Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: #9 Capital (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
How did it come to this?
Elric lay flat on Tiria's bed, staring at the ceiling as he pondered.
Then he sighed inwardly.
'What do you mean, "how"?'
It was all because the bed leg had broken.
No need to explain.
Resentment toward the cleaning company began to bubble up inside Elric.
"You should sleep now. You need to get up early and get moving diligently."
Tiria said.
He glanced over, and she was lying just as rigidly as he was.
Even her sleeping posture was so aristocratic!
In that brief moment of admiration, something flashed through Elric's mind.
"...Aren't you uncomfortable?"
"With what?"
"You don't sleep curled up like a shrimp. I was wondering if it's uncomfortable for you to fall asleep because of me."
It was a habit he'd learned while nursing her.
Tiria slept with her body curled up.
Even if he carefully straightened her posture to prevent slouching, she was back to shrimp-sleeping within ten minutes. He wondered if this straight posture was uncomfortable for her.
Tiria fell silent for a moment before answering.
"...I'm fine. And the bed is so large, it doesn't matter much."
"That's true. The bed is surprisingly big."
"The former Family Head made arrangements for you."
"...My father?"
"Yes."
Elric's head snapped toward her.
She rarely brought up her father-in-law first.
The stuffiness he'd felt since entering this mansion grew thicker.
With longing in his voice, Elric asked,
"Can you tell me more about my father?"
Perhaps he could finally understand the man's intentions that he'd never grasped.
It would be a lie to say he had no expectations.
At first, he thought neither she nor his father were the type to mix in personal talk, but still, it had been ten years.
Surely there had been some conversations.
Tiria hesitated, then answered in a slightly smaller voice.
"...The former Family Head once mentioned in passing that you'd need a large bed when you returned as Family Head."
Elric's fingertips twitched.
"You thought I'd come back? That man?"
"I'm not sure. The former Family Head was the type to prepare for any contingency, so it might just be his nature."
The ripples deepened.
In truth, considering his father's personality in life, it was a plausible explanation, but that damned will made him think otherwise.
Maybe he had been waiting for him.
It was a lingering attachment he'd already shaken off, yet it washed over him again.
As his turmoil deepened—perhaps showing on his face—Tiria's gaze shifted from the ceiling to him. Elric forced a smile.
"I see."
Elric tried to act like it was fine.
Tiria didn't add anything right away.
They met each other's eyes in silence, and in that moment, Elric felt a strange calm settle over him.
Sometimes silence offers more comfort than a hundred words, or so they say.
Remembering that now made him feel a bit sheepish.
And that wasn't all.
'...Green.'
Even in the dark room, Tiria's eyes glowed faintly green.
The hair covering her nape was golden.
The novelty struck him—its color unchanged despite the shadows.
Then his gaze drifted to her bare skin.
Whoosh! His face flushed red.
He was grateful the lights were off.
"N-Now we should sleep. Good night."
He said that and closed his eyes. Soon, he felt Tiria stirring.
"...Yes."
After her whisper-like voice, her breathing gradually steadied.
Elric's did not.
Thump, thump. His heart raced, and the heat refused to subfade.
He wanted to throw off the blanket.
But with both of them under it, doing so would alert Tiria.
How long did he squirm in this impossible bind?
Rustle.
The sound came, and he could clearly feel Tiria stirring more.
Elric cracked his eyes open and looked at her.
She was definitely asleep.
Her furrowed brow suggested discomfort with her posture.
As he watched, she groped with her hand.
And found Elric's arm.
"Hng...!"
Oh no—Elric suddenly remembered another of her habits.
She slept hugging something.
Before, it had been his hand; usually, it was a pillow.
Tiria groped along his arm and began closing the distance.
Elric froze, holding his breath.
"Mmm...."
With a mumble, Tiria pressed right up against his arm.
It was dangerous.
In several ways.
"L-Lady...."
"...."
No response. Checking her expression, she was in the deepest sleep imaginable.
Had the train ride exhausted her that much?
Hoping it was a joke, he even stirred his mana to sharpen his senses, but every sign showed she was fully asleep.
"If you sleep like this, what about me...."
He whispered, but she showed no sign of waking.
And it didn't end there.
Tiria started sleeping in her shrimp curl.
Curled up, he felt it all the more clearly.
The soft sensations, her body scent, her breath—all tickling into him.
Elric sneaked toward the edge of the bed.
Each time, Tiria clung back to him.
It was a disaster he'd brought on himself.
If he'd just given her his arm, that would have been it—but now he'd surrendered his whole body.
Her head pillowed on his arm.
Her arm wrapped around his waist, her legs around his thigh.
She had terrible sleeping habits.
And there she slept peacefully, leaving him resentful beyond words.
Elric tried deep breaths, but his insides wouldn't calm.
Even the turmoil over his father faded in this moment.
Random thoughts intruded.
Did she spray perfume even for bed?
Why this sweet, cloying scent? He couldn't fathom it.
'Calm down. Calm down.'
Elric scolded himself while entertaining bad thoughts.
'Right, what was the Chevor Defense Battle like...?'
He even recalled the Chevor Defense Battle, which he hated thinking about.
But it didn't help.
The bloody memories of Chevor were overlaid with sweet fragrance.
The feel of cleaving bone overlaid with soft skin.
And that wasn't the end.
Her soft, steady breaths pierced him more intensely than bullets whistling through the air.
Elric was going mad.
Better to sleep.
He squeezed his eyes shut, regulated his breathing with effort, and began his relentless struggle to fall asleep.
The result? Success.
Uncomfortable, but he managed to banish reason and drift off.
And,
"...."
That night, Elric had no nightmares.
Or perhaps it was a nightmare.
He who'd always wandered battlefields in nightmares without exception—this time dreamed of flailing inside a slime's belly instead of the front lines.
What a soft nightmare it was.
*
Tiria opened her eyes with a refreshed sensation throughout her body.
And stiffened.
"Ughhh...!"
There was Elric, pale-faced and groaning, his nose almost touching hers.
Her arm wrapped around his firm body, and for some reason, she was in the corner of the bed where he clung to her.
Her first thought: 'Is this a dream?'
The scene was too stimulating to be real, so she denied it first.
But it felt too vivid for a dream.
She needed time to assess the situation.
Why had she woken up like this?
Tiria reached one conclusion.
'The Family Head has terrible sleeping habits.'
He must have pulled her into his arms while she slept soundly.
It had to be that.
Otherwise, she'd want to hang herself from shame.
His arm was around her shoulder, after all.
Tiria’s face turned beet red.
Her breathing heaved like waves in a stormy sea.
Yet she couldn't move rashly.
Or perhaps she didn't want to.
The position felt strangely familiar.
Amid the embarrassment, Tiria recalled a childhood memory.
The night they'd spent in the tent under the carriage—it had looked just like this when she woke.
It felt welcoming, exciting.
Her body tensed for no reason, her heart melting like cotton candy soaked in water.
As she stared blankly at his groaning, endearing form,
"Ughhh...!"
Elric's eyes snapped open.
And one, two, three.
"Eek!"
Thud!
Elric flopped off the bed like a live fish.
Tiria, barely keeping her balance on the bed, felt her heart drop.
Getting caught peeking at a sleeping person was that embarrassing.
She quickly straightened her clothes and composed her expression.
Turning her head away from him, she made an excuse.
"...I couldn't get out. You seem to have intense sleeping habits, Family Head."
She couldn't very well say she'd been too entranced by his face to change position.
The only answer was to shift the blame.
Meanwhile, bewilderment and injustice filled Elric's face.
"...Sleeping habits?"
Of course, with her head turned, Tiria couldn't see.