Do You Think It's Okay to Change Clothes in Front of a Blind Man?
A warning flashed through my mind.
Warning! Three high-powered magic ice spears incoming from the front. Predicted trajectories will be marked in red.
Shwoooosh—! Paaah!
Three ice spears hurtled toward my forehead, heart, and thigh.
Any ordinary person would have been skewered before they even registered the trajectories.
But in my eyes, the exact impact points were overlaid with vivid red lines, like augmented reality.
Half a step left. Just tilt my head slightly.
I twisted my body with the smallest possible movement.
Swaaah—!
The blue ice spears grazed my cheek and the rim of my ear by a hair’s breadth before slamming into the training ground wall behind me.
Boom!
Ice shards exploded outward and pattered down onto the black eyepatch covering my eyes.
“...As expected.”
On the opposite side of the training ground, Seriria von Carlyle—the Empire’s greatest magic swordsman with her long silver hair—lowered her wooden sword and fixed me with a cool, sunken gaze.
The Carlyle Ducal Family was currently enduring intense pressure and containment from the imperial faction. As their successor, she personally sparred with a mere commoner escort like me to prove my usefulness and keep me alive within this academy crawling with nobles.
“It makes me wonder whether your blindness is entirely a lie. To read the trajectory of my magic so perfectly using only presence and the flow of mana.”
Her cold voice could have been admiration or reproach. I kept my expression blank, lightly flicked my wooden sword, and shook my head.
“You flatter me, my lady. I simply grew a little more sensitive after struggling desperately to survive.”
“Modesty as well. We’ll end today’s spar here, Ian.”
Her usual dry, arrogant face showed not a flicker of emotion. To anyone watching, she was the very image of the cold, lofty Ice Princess befitting the Empire’s greatest genius.
But the translucent status window floating above her head told a completely different story.
This is driving me insane. He didn’t even flinch when the ice shards grazed him. Every time I see that indifferent, rock-solid posture I can’t look away. If I weren’t bound by my dignity as the young lady of the house, I would have pressed my lips to that sweat-drenched nape right this second.
I barely managed to keep my jaw from dropping and let out a long, internal sigh.
The original owner of this body I possessed was Ian, the academy’s only blind swordsman. Despite being a commoner, the man had somehow secured the position of exclusive escort to the prickly successor of the Carlyle Ducal Family purely because he could swing a sword.
According to the original story, I was supposed to be a cool, stylish character who couldn’t see at all yet perceived the world through presence and mana flow.
The problem was that the system perk I received upon possession had glitched.
Mind's Eye activation state maintained.
System Error! Mind's Eye grade has exceeded limits. Visual information amplified by 400%.
Far from being unable to see, I could make out every single speck of dust dancing beyond my eyepatch with painful clarity. Still, I had no reason to complain. In a place swarming with the ducal family’s enemies, this buggy vision was an absolutely broken cheat.
Being able to read black inner thoughts, the tiniest muscle tremors, and the exact paths of magic was not something I would ever turn down. Once I fully adapted to the flood of information, I would at least be able to escape the constant fear of a knife in the back.
For now, however, my top priority was surviving by playing the part of the noble blind swordsman.
I nodded toward an empty patch of air in the slightly off-target way a blind person would.
“Thank you for your hard work, Lady Seriria.”
I was just about to turn and leave the training ground when her voice stopped me.
“Wait, Ian.”
“What is it, my lady?”
“It feels especially hot today.”
Tuk. Tuduk.
The sound of buttons being roughly undone came from behind me, followed by the rustle of a shirt sliding down bare skin, shattering the silence of the training ground.
No way. It can’t be. I am a noble, blind escort swordsman. I must not panic.
Without turning around, I simply tilted my ear slightly toward the sound, feigning mild curiosity.
When I stole a glance, Seriria had already tossed her academy uniform shirt onto the floor. Her dazzling bare skin and black lace underwear filled my vision without restraint.
“......!!”
I barely suppressed the breath that caught in my throat and turned my head toward a completely unrelated patch of empty air, maintaining the perfect posture of a blind man. My eyes beneath the eyepatch were rolling wildly, but fortunately she couldn’t see them.
“Since you can’t see anyway, you won’t mind if I wipe off some sweat and change, will you?”
Her attitude was utterly shameless, without the slightest hint of embarrassment. She firmly believed I couldn’t see, which explained her boldness, but I had never imagined she would strip so defenselessly right in front of a healthy young man.
Yet the status window floating before my eyes showed an entirely different story from that bold front.
Haa… I really am going crazy. I rationalized it by telling myself it’s fine since he can’t see, but here I am standing in front of a man in nothing but my underwear. It’s shameful for someone of my station, yet… this dizzying thrill—I can’t stop it.
On the surface she wore the expression of an Ice Princess, but the status window made it painfully clear that she was secretly burning with both shame at standing before me and an inexplicable excitement.
She even bent at the waist as if wiping sweat, deliberately pushing her cleavage in my direction.
A bead of cold sweat slid down beneath my eyepatch.
I can’t see. I can’t see. Namu Amitabha, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
I forced my voice low and answered in the most ascetic tone imaginable, like a holy knight who had renounced all worldly desires.
“...Please do not mind me, my lady.”
…So you’re going to keep playing the ascetic knight to the very end? Very well, Ian. I’ll watch closely just how long you can maintain that noble escort mask.
Instead of changing, Seriria rested her chin on the weapon rack and began openly studying my face while still in her underwear.
While I kept my gaze fixed on empty air and screamed internally, an unbelievable sight unfolded.
The half-naked Seriria was using the excuse of retrieving a towel from the bench where I stood to walk gracefully straight toward me.
She’s insane. Don’t come over here. Please stop right there.
I have the perfect excuse of the towel, so he can’t possibly dodge even if I approach this close. Let’s see how long that upright escort act of his can last.
Her footsteps halted a mere handspan from my nose.
Far too close. If I lowered my head even slightly, her dizzying curves would completely fill my vision.
“Ian. You’ve sweated quite a bit as well.”
Her low whisper tickled my ear. At the same time, the heated warmth from her body after our spar and her sweet scent slammed into me, violently constricting my lungs.
“I can wipe it mys—”
“Stay still. I can at least show this much goodwill to my dedicated escort who worked so hard.”
Before I could finish refusing, she began dabbing my forehead and cheeks with the soft towel.
As she rose onto her tiptoes to reach my face, the soft flesh beneath her thin lace underwear brushed against my chest, teasingly close.
Warning! Target (Seriria)’s body temperature is rising rapidly!
Hng… To think a man’s sweat could smell this thick. Since he’s blind anyway, he won’t suspect I’m doing this on purpose even if I press this close. If I pretend to lose my balance and lean into him right now, I’m dying to see what kind of reaction he’ll show.
It was enough to drive anyone insane.
Her impure intention to press her chest against me under the pretense of an accident was being broadcast in real time through the status window. My pupils beneath the eyepatch shook violently as though an earthquake had struck.
I took half a step back before she could rub her body against me under the guise of a mistake.
“...I am grateful for the kindness, but I nearly touched your body, my lady. I cannot commit such disrespect.”
I spoke in the driest, most ascetic, and indifferent tone I could manage.
Her hand froze in midair.
Ah, was I too cold in dodging her? She has a lot of pride—if she gets offended and flies into a rage, what then?
Just as I swallowed nervously, the status window above her head began raging in a direction completely opposite to my fears.
…So you’re going to keep pretending to be the ascetic escort knight until the end? Fine. I’ll make you feel in your very bones what the price is for daring to reject my seduction. I will definitely witness the moment that reason of yours collapses helplessly before me.
...I’m screwed.
Without changing her expression in the slightest, she elegantly put the towel away and spoke.
“I see. I was a bit insensitive for a moment. An excellent mindset, Ian.”
Her tone was pure Ice Princess, yet the flushed tips of her ears proved her inner thoughts had been completely sincere.
I squeezed my eyes shut beneath the eyepatch. (Of course, thanks to Mind's Eye, I could still see everything perfectly.)
The real problem, however, was that starting tomorrow we would be using the completely isolated special training room instead of this open training ground in preparation for the upcoming academy duo tournament.
She was already this defenseless in an open space like this. Just how far would she go once we were alone in a sealed room?
What man could possibly resist a peerless beauty throwing herself at him half-naked?
The urge to pounce on her right now burned like a furnace, yet the instant a commoner escort laid a hand on the young lady’s body—or my blind act was exposed—my head would roll straight to the guillotine for the crime of disrespect.
How long would I have to endure pretending not to notice such temptation while my eyes were wide open? The future already looked pitch black.