Incurable Disease (6)
I blinked lightly, then sat bolt upright.
"...When did I fall asleep?"
Looking around, I realized I was no longer in the cavern of the lair where I had lain down to rest. This was the small room Gergius had prepared for our party.
Inside was something resembling a bed made of clean wool—softer than any actual bed, in fact... No, that wasn't the important part.
I must have drifted off without realizing it. The others had probably carried me here.
It had been so comfortable that my eyelids had simply closed. Why did resting on a woman's lap always make drowsiness creep over me like that?
"Letisia didn't see that... right?"
"See what?"
"Whoa—?!"
I had been looking to the right, only to find Letisia already sitting on my left.
"Wh-what brings you here?"
"Why the formal speech all of a sudden?"
"I just... didn't know you were there."
How long had she been sitting there?
"...A-and the others?"
"Mersius is resting a little. Gergius and Caesius are preparing the meal."
"Ah, is that so?"
They would probably force-feed me an absurd amount of meat again today. It tasted good enough that I couldn't complain, but I was starting to worry I might turn into a pig at this rate.
I must have been wearing a complicated expression, because Letisia gave a small smile and said,
"Did you enjoy Mersius's lap?"
"...Excuse me?"
"I saw you. You refused my lap pillow, yet there you were, resting your head on Mersius's knees."
She saw...?
Watching Letisia speak like that, I could only break out in a cold sweat.
"I wasn't the one who suggested it first, though..."
I started to make excuses, then froze at the look on her face. Her eyes had crumpled slightly—the kind of expression that looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. Everything else went out the window; I apologized first.
"...I'm sorry."
Letisia simply stared at me. Then, all of a sudden, the corners of her mouth lifted and she let out a light laugh.
"...Pfft."
"...?"
Did she just laugh—
"Aren't you a little too weak to tears?"
"Wait, were you faking that?"
"Yes. Since you were the one in the wrong first, I decided to tease you a little."
"..."
I had nothing to say to that.
As I scratched my head, Letisia laughed lightly, as if she found the whole thing amusing, and continued.
"Of course I understand why you rejected my offer and accepted Mersius's... but still, aren't you being a little too dense?"
"...Even so, I can't keep sticking close to you when Clara isn't around. No matter how much society or convention might allow it..."
Coming from an era where monogamy was the absolute norm, I couldn't help feeling guilty. But Letisia tilted her head slightly and said,
"That's not what I meant. I'm talking about Mersius. If you're doing this because you feel bad for Clara, shouldn't you be pushing her away more than me?"
"Huh?"
"Do you really not know, Albrecht?"
Letisia sighed. Then she rose from her seat and, without warning, climbed onto the wool bed where I was lying.
"L-Letisia?"
I called her name in flustered surprise, but instead of backing off the way she usually would, she only drew closer.
Sensing that what was coming was finally here, I tried to push her away at once—yet Letisia simply stopped right there and stared straight at me, doing nothing else.
With those jewel-like eyes fixed on me so steadily, all sorts of thoughts flooded in. How pretty her eyes were. How sharper her nose bridge was than I'd expected. How remarkably smooth her skin remained despite a life that forced her into constant sunlight.
And above all... the way her ears twitched with what looked like pure delight as she looked at me was so captivating that, for a moment, I felt the urge to reach out and touch them.
The moment those strange thoughts surfaced, my mind snapped back into place. Feeling a little dazed, I called her name again.
"...Letisia?"
"How do you feel?"
"What?"
Still gazing at me, Letisia parted her lips.
"I asked how you feel right now."
"What does that have to do with anything...?"
"Hurry up. Tell me what you're feeling. If you don't, I'll go tell Clara you rested your head on another woman's lap."
"That's a little underhanded..."
I glanced away for a second, then looked back at her and answered.
"It's... a little embarrassing..."
When someone who liked me was that beautiful, and when that someone was staring at me so intently, feeling embarrassed was simply inevitable.
Letisia smiled brightly.
"Right? But Mersius has always looked at you like this."
"...Huh?"
Mersius had?
Thinking back... it had only been three days, but Mersius had constantly tried to stay by my side. I had assumed it was simply gratitude.
"Do you understand now? She has feelings for you, Albrecht. Well, you did save her life, so falling for her benefactor isn't that strange..."
"W-wait. She's a dragon."
"She says that doesn't matter."
"It doesn't matter?"
At my question, Letisia nodded.
"Love between dragons and humans happens quite often. Both are higher beings with intellect, emotion, and reason, so understanding each other isn't difficult."
"Uh..."
Thinking about it, that made sense. Dragons could take human form, so appearance wasn't an issue. As long as they understood each other, love that transcended species was... perfectly possible?
So that's why there have always been so many novels and comics about romancing dragons.
Which meant Mersius was...
"...Hmm."
"You get it now? She's more dangerous than I am."
"I suppose so... Thanks for telling me."
Not every dragon was as indifferent as Caesius. The fact that many of them fell in love with humans was unexpected.
Mersius had probably developed feelings of affection out of gratitude after I cured her. But that didn't mean I could stay bound to this lair, so as grateful as I was for her feelings, I would have to refuse them.
I needed to be careful...
"So from now on, ask me for the lap pillow."
"...Wouldn't it just be better if I came here to sleep from now on? I keep dozing off from exhaustion."
"You're dancing around saying no, aren't you?"
"..."
I scratched my head, and Letisia sighed. Still without climbing down from the wool bed, she drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them.
Then she rested her chin lightly on her knees and murmured while looking my way.
"Still, the way you get embarrassed just from being stared at... means it's not like you have no feelings at all."
"...!"
Letisia spoke with a slightly sulky tone.
"Do you really need to feel that sorry toward Clara? It's not even that strange."
"That's..."
How was I supposed to explain that things weren't like that where I came from? In an age where most nations practiced polygamy or polyandry, no less.
When I struggled to answer and looked troubled, Letisia watched me quietly before speaking again.
"Of course... I don't want to put you in a difficult position, Albrecht."
"..."
"And just being able to look at you this closely is already quite satisfying. Compared to thinking I'd never see you again... I'm more than grateful."
As she said that, Letisia's face flushed faintly. The lightly reddened cheeks were adorable.
"That's a really happy thing to hear, but..."
"Even so..."
Letisia's cat ears drooped slightly. In a somewhat dejected voice, she whispered,
"...I get hurt too, you know."
I couldn't say a word.
There were two reasons I kept pushing Letisia away.
Was it really all right to just surrender to the conventions of this era and follow wherever my heart led? Wouldn't that be far too unfair to Clara, who had found the courage to approach me first?
Those doubts were inevitable. By the common sense of someone who wasn't from this world, dating more than one woman was cheating.
Even if it was institutionally and socially accepted... the very fact that people used the word "accepted" meant not everyone lived that way.
"...I-I'm sorry."
In the end, all I could do was apologize to Letisia. She let out a soft sigh.
"...Haa."
She must have been tired. I would have been too. Especially since she didn't even know the real reason I was rejecting her.
Feeling guilty, I lowered my head and stared at the wool I was sitting on—
"The sympathy-inducing strategy doesn't seem to work on you."
"...Huh?"
What did she just—
"Albrecht."
Calling my name, Letisia suddenly snatched my hand. My seated body toppled backward, and I flopped onto the wool.
"What are you—?!"
"I've decided to act a little more selfishly now."
"What?"
Letisia slowly lowered her head.
Watching her face draw closer and closer, I tried to escape, but after burning through so much mana since morning, my body simply wouldn't obey. Our Strength stats were equal now, yet I still couldn't break free—that had to be the only reason.
"Urgh, Letisia...!"
"Stay still."
She pinned down my struggling form and pressed her face even closer. Our faces grew nearer still.
C-Clara, I'm sorry...!!
"Sniff."
"...?"
Letisia buried her nose against the nape of my neck and inhaled. I had thought she was about to force a kiss with how close her face was getting, but instead she passed right by my lips and headed for my neck.
"...W-wait, what are you doing?!"
"Don't push me away, Albrecht."
"I won't push if you stop doing weird things!"
"I'm not doing anything weird."
"You're doing it right now!!"
But Letisia was completely unfazed. She casually overpowered my attempts to shove her off and refused to budge.
This kind of behavior was dangerous in more ways than one. It was embarrassing enough on its own, but having a beautiful woman like Letisia bury her nose against my body and breathe in my scent... how could that not be stimulating?
I kept trying to push her away, but when she didn't move an inch, I finally gave up and asked,
"W-why are you suddenly doing this...?"
"I want to memorize your scent."
"What?"
"Cat-kin remember the scent of the person they love so that no matter what form they take, no matter where they are, they can always find them."
Letisia spoke.
"Of course, they can only do that for one person. Once you memorize someone's scent, you can't overwrite it with anyone else's."
"...Huh?"
"So we only do it for the person we intend to love for the rest of our lives."
I flinched. Looking closely, Letisia even had her eyes closed and her ears folded back, completely focused on taking in my scent. Every one of her senses seemed concentrated on her sense of smell.
The person she would love for life...
"I'm only a half-blood, so it's a little less developed, but I still have it for certain. So I'm going to memorize your scent, Albrecht."
As she said that, Letisia was smiling softly. For a moment, something tight and aching resonated in my chest.
Caught in that indescribable feeling, I stopped resisting and went limp. Letisia soon lifted her head and said,
"There. I've memorized it properly."
"...Is that really okay?"
"What is?"
Looking satisfied, Letisia rose from her spot.
"Are you asking what happens if I end up liking someone else?"
"...Yeah. That could happen, right?"
"Then I suppose it can't be helped."
"Huh...? You just said you can only memorize one person for life..."
"It's fine. Even if that really happens, I..."
Letisia said,
"Don't think I'd regret it much."
"..."
"And Albrecht, keep one thing in mind."
Climbing down from the wool bed, she continued.
"There aren't many people who don't discriminate against half-bloods the way you do. Which means there aren't many people I could fall in love with to begin with..."
Then she spun around and beamed at me.
"And among them, how many could possibly be as wonderful as you?"
"...!"
"So the odds of me falling for anyone other than you are extremely low, don't you think?"
With that bright smile, she turned again and walked out. I covered the nape of my neck—where Letisia had buried her nose—with one hand.
"..."
She had said she would remember a person by their scent. Only one person, for life.
The fact that she had chosen me for that was... incredibly...
"Haa..."
I let out a long breath. Then I wiped a hand over my burning face and muttered in despair.
"Clara... what the hell am I supposed to do?"