy as if wrapped in mist, now felt crystal clear.
“Edga Fix······.”
Isabella murmured the name of the boy who had accomplished this miracle. Just thinking of him somehow made her smile. The cave he had described while putting her to sleep. That cave had been so incredibly warm. It was a cozy, happy cave where she could throw off all her worries and fears.
—Then kill that mutt.
But the moment Isabella could smile lasted only an instant. The memory of the saddest day suddenly flashed through her mind, and the smile that had bloomed on her face vanished without a trace. The fluttering emotion in her eyes began to disappear at a frightening speed.
Soon, her eyes returned to their usual state—completely devoid of light—as she stared into empty space. Then she twisted the corner of her mouth into a smirk and muttered,
“···Good. The deeper our relationship becomes…”
Black haze began to rise slowly. Isabella’s lips twisted grotesquely.
“The stronger I can become.”
Creak— Creak—
Feelings of denial began to surge. In her imagination, Ed was screaming, cursing her, calling her a trashy witch, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe, blaming himself.
“Hehe… Hehehe…”
The black haze spread in all directions. It was the strongest negative emotion she had absorbed recently. Isabella licked her lips and murmured,
“Delicious. It tastes so good.”
As she spoke, Isabella looked at the bed where she and Ed had been lying together. Her eyes curved wickedly.
“I wonder how long you’ll be able to endure.”
After leaving those final words, Isabella turned away. She left the training room and walked alone down the empty corridor. The black haze emanating from her body writhed wildly in every direction. And the torrent of negative emotion overflowing from her showed no signs of subsiding.