I'll Feed You. Here, Say Ah~

Closing my eyes inside the bath, tilting my head back against the edge, I let go of my thoughts for a while and let every last bit of tension drain from my body.

Once I'd soaked away enough of the fatigue, I dried myself off with a towel hanging on the wall and stepped out of the washroom—only to find a small basket waiting there, with a set of casual clothes and undergarments neatly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠folded inside.

From the handiwork, I'd guess this was Alice.

I changed into the prepared clothes and came out.

"Master. Did you have a refreshing wash?"

As if she'd been waiting for nothing but the door to open, Alice stood right in front of it, gazing up at me.

"Uh... Alice, don't tell me you've been standing out here this whole time?"

"Yes. I was afraid that fox— ahem, I mean, Vivian—might sneak in through the washroom window, so I kept a thorough watch."

"Come on... even Vivian wouldn't go that far..."

No, wait. If it's Vivian, she really might have...

"Good work anyway. But next time, just rest, okay? Your legs must ache from standing so long."

"Not a single second spent waiting for you is wasted, Master. More importantly... what will you do about lunch? It's a little past mealtime. Shall I bring it to your office?"

I could feel Alice's eyes studying my complexion, watching me with worry.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that. I've got a backlog of approval documents from yesterday, so I'll need to eat while I work. Something simple I can handle with one hand, please."

"Yes, Master! I'll prepare exactly what suits your taste and be right back!"

Alice pinched the hem of her skirt in a small bow, then scurried off toward the dining hall, quick little steps carrying her away.

The moment I opened the office door, the mound of parchment piled on my desk greeted me like an old enemy.

"Whew... there really are a lot."

A proposal for replacing the guard's equipment, a request for a tax reduction on the southern lumber camps, and on and on.

I worked through the documents one by one, verifying the truth of each before signing or stamping them with a rejection seal.

Knock knock—

Just as I finished signing the third document, a knock sounded and Alice came in carrying an enormous silver tray.

On it sat a plate of sandwiches made from what looked like freshly baked rye bread, along with a steaming cup of coffee.

"Master, I've brought your lunch."

"Ah, thanks. Just set it down somewhere and I'll eat when I can."

I answered without looking up from my papers, but Alice set the tray down and instead sidled right up beside me.

"No, you won't. Everything tastes best the moment it's made, before it goes cold. And if you dislike getting your hands dirty... then I'll feed you. Come now, say ah~"

"Huh?"

I looked up to find Alice holding a sandwich in both hands, thrusting it right up to my lips.

"Alice? Seriously, let me just finish this one line, then I'll eat with my own hands..."

"Are you refusing the fruit of my devotion...? I baked the bread myself thinking of you, Master, and picked only the freshest vegetables... Is it unpleasant, being fed by me...?"

Alice's ears drooped in an instant, and great tears welled up in her large eyes, trembling on the verge of spilling over.

That expression—her lips quivering as she gazed up at me, utterly pitiful.

I know exactly what this is. This is Alice's specialty, her masterclass in manipulation.

The problem is that knowing full well, I still fall for it.

"F-fine... I'll eat it."

"Master. Here, say ah~"

The moment I nodded my consent, the tears vanished as though they'd never existed, and Alice—beaming brightly—pushed the sandwich straight into my mouth.

"How is it? Delicious?"

"Mmph, sho good."

Alice stared intently at my face as I chewed, cheeks working.

When you watch that openly... I feel like I'm going to choke.

"It really is good, but I'll take it from here. I've got the document checked out now."

"Master. There are still three whole pieces of sandwich left, you know? Come along now. Ah~"

The next piece tapped insistently against my lips before I could protest.

Resigning myself at last, I ate the sandwiches Alice fed me at regular intervals while trying to keep my focus on the paperwork.

"Hehe, I'm so glad you're enjoying them. I'll have to prepare even more next time."

"No, I'm already... full..."

Once I'd finished every sandwich she'd prepared, Alice—apparently satisfied—wore a contented smile and began tidying up around me.

"Oh, that reminds me, Alice. Where's Vivian? I haven't seen her since we finished morning training together..."

"Ah, Vivian... she said she had some business and went out. She saw the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sandwiches I made, snatched one right off the plate, and ran off with it..."

Crack—

A heavy, splintering sound echoed through the office.

I turned my head in alarm to see the teaspoon in Alice's hand crushed beyond recognition.

Uh... I was going to stir my coffee with that.

"Alice... the spoon..."

"Yes? Ah, it must have been defective. Don't worry about it, Master."

Alice stuffed the mangled teaspoon casually into her pocket and put on a perfectly serene smile.

Desperate to air out the atmosphere, which had dropped several degrees in an instant, I gestured toward the letters sitting on the office table.

"Um... ah. Alice, if you have a moment, could you sort through those letters piled in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the corner there?"

"Yes, leave it all to me."

Alice settled onto the small sofa at the side of the office and began sorting the letters with brisk efficiency.

And I suppose I should get back to it too.

Now, the next document...

Alice approached the desk holding two sheets of parchment.

"Master. I've thrown out all the useless letters. Only two remain. One is from Rita, and the other... is an official document from the Imperial household."

"From Rita? Let me see Rita's letter first."

Had Rita been doing well all this time? She was the one I worried about most...

Alice carefully handed over the old, rough-hewn envelope.

"Huh, it isn't even sealed."

"No. When I checked it, it was simply folded neatly, with no seal at all. Honestly, Rita... what if someone had read it over her shoulder?"

"You're right. I should have a word with her about that later."

When I carefully unfolded the letter, a crisp, fragrant scent of lavender burst forth and began filling the entire office.

From the first line of the letter to the last, a soft smile never once left my lips.

That tiny, pitiful child who used to hide in a corner and scream and tremble at the mere sight of another person's shadow—writing letters now, saying she'd made friends, standing so tall and confident.

She really has... grown up so much, my Rita.

I folded the letter with care and tucked it safely into the very back of the desk's first drawer.

"Alice's been keeping Rita's room spotless, right? I'll have to surprise her when she gets back."

"Yes. I clean both Lupa's room and Rita's every single day, without leaving a single speck of dust."

Setting aside the heartwarming moment, I turned my gaze to the remaining piece of parchment.

A luxurious document bearing the imperial lion crest, stamped in crimson wax.

Ha... now what could it be this time?

I broke the seal and spread out the parchment, revealing page after page of tedious, pedantic script.

And there it was—clean, crisp, and to the point. How refreshing.

"What does it say, Master?"

"Ah, it says a ball will be held in the capital two weeks from now to celebrate Ophelia's twentieth birthday."

The moment Ophelia's name left my mouth, Alice's expression visibly hardened.

"Ophelia... I mean, the ball for Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess?"

"Yeah. It's an invitation sent directly from the Imperial household, so I can hardly ignore it. I suppose I'll have to attend..."

I rolled the quill between my fingers as I studied the parchment.

"What do you think, Alice? I should attend, right? I don't exactly have a compelling reason not to."

"Yes. I believe attending is the correct course, but..."

Alice leaned over the desk and spoke in a voice dropped low.

"Master. Are you truly going to go? To see Ophelia?"

"Huh? Is it because I keep some distance from Ophelia? I mean, finding out that the naughtiest, scruffiest little kid was actually the Crown Princess of the Empire—I still can't quite believe it myself sometimes."

The memory of those days is still vivid.

The girl I rescued from the slave caravan, weeping that she'd lost her memory.

After a full six months of her playing the innocent child, the chill that ran down my spine when the Empire's chief inspector, come north on an inspection tour, recognized Ophelia and collapsed to his knees in horror...

Fortunately, Ophelia stepped forward herself, pleaded that I was the one who had saved her life, and the whole affair was quietly settled—with a reward to boot.

Still, even now it makes my spine prickle just thinking about it.

"That's not what I mean! Master!"

Alice gripped the edge of my desk with both hands.

"I'm anxious because I don't know what scheme Ophelia might be harboring. On the surface she plays the good, innocent little sister, but... she's surely scheming to use the ball as an excuse to wrap you around her finger."

"Oh, come on, Alice. What would the Crown Princess possibly want with ensnaring some lord of a remote northern frontier? She's probably just wants to greet her childhood savior, that's all."

"You trust people far too easily, Master! That's the problem!"

To soothe Alice, who was stamping her feet in frustration, I hurried to sign the invitation.

Just as I raised the quill to sign the attendance line, a strange sense of wrongness stopped me.

...Huh?

There's no line to sign at all for a refusal.

And in the corner, Ophelia's own signature is inscribed in tiny letters... It's fine, surely...?

Scratch, scratch—

The moment I signed, the parchment shimmered faintly, and the densely written text began to ripple and shift.

In its place, the date of the ball, my assigned guest-lodge room number, and other details neatly arranged themselves into view.

Impressive. To put this much effort into a mere invitation.

I set the invitation aside, folded, and turned back to the remaining documents on my desk.

At last I signed the final document and set the quill down beside the inkwell.

"Haaah... done at last!"

Alice, who had been assisting at my side throughout, let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Well done, Master."

"All thanks to you, Alice. If you hadn't sorted everything and helped as we went, I'd still be at it past midnight. Thank you, truly."

Expressing my gratitude with sincerity, I reached out toward Alice and gently stroked her soft hair.

"Mmnh....."

The instant my hand touched her, Alice's shoulders gave a little jolt, and her fluffy white rabbit ears began nuzzling against the back of my hand.

"My Alice, you really worked hard today."

As a mark of praise, I stroked her head a little deeper—and Alice's condition began to deteriorate rapidly.

Her fair skin flushed scarlet from the nape of her neck downward, and her breathing turned noticeably ragged.

"Hnn... haa... hnn..." Her heavy, panting breaths echoed through the quiet office.

"Alice? Are you sick? You're burning up!"

Startled, I tried to pull my hand away, but Alice seized my wrist with both hands and pinned it firmly in place on her head.

"M-more... M-Master... ju-just a little more..."

Looking up at me with eyes half-lost in a daze, she exhaled hot breath through parted lips as if lost in rapture.

"Uh, Alice? If you let go of my hand now, I can—"

"Mmnh... Master... I... I can't... ahh, I can't take any more of this... I'll go on... on ahead! I'll... I'll clean up later... ah, no, I'll do all of it, so you go first!"

As though she could endure it no longer, Alice bolted out of the office without so much as a backward glance, crashing and clattering the whole way.

Maybe I overdid it a little...?

And I am really, really glad I didn't sign that suspicious document earlier.

In the dark corridor of the East Wing, Alice came to a stop before Vivian's door.

Then she flung it open ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without ceremony and immediately locked it behind her.

"Vivian. It's me."

Vivian, dressed in a black leather tunic, was wiping the bloodstains from her beloved sword with a cloth.

Faint marks—shallow cuts and scrapes—still lingered here and there on her thighs and forearms.

"My, my, Alice. You wouldn't happen to be here to pick a fight out of jealousy because I shared a little skinship with Darling this morning, would you?"

"Did you sort it out?"

In answer to Alice's question, Vivian slid the sword back into its scabbard and tossed the small pouch at her waist onto the table.

Out of the pouch rolled the Dragon Jade, a core swirling with vast, surging mana.

"When I visited the lair, it happened to be on the very verge of reaching maturity. It put up quite the tenacious fight, I'll admit."

"I see."

Alice picked the Dragon Jade up off the table.

"If this thing had finished molting and flown out of the lair, Master would have had a real headache on his hands. And letting him suffer stress... that, I cannot tolerate."

Crack—

As Alice's grip tightened, fissures began spreading across the Dragon Jade, and it soon split apart and shattered.

Then she burned away the escaping mana and the powdered remains entirely.

"So learn your place and fall in line behind me, Vivian."

"I must respectfully decline, I fear. Darling's first night is already reserved by this humble girl ♡"

The two girls, locked in such a murderous debate mere moments ago, were once again scuffling and squabbling as usual, burning with their everyday possessiveness toward Jerome.