The Cat Burglar (2)
I woke up early that morning and spent the entire day in a daze. I was so out of it that the others beside me started worrying whether I was all right.
I couldn't help it. With everything that had happened the night before, my head was too tangled up to think about anything else.
Had last night been a misunderstanding? I tried telling myself that, but I kept arriving at the same conclusion: there was absolutely no way. When I opened my eyes, someone's shadow had clearly been there, and not only had their lips touched mine…
…Their tongue had slipped inside. How could that possibly be a mistake?
I had distinctly felt the texture of a tongue. There was even saliva left on my lips that wasn't mine. And the most surprising part was that the saliva had actually tasted sweet.
People often describe kissing someone they like as sweet, but that's just a way of expressing happiness… What I meant was that it had genuinely tasted sweet.
There's no way ordinary human saliva would taste sweet… right?
That ruled out pure-blooded humans like Erinn and Freya. So the culprit had to be among the remaining people.
Caesius and Mersius were obviously out. The two dragons were bound by contract, so they couldn't do something like that without my permission. Unless I'd given the order in my sleep-talk, neither of them could be the one.
That narrowed the candidates down to Clara, Letisia, and Ser-Aria. One of those three was the culprit.
"Hey, Clara."
"Hm?"
"Do elves' saliva have any special taste or anything like that?"
"…?"
Clara looked at me as if wondering why I would ask something like that. Feeling her gaze, I shook my head.
"Never mind, sorry. My head's a bit off today. Just forget I said anything."
"…Want to taste it?"
"Huh?"
Clara stared straight at me. More precisely, she seemed to be looking at my lips.
"…You said we'd do more once we got back."
"Uh…"
I had said that.
I glanced around. Behind Clara, Erinn was still resting in bed, Letisia was reading a book, and even Caesius and Mersius were peeking over.
"…There are too many eyes."
"Should I put this on?"
"Ah, no, not right now… I was just curious if there was any trait like that."
Clara looked a little disappointed as she spoke.
"…I don't know much about elves, so I wouldn't know. At least, I don't think my saliva tastes like that…"
"Ah."
Since Clara had been abandoned by her parents as a child, it was only natural that she wouldn't know much about elves even though she was one. I should ask Ser-Aria about this.
…But is there even a chance Ser-Aria is the culprit?
She likes alcohol more than me. She might kiss a bottle of booze, but she has no reason to kiss me. Absolutely none.
Of course she cares about me as a comrade, but nothing more than that.
Then the culprit is…
Clara or Letisia.
But looking at Clara's reactions so far, it was hard to see her as the culprit. If she'd already kissed me freely at night, she wouldn't be acting disappointed about not being able to do it now.
So who had done this?
There wasn't much more to think about, really.
"……"
I glanced over at the bed where Letisia was. She was reading a book again today, as if to stave off boredom. It suited her well, and the way she focused on the book gave her an intellectual beauty.
But…
…Her ears are red.
Not the cat ears hidden under her hat, but the perfectly normal human ears below them were slightly flushed red. She was clearly aware of my gaze.
Why would Letisia sneak a kiss on me in the middle of the night? The reason was easy to figure out with a little thought. She'd said something yesterday, after all.
There's a formula that can absorb mana from other people.
A mana absorption formula that required fluid exchange as a condition. If absorption was possible, the reverse would be easy to deduce. What confirmed it was Letisia's condition, which hadn't improved at all from yesterday.
After resting for a full day, there was no way her mana would still be the same. She recovered mana faster than anyone here. And I had more mana back than expected. If Letisia had shared a little of her mana, it would make sense.
I let out a small sigh, feeling a bit dumbfounded. And just as I was wondering what to do about this…
…?
Come to think of it, why was I worrying about what to do? Normally, I should be scolding Letisia for doing something like that without permission.
The moment that thought hit me, I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh.
…No, maybe it's not that strange.
In fact, it wasn't strange at all. Back in the lair, when she'd said she would remember only my scent forever, I had honestly been happy about it.
I'd even thought about asking Clara…
"…"
I slowly got up from my seat. Thanks to receiving Letisia's mana, I could move.
"Albrecht, you shouldn't move yet."
"It's fine. I've gotten a lot better."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
I smirked and took Clara's hand.
"Clara, let's go for a short walk."
"Hm?"
"I've been lying down so long it's getting stuffy."
When I said that with a smile, Clara beamed and nodded.
"Okay."
"Thanks."
"Don't go too far~."
At Erinn's words, I felt a slight sense of dissonance as I nodded. She didn't seem to mind me going off alone with Clara.
What's gotten into her…
Still puzzled, I stepped out of the tent with Clara for a bit. The First Frontline base was bustling with people moving busily everywhere.
There were those heading out as reinforcements to the Second Frontline, those moving to send supplies to the troops expanding the front, and those transporting patients.
Everyone looked busy. Walking hand-in-hand leisurely among them made us stand out quite a bit, but no one said anything about it.
I smiled a little awkwardly.
"Everyone's so busy, and here we are just strolling around. Feels a bit off, doesn't it?"
"It's fine. They know who we are now, so taking a little break should be okay."
"That's a relief, then."
I headed with Clara toward a quieter corner of the base where there were fewer people. I wanted to talk quietly. Wherever I went, Clara followed without a word of complaint.
And in a corner of the base where no one passed by, I lightly hopped up onto a pile of empty supply crates stacked there.
"Let's rest a bit."
"Okay."
Clara nodded slightly and asked.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"…It's about Letisia."
When I brought it up, Clara made a complicated expression. It was the look of someone thinking, "So it's finally come to this," and I ended up smiling awkwardly.
"Sorry."
"…So it really happened."
"Huh?"
At the "really," I asked in confusion, and Clara spoke.
"What happened in the lair?"
"Uh… well…"
"I knew and still allowed it."
"What?"
Clara smiled faintly, then placed her hand over mine beside her.
"I already knew that Letisia liked Albrecht, and Albrecht… you didn't dislike Letisia like that either."
"……"
"You two spent several days in the lair, so feelings were bound to develop."
I was surprised by Clara's words, but at the same time didn't understand, so I asked.
"Why didn't you stop it if you knew?"
"Because it wouldn't be a problem anyway. Institutionally or socially, there's nothing strange about it… it's actually normal. I'm a little disappointed, but…"
Clara spoke honestly.
"That's the path you want too, right, Albrecht? Since you're a man and all."
"When you put it like that, I don't have anything to say…"
"Feel like a bad person?"
"…Yeah."
When I answered honestly, Clara smiled as if she felt relieved and said.
"Then pay the price for the bad things you've done."
"…How?"
"Like this."
Clara reached out lightly and grabbed my collar. There was no way I wouldn't know what she wanted.
Before Clara could lift her head first, I wrapped my arms around her back and lowered my head.
The first touch was light. But as the sensation grew clearer, Clara soon lightly sucked on my lower lip as if wanting more.
How did she know to do something like this? It felt like I was seeing a new side of Clara, who knew nothing. She must have seen things with her eyes while living in the slums.
Drawn by that light yet fatal temptation, I tasted Clara's lips a little deeper. Slowly sinking into her flavor, I was kissing her long enough that I was a bit short of breath.
When I lightly inhaled and pulled away, Clara whispered.
"…Whether it's Letisia or anyone else… you can follow your heart, Albrecht."
Clara said.
"As long as you don't neglect me, I'll be satisfied."
"…I'll always put you first, Clara."
"That's enough."
Clara smiled and looked to the side. I followed her gaze and was a little surprised.
Clara smiled brightly and said.
"You're here, Letisia?"
"……Letisia."
Letisia was standing there.