Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: A Cursed Morning
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"Fuck."
I started my morning with a curse.
It was the first time I'd had a morning where I felt this shitty.
Really.
"Fuck."
Rozalin's final expression, her gaze.
It was all still vivid in my mind.
I hadn't gone through with it in the end, but even so, Rozalin seemed to have figured out what I was trying to do in that brief moment.
No, she definitely had.
"I shouldn't have done that."
Even if I was drunk, that was clearly my mistake.
Unlike before, Rozalin hadn't been so wasted that she couldn't control her body or had blacked out.
"Hoo...."
I let out a sigh.
I'd pulled various stunts on Rozalin up until now, but yesterday was definitely crossing a line.
It wasn't just some casual touch on her body—this went deeper.
Touching her stomach or thighs was one thing; a kiss was entirely different.
"...I should go out."
My head hurt, but I decided to leave the room anyway.
I'd woken up much earlier than usual, so Lize hadn't come in yet, but I headed out.
.
.
.
I washed up alone, returned to my room, roughly dried my hair by myself, and even put on my shirt and pants.
Things Lize normally handled for me one by one.
But today, I did it all on my own.
"...Young Lady?"
"Oh, Lize. You're here?"
That's why Lize, entering my room, stared at me with wide-eyed surprise.
Like she was wondering if I was really Camellia.
"Young Lady, um... was your bed uncomfortable?"
"No. I just woke up early today because the weather's nice."
"It's pouring outside today, though...."
"Anyway, whatever."
I'd drunk quite a bit last night and stayed up late, yet here I was, up ridiculously early.
It wasn't a bad hangover making me like this....
"Hoo.... Lize."
"Yes, Young Lady. What is it?"
"Come here."
I called Lize, who was standing by the door, closer to me.
She tilted her head in confusion at my instruction, but it didn't matter.
Right now... I just felt really down.
Even though it was mostly my fault, Rozalin's reaction at the time and everything else had left me in the worst mood.
"Ah, Young Lady...?"
"Just... stay like this for a bit."
"Understood...."
I hugged the still Lize tightly.
Fortunately, she accepted my sudden clinginess without issue... and that was it.
It wouldn't fix everything from my mood onward just by hugging her like this, but it felt a little better than before, at least.
"Haa...."
I just held Lize and vented a bit of stress.
Even though it was sudden, Lize simply stood there, gently patting my back as I held her.
.......
What a good girl.
After that, nothing much happened.
Even though I was the Family Head now, my morning routine wasn't going to change dramatically.
I just finished preparing for the rest of the morning as usual, and then... no meal with Rozalin.
"...Ha."
Rozalin skipped breakfast, blaming it on her hangover.
Which left me sitting alone at the table like this.
"...She didn't even drink that much."
Rozalin had never skipped a meal using a hangover as an excuse before.
And yesterday, she'd drunk far less than her usual heavy nights.
Hearing that news really bummed me out for a moment.
"...Did she hate it that much?"
I didn't know.
I sat alone at the empty table, lost in thought.
The delicious food didn't even register.
I wasn't even sure if I was eating right now.
Whether it was going in my mouth or my nose....
"Ha."
My head started to ache, and guilt, sinfulness, sadness, depression, irritation... a rush of emotions surged up.
All because of that short moment yesterday.
If I hadn't closed that tiny distance, would things have been okay?
"Haa...."
My sighs grew deeper.
In the end, I drank a glass of water and finished my meal.
My head hurt too much to eat properly.
The place I headed to next was Ashley's room.
"Camellia...? What's uppp...."
"Good morning, Teacher."
"And Lize is here too... Yawwwn...."
As expected, sleepy Ashley was in the room, along with my maid Lize who'd followed me.
I'd come here assuming this situation from the start.
"You were going to sleep, right, Teacher?"
"Yeah.... Gonna sleeppp...."
Ashley was still sleepy as ever and trying to nap right now.
That's why I'd come here.
"Then lie down over there."
"Yawwwn...."
Ashley let out a big yawn and flopped onto the bed.
Seeing her lie down, I headed straight to the side of the bed.
Then, turning to Lize, who was quietly behind me.
"Lize, you lie down too."
"...Young Lady?"
"Just lie down. Do as I say."
"Understood...?"
I had Lize lie down too.
Ashley’s bed was pretty nice and big enough for it anyway.
So now, in my view, Lize and Ashley were lying side by side on the bed.
With a small space in the middle.
"...Haa."
When my head hurt and my mind was exhausted to the point of fatigue, this method had always been the best.
"Ah, Young Lady...!?"
"Camellia...? What...?"
"Why?"
I slipped casually into the space between the two lying there.
They both looked at me in surprise from either side.
But I'd planned this from the start, and I was quite satisfied with the situation now.
"Young Lady...? What is..."
"It's fine. You're just pillows."
"...Pardon?"
"Lize too. Teacher too. Just lie there next to me like pillows."
"...Yeah?"
I said it while just lying there.
No point overthinking or agonizing in this situation—it wouldn't resolve easily anyway.
Rozalin probably had a lot to think about right now too.
For now, staying quiet and doing nothing was definitely best.
"Teacher, you promised me last time, remember?"
"Y-Yeah...?"
"You'd be my pillow. You definitely said that last time. Why act like you don't know now?"
"Oh, that... thing...?"
"Yes. That thing. I remember we finished talking about it last time."
I said that while looking at Ashley lying on my right.
She had definitely agreed.
She'd already consented to being my pillow or doll, and hadn't refused.
"So. Me lying in bed like this and sleeping with you, Teacher—totally fine, right? Right?"
"Uh-huh...."
"Then. What should you do, Teacher?"
"Thank you...?"
"Mmm...."
That wasn't quite it originally.
But her looking up at me with that shy expression was so cute.
I decided to let it slide.
"Right. Get closer."
"Uh-huh...."
Ashley scooted even closer to me as she said that.
Her face, no longer sleepy but flushed red, contrasted intriguingly with her sky-blue hair.
"Then... Lize?"
"...Yes."
I turned to Lize's side, and there she was, watching me with trembling eyes.
Plus, Ashley's ample chest was pressing against my back from behind.
Mm, yeah, my mood was already improving.
"What. No need for other words."
I just said that.
And I actually thought so.
Last time, I'd proposed this kind of relationship and treatment to Ashley after some negotiation and back-and-forth.
But Lize was a completely different case from Ashley.
"Lize. You know, right?"
.......
I just tossed out that one question.
More than Rozalin, Lize had spent the longest time closest to me since my childhood.
She knew I liked women and what kind of person I was— we'd been that close.
"If you don't want to... whatever. Do what you want. You can leave too."
I just said that.
I liked Lize doing it, but I had no intention of forcing her that much.
Of course, I planned to slowly turn her into like Ashley later, but not force it right now.
"...No."
"Yeah?"
"...I'm yours, Young Lady."
"Hmm...."
As she said that, not just her cheeks but her ears turned red, and she inched closer.
The approaching Lize slid down and buried her face around my stomach and chest.
Probably because she was so tall; she had to go lower to do it like this.
"Pfft...."
Ashley clung to me from behind, Lize from the front.
Was this what it meant to have flowers on both hands?
"Just... let's sleep. No issue for you, Teacher? You were gonna sleep anyway. Just hold me and sleep."
"Y-Yeah.... Got it...."
"Lize, you can sleep too. Or just look at my face, whatever."
"...I'll quietly close my eyes."
"Do what you want."
With that, I closed my eyes.
The events with Rozalin last night were still messing up my head, but it wasn't sorted enough to dwell on.
Overthinking might lead me to do something stupid.
"...Ha."
With girls on both sides providing some mental healing, I wanted to rest.
And feeling even a tiny bit of regret at the same time... made me feel like a total piece of trash.
I knew exactly why I felt that regret, which only reinforced it.
*
While Camellia slept in Ashley's room.
In Rozalin's room on the first floor, there was one woman deep in thought.
"Thought" was more accurate than "worries" for her.
"...Would it be better for Camellia to spend time with men her age too?"
The beauty sat alone on the large sofa, sipping tea for her hangover.
If her adopted daughter saw her like this, she'd probably have all sorts of naughty thoughts.
Her negligee was already disheveled from sleep, exposing her stomach and chest far more than usual.
"She definitely tried to... kiss me. No, a peck...."
'Camellia's an adult now anyway. She'd be interested in that sort of thing... right.'
Her thoughts while sipping tea alone.
Similar to what her adopted daughter had been thinking, in a way.
Just as the daughter thought of her adoptive mother, she was thinking of her adopted daughter.
"We never really did much skinship with Camellia from childhood, neither me nor that man. Maybe that's why...."
A somewhat off-target guess.
But she was convinced it was true and continued her thoughts.
"I only hugged her or held hands. Never pecked Camellia.... Never even had a first kiss...."
Her thoughts were purely about her daughter.
Completely different from the naughty ideas her adopted daughter harbored.
"Should I introduce her to some good boys from decent families...? I don't know much about that...."
The youngest of the Rose Family.
Illegitimate child.
After her academy days, she hadn't properly spent time outside Leonhardt Mansion, so it was an awkward situation for her.
That's why she kept pondering longer.
"Haa.... If I tell her sisters... the eldest would definitely bully me... and Alexandra might just nag a bit and be done...."
Up early in the morning, all her thoughts from start to finish were about her adopted daughter.
Far more wholesome and pure than the wild guesses and thoughts the subject of those musings was having.