Embrace Me, Sir Knight! - 3
The morning of the day I was meant to observe Lucia under the pretense of "reading her memories."
Paul rose first, put together a light breakfast, and knocked on Lucia's door.
"Lucy, I'm coming in."
What came out of Paul's mouth wasn't a wake-up call so much as an announcement of entry. Normally a knock through a closed door meant get up already—but apparently that alone wasn't enough to rouse her.
Inside the room, Lucia sat on the bed with her eyes closed. From her posture, it looked like she'd only just pushed her upper body upright from sleep. Every button of her pajamas was still fastened, which made my deduction—that she'd only sat up—feel reasonably sound.
"I'm up… just give me a little like this…"
"Change and come out."
"Mm…"
With that, Paul left the room, and Lucia slowly began undoing her buttons. It looked as if she wasn't wearing anything underneath, so—being a gentleman—I decided to make myself scarce. I was briefly startled, of course, but I saw nothing. Absolutely nothing.
In the meantime Paul plated the breakfast he'd finished and tidied the cookware. When Lucia still hadn't responded by the time he was done, he headed back toward her room.
Lucia was undoing the bottommost button of her pajamas. A few of the middle ones were still fastened, and yet for some reason she was working on the lowest one. Knowing she had nothing on underneath, I averted my eyes—but Paul was looking straight at her. His gaze was full of exasperation. He sighed at the girl who still hadn't moved even after undoing that button, and stepped closer.
"Lucy. I'll undo the rest for you, so change and come out."
"I'm going back to sleep, so you dress me, Paul…"
"…What are you wearing underneath?"
"Nothing… No bra either, so you put them on me…"
"…"
"Hwaaah—of course I'm kidding. But for you, Paul… hyaah!?"
Still half-asleep, Lucia suddenly flinched and yelped.
"You scared me…! What did you do—your hand is freezing…!?"
"I rinsed it in cold water. You're burning up, Lucy."
"Well yeah, I was under the blankets until a second ago…!"
"…Sorry. I just wanted to mess with you once."
Paul apologized to the huffing Lucia, then stood.
"Anyway, you look wide awake now. Change and come out already."
"I'm going to warm my stomach and take my time—!"
"Just get out before the food goes cold."
Lucia called after Paul as he left the room; he answered her with something noncommittal and closed the door.
Showing someone your bare body without a second thought—if you were extremely close, maybe that was possible? If Paul thought roughly the same way I did, he might well be wondering whether Lucia harbored feelings for him… I set that aside for later and turned my attention back to them.
Before long Lucia emerged from her room fully dressed, rubbing her eyes.
"Your uniform?"
"It's a holiday starting today—"
Lucia said it through a yawn, and Paul flipped through the calendar beside him.
"…Didn't know. I should've let you sleep longer. Sorry."
"Then hug me."
"Now that you're up, at least eat breakfast first, Lucy."
Lucia slowly walked up to Paul and held her arms out in front of her.
"If you hug me, I'll forgive you for this morning."
"Just breakfast… I made something you can eat quick."
Lucia snagged the toast from Paul's place, chewed it down in a hurry, and polished it off.
"Done!"
"I was going to say you'll choke, but never mind."
As Lucia stood there looking triumphant, Paul sighed once.
"…Fine. Just this once."
The moment Paul carefully opened his arms, Lucia slipped into them at once.
"You're warm now…"
"Only my hands were cold. Beastfolk run hot anyway."
Lucia shifted, burying her face against his chest. Paul stroked her with one hand and reached for toast with the other. What she'd just eaten had been his, so he was left with hers—but the table was large enough that he couldn't quite reach it. He looked carefully down at her.
"Lucy, just a second. I need breakfast too."
"I'm not letting go…"
"This chair is hard. Don't you want to be held somewhere soft?"
"Still want to stay like this…"
"Alright. I'm getting up, so hang on tight."
Lucia quickly looped her arms around Paul's neck, and he rose carefully. With her feet off the ground she was dangling from him, which looked a little ridiculous. Paul leisurely collected the toast and a book, then headed for that "soft place" he'd mentioned.
He sat carefully in a one-person sofa; Lucia briefly let go, then wrapped herself around his middle and buried her face again.
"Lucy, I might drop crumbs in your hair."
"…"
No answer came back, but Paul opened his book anyway—book in his right hand, toast on the side table to his left. Apparently he meant to hold Lucia, eat breakfast, and read all at once.
…And Lucia seemed to have fallen back asleep.
"Hwaaaah—good morning, Paul."
"Mm. Good afternoon, Lucy."
Waking in Paul's arms, Lucia lifted her face to look up at him. She rubbed her eyes for a moment right there, then slipped off the sofa. After a light stretch, she headed somewhere. I thought about following—then saw her go into the bathroom and gave up.
Paul kept reading at an easy pace. The title had the feel of something like Practical Tactics.
"Paul. Let's go on a date."
Back from the bathroom, Lucia addressed him in a resolute tone. Paul closed his book and checked the clock.
"Where'd this come from. Sure. I was about to head out for groceries anyway."
He stretched once on the spot, then disappeared into a room. Lucia was already gone; before I knew it, I was the only one left standing there. They were both probably changing, so I simply waited.
With a soft click, Paul came out of his room—changed, as expected. Lucia still hadn't appeared, so he finished his going-out preparations at a leisurely pace. He sheathed a one-handed sword, then fixed a dagger behind his belt. Over that he pulled on a thin beige coat that hid the dagger at his back—the same coat I'd seen during the slime incident. At first the all-black outfit had looked a little awkward, but with the coat on, the color combination actually worked. He was a bodyguard knight, after all; black would be good for staying unnoticed. Or so I vaguely thought.
Having more or less finished getting ready, Paul took a scroll from a drawer and started tucking it into an inner coat pocket. Then bandages, wound salve, a small potion… Watching him load himself up with item after item, I decided this would never end and looked away.
Soon there was a rustle from another room and the sound of a door opening. When I turned, Lucia was standing there. A black jumper dress over a white top; yellow buttons on the dress and a gray beret that tied the whole look together. A simple dress, quietly accessorized. Practical enough that she could draw a sword and fight if she had to, no doubt.
Lucia stepped in front of Paul, lightly lifted her skirt, and spun once. I wasn't sure why she lifted the skirt, but the spin was almost certainly for his benefit.
"You look lovely, my lady."
"Thank you. And you're still in the same outfit, Paul."
"It's starting to get cold. This coat is also ideal for concealing multiple weapons."
As he said it, Paul lifted the left side of his coat to show her the swords. There were two. The larger one above would be his; the one below, Lucia's. Lucia offered him a light thanks and finished preparing to go out.
Honorifics, of all things. Last time they'd said it was for formal occasions—but maybe, except when they were home, it was formal speech the whole way through?
"I intend to go out for ingredients for this evening's meal. What business does my lady have?"
"Ah—cloths! The ones I've been using are torn. I want the same kind you use, Paul."
"Come to think of it, I am due for new cloths myself."
"Perfect timing! Let's buy two of the same and use them together!"
Even this kind of small talk in formal speech… my guess was probably right.
"By the way, my lady—what would you like for dinner?"
"Hmm, I don't know that many dishes. Everything you make is good, Paul, so anything is fine."
"The full moon is approaching. You will need to take something, won't you?"
"Oh, right. There's still a little time, though, so I'll just drink one blood pack and call it done."
"Understood."
The full moon drawing near… living without looking at the night sky, that was news to me. Lucia had said her libido ran high, and Paul was a wolf beastfolk, so certain desires would spike for him too—but I wasn't sure of the details.
"Oh—are we buying my cloths first?"
Paul had stopped in front of a shop specializing in sword-related goods.
"If we buy ingredients first, we will have more to carry. Cloths are relatively small, so I mean to purchase those first."
"Sounds good."
After that brief exchange they stepped into the specialty shop. Both of them seemed to be regulars; they headed straight for where the cloths were kept.
"Oh, look at this. Is this a new color?"
"Silver… is it."
What Lucia had called Paul over for was a display of cloths in all sorts of colors. Paul turned one this way and that, checking the quality, while Lucia watched him from the side.
"It looks fine to me. The texture and size seem about right."
"…It is not high quality. It appears to be quality that matches the price."
"Really? I wanted to pick it because it matches your hair color and mine—but alright, let's look at something else."
Lucia was putting the cloth back in line with Paul's opinion when he carefully stopped her hand.
"It is certainly not high quality—but neither is it poor. This level should be adequate."
"Oh—okay."
She looked briefly flustered by Paul's sudden reversal, but since it was something she'd wanted to buy, it seemed to please her either way.
"Excuse me—we'd like to buy two of these—"
In any case they bought two cloths, then some ingredients and a few blood packs, and headed home. Aside from Lucia beaming after the purchase and saying, "It's the same as Paul's," there were no major incidents. From the start, she seemed happy enough just to be out with him.
With a jingle of the bell, Lucia came into the bar. I stopped polishing a glass and went to greet her.
"Ah! Welcome, guest. I've been waiting for you."
"Hello. It's only been a day, hasn't it, Mr. Nox."
"The crystal ball is already prepared. Whenever you're ready, place your hand on it."
"Alright. How long will it take?"
"Only a moment."
Wiping my hands, I waited briefly for her to place her hand. Crystal ball for reading memories or whatever—it was fake, after all.
Lucia took a short breath, then set her hand on the crystal. The instant her palm touched it, I activated Light Magic.
⟨ Light Magic ⟩
I held Light Magic for about ten seconds, then stopped; Lucia lifted her hand from the crystal as well.
"Is it done…?"
"It seems so. Let me check."
I lifted the crystal ball and made a show of examining it this way and that, then informed Lucia that it was complete. After that I set it on my palm, activated Light Magic again, and—hidden in the light—made the crystal disappear.
"I've read it thoroughly."
"That was fast."
What advice to give… I flexed the hand where the crystal had just been, thinking. At first I'd thought Lucia was the problem, being far too free with him. But the constant skinship with Paul, the way she'd called it a "date"—Paul could have noticed easily enough. Judging by how well he escorted her, he wasn't the dense type. He was probably forcing himself to look the other way.
"Hmm… well. From this memory alone, it doesn't seem you have any major problem, guest."
"Is that so?"
"Your skinship is more than enough for him to realize you have feelings. And he doesn't seem especially dense—his escorting was quite skilled. The most likely hypothesis is that he's deliberately ignoring your heart."
"Mm…"
At my words Lucia stroked her chin, sinking into deep thought. Probably working hard at her deductions. What conclusion would she reach? A pessimistic one? An optimistic one? Or something in between. I didn't want her reasoning to turn sour, so I spoke into her silence.
"Still, it doesn't seem like he's rejecting your feelings in a cruel way. He looked as though he genuinely enjoys life with you. There was a real sense of closeness."
With that positive note, Lucia slowly lowered her head, turning it over in her mind.
"You're right—there's no way Paul could dislike me. The worst case now is that he doesn't see me as a woman… I'll just have to hope that isn't it."
"Well. It could be something the Evermore house forbids. Or he might be holding back until you're of age. There are plenty of reasons."
Lucia's expression brightened again.
"If the memory I read is correct, didn't you say the full moon is soon? Let's find out, before then, why he's pretending not to notice your feelings."
"Yes!"
At her spirited answer I smiled with my crow's face. Then, murmuring to myself that we'd use this plan, I took out a bottle of wine.
"Guest. Do you drink?"
"Me? Not really. I can manage a few glasses at most."
"From reading this morning's memory—you do skinship quite naturally. That's excellent so far. On top of that, you'll convey your feelings directly. Being held the way you were this morning is enough. Inside Mr. Paul's arms, you tell him you like him, straight out."
"…Okay. Got it…"
Her answer trailed off, so I glanced over—Lucia was embarrassed by the whole topic. Well, of course hearing someone else describe how freely you throw yourself into a man's arms would be mortifying. But if I was going to help, I had to see the talk through. Sorry, but I kept going.
"He'll certainly be thrown by behavior that differs from usual. That's when you ask something like, 'Why are you ignoring my feelings?' It would be terribly embarrassing sober, so drinking first would help. That's why I asked if you drink. And since you said you don't drink much—that's actually rather fortunate."
"So—blurt it out under the influence. Is that it?"
"Something like that. More skinship than usual would also help."
"The first problem is getting him to drink at all. Suddenly saying let's have a drink would look suspicious."
"What if you say you received it as a gift? Wine is a fairly fine gift bottle, isn't it? Claiming you were given one should work."
"That's perfect. Now that you mention it, I remember there's a bottle of wine someone gave me last time. Could you teach me how to drink wine?"
"Of course."
In that moment I thought: the bartender persona might be fake, but at least I knew how to drink wine properly—lucky. As for how oddly I felt explaining wine etiquette to a young lady like her… that was my little secret.