The Sole of the Foot (2)
Super cool armor! The moment Charlotte put on the armor, she felt power surging through her entire body. It was as if she'd suddenly become much stronger. She wanted to show it off! Right now, to Muddy, to the maid sisters, to Julia!
Charlotte was about to dash out of the room with an excited face when Aslan spoke.
"If you're done putting it on, you can go now. Julia seemed quite frightened earlier, probably because she saw a ghost. If possible, stay with her."
"Hmm..."
Her legs, which had been ready to sprint, lost all strength. Her shoulders slumped. Why bring up Julia here? This guy always seems to have Julia filling up his head. So what if she saw a ghost? If she was really scared, she'd be trembling and clinging to someone. But the fact that she's only trying to stick to this guy means she wasn't that scared after all.
'How annoying.'
She'd been clinging to him all day today too. She'd probably cling to him again when they sleep. If this keeps up, wouldn't she end up spending the whole day alone with Julia?
Charlotte desperately wanted to show off this armor and go play outside, but her annoyance at Julia was stronger. There were so many chances to express affection to this guy, yet she still kept being prickly. It was truly frustrating.
"Are you very busy, Mister? Is me leaving helping you?"
"..."
Charlotte clung to Aslan's back like she was being carried and spoke in a slightly disappointed voice. Right. This was to create tension for the slackening Julia. To warn her: if you keep letting your guard down, I'll snatch him away! She remembered warning her like this before, but Julia still hadn't come to her senses. If once doesn't work, then twice! This kind of thing works best on the jealous Julia. So, yeah. This was all to provoke Julia. No personal feelings involved...
"Want to get a massage while you rest?"
"Where did I put that massage ticket..."
Aslan rummaged through his pockets. Charlotte smiled in satisfaction.
'Huh? But Julia isn't peeking this time...?'
Charlotte's body stiffened as she glanced toward the door. Come to think of it, she'd forgotten to leave the door slightly open. The maid sisters who had been peeking quietly closed the door and left. What now? Julia wasn't peeking, so how could she provoke her jealousy? Mission failed?
'Ah, whatever!'
She didn't care. Whether Julia saw or not, what did it matter? She'd just go her own way! Charlotte quickly rationalized it.
"Where does it hurt? Which part should I massage today?"
"My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my calves hurt, my neck hurts..."
"Your whole body hurts, doesn't it! You exercise hard every morning, so why are you like this?"
"...Good question."
Looking at Aslan sighing deeply, Charlotte made a slightly worried expression. The Aslan she'd seen was truly diligent. Though he spent a lot of time indoors handling work, he never skipped morning runs and exercised diligently. Yet why was his skin still so pale that veins showed, and why were his arms and legs so scrawny without any muscle? It was as if his body type had a default setting that couldn't be changed.
"At this rate, I'll have to massage you all day."
"Then forget the rest. Just do a facial massage."
"Why? Because you look too scary? Should I smooth it out for you?"
"...No. My facial muscles are just tired."
"Hehe! If that's the case, leave it to me!"
Charlotte rolled up her sleeves and stepped forward. Of course, it was because he was always making that stern face! They say frequent frowning causes more wrinkles when you get old. If his already scary face got even more wrinkles...?
'No, no! He'll become even scarier...!'
She had to stop it! She had to stop it! She needed to massage his face so wrinkles wouldn't increase!
Charlotte's expression quickly filled with a sense of responsibility and mission. Aslan closed his eyes and lay neatly on the sofa. Looking down at him, Charlotte was momentarily stunned. Come to think of it, she'd never seen this guy sleep before. So this was the first time seeing him with his eyes closed, and looking at him like this...
'He looks kind of handsome?'
Compared to when his eyes were open, he seemed less evil. This guy could look kind! Amazing!
Charlotte swallowed her exclamation and slipped off her shoes. 'He liked foot massages, didn't he?' Then, grunting, she took off her socks and climbed barefoot onto the sofa. Looking down at Aslan lying between her legs, hesitation finally washed over her and her body stiffened.
Was it okay to step on his face? He did like being stepped on, but it was his face. Wouldn't he get angry?
"Should I start?"
"Go ahead."
"It's really okay?"
"Stop asking and just do it."
"Really?"
"..."
Aslan, eyes closed, slightly furrowed his brow. Ah! He frowned again! That'll make wrinkles! Without hesitation, Charlotte thrust her small foot forward.
"Hah!"
"...?"
The moment her sole landed on Aslan's cheek, his sharp eyes flew open. Charlotte shuddered as goosebumps spread across her body.
Ah. Was this not it?
...
"Facial massages are done with hands. With hands."
"Ehehe. I didn't know. I thought you liked it with feet."
"..."
He decided not to deny it. Charlotte's soft sole. The squishy sensation when she briefly stepped on him wasn't bad, but if she kept stepping on him, he'd cross a river of no return, so he stopped her.
'Salty...'
It felt like he'd greatly violated human decency. Though he felt slightly disappointed, since he'd been stepped on once, he decided to be satisfied with engraving that sensation in his mind forever.
"Now, lie down here."
Charlotte changed position and knelt behind his head. As he lay with his head on her thighs, Charlotte began roughly touching his face with clumsy hands.
"You press with force at your fingertips. This is called acupressure."
"Ooh."
"Acupressure massage relieves tense muscles and improves blood flow..."
"Shut up, it's noisy."
"..."
Charlotte's thumb firmly pressed down on his lips. When his mouth closed, she burst into laughter that shook the room.
The Evil God 'Kali' laughs, saying that seeing our Dark Knight in a good mood makes her happy too.
...The two of them were getting along so well. Was it really that fun? Well, he could understand since he couldn't help but touch Julia's cheeks when she fell asleep either.
After playing around by stretching and pressing his face here and there for a while, Charlotte seemed to have gotten bored and began focusing seriously on the massage. Perhaps because she had such good strength, her pressing was quite firm.
"Grr. Grrgh. Right there. Yeah. That feels good."
"Mister... You don't usually look your age, but right now you look really old..."
"..."
Try living with this body without being able to sleep and pushing through a brutal schedule. Let's see if you make groaning sounds or not. Though Aslan's physical age was clearly only 21, a young man in his prime, he felt like he'd aged prematurely from running around trying to revive his crumbling family.
"Is it because we cause you trouble that you age faster?"
"That's not it."
"Julia keeps being prickly and complaining every day, and I'm worried about when you'll suddenly cause an accident with the Super Strong Sword."
"..."
So she did know?
"I won't tell you not to worry. But at least for this moment, put your worries aside and rest comfortably. You're always either looking serious, in a hurry, or busy."
Whispering in a gentle tone, her hand rubbed his brow. The moment he opened his eyes wide, he met Charlotte's gaze as she stared down at his face. Startled, Charlotte blushed and pulled her head back.
"Good work. Thanks to you, my fatigue seems much relieved."
"Ah! How can you get up right after telling me to rest comfortably...!"
Charlotte made a nasal sound of disappointment and clung to his sleeve, but he stood up without caring and straightened his clothes. Though he wanted to receive the massage for another 10 minutes, no, an hour, the comfort was such that he felt he'd become a ruined man if he continued, so he had to stand up quickly.
Charlotte's thighs. They were firm yet soft. He wanted to commission a pillow made exactly in the shape of Charlotte's thighs and sleep on it every day. Those thighs were terrifyingly capable of ruining a person.
"I should request facial massages more often. After getting one, my expression feels brighter."
"Hmm. I don't think that's the case."
"..."
What a cold kid. Since she said it so definitively, he had nothing to retort with.
Just then, Charlotte's stomach let out a cute growl.
"Ehehe. I guess I'm hungry."
"Let's have dinner a bit early today. Go get the dog bowl from the cupboard."
"Okay! I'll call Julia too—"
"My lord!"
Crash! The door burst open roughly, and a gust of wind swept through the room. The only one besides Charlotte who could produce such powerful force was...
Turning around, sure enough, Silvia entered the room breathing heavily.
"Did you forget to knock?"
"Please forgive my rudeness. This is an emergency."
"What emergency?"
"Right now, a monster stampede has begun in the mountains, putting the Ariente territory in danger!"
"...What?"
What was she suddenly talking about? Monsters coming out of the mountains? From mountains where monsters hadn't shown their faces for hundreds of years, why suddenly now? The moment he thought that far, he remembered the major anomaly that had recently occurred in the mountains and felt a chill.
'Ah. Because the mountain was split in half?'
Was that because of us?