Library Date (4)
"Nngh... aah...!"
"Please don't move."
"The stimulation is too... intense!"
"Just bear with it a little longer. It'll feel good."
"Wait—I can't, I really can't take any more!"
I firmly gripped the arms of the young lady—no, of Iren—as she tried to resist.
"Resisting is useless. Since you can't use mana, I, as a man, am stronger."
Tears welled up in Iren's eyes.
"You... I won't forgive you for this."
"Haaa, Your Highness."
I looked at her with an incredulous expression, shower ball still in hand.
"I'm only washing your body. Why are you reacting like this?"
"I-I've never had anyone wash me since I was little!"
"But you're a princess?"
"I was independent, okay!"
If a princess of her stature preferred to wash herself, she could certainly be called independent.
"Just hold still a little longer. Washing you thoroughly takes care and effort."
"That's what's weird about this! You said you were going to vent your desires! Did you seriously have some urge to scrub the young lady of House Katram this meticulously? Was she living in filth or something?"
"That's not it."
The real reason I had always wanted to wash the young lady carefully was simple: I was a man.
From childhood I had served as her butler and could assist with nearly everything, but bathing was the one exception. We were the same age and different genders; no one could predict what might happen. The maids had always handled her baths.
Of course I had never intended to lay a hand on her. If I had ever harbored such thoughts, I would have left the duchy long ago.
"Hmph. Fine. So you just had a perverted desire to personally wash the girl you like?"
"If I were truly a pervert, Your Highness would have cast me out ages ago."
"...You always know how to shut me up."
My expert technique made Iren twitch and flinch, yet I never once touched any intimate place. I only scrubbed the ordinary parts of her body.
A proper bath is delicate work. Rub too hard and you strip the skin of what it needs; rub too gently and dirt and bacteria remain. The true art is removing only the thin outer layer of dead skin without overstimulating anything else.
"Your Highness, I'll wash your hair next. Perfect timing—I have just the thing."
"That looks childish. I don't want it."
"We already washed your body first, so there's no choice. Please put it on."
Iren sighed and set the shampoo cap on her head. I wet her hair, poured shampoo into my palm, and massaged her scalp as if giving a proper treatment.
"How is it? Feels good, doesn't it?"
"I won't deny it. But it's strange."
"What is?"
"How a collateral branch of a ducal house ever polished skills like these."
My hands nearly stopped.
Right. Right now I was posing as a collateral member of House Katram while attending the Academy. If the imperial princess discovered the truth, it would mean extreme punishment whether she liked me or not.
I kept my hands moving and answered as naturally as I could.
"I have an independent streak myself. I never liked other people touching my body either."
"You didn't? Why not?"
"I have a few unpleasant memories."
Minor things from before I met the young lady. Memories I had no desire to dig up. I changed the subject.
"Don't forget I'm still venting my desires. Play along a little."
"Like the young lady of House Katram?"
"You don't have to go that far. Just answer when I speak."
"All right. Go ahead."
While gently massaging her scalp I opened my mouth, finally realizing a conversation I had always wanted to have with the young lady—even if only here.
"My lady, do you have a dream?"
"A dream? Hmm. Becoming the head of the house someday, I suppose?"
"That's only the future. I mean something you truly want to do."
"Something I want to do... I'm not sure. What about you, Frey?"
Suddenly Iren switched to a more formal register, and her tone became startlingly similar to the young lady's.
No—noble speech patterns were often alike. It was probably just coincidence.
"Me? I've only ever lived looking one step ahead."
"Only one step?"
"A man from a collateral branch of House Katram would have been a thorn in the Duke's side."
"Ah... has Father ever tried to eliminate you?"
"I don't know. But the first time he saw me, he was clearly displeased."
That had been true when I first became the young lady's butler. The Duke had not been happy about a commoner from the streets associating with his daughter. At the same time he was a complete soft touch for her, so he could never refuse when she threw a tantrum.
I had worked myself to the bone to escape that gaze, desperate to prove I was useful so I would not be discarded. It took five full years before the Duke finally accepted me. Those five years had been hard.
"Now that I've earned recognition I can even attend the Academy. Thinking about it that way... there is one dream I want to achieve."
"What is it?"
"To become an outstanding mage so that the young lady can be healthy again."
"..."
"Since she fell ill, laughter has largely disappeared from the duchy."
These were things that should never be spoken outside the family. But Iren had already investigated everything thoroughly, so it no longer mattered.
"The lively young lady spends more and more time lying in bed. The atmosphere has grown stiff, and the Duke's worries have deepened. That is why I want to heal her."
"...Shall I bring you an Elixir?"
"No need."
Tempting, of course. But the fallout if the removal of an Elixir were discovered made refusing the safer and cleaner choice.
"I will cure the young lady with my own power. That is my dream right now."
"...What are you, some mere attendant?"
"I am not an attendant. There—all done."
I rinsed Iren's hair clean. The space around us began to waver and dissolve.
She looked at me in surprise.
"Is that it?"
"Yes. Were you expecting more?"
"No. I mean—no. You weren't nearly as lecherous as I thought."
"You're the lecherous one, Your Highness. Let's go."
This was the desire I had wanted to fulfill: simply attending to every part of the young lady while speaking my true feelings.
The one regret was that looking at Iren had made a certain part of me react. I never expected that to happen for anyone but the young lady. I clearly needed more mental discipline.
A brilliant flash erupted from the dissolving space and swallowed everything.
In the blink of an eye we were back in reality. Something was wrong.
Female students with bright red faces and the library librarian were staring at us with pounding hearts.
What? I was told the censorship was working properly.
The librarian strode toward me.
"You!"
"Y-yes?"
"Where on earth did you learn magic like that?! I want to recommend you to Professor Violet right now—skip undergraduate studies entirely and enter graduate school!"
"All of a sudden?"
"It is not sudden! You shook the magic tome so hard that you completely dismantled the censorship our ancestors laid down over countless years!"
"Wait."
Iren's icy voice rang through the library.
"The censorship was lifted? Then that means..."
She pointed at herself with trembling fingers.
"You all saw everything?"
In that instant I understood why she was furious.
If the censorship had failed, our naked bodies had been fully exposed.
A brief silence. Then most of the students began to flee.
Only the librarian remained, calmly adjusting his glasses.
"Your Highness. We are seekers of knowledge. We are interested solely in Frey's Reverse Calculation magic. Your Highness's naked body holds no interest for us whatsoever—"
"You're all executed."
"Hyaaaaah!"
Even the librarian fled. I spent a considerable amount of effort restraining Princess Iren, who genuinely seemed ready to kill everyone present.
"They're all women! If anyone should be angry, it's me!"
"That just means they saw your naked body and blushed! They deserve to die even more!"
"Oh, for crying out loud!"
This was exhausting. Truly.
House Katram.
There, Aylin buried her face in a pillow and kicked her feet furiously against the mattress.
What is this? What is this, Frey!
What had happened in the library today had dealt Aylin a tremendous shock.
She had confirmed that her father had once looked at Frey with that kind of gaze... and that Frey harbored no ulterior motives toward her at all—only pure loyalty.
I even imagined things like that... Was my body just too lacking? No, that can't be—he reacted just fine down there!
Yet the magic tome had proven that Frey's desires were purely emotional. Otherwise he never would have been able to leave the interior of the tome.
Aylin cupped her own chest. Even to her own eyes it was ample.
My figure should be identical to my original form... Ugh.
She despaired that physical advances had become completely useless. What good was a body attack against someone who had already seen her naked?
Still... Frey.
Even so, her heart pounded.
He had always lived for her sake. That fact was both painful and overwhelmingly joyful.
That's why I fell for you.
Aylin stopped thrashing her feet. In the end, nothing changed the fact that she liked him, and that he held affection for her in return.
All that remained was to try harder.
So that he would fall not for the false face of the young lady of House Katram, but for her true self—Iren von Valencia.