A Husband's Basic Qualifications (2)
"Wait, Sister?!"
The moment Anne undid the ties at her back, the dress slipped clean off her shoulders.
The thin, pure-white chemise beneath came into view.
There was definitely no alcohol at dinner…!
It wasn't me who was drunk—Anne looked like the one who was. That aside, the dizziness left me unable to move.
"If you make such a spectacle of yourself…!"
"Noah."
"Ugh…!"
Anne even threw off the chemise. All that remained were the scant coverings over her breasts and her private parts. The fabric was so thin that her nipples and everything behind the covering showed through with shameless clarity.
"Why do you keep rejecting me?"
"Rejecting you…? When have I ever rejected you, Sister…?"
"You force my hand away, you never call me pretty, you never ask for a kiss, you never even praise me. So someone like me… is just unpleasant to you, right…?"
"That can't be… More importantly, your clothes first—"
Anne in her underthings was a sight I had never seen before. I had never once laid eyes on a woman's bare body, so the whole thing felt alien. The only memory that came close was from childhood, when a maid used to bathe me—and even that was hazy. Looking at the elegant hollow between her narrow waist and her breasts made my chest tighten.
"Why. Why do you think I took my clothes off, Noah."
"Well…"
A woman removing her clothes meant she wanted to be received. It meant she desired me, wanted me to plant life inside her. That was how I had been taught. So Anne was… asking me to impregnate her right now.
"You already know…"
"W-wait a moment…! There are people outside—"
"That doesn't matter. I've already sent them all away."
Anne climbed on top of me and pressed me down. Her weight itself was light, yet the firmness of her hold left me unable to push her off.
"I… have quite a strong libido… so even in broad daylight like this, I suddenly want to put my hands on you…"
Her fingers undid my buttons one by one. She knew my clothes so well that she even freed the inner buttons with ease.
"Ugh…!"
My bare upper body was exposed to her. Small, rough hands settled against my chest.
"Noah… you really haven't been slacking on your training, have you~?"
"Of course… not… But that's not the issue here…!"
Anne's slender hands stroked over my body as she leaned down and pressed herself flush against me. Soft cheeks and an ear came to rest over my heart.
"Your heart… is working properly too…"
"That's because… I'm alive—ah?!"
Her fingers deliberately pressed against my nipple and began to circle it. She tormented only the sensitive spots until an undignified moan escaped me.
"Ahaha, Noah. You clearly never trained this part, did you?"
"How… could I have…!"
"Then I'll train it for you—euk?!"
I managed to move my arm and seized her wrist. Losing the contest of strength, Anne's fingers gradually pulled away from me. I took the hand I held, laced our fingers together, and forced myself upright.
"Sis…ter…"
"Noah…?"
I was too drunk to see her face clearly. Even so, my will that this was not the time remained unbroken.
"Ugh…!"
I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against me. Looking at it now, her waist was remarkably slender, yet she had trained the muscle there thoroughly. The effort she had poured into becoming head of Irisstar was plain to feel.
"I… am very fond of you, Sister."
"Th-that goes for me too…!"
So I had to love her properly. The love I had never received as family—
"Which is why… not yet—"
"Noah?!"
Everything went black.
"……."
Morning sunlight did not filter through the window cracks—it was evening, the hour of sunset. Crimson twilight cast a gloomy light across my room. Anne was nowhere to be seen; she must have gone elsewhere.
Did she dress me again…?
At some point I was fully clothed once more. Anne had probably put my clothes back on before leaving. Better her than anyone else, at least.
"Ugh… my head…"
She had said the chocolate was filled with wine syrup. I had only eaten one, yet the hangover was this severe. Terrifying in more ways than one. I did not even want to imagine what would have happened if I had not held back then.
—Noah…!
I startled and shook my head hard from side to side. No matter how beautiful Anne was, how could I entertain that kind of relationship with my own sister…
Honestly, what a disgraceful display…
I had no intention of inheriting the headship, but I was still the eldest son of the Irisstar family. I could not harbor such thoughts toward family.
"Haa…"
After washing my face I left the room. Everyone who needed rest had already withdrawn, leaving the mansion truly quiet.
Where did she go…?
Given how Anne was lately, she should have been lying beside me or coming to my room to tempt me again. Something felt off no matter how I looked at it.
"Young Master! You've awakened!"
"Victor."
Head butler Victor offered a polite greeting. Word of me collapsing after the boozy chocolate must have spread.
"When I heard you had suddenly collapsed, I was so alarmed… I had hoped at least to see Young Master's son before I departed this world… I nearly fainted alongside you…"
"No. Don't you start saying things like that…"
Hearing an elderly man talk that way made it feel genuinely possible—creepy. Still, the fact that the chocolate never came up suggested the rumor was simply that I had collapsed out of nowhere.
"Where is Sister?"
"The young lady is in the office. With the acting head—yourself—indisposed, the next in line has taken over the duties."
"Ah… is that so…? All because I collapsed for no good reason."
"Not at all, sir. She is handling the work even more ably than you."
"…That's good, then."
While Father was away, the acting head conducted the family's business. Before I came of age Anne had handled it; after I came of age, I had. So that was why she hadn't come. I had half expected her to be hatching some strange scheme somewhere.
"However…"
"Hm? Something wrong?"
Victor stroked his beard, looking worried.
"The young lady has not eaten either. I fear she may collapse just as you did."
"What…?"
Right. Once Anne focused on something she would skip meals without a second thought.
"Don't tell me she barred everyone from entering?"
"Yes, precisely."
"Haa…"
"Young Master? Wherever are you—"
"I'm hungry too, so I'm going to eat. Have a meal prepared."
"Yes… understood."
Knock. Knock.
I knocked on the door of the office where Anne was working.
"I told you not to call me while I'm in the office!"
"It's me, Sister."
"Noah…?"
"I'm coming in."
It wasn't locked, so I opened the door as I was. Through the thick stacks of documents, Anne's exhausted face appeared.
"…I'm sorry. You collapsed because of me."
"I'm fine now. I came to help."
"It's all right. You don't need to help. This is my responsibility."
"Let's do it together. There's still this much piled up. I've handled it a few times myself."
The work wasn't anything grand—just reviewing documents and stamping approvals. The sheer volume was the problem, given how many trading partners we had.
"You've almost finished."
"Mm. So go rest, Noah."
"Oh. We're taking a supply contract from Ophelia? That's unusual."
Ophelia was a major city in the east of the continent. They normally produced their own weapons and never relied on outside help, so they had never once accepted supplies from anywhere. Not every resource or material originated there, of course, but they had ignored that reality—and now the consequences were catching up. No wonder she was working through meals.
"Yeah… an opportunity that finally appeared after more than a decade without one. If we succeed with this—ugh, Noah?!"
I took half the remaining documents, sat on the sofa, and began skimming them.
"True. It really has to succeed."
"No… give those back.
"I said let's do it together."
"No… this is…"
"I understand how you feel, Sister."
She wanted to succeed with this deal no matter what so Father would acknowledge her. Only then could she draw a little closer to the headship.
"So let's do it together. Hus…bands and wives help each other, don't they?"
"Noah…"
For now I decided to help Anne. If she earned Father's recognition and inherited the headship, I could escape her clutches—two birds with one stone.
"If that's what you want… all right."
"Good."
Anne was unusually compliant. Perhaps because it was work, she wasn't letting her emotions show.
"What if we lower the bid a little more?"
"Hm? I thought it was already low enough."
"No—this is the first time, so every other place will be in an uproar too. The ones who collude will already have colluded. You think it's ambiguous yourself, don't you? You haven't stamped it yet."
"…You're right."
Even if we minimized the margin, once this bid succeeded Father would handle the rest brilliantly. He was unmatched at announcing price hikes.
"Then… lower it this much?"
"Yes. Perfect. This should be competitive enough. After that we leave it to Father."
"Good."
With the important matter settled, the remaining documents began to flow smoothly. After stamping the final page, I practically collapsed onto the sofa.
"It's over…"
"You worked hard. Thank you, Noah."
"Don't mention it. Ah—let's go eat. I told Victor to set the table."
"All right."
"…Pardon?"
"Hm? Why? You said let's eat."
"Ah… yes."
I had been certain she would lock the door and say something terrifying like, "Now it's time to perform a husband's duties." Maybe I had overthought it. No need to go digging up trouble that hadn't even been spoken.
"Young Master, Young Lady. We have been waiting."
"Mm. I'm so hungry my stomach's sticking to my back."
"This way, please."
We went to the dining room like normal people and finished the meal like normal people. Unlike the daytime attempt to seduce me with alcohol, this was the Anne I knew of old.
At this rate it looks like I'm the one hoping for something…
I was too drunk to remember clearly, but I had definitely touched Anne's body. Skin soft in a way hands never were. Soft, yet with a firm pressure underneath. That pleasant scent still seemed to stand beside me, teasing my nose.
"I'm sorry, Noah."
"Pardon?"
After the meal I walked her to her room. Tonight's Anne seemed calmer than she had ever been.
"I… think I was too hasty. You don't dislike me, yet I rushed into that sort of thing…"
"Ah, no… If someone's awkward at expressing themselves, that can happen. And it did feel like you were pushing too hard."
"Right. Progress isn't something you force all at once, is it?"
"Pardon? That—"
Anne pulled my head down and kissed me. Startled, I spent so long trying to sort out the situation in my head that I couldn't even think of moving.
"So… from now on, let's take it slowly and do it properly? Hus.band?"
"Uh, ah…"
"Oh, how embarrassing~"
She gave my chest a light thump and disappeared into her room. I was left standing in front of that door for a long while, completely blank.