Chapter 627: Guwon, the Devoted Man
Chapter 627: Guwon, the Devoted Man
“Well then, I have dinner preparations to attend to, so I will take my leave.”
Fortunately, we had arrived at the mansion a little early for dinner.
We got here sooner than I expected, so much so that all the bickering Vanessa and I did in the carriage felt completely pointless.
Of course, arriving “early” was just from my perspective. For Vanessa, who had to prepare dinner, it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
That was why Vanessa left the carriage and horse care to the maids in charge and tried to hurry toward the dining hall.
She really was a busy person.
Truthfully, she didn't really need to go handle dinner preparations herself.
Given her position as a butler, she definitely wouldn't be doing the cooking. Her duties would likely just be checking on the ingredients, confirming the menu for the day, and giving her approval.
And it wasn't as if there hadn't been times when she couldn't oversee dinner preparations because of other work.
No, well, it wasn't that I thought it was a bad thing.
She always tried to handle everything by checking it with her own eyes because she wanted to do everything perfectly.
Far from being bad, it was actually a commendable trait.
However, as her lover, not as the master who employed her as a butler, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
It would be nice if we could be a little more lovey-dovey.
I saw Vanessa's face a lot throughout the day, but because she was so busy with this and that, the actual time we spent together was surprisingly short.
Unless we went out somewhere together like we did today, that is.
“Wait a second.”
With that thought, I grabbed the wrist of Vanessa, who was about to walk briskly into the mansion, and stopped her.
“What is… Mmph!”
Vanessa turned around with a blunt reaction to my action, but my next move made her freeze as if time had stopped.
It seemed Vanessa never imagined I would suddenly kiss her in the middle of the garden.
Well, there were certainly a lot of eyes on us.
“Kyaaak!”
And for some reason, the audience let out a shrill scream.
Hey, maids. Shouldn't you be used to me kissing other women by now? You've seen me do it with the others often enough. Besides, you never screamed like that when I kissed the other girls.
Is it because it's Vanessa? Is that why you're reacting this way?
Come to think of it, during that whole makeup incident with Vanessa, someone mentioned she seemed really popular with the maids… No, that doesn't really matter now.
She's my woman now. Don't even think about it.
Right. Since it's come to this, I'll use this chance to make it perfectly clear.
With my lips still on Vanessa's, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against me.
And Vanessa didn't resist at all, naturally leaning her body into mine as I led her.
But that was as far as her lack of resistance went.
“Ouch!”
The moment I slid my tongue past her closed lips with little resistance, Vanessa's body suddenly flinched, and she shoved my face away with her hand.
And whether it was intentional or not, her fingers dug right into my eyes, leaving me completely blind.
Only after being pushed back so hard I almost fell over was my face finally freed from her hand.
Damn it. It was just a light kiss before we parted ways. Is that not allowed?
Well, even if we “parted ways,” we were going to see each other again at dinner anyway.
Anyway, as I rubbed my poked eyes and finally managed to open them, Vanessa was already far ahead, striding quickly into the mansion.
I couldn't believe she just ran off without a word.
Knowing her personality, if she were angry, she wouldn't have just left like that without saying anything.
Could it be… she's embarrassed? That's so unlike her.
“Hey! Wait! Vanessa, wait…!”
But that was just my own wishful thinking.
I couldn't jump to conclusions before seeing her face for myself.
Thinking that, I called out to Vanessa and quickly chased after her.
No, I tried to chase her… but why is she so damn fast? Is she cheating? I've class-changed from an Assassin, you know?! What the hell is she?! No, what the hell is a butler, anyway?!
“Hah… Hah… Hey, Silvia. What was Vanessa's expression just now? Did she look angry?”
In the end, I gave up on catching Vanessa and decided to ask Silvia, who would have had a clear view of her face from beside me.
“E-Eh?! Th-That is… W-Well…”
Of course, Silvia, with the attention suddenly on her, looked flustered and seemed to be hesitating, wondering if she should really say anything.
Well, that made sense. She wouldn't want to get on Vanessa's bad side for no reason.
“Sorry. Just tell me if she looked angry or not.”
“Th-That is… I, I don't think she was, probably…”
When I put my hands together in a pleading gesture, Silvia's eyes darted around as she trailed off ambiguously.
“Ah, really? Is that so?”
“B-But she might have been a little angry, too…”
Even though her tone was a bit vague, I was relieved to hear she wasn't angry, but seeing my reaction, Silvia hastily changed her words again.
“Hey. Which is it?”
“Uuuu… It is difficult for me to read Lady Vanessa's expression.”
Only after I said that did Silvia finally confess her true thoughts, wearing an expression that said she was sorry for not being helpful.
Ah, so that was it. It wasn't a matter of getting on Vanessa's bad side or anything.
“It's fine. I'll just check at the dining hall later.”
I gave Silvia's head a light pat and decided to head into the mansion for now.
After all, there was someone in the mansion right now who needed my attention.
“Ah, you're back?”
I'm talking about her. This girl.
Sara, who had been leaning against a wall in the lobby with her arms crossed in a cool pose, spoke to me with a cool expression as I entered the mansion. As if she'd only just noticed my return.
No way. You must have known from the necklace. You're wearing it outside your clothes right now, you know?
Besides, you must have seen Vanessa come in just now.
In the first place, the very fact that you're waiting here in the lobby makes it obvious you were eagerly waiting for me.
Well, the fact that she was waiting inside the mansion instead of the garden was a little different from usual.
It felt like some strange form of stubbornness.
Is she perhaps trying to insist that her age regression is all better now?
Well, she certainly seemed quite alright for someone who's been away from me all day.
But seeing Sara trying so hard to assert her recovery like this, I felt a strange sense of mischief welling up.
“Yeah. I'm back.”
I walked up to Sara, gave her a light kiss, and slyly unclasped the necklace around her neck.
Assassin… no, Moonshadow Warrior now.
Anyway, thanks to the buffs from my Moonshadow Warrior class, I was able to move my hands stealthily, and since the necklace itself was outside her clothes, I managed to unclasp it without the sharp-sensed Sara noticing.
Well, the biggest reason Sara didn't notice was probably that she was completely lost in our kiss.
“Hehehe.”
Anyway, having achieved my goal, I pulled my lips away after the kiss and gave her a sly grin.
“…Hm? What's with you all of a sudden?”
“Hmph. Ta-da!”
“Aah! Wait! That's!”
Sara frowned at me as if something was strange, but her expression changed the moment she saw her necklace in my hand, and she fumbled at the back of her neck.
“How long did you think you could act so calm… Gack! W-Wait! I surrender! I'll give the necklace back, just spare my life!”
I tried to back away while maintaining my sly grin, but Sara's actions were a little faster.
Without hesitation, Sara swiftly shoulder-tackled me in the stomach, then sat on top of me, pinning me in a mounted position.
Isn't your reaction a little too fast? Damn that dirty Hero buff.
“No.”
Of course, Sara's reply was cold.
It seemed she had no intention whatsoever of forgiving me for snatching away her precious possession like that.
Hey, Sara. Think about it. I'm the one who gave you that as a gift, you know?
As if mocking my silent plea, Sara raised both her hands… seemed to ponder for a moment, and then started tickling my armpits.
“Wha-?! Kuh! Hah! Hey! Wai-! Pfft! Hey! Seriously! Hah!”
I never imagined she'd launch such an unorthodox attack and had only been bracing for the impact of her palms, so I couldn't help but crumble helplessly under her assault.
“How about it?! Yah! Yah! Have you repented?! Huh? Have you repented?!”
“I-I repent! Kuh! I've repented! So please, let me…”
“No.”
With no way to resist, I could only shout my unconditional surrender, but it seemed Sara still had no intention of forgiving me.
“Silviaaa! Helppp!”
“If you're looking for Silvia, she just went back to her room to wash up.”
So, though it was cowardly, I had no choice but to call for someone else's help, but even that was just a hollow cry.
Damn it. Come to think of it, I did it with Silvia at the castle, too.
Even if she cleaned up with a water spirit, of course she'd want to wash up properly again.
“Nooooo!”
“Give up. Don't worry. I'll stop before you stop breathing.”
Seeing me in despair, Sara said with a smile.
Sara. You look like you're enjoying this.
Oppa doesn't remember raising you this way… Kuh. Damn it. I really can't take it anymore.
In that case, it's time for my last resort! I really didn't want to use this method, but…
“Aah! Sara! Right there! That's good!”
I started thrusting my hips and deliberately letting out strange moans.
Since Sara was actually sitting on my lower abdomen, thrusting my hips like this caused my ‘thing’ to brush against her firm butt, which felt pretty good.
Of course, that wasn't the reason I was making these sounds.
“E-Eh?! W-Wait!”
Just as I intended, Sara's fingers stopped moving, and she started to get flustered.
My plan had already succeeded the moment the tickle attack stopped, but I felt it would be a waste to stop here.
Now, the counterattack begins.
Let's see you die of embarrassment in the middle of the lobby.
Hm? Isn't it just as embarrassing for me? Hmph. To take the enemy's bone, you sometimes have to be willing to give up your own flesh.
“Right there! More!”
“D-Don't say weird things!”
“Gack!”
Of course, my counterattack didn't even last a few seconds.
A palm strike from a beet-red Sara silenced me completely.
As expected, it's important for people to know when to stop.
After the little commotion with Sara was over, I decided to go back to my room and wash up first.
After all, tonight was Leia's turn after a long time.
Even though I'd washed once with a water spirit, Leia is sensitive to smells.
To get rid of any lingering scent on my body as much as possible, I washed myself thoroughly from head to toe until it was time for dinner.
And so time passed, and it was finally dinnertime.
…Vanessa was nowhere to be seen.
Normally, she should have been standing behind Diana.
For some reason, a maid was standing there today instead of Vanessa.
“Excuse me, where's Vanessa?”
“Huh? Ah, Lady Vanessa seems to still have work to do. So I will be serving you in her place today.”
I asked just to be sure, but the answer I got was painfully obvious.
That's definitely an excuse, right?
“Hm? What's wrong? Do you have some business with Vanessa?”
Seeing me like this, Diana tilted her head in confusion.
Since this wasn't the first time Vanessa hadn't attended to her because of work, Diana didn't seem to find it strange at all.