Strange Thoughts Keep Sleep Away
Strange thoughts keep sleep away.
Karen's self-denial dragged on without end.
She stayed curled up, fretting so hard she lost all track of time.
This isn't my feeling. I'm—I'm being controlled…!
The vicious memories of Yosef still lodged in her mind crashed headlong into the man he had become.
What she had endured in the past was undeniably terrible. But memory weathers with time, and the feelings nested inside it grow weaker too.
—thump-thump-thump
Please, please…!
Yet every experience and memory she was living through now was vivid and alive. The past had been longer and far more shocking, but she could not deny that a bud of fondness had begun to grow.
"Karen."
"No, no, no…"
"Karen?"
"Y-yes?!"
Karen had been so busy replaying Yosef's voice inside her head that she had completely zoned out—but the real Yosef was right beside her, with only a single wall between them.
"I was thinking of heading out soon."
"Ah, yes! Just a moment, please!"
The instant work was handed to her, habit took over and she moved to help with Yosef's appearance.
—click
The door opened, and Yosef stood revealed.
"Uh…?"
In Karen's memory, Yosef had never once hidden the greed he felt toward her—not in his eyes, not in a single gesture. But the Yosef before her now was different. The wickedness was gone, leaving only an ordinary, handsome young man.
"Something wrong?"
"N-no…"
Karen had been so afraid that she had never truly faced him until now. She had never looked closely into his eyes, never seen the flustered expression he wore when his hand brushed her body. Looking at him now, though, she could tell. At the very least, the Yosef standing in front of her was not the man from the past.
—stagger
"Eh…?"
"Careful."
Until that moment Karen had been crouched on the floor, so lost in frantic thought that she never noticed the state of her own body—her legs had gone so numb from lack of circulation that a cramp seized them. Her strength gave out, and she toppled straight into Yosef's arms.
"You all right?"
It was not the thick, desire-soaked voice she knew, but a soft one full of concern, brushing against her ear.
"Looks like you overdid it today."
"N-no, I didn't…"
Yosef stroked her from the back of her neck up through her hair the way one might naturally soothe a girl. The touch sent a shiver racing down her nape.
"I know how hard you work for me every day."
"No—that's not…"
Gentle praise. Encouragement. Words she had never once heard before. All of it was so awkward and unfamiliar that she could no longer map the person in front of her onto the Yosef of the past.
"If you're going to stay by my side, you need to rest sometimes too. Don't you think?"
Karen had always kept her nerves stretched taut, braced for whatever trouble Yosef might cause. When something went wrong she worked day and night. Even on quiet days she never let her guard down, terrified he might come after her. And now Yosef was whispering that she should rest.
"Hooo…"
The bitterness of before had vanished, and the sweet words left behind churned through her mind. Everything bottled up inside her was so stifling and confused that she tried to force it out with a long breath—but nothing came. This was neither poison nor medicine. It was words, and thoughts, and a heart.
"Sit for a moment."
"Pardon?"
Yosef slipped an arm around her waist and set her down gently. At that soft touch, Karen could only blink, at a complete loss.
—squeeze
"Nngh…?!"
Then he began carefully massaging her leg, working the cramp free.
"Ah—ahh!"
"This is the fastest way to loosen it."
"I know that, but…!"
Everyone knew that when a muscle cramped, you had to knead it out by hand.
"Hnn?!"
But having Yosef massage her leg stirred shame and fear at the same time.
In a state this defenseless, what if he…?
Karen watched him carefully, half-convinced he was toying with her—
—squeeze, squeeze
—but he was massaging her leg with genuine care. He did not linger over the places he had worked, nor look at her with any strange light in his eyes. Once the fear faded, all that remained was embarrassment.
How did it come to this…
Having a man of marriageable age rub her leg was, for a young woman like Karen, intensely mortifying.
—thump-thump-thump
"…"
And at the same time, it was an act that left her wildly tense and trembling.
Alice had been told by Karen to go to her room and rest.
Is it really all right for me to just rest?
But Alice was fairly good at reading a room, and kind by nature. No matter how many times she was told not to worry, she still went looking for something she could help with—the sort of meddlesome heroine she was.
I should check once. If she's struggling with something, I ought to help.
With that good intention, Alice left her room. Most of the mansion was shut up except for the rooms in use, so there was only one place she would go.
If there's work to do, it's probably something she's handling at Yosef's side, right?
She climbed the stairs from her room on the first floor toward Yosef's room on the second.
"Nngh…?!"
"…!!!"
Karen's soft cry reached her ears.
W-what?!
The instant she heard it, Alice dropped low on the stairs, trying to keep herself out of sight.
"Ah—ahh!"
"This is the fastest way to loosen it."
"I know that, but…!"
Yosef's voice came through as well. The bathroom was divided into a shower room and a dressing room; Yosef had finished showering and stepped out into the dressing room where Karen was waiting. Because the sounds were coming from behind a closed bathroom door, Alice could not make out the exact words. Karen had shut the door behind her precisely so that Alice would not overhear.
"Hnn?!"
But there was no mistaking the other person's soft cry. Alice retreated at once, crawling carefully back down the stairs without a sound, and returned to her room.
No way—no way?!
Karen had warned her countless times. Yosef was wildly interested in women, so she had to be careful.
Has Yosef finally shown his true colors?
The Yosef Alice had seen so far had seemed rather serious. But with Karen's warnings in mind, she had been taking her time trying to get at the truth.
They also said he cares most about looks at banquets.
On top of that, Yosef himself had once mentioned that he judged by appearance when taking on maids.
He's always been light with me, though…
Every bit of physical contact Yosef had made with Alice so far had been little more than teasing. He had never once done anything that looked like he was truly after a woman's body. And yet Karen seemed to be going through something very strange with him.
What am I supposed to do now?
Alice always judged people by seeing them for herself, no matter what rumors flew. And since the man in question had said he picked maids by their faces, it was clear he took a strong interest in women.
Am I still fine for now? But Karen isn't fine—and if I get any closer, will I end up like her too…?
That was as far as Alice's guesses could take her.
The next morning, Karen forced her exhausted body up, thrashing against the sheets.
"Haaawn…"
She had not slept. For much the same reason as Alice. Just as Alice had lain awake imagining what was going on between Yosef and Karen, Karen herself had spent the night lost in wild fantasies and never managed to sleep.
How am I supposed to sleep after something like that!
She had been confessed to—told to stay with him for life—and then massaged by his own hands. After that she had still had to wash his body. In the past she had thought of all of it as nothing more than the daily routine of master and maid, but the moment she began to see Yosef as a man, every act felt intensely suggestive.
Even so, she was a professional maid whose body had been trained by habit. She went straight to wake Alice.
"Lady Alice?"
"…Yeees?"
"Why do you look even sleepier than yesterday? Was the bed still not right for you after all?"
"Ahaha, well—I think that might be it…"
Alice was carrying a secret she could not share with Karen.
Should I tell her I found out the two of them were in the bathroom together last night? Better not, right?
It had only been two days since she met Karen. They were not close enough yet to trade deep personal secrets. In the end Alice kept her mouth shut and locked her worries tightly away in her heart.
At dawn, Yosef was already waiting at the front gate to receive Gaia's Armor.
"You two all right?"
"Yeees…!"
"Yes, we're fine!"
Alice started to drag the word out and then jacked her voice up high at the end; Karen forced her energy up to answer. Both of them had something to feel guilty about, so they raised their voices to prove nothing was wrong.
"If you say so, then I suppose so. First period at the Academy ends early, so maybe we should take a nap?"
"…Pardon?"
Karen's face went pale. She still had not fully accepted deep down that Yosef had become kind, so she immediately suspected his kindness.
"W-where exactly would we be sleeping?"
What rose next in her mind, though, were the memories of yesterday and this gentle Yosef. So she wondered whether, just as he had treated her kindly, he might also mean for them to sleep together.
"We'd come home and sleep, of course?"
Yosef said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. With a fine mansion and fine beds provided, there was no reason to sleep anywhere else.
"Ahaha, right. Of course."
"You really must be exhausted."
"N-no, I'm not!"
Karen put on a show of being perfectly fine so she would not get scolded, but the way her lips trembled made it plain she was pushing herself hard.
"Fine. If you're that tired, you can just sleep through class."
"Is that allowed?"
This time it was Alice who answered him.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Um… because if you sleep, your grades go down?"
"Even if your grades are low, neither of you will fail or get expelled."
"What?! Is that true?!"
"Of course. A maid's primary duty is to attend her master—why would they fail you for that?"
If the Academy forced nobles and their attendants apart, the nobles would protest at once. Bringing entire households of servants was too many people to allow, but a loophole existed so that the smaller number of personal attendants could still come along. The trade-off was that if you failed to meet the graduation requirements, you simply did not receive a diploma. If you wanted to keep up with classes, you kept up on your own; if you did not need a diploma, you focused on attending your master.
"Wow…"
"That said, don't go in thinking you can skip the exams. Etiquette is one thing, but studying is a level you can reach quickly if you put in the effort."
"Not a chance! I have to do well on the exams, you know?"
Alice answered with full confidence, the grueling gauntlet of Korea's college entrance exam flashing through her mind.
"Once I graduate I'll be on my own, won't I? I have to become a great mage and prepare to make my way in the world!"
Alice's circumstances forced her to study. Her family would give her no support whatsoever, so she had to find a way to survive alone.
"If you want, I could keep you with me."
"…What?"
Alice's mind simply stopped. She had been fretting since last night about Yosef's interest in women, so his words naturally connected to something far more questionable.
"What do you mean by—"
—clatter-clatter
"It's here."
But Alice never got her answer. Yosef's secret weapon—Gaia's Armor—had arrived.