28. Bloom (8)
28. Blooming (8)
"Ugh, I'm sorry, Berry-yang. This is my first time with clothes like this..."
Her Highness was surprisingly honest.
Most nobles would typically look down on commoners and act as if touching them was beneath them.
Yet here she was, actively seeking work herself and conversing with commoners like us without any difficulty.
Frankly, it was hard to believe she was honestly asking for help getting dressed.
"Would you like to try putting your head through here?"
"...Understood."
She first pushed her head through the largest opening, then inserted her arms through the holes on either side.
After that, I pulled out the hair that was stuck inside the clothing, and we were done.
"Hmm? But this part of the clothing is torn...?"
Her Highness pointed at her cleavage as she spoke.
"And... the clothes are so tight it's almost uncomfortable..."
Though Her Highness complained—no, requested new clothes—saying they didn't fit, Berry's eyes sparkled as she watched.
"It's perfect! This is it!"
"Wow, perfect? This...?"
A T-shirt that clung so tightly it exaggerated her figure to an extreme degree.
And the tear in the fabric that emphasized her chest so severely it revealed all the bare skin of her upper breasts.
A spare staff uniform that had been set aside after she'd cut the top in a straight line to reveal cleavage, but found it not sexy at all when she tried it on herself.
But seeing Her Highness's explosive bust, she felt proud of herself for coming up with the idea.
"Y-you want me to work wearing such vulgar clothes...?"
Being a noblewoman, Her Highness must have had very conservative views on sexuality.
This level of exposure was necessary to make customers order more drinks and give better tips!
As expected, Her Highness was far too ignorant of how the world worked.
No matter how she looked at it, with a body like Hers, she could make a fortune.
"Here, just follow my lead!"
Berry firmly planted her lower body, then bent only her upper body to place a plate on the table.
"Food's ready~"
"Ugh, food's rea, dy..."
Now that she thought about it, that movement heavily emphasized the chest.
As a bonus, her hips and pelvis were a visual service for the customers at the back tables.
So naturally, the skirt was short and tight.
That way, it would emphasize her thighs and legs.
"Ugh! Isn't this something only women who sell their bodies would do!"
"Huh?!"
Eventually, Her Highness couldn't take it anymore and exploded in anger during practice.
But her tone suggested her pride had been seriously scratched.
"To sell your body for something like this! So in Your Highness's eyes, do I look like I'm selling my body?!"
Berry stood her ground.
This obviously wasn't selling her body!
She wasn't some prostitute from the city.
She was a proper woman who had kept her virginity chastely, and her sense of virtue wasn't that loose either.
"This is just a service of gratitude for customers spending money at our shop, and a strategy to make them spend more!"
"You, you're a virgin...?"
That's the part she's surprised about?
Anyway, selling your body and selling smiles were clearly different things.
"So we need to practice before the customers arrive in our village!"
"...Ugh, a, alright."
####
"Wow, wow. It looks really good on you, Princess-nim..."
"I, is that so. Thank you, Baman."
Dressed in Berry's handmade uniform, I stopped by Baman's house to leave the Divine Sword, but unfortunately, he was already awake.
After leaving the Divine Sword there, I left Baman's house and headed back toward the inn.
"Your Highness."
"You keep calling me 'Your Highness' whenever it's just the two of us."
"Ah, I'm sorry. The title 'Princess' just doesn't roll off my tongue easily..."
"Fine. You'll come to your senses after we get caught."
"...Ugh."
I ended up getting scolded by Her Highness.
But,
still,
nevertheless,
wasn't I the only one who knew the true identity of Her Highness, who was called Princess-nim or Young Lady by the villagers?
Just having a secret that only I knew made my chest tingle with excitement I couldn't control.
Others might call it a pathetic sense of inferiority, but to Evernoir, it meant something.
"Are you starting work now?"
"Probably menial tasks like cleaning rooms or preparing ingredients, then serving once they arrive."
"Can I... come watch?"
"............Don't come."
Her Highness turned her head away haughtily and walked past me.
Evernoir didn't feel bad about Her Highness's behavior.
She was inherently kind-hearted, and I knew that reaction didn't come from genuine dislike.
"Pfft."
What was my first impression of Her Highness again?
Clearly, her skills weren't reliable enough to trust her with my back.
It wasn't easy to adjust to an outsider joining the knight order, especially since she was the hidden princess.
But now, she was completely trustworthy.
Her diligence in never missing daily training, and her humility in never being arrogant or conceited despite her position as princess.
And Her Highness always worked hard enough to achieve those results.
That's why I took that mysterious beam for her back then.
I became certain that I could devote my loyalty to someone like her.
So before I knew it, I found myself relying on Her Highness.
As the knight order captain meant to protect Her Highness, I should have been her shadow, always there for her to rely on.
Throb!
"...Ugh."
But perhaps it was because I'd come to rely on her too much.
Now, whenever I thought of Her Highness, I always remembered her naked body that I'd seen 'that day'.
Of course, since it was just imagination, there was nothing wrong with it, but the problem was my lower body.
Unlike before, the male genitalia that had grown down there.
It kept getting erect at every opportunity, becoming a constant distraction.
The only problem was that every time it got hard, I'd imagine wildly having sex with Her Highness in my fantasies.
Because of that, whenever I faced Her Highness, I kept picturing her naked body beneath her clothes first.
"Haa, haa. Damn it..."
I can't go into Baman's house like this.
They'd obviously notice the bulge down there.
Evernoir headed into a nearby forest where people wouldn't come.
Then she lifted her skirt and slowly wrapped her hand around her own.
Naturally, with Her Highness's permission from 'that day', she pictured Her Highness's naked body in her mind.
Swish, swish.
Slap slap slap!
"Hoo, hoo...!"
Of course, it didn't come out well.
The stimulation was definitely enough though.
However, due to repeated situations and continuous ejaculations, she began to feel inadequate at some point.
Slap slap slap slap!
"Haa, haat! Please, please come out...!"
Her rough hand movements drove her body toward climax, but it was as if something was holding her back, preventing her from reaching the end.
Like that, 10, 20 minutes passed,
"Damn it, damn it...!"
No matter how much she moved her hand, she couldn't reach ejaculation.
####
"Hoo... Cleaning rooms is surprisingly tough."
Making the beds in the dozen or so rooms for guests and cleaning them was exhausting.
But if it wasn't this hard, there wouldn't be any meaning to earning money.
In a way, I felt somewhat fulfilled earning money with my own hands.
This was my first time doing menial work, and my first time earning money with my own hands.
Just as I finished cleaning all the rooms, the inn door opened and a man entered.
"Anyone here~? It's the person who arrived earlier."
"Ah, yes! Welcome!"
"They'll probably arrive here within an hour. Please prepare the food first."
"Yes! I'll start preparing now!"
With that, Berry-yang shouted from the counter.
"Dad-!"
"Yeah!"
The innkeeper immediately started cooking, and Berry began preparing plates.
Then she called out to me, who had been standing there blankly.
"Young Lady, please wipe the tables!"
"Understood."
Then, exactly one hour later,
Even though we were inside the shop, noisy voices could already be heard from outside.
"Young Lady! Just like we practiced this morning, you understand, right?"
"Y, ye... I'll try my best..."
"You really need to try! But any tips given directly to you are your money, so if you want to earn a lot... you know, right?"
Was this really the right way to earn money?
Of course, it wasn't selling my body as Berry said... but still, the act of using my femininity and sensual body to earn money inevitably made me uncomfortable.
But as Berry said, it was probably something I had to endure to make money.
I couldn't stay here for weeks, or even months.
Though it might just be an excuse, I tried to think of it as necessary for me and Sir Evernoir to quickly return to the capital and once again confront the Demon King's forces.
After all, that required money.
"Hoo."
With that, the inn door opened and customers began to enter.