Chloe's True Nightmare
Instead of the teddy bear, Chloe's nightmare began. She was clearly lying in bed, yet the place she found herself wasn't the bedroom in Evergreen Grand Duke's Castle. It was the mountain stronghold that had once served as the assassin guild's hideout. Fixed atop the bed in the center of it all, Chloe could do nothing.
"You destroyed the assassin guild that made your future."
"How could your future possibly be bright now?"
"Edwin—no, Chloe."
"Your future will be miserable."
"You'll meet the very end you tried so hard to avoid."
Bound to the bed, she had to endure the mockery from half-rotted corpses riddled with holes in their hearts and throats.
Bullshit...
It was a sight that would plunge any ordinary person into panic, but Chloe wasn't an idiot. The castle's defenses were never sloppy. Assassins had infiltrated multiple times, sure, but she'd installed simple devices at the unavoidable checkpoints anyone sneaking into the castle had to pass. Even a seasoned killer unaware of Chloe—the fellow assassin—prowling the grounds would likely brush past them carelessly. If someone had broken in, Chloe would've sensed it and reacted. And even if they'd evaded her makeshift alarms, there'd be no reason to kidnap her specifically.
"Get lost. I know you're fakes anyway."
A nightmare was a nightmare precisely because it defied understanding. The moment you grasped the logic behind it, it ceased to be one.
"Chloe..."
"We'll find you again..."
"Standing at the edge of despair, just to mock you..."
What a joke.
Chloe let out a scoff, flipping them the bird as a farewell to her phantom guildmates. And in the next instant—
"Huh...?"
The nightmare shattered, flinging her back to reality. Then an excruciating pain tore through her lower abdomen.
"Ugh...!"
It was maddening. The agony was so intense she instinctively curled up, her body—toes twitching helplessly—begging for it to stop in a pain she'd never felt before.
So taste and smell came back... but not just that...
No. She'd vaguely sensed it during her last fight with those assassins, but her sense of touch had revived too, making her far more sensitive to pain. And this? This was the sensation of her organs churning inside her—period cramps.
Biting her lower lip, Chloe slowly sat up and slid off the bed.
"Ha, haha..."
It was absurd. A top-tier assassin. Edwin the Golden Darkness, the one socialites dreaded most—reduced to a trembling-legged girl felled by menstrual cramps. All she could do was laugh.
You bastards.
Suddenly, memories of those attackers from before she came here flooded back. God, she hoped they'd all rotted in hell. Chloe might end up there herself someday, but becoming a woman had already atoned for half her sins. She'd spend the rest of her life piling up good deeds—maybe it'd ease this pain a little...
That was Chloe's thinking as—
"Hah... seriously..."
—she dragged her shaky legs forward, leaning on the bedpost for support as she inched toward the opposite side where the bell was. Sleeping had somehow shifted her body away from the drawer. No way could she roll across the bed in this state without toppling off. Moving slowly but steadily to avoid straining her insides, she made her way to the drawer.
"Hoo, haa..."
Finally there, she placed both hands on it and caught her breath. Even as she did, her guts gurgled inside, and some unidentified liquid—soaking her underwear—trickled out, running down her thighs. She wanted to die. If anyone saw her like this, the shame alone might kill her...
I really might die like this...
"Might" meant it was possible but not certain, but enduring this pain alone? She'd definitely croak.
"V-Violaaa!"
Eyes squeezed shut, Chloe snatched the bell in front of her and shook it like a maniac. She needed help—someone experienced.
#
"Hahk, haa, haa..."
With a heating artifact on her belly, easy-to-digest vegetable porridge for breakfast, and two painkillers swallowed, Chloe huddled around a teddy bear as big as she was, shivering uncontrollably. She'd thought it'd ease up after waking, but if anything, the pain felt worse. Hell, maybe that nightmare of scorn from her dead guildmates had been more comfortable.
"It's fascinating..."
"What's so fascinating?"
"Well, I just never imagined the woman who handled the Arona and Perona sisters in a flash would show such a vulnerable side."
"...Can't I be weak?"
Viola's smiling words felt oddly provocative. I'm not hurting that bad, but you? Pathetic. Something like that? Of course, it was all in Chloe's head—an overreaction from her cutthroat assassin days.
"Of course it's fine. Be as weak as you need. I'll take care of everything."
"Yeah? Thanks... thanks..."
"No trouble at all."
Viola was thrilled, really. She'd been useless beyond occasional dress-up help, but now she had a purpose repaying the woman who'd ended the twins' reign of terror. This was her chance.
"Rest easy. I'll clean the whole room spotless."
"Uh..."
While Chloe languished, clutching her bear, Viola zipped around the bedroom, tidying with extra vigor—imprinting that she was Chloe's exclusive maid, unmatched in cleaning. A display of top-tier maid skills...
What's this...?
Then Viola's hand closed on a sketchbook tucked behind a storage cabinet. How had she missed it during regular cleanings? Curiosity piqued, she flipped it open.
Whoa...
It held a woman so breathtakingly lifelike she seemed painted from a dream. Viola knew her well—the same woman groaning through cramps like any girl. Chloe.
Mommy...
And as she turned the pages, Chloe appeared in increasingly provocative outfits. Viola couldn't tear her eyes away, devouring a dozen pages of subtly varied Chloes.
In a world where sexual culture lagged and couples lacked outlets for lust, illustrations like these held immense value as erotica. Especially in this realistic style.
I want to draw something like this too...
A strange urge bubbled up in Viola.
"Viola...?"
"Y-yes?"
Startled by Chloe's call, she shoved the sketchbook into her apron pocket. Maids' aprons had inner pockets—no one would notice.
"I think someone's here..."
"Ah, I'll get the door right away."
She dashed over and opened the bedroom door.
"L-Lady Marian?"
Marian stood there, looking sullen. Viola was twenty-three—eleven years older—but quite petite. Her eye level matched even the twelve-year-old Marian's.
"Out of the way. Where's Chloe?"
"Th-the tutor is inside."
Suddenly, Marian exuded something like killing intent. Hadn't she just started mana training yesterday? Was this it?
"I-I'll fetch some refreshments."
Feeling a chill of fear, Viola fled the room. Left alone with Chloe—
"Chloe, why didn't you come?"
Marian's face softened back to innocence as she shoved aside the teddy bear Chloe held and burrowed into her arms, claiming its spot.
Ugh...
Unlike the bear—which stayed put no matter what—this wriggling Marian was similar yet different. Chloe couldn't squeeze hard enough to crush the pain away, but her heart still filled up.
"Haa, Miss."
"Hm?"
"I was planning to take it slow for just one hour. One hour, but you show up at my door in fifteen minutes. What am I supposed to do?"
"Then let's do lessons here? Hug for an hour, then fifteen more minutes rest!"
"Good at math, aren't you..."
"When Chloe's with me, my brain works great. It did yesterday too. Scary with the Grand Duchess around, but sitting on Chloe? I feel your heartbeat and relax!"
"You can feel that?"
"Yeah!"
Marian must have inherited a thick dose of blood from renowned Sword Expert Haksen. Feeling Chloe's heartbeat through clothes—and her ample chest?—was beyond mere sensitivity.
Anyway.
"Miss."
"Yeah, what?"
"Let's stay like this for one hour fifteen. Rest an hour and a half, then study. Okay?"
"I like anything. Could hug two hours?"
"Then we couldn't study."
"Hehe."
For now, Chloe planned to hold Marian close. Hugging the bear in front of her? Marian would surely pout, You hate doll play! And to dull the nagging cramps, she needed that warm glow hugging Marian brought.
"Miss."
"Listening, Chloe."
"This feels nice."
"Me too!"
And so they shared each other's warmth, never imagining it might become a habit.