After returning from the Chancellor’s office and having a late lunch, I lay back in bed with a full stomach and the tension from the previous duel dissipating.
“Ugh…”
I stretched out on the bed.
At that moment, Lily naturally came to lie beside me.
Lily rested her head on my outstretched arm and softly spoke to me.
“Hehe, are you tired?”
“Yes, I guess I was pretty tense. My body feels like it’s sinking.”
“But you shouldn’t sleep now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to play with you.”
Of course, I wanted to play too, but my body felt like a waterlogged sponge – heavy and sluggish.
“Umm… Can I not sleep just a little?”
“No.”
With Lily’s firm words, I struggled to keep my eyelids open.
But my eyelids kept drooping.
“Umm…”
Just as I was about to drift off to sleep…
An itchy sensation…
My eyes opened to the strange feeling.
Looking up a little, I saw Lily’s hand on my chest.
She was tickling me with her fingertips.
“Umm… It’s ticklish, Lily.”
“That’s the point. Don’t fall asleep.”
Definitely, there was no way I could fall asleep like this.
The tickling disturbed my drowsy mood and was quite uncomfortable.
“Please stop…”
“Nope. I’ll keep bothering you until you play with me.”
Why does a cat come to mind?
When a cat gets bored, it bothers its owner – that’s exactly it.
Tickling…
No matter how I tried to move her hand, she quickly returned and tickled me again.
“Hehe…”
Looking at her softly smiling face, she seemed to be enjoying herself now.
Tickling…
Tickling…
With the tickling continuing, I grabbed Lily’s hand.
I intertwined my fingers to prevent her from moving, and finally, the tickling stopped.
“You’ve been caught.”
“I caught you.”
Now that I could finally rest…
“Then it’s my turn now?”
“…Huh?”
“Here.”
Squelch~
“!!!!!”
Lily brought our intertwined hands to her chest.
My hand buried in the valley between her peaks.
“Go ahead and tickle me.”
Lily’s valley was warm.
The pressure squeezing both sides of my hand was immense.
If I buried my face in that valley, how happy would I be…
‘Maybe I’ve gone crazy. Why am I like this?’
I was completely overwhelmed by the overwhelming softness.
I even got an awkward bulge.
Thanks to that, I was fully awake now.
“…Is this what you planned for?”
“What? What are you talking about? I don’t know…”
Lily, who dragged out her words, was annoyingly cute at that moment.
I pulled Lily closer by bending the hand that was supporting her head while withdrawing my hand from her valley.
“Can’t I get some rest?”
“How important sleep is. I’m doing this for your own good.”
“But you’ve slept right after breakfast before.”
“That time was…”
Lily started to come up with an excuse, but I cut her off with a kiss.
Peck.
“Let’s sleep?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
Still, I felt like I’d fall asleep if I stayed in bed longer, so we decided to go for a walk.
As we were getting ready with our outerwear, Lily spoke to me.
“Arthur, I came up with a new magic spell. Want to try an experiment?”
“What kind of magic?”
“Something like this.”
Lily covered her face with both hands.
When she uncovered it a moment later… Hmm?
“Is anything different?”
She still looked as beautiful as ever.
‘…Se, seriously! Is this the ‘Can’t you see anything different?’ pattern from books?!’
Is it time for that question that always drives men crazy?
As I desperately tried to find the difference, Lily smiled gently.
“You’ll see me as usual.”
“Judging from how you say ‘me’, do others see you differently?”
“That’s right. They’ll see me like this.”
Lily covered and uncovered her face again.
This time I understood clearly.
Compared to Lily’s usual radiant goddess-like appearance, it was like the brilliance had dimmed a bit.
While she was still an excellent beauty, she wasn’t the kind who would catch everyone’s eyes as an extraordinary beauty.
I immediately understood the purpose of this magic.
“Is this for outdoor activities?”
“That’s right. My usual face tends to draw too much attention. Not only does it make it hard to hide my identity, but…”
Lily trailed off and hugged my arm.
“It means we don’t have to use the recognition hindrance spell on our dates anymore. How about that?”
Well…
“Of course, it’s good.”
Certainly, with this spell, outings with Lily would become much more convenient.
Incidents like the one last time where men swarmed us while having a meal at the park wouldn’t happen anymore.
Free from the leering gazes of men –
Enough, calm down.
Anyway, it’s a very good spell.
It’s remarkable that Lily came up with such a spell.
Lily covered and uncovered her face again.
This time, the face I fell in love with returned.
“I really look like that to others?”
“That’s right~ Don’t you trust me?”
“I do. I was just curious.”
Hugging arms, Lily and I left the dormitory.
Our usual post-meal walks were after dinner.
At that time, there weren’t many people around, and it was dark enough that we weren’t easily seen. But this time, it was still in the afternoon.
Thanks to that, there were quite a few students passing by.
As Lily and I walked by, the reactions were mixed.
Groups whispering about us,
Girls giving starry-eyed looks,
Boys glaring with fire in their eyes.
However, once we passed, they all took their eyes off us.
It was the effect of Lily’s beauty that used to attract all gazes being toned down.
“Pretty good effect, huh?”
“Of course. It’s my magic.”
Thus, we were able to walk through the park undisturbed.
As we talked about this and that, the sky began to show red hues.
Since we had lunch late, the sun had already started to set with a reddish glow.
“Shall we go back?”
“Yeah.”
On the way back, Lily spoke to me.
“Arthur.”
“Yes?”
“Can you free up some time tomorrow?”
“……Huh?”
Since it was such an unexpected question, it took me a while to respond.
It was quite surprising that Lily, who never spent a moment away from me, would bring this up voluntarily.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m going to meet Chatogua.”
“The Great Old One behind Callisa, right?”
“That’s right.”
Right, even though the duel was over, we still had issues to resolve.
If that Chatogua had sent the contractor with ill intentions…
“…Is it really not dangerous?”
“Of course not~ And listen…”
Lily leaned in closely and whispered in my ear.
“I’m stronger.”
Ah, that’s right.
I’ve heard that Outer Gods are of a higher rank than Great Old Ones.
So it would be absurd for Chatogua to pose a threat to Lily.
“That’s a relief.”
“I need to hear his story first. Like what his purpose is for being here.”
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Hmm… About a day and a half.”
Quite a long time.
“Where is Chatogua? Is he in the underworld like the Old One?”
“He used to be, but now he’s probably on Saturn.”
“…What?”
Saturn? Do you mean the Saturn I know? The one in the solar system?
“Yeah. He’s there.”
“…Can life exist there?”
As far as I know, the outer planets have environments where life couldn’t possibly survive…
Exactly how?
“He has the power. That guy knows various magical knowledge. Thanks to that, he can live comfortably even in harsh environments. His followers probably live there as well.”
So that’s why the contractor Callisa could use such incredible magic.
And it’s a village for Outer Gods’ followers… I wanted to see it someday.
But this time, we shouldn’t create variables when we don’t know what the other party is thinking.
Especially someone like me who could be Lily’s weakness shouldn’t go along.
“I’ll go after lunch and be back before dinner.”
A day and a half without Lily…
It seemed like it would be quite tough.
As if reading my mind, Lily began stroking my head.
“Don’t sulk just because I’m going.”
“I’m not sulking!”
When did that become a story that she’s still teasing me about?
“Hehe, really~?”
“Yes, really.”
Though I said that, it was true that I didn’t want to part.
So I pulled her waist tightly and asked.
“…But will you try to come back as soon as possible?”
Then Lily smiled and pressed her lips to my forehead.
“Alright~ I’ll try to come back as quickly as possible.”
Hearing that firm promise from Lily made my mood instantly brighten.
When we returned from our walk, it was already evening, but since we had lunch late, we decided to have dinner late as well.
Thanks to that, I had some extra time on my hands.
Lying on the bed side by side, we were chatting about various things when…
“…Arthur.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to know about my biological family?”
For a moment, I was speechless but soon smiled.
“As I’ve said before, I’m curious, but it’s not that important.”
“…If you want, I can look into it for you.”
At Lily’s words, I couldn’t help but be tempted.
Since I’ve said it, I don’t blame her anymore, but I was still curious about her identity.
However…
“…No, I think it’s fine without finding out.”
“Why? Aren’t you curious?”
Lily tilted her head.
“I am curious. But… somehow, I think knowing might make it harder.”
“…”
“Because if the reason you left was because you hated me or something like that, it would be awkward.”
So it might be better to not know at all.
“…Is that so?”
Lily showed a serious look as if deeply considering something.
Looking at her serious expression, I smiled and pulled her into an embrace.
“Thank you, Lily.”
“Hmm? For what?”
“For the talk about family. I thought you might be uncomfortable with it, Lily.”
Lily is my new family.
I thought she would naturally avoid this topic, but instead, she seriously considered it for me.
That’s what made Lily so precious to me.
Kissing Lily’s cheek, I said again.
“Thank you.”
Then Lily looked at me blankly for a while before finally…
“I should be the one thanking you.”
“What are you thanking me for?”
Lily kissed my forehead.
“For asking me to become your family.”
Thinking about it now, wasn’t my wish a stroke of divine luck?
Thanks to that, I met such a perfect person.
“I love you, Lily.”
“Yeah, I love you too.”
