Chapter 106: Intermission Date - Laura (1)
Chapter 106: Intermission Date - Laura (1)
It was just before I was set to head down into the Infinite Labyrinth in earnest.
A bit of free time had opened up.
Work had been processed unusually quickly today, leaving my schedule completely empty from the afternoon onwards.
What should I do?
As I was weighing my options, my eyes fell upon the woman standing beside me, who looked like she was about to die of boredom the moment I finished my tasks.
"Laura."
"Ah, Young Lord."
Laura was fiddling with some pudding.
She was lightly tapping the top of it with the back of a spoon, making it jiggle without letting it collapse.
"Are you finished with work?"
"Who told you to play with your food?"
"Well, that is..."
"I’m joking. I’m not the kind of person to scold someone over something like that."
I took the spoon from Laura’s hand and took a large bite of the pudding.
"It’s delicious. Did Amy make this?"
"Ah..."
"What? Were you saving it for later?"
"No. It’s just... I already had that in my mouth."
"Ha."
Is she worried about an indirect kiss?
Finding it ridiculous, I scooped up another small portion of the pudding.
"Say ahhh."
"...Ahhh?"
I held it out toward Laura.
"What? Are you saying you don't want pudding fed to you by me?"
"I-it’s not that I don’t want it. Are you really going to feed me yourself, Young Lord?"
"Yes. I’ve finished my work, and it’s break time from here on out."
Laura’s eyes sparkled as she tilted her head up.
"Not just a short break, but you’re actually done for the day?"
"That’s right. Work wrapped up faster than expected today. You were just waiting for me to finish, weren't you, you little rascal?"
"Hehe."
Laura opened her mouth with a smile, and I gently slid the pudding inside.
"Mmm."
Instead of just grazing the pudding with her upper lip, Laura took the entire spoon into her mouth.
Then, she sucked it clean, leaving only the spoon between her lips as she gave me a mischievous grin.
"It’s delicious."
"You already ate a whole one yourself."
"I think it tastes better because you fed it to me personally, Young Lord. Hehe."
Laura sprang up from her seat.
"Then, Young Lord, let’s go!"
"Where?"
"Oh, did you want to do it right here?"
Seeing as there were no prying eyes in the office, Laura started getting ahead of herself.
It wasn't exactly a flaw that Laura was so open about her sexual appetite, so I usually let it slide, but regardless of any eavesdropping concerns, her being this eager right now was... well.
"We aren't having sex right this second."
"Huh?"
"Go change your clothes. I’ll call Amy for you."
I stretched lightly and pointed toward the door.
"It’ll be the perfect time for dinner soon."
"Um, by changing out of these clothes, you mean..."
"We’re going to a restaurant to eat. We have to follow the dress code, don't we? If you walk into a restaurant wearing a bunny girl outfit, people will think you’re a waitress, not my partner."
"Oh."
Laura covered her mouth with her hand, looking surprised.
"...A dress?"
"Go put one on. Amy will help you."
"B-but I don't have a dress. Other than the bunny girl outfits I wear for each day of the week..."
"Why wouldn't you have a dress?"
I pointed outside.
"Whenever a new member joins the knight order, I have dresses made for them alongside their uniforms. I had those bunny girl outfits tailored to your body, didn't I? Naturally, I ordered dresses using those same measurements."
"A dress for me?"
"Yes. But..."
I scanned Laura from head to toe.
"Did you gain weight by any chance?"
"T-there’s no way!"
Laura turned red and shouted back.
"Do you have any idea how hard I exercise every single day?!"
"Are you talking about training with Serica, or are you talking about sex?"
"Both!"
I couldn't help but laugh at Laura’s intense reaction, but I patted her on the back to calm her down.
"Alright, alright. Just go put the dress on. And..."
I leaned down and whispered quietly into her ear.
"Since it’s a rare date, don't do anything weird. Just wear the dress normally, okay?"
"......."
Laura pouted.
"What? You don't want to?"
"...What kind of person do you take me for? Why would you think I’d wear something weird?"
"I figured you might try to wear the bunny girl outfit under the dress. Or maybe go without underwear."
"Gasp."
Laura turned pale.
"Y-Young Lord. Can you... read minds or something?"
"What? I was just taking a stab in the dark and I got it right? Which one was it?"
"...Well, that is."
Laura fidgeted with her fingers and gave a sheepish smile.
"...Going commando in a bunny girl outfit, with a dress over it?"
I knew it.
Laura was truly something else.
However.
"Save that kind of thing for the sex room. Just wear the dress properly, alright?"
"Yes..."
Because it was a normal date.
I didn't want to show everything about Laura to other bastards.
Laura belonged to me.
* * *
A short while later.
I waited for Laura in the entrance hall of the Lord's Castle.
And then.
"Did I keep you waiting?"
Laura, emerging in a black dress that matched her usual bunny girl aesthetic, was truly beautiful.
The hem of the dress reached her knees—a perfect length that, for some reason, made it even more erotic.
Too short would be tacky, and too long would look stifling.
The way it moderately revealed her legs made my lower half throb—no, it straight-up made me hard.
"You’re... wearing a different suit than usual, Young Lord?"
"I can't exactly go out on a date looking like I always do."
Even though it was an incredibly extravagant outfit for someone like Ruji, it was a different story if it was something I had to wear.
The only thing that remained the same was the color: white.
The original Ruji had a borderline pathological obsession with white suits.
He even matched his underwear to be white; it seemed the idea that 'clothing must be white' was engraved into his brain.
If he ever became Count, he was definitely the type of guy who would make all the maids wear white stockings.
'That can't happen.'
Currently, the maids' stockings were black, just like Laura’s.
Changing that to white was simply out of the question.
"Laura. Did you want us to match colors?"
"No. I think white is a color that suits you very well, Young Lord."
"Really? Well, I suppose I do pull off white quite well."
The man known as Ruji was a man who looked strangely good in white.
Even if his insides were pitch black.
"Well then, ahem."
I cleared my throat lightly and reached out to Laura.
"Shall we, my lady?"
"...That’s a bit much. I think I’d prefer it if you just treated me like you usually do."
Laura spoke to me while glancing at our surroundings.
"Calling me 'my lady' doesn't seem to suit you, Young Lord."
"Is that so? Then how about this?"
I immediately took Laura’s hand.
Throwing the etiquette of a medieval fantasy world to the dogs, I stood beside Laura, interlaced our fingers, and pointed forward.
"Let’s go."
"...This feels more like you, Young Lord. I like it."
Laura matched her pace with mine as we headed outside.
Since we were heading out with a minimal escort, we didn't expect to draw much attention, but as we walked down the street holding hands, the looks from the people were peculiar.
—My god, isn't that the bunny girl?
—She’s certainly moved up in the world. Looks like she finally managed to snag the position of the lady of Fermaton.
—What a wonderful world we live in. Some of us work ourselves to the bone, while others just spread their legs to find success. Becoming a noble is so easy.
All sorts of malice reached my ears.
Even if I didn't want to hear it, I had no choice.
The curses of the unspecified masses, fueled by jealousy and carried on the wind, were a byproduct of the curse that permeated the entire land of Fermaton.
'It’s the aftermath of the Mental Corruption.'
The Mental Corruption from the Fermaton Infinite Labyrinth was eating away at people’s minds.
In a city that was already hyper-sensitive to 'capital,' such Mental Corruption made it inevitable that humans would become utter trash.
However.
"Laura."
"Yes, I know."
I was perfectly capable of letting those comments slide, and Laura didn't mind them at all either.
They were just talking behind our backs because they thought we couldn't hear them.
'Still, I should remember their faces.'
I scanned the bastards spewing those foul words one by one, committing them to memory.
Laura also scanned the crowd as she walked beside me.
"Laura. If you run into those guys in the Infinite Labyrinth later, make sure to absolutely wreck them."
"Pardon?"
"What do you mean 'pardon'? Didn't you hear what I said?"
"Ah, sorry. I was... looking at the women."
"Women?"
Where did that come from?
"Why are you looking at women?"
"Well, I was scanning them to see if there were any women you might like, Young Lord. If I saw any, I was going to recruit them into the knight order."
"There’s no need for that. If there’s a woman who wants to join the order, she’ll find her own way in."
The knight order was sufficient as it was.
"What I need right now is a partner who will brainstorm with me on how to ruin those pieces of trash who insult my woman later. What about you?"
"...You’re right. I can't let those who dare speak ill of you go unpunished, Young Lord. Should I go and give them a piece of my mind right now?"
"No."
If Laura or I got involved, things would escalate.
Lèse-Majesté.
Since the standard punishment started with cutting out the tongue, if I sought out the ones who insulted us, a tongue or two would be rolling on the ground immediately.
And yet, the fact that they still spat out insults toward me and Laura showed exactly what kind of temperament they had.
Even if the curse of the Infinite Labyrinth played a large part in it.
"We’re here."
We arrived at the restaurant.
It was a fairly large-scale restaurant within the Fermaton estate, and this was my first time visiting in person.
However, I knew the taste.
Zenith had requested their services several times, so I had eaten their steaks back at the Lord's Castle.
It was a restaurant that wouldn't be an exaggeration to call a 3-star Michelin fine dining establishment in reality.
—What? Burning that much money on a single meal? You could do a 100-pull with that much!
A restaurant with prices where a single meal could easily cover the cost of a 100-pull.
'Some things never change.'
The habits of a gamer who calculates all prices in terms of gacha still remained.
But things were different now.
I was Ruji Fermaton.
"Welcome, Young Lord."
"Yes. It’s a same-day reservation, but I assume it’s fine?"
"Since the Young Lord is visiting, we would make a seat even if there weren't any. Allow me to escort you."
I was a man of such power that the owner of the restaurant came out personally to greet us.
"Uh, excuse me."
"What is it?"
"...Why is there an Elf?"
Laura pointed at the restaurant owner with trembling eyes.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Pagan Lee. I am an Elf, and..."
The restaurant owner, Pagan, pointed to the sign.
"I am the chef running 'First Experience,' a restaurant specializing in 500 years of traditional royal cuisine."