Not a Dream
It was already too late to return to the Academy, and tomorrow was a holiday. Naturally, Cecilia and I decided to stay the night at the estate.
"Well, we came because it was a holiday in the first place."
"Hahaha. Burning through teleport-gate fares just for a confession."
"Is that a bit much?"
"Not at all—it's romantic. Ha! The moment Shurian heard, she said we had to crack open a wine she'd been saving for years..."
"..."
Sitting in the study and working through a few simple tasks, I found that midnight had already drawn near.
"It's late. You should go turn in for the night."
"There's still good work left if I finish it before I go."
"Don't worry. If anything truly urgent comes up, I'll march in and drag Your Grace out myself. But that hasn't happened yet, has it?"
"No."
"Then you're fine."
At Jester's firm word, I rose from my seat and headed for the bedroom.
"It's clean."
Even with its master away, the room of the head of Walterheim—where I had been staying—was still perfectly kept.
"Haa..."
The moment I sank onto the bed, every stray thought I had shoved aside while working came flooding back.
"Uwaaaaah!!!"
I buried my face in the pillow and started wailing.
"...What... what did I even say..."
Everything I had said and done in the greenhouse began replaying in my head. Cecilia had accepted a confession assault from a soul that had been terminally single in its past life—and terminally single in this one, too. Was she some kind of angel?
"Heh... heh."
The memory of Cecilia's flushed face drifted up, and a smile rose unbidden.
"That Cecilia is my fiancée..."
I had wanted to be happy, but I never imagined I would be this happy.
"Being reborn was the right—"
Knock, knock.
A visitor, past midnight?
"Who is it?"
"I-it's me."
Thud!
At the voice beyond the door, I rolled straight off the bed and hit the floor.
"Ce... Cecilia?"
I scrambled up and opened the door. Standing there was Cecilia, dressed in pajamas that looked almost absurdly soft just from looking at them.
"What are you doing here at this hour...?"
"I-I just... I couldn't sleep."
"Come in for now."
I let Cecilia inside, then glanced at the maid waiting in the corridor.
"Please prepare some warm milk."
"Yes, my lord."
When I stepped back into the room with the milk the maid had brought, Cecilia was perched on the edge of my bed by the headboard. Cecilia was in my room. Right now. As I handed her the milk, our fingers brushed for a moment.
"..."
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Fighting down a heart that was hammering like mad, I sat in the chair in front of her. Cecilia puffed her cheeks slightly and began patting the space beside her with her hand.
"Cecilia?"
"I like next to you better."
"..."
I sat somewhere not too close and not too far. As if that still weren't good enough, Cecilia scooted toward me and rested her head on my shoulder.
"Hehe. Victor."
"Cecilia."
"I really like you."
"Ugh."
"Hehe. I wanted to say it again. I wanted to make sure it wasn't a dream."
"As if it could be a dream."
"Victo...r?"
I reached out and smoothed Cecilia's slightly mussed bangs. The tips of her ears flushed bright red.
"Cute."
"Hic."
"Cecilia, you're cute."
"...Victor."
"Yes."
"I like you so much."
"Me too."
"No. The way I like you is bigger than the way you like me."
"No. Mine is bigger."
"No. Mine..."
"No—mine is!"
"Uuu."
Watching Cecilia puff her cheeks again, I couldn't help laughing.
Poke.
"You know how incredibly cute that cheek-puffing is, right?"
"...Uuu."
"Ah... seriously, so soft..."
I kneaded Cecilia's cheeks with both hands until the silence that settled made me clear my throat a few times and stand up.
"Ahem. We should get some sleep now."
"Okay."
The instant the words left my mouth, Cecilia lay down on my bed.
"...Cecilia."
"Yes?"
"This is my room."
"Yes. And I'm Victor's fiancée."
"Yes. Still only a fiancée."
"...Buu."
"Puffing your cheeks and acting cute doesn't make something allowed that isn't."
"Why not!"
"At the very least, not until you graduate."
"That kind of... ah."
"Cecilia."
"I-it's not like that. I just wanted to sleep next to you..."
"..."
"O-of course, if Victor wants it, I'm prepared anyti—"
Looking at Cecilia, flushed as red as a ripe apple, I summoned superhuman patience, scooped her up in a princess carry, and—
"Vi... Victor?"
"..."
—carried her to her room and laid her on her bed.
"..."
"Good night, Cecilia."
"Good night, Victor."
Just as I turned to leave with a soft smile—
"I love you."
"..."
"Zzz..."
"Seriously..."
She really was a little fox.
"Mmm..."
Half-asleep, Cecilia pushed herself up in bed and looked around.
"Ah. Right."
The room she was in—the chamber of the lady of Walterheim.
"It... wasn't a dream."
Yesterday they had confessed to each other, and confirmed that the feeling was mutual—not a one-way street.
"Huh?"
Then Cecilia remembered what she had done before falling asleep, unable to contain a heart that felt ready to burst.
"Ah... aaaaah!!!"
She had gone to Victor's room, said every embarrassing thing imaginable, and put her fiancé through pure agony.
"Ugh... I want to die."
Burying her face in a pillow on the bed was not the sort of behavior a proper noble young lady would be proud of if anyone saw it. But if she didn't do at least that much, the wave of shame crashing over her felt as if it might make her face explode.
Knock, knock.
A knock came with a familiar voice.
"My lady~ It's Shurian."
"Ah, come in."
The door opened, and Shurian, physician of House Walterheim, stepped in with a bright, sunny face.
"..."
"Oh my."
"Thank you, Shurian."
"Hm?"
At Cecilia's thanks, Shurian tilted her head as if she had no idea what she was being thanked for.
"Did I do something?"
"Because you brushed it off so casually, I was able to realize and understand my own feelings for myself."
"Oh my."
"I'm so grateful for that."
"My lady."
"Yes?"
"Do you like His Grace that much?"
Boom!
At Shurian's question, Cecilia's face went red all over again.
"Uuu... yes."
"Hehe. So you barged in past midnight and—"
"Th-that was because I was sleepy, and my feelings were crashing over me like a wave, so my head wasn't working properly and I just moved on my heart instead of my head. I was going to come right back, but then His Grace's scent and His Grace's room filled my eyes and my head locked up even more and I just followed instinct..."
"You tried to jump him?"
"I-I did not!"
"Aww, it's fine. You and His Grace are both at that age. If something happens... well, you can just get married a little sooner and keep attending the Academy—"
"Shurian..."
"Hehe."
At Cecilia's adorable glare of protest, Shurian's smile stretched all the way to her ears.
"As you know, my lady, if you're truly worried, there is magic for that sort of thing..."
"Th-that sort of magic?"
"Um... there's magic that keeps a child from being conceived. You know, siphoning off His Grace's passionate—"
"I don't want that."
"Eh?"
"Everything of Victor's is mine."
"Aha."
Shurian nodded.
"Then His Grace will just have to hold out until the day you graduate."
"..."
"Though it doesn't look like you have any intention of making that easy."
"No."
"Hehe. It's a good time. I know—I held Ruche around your age. That feeling of having the person you love right in front of you and wishing they'd love you fiercely right this second."
"Exactly."
"Want me to teach you a secret move?"
"A secret move?"
"What it is, you see—"
Knock, knock.
At the knock, Cecilia and Shurian both looked toward the door. Cecilia, who had been wearing a faintly disappointed face, shook her head quickly and fixed her expression.
"Yes?"
"Cecilia."
"Vi... Victor?"
"They say breakfast is ready. Shall we go down together?"
"P-please wait a moment, I need to get rea—"
As Cecilia hurried to rise, Shurian snatched her wrist in a flash.
"My lady."
"Shurian? I need to get ready quick—"
Shurian shook her head and wore a sly little smile.
"You're more destructive like this."
The door opened, and Cecilia appeared in the same pajamas from the night before.
"I-I'm sorry. I just woke up."
"..."
"Victor?"
"It's fine."
No. It was not fine. What was this adorable creature? Sleepy-headed Cecilia's destructive power was this strong? Sleep in every morning from now on. Then I'd get to see this every day, right?
But if she walked out of the dorm looking like this, other male students would see her. No. Absolutely not...
"Victor? The food will get cold..."
"Ah, sorry."
I smiled faintly and started eating without any idea whether the food in front of me was going into my mouth or my nose. That was how devastating Cecilia's pajama look was. That slightly bare white shoulder. That was the killer blow.
"Kh."
"Vi... Victor?"
"It's nothing. Just."
I was glad to be alive.
"We'll head back to the Academy after lunch, so rest well until then."
"Yes. I will."
After seeing Cecilia back to her room, I headed for the study.
"Hehe."
"..."
Jester and Shurian were waiting for me there.
"What is it?"
"Did you enjoy last night and this morning's breakfast?"
"...Shurian, don't tell me."
Shurian flashed me a thumbs-up and a smile.
"Honestly..."
I answered in kind—thumbs-up, smile.
"The best."
"Right?"
"Haa."
"By the way, Shurian."
"Yes?"
"You two really played me and Cecilia, didn't you?"
"..."
"Still, the result was good, wasn't it?"
"...I admit it."
It was the best possible outcome. Shurian, were you the strongest at love counseling too?
"Ahem. From Academy life straight into turning a contract into a real engagement."
"..."
"I, Jester, am deeply moved."
"Is that really something to get that moved over?"
"Yes."
At Jester's firm answer, I nodded.
"Well... if you're moved, I'm glad."
"So."
Shurian beamed at me and opened her mouth.
"When are you going to go pay your respects at the Roeyental Duke Family?"
"...I've already paid my—"
"That time felt like a contract. Now it's more of a 'please give me your daughter for real' kind of visit, isn't it?"
"..."
"Oh, and for reference, my husband is around the same age as my father, so Father couldn't quite bring himself to fight and just let it slide."
"..."
"..."
Jester turned his head, looking faintly embarrassed.
"But oh my—now that His Grace is going to take the blooming daughter for real, I am sooooo curious how Duke Wolfgang will react."
"Hmm. He might pull out the longsword reserved for dukes who have daughters."
"Is that a real thing?"
"Yes. For reference, I've also prepared a greatsword for whenever Ruche and Ran bring home a man."
"...Really?"
"That's just how every father is."
At Shurian's words, a cold sweat began to form. A weapon prepared for the day a daughter brings home a son-in-law... terrifying. Truly terrifying.
"I'll have to steel myself before I go."
"Instead of coming straight north for summer break, why not stop by the Roeyental Duke Family?"
"Speaking of which—how is the Roeyental Duke Family these days?"
"Well, with Walterheim as a solid partner, they're recovering their strength. Hmm, though."
"What is it?"
"There's been a rather strange rumor going around lately."
A strange rumor?