Early morning.
With a hazy mind, I greeted the morning by staring blankly at the ceiling.
I repeatedly opened and closed my eyelids, and suddenly realized that there was a sense of weight on my left side.
Turning my head to the left, I saw Lily partially sprawled on top of me.
With her left arm across my chest and her left leg and thigh draped over my lower body, Lily was sleeping soundly in a strange position.
Even in her sleep, her arm seemed tense, as if she had no intention of letting me go.
“…I need to go to the restroom.”
There’s no way I could get up while being held this tightly.
I had to wake Lily first.
As I usually did, I attempted to wake Lily with a kiss, but as I saw her lips, my body froze.
They were moist and soft, tempting me to kiss them — beautiful crimson lips that brought back fleeting memories of yesterday.
While I was tied to a chair and subjected to those lips…
“I’ll try not to cross the line. But still…”
“Let’s indulge in lots of love…♥”
That seductive voice ringing in my ears.
Recalling those memories, my face grew hot.
I was completely at her mercy, my hands bound.
Thinking about it now, it feels…
Just a little…
A tiny bit resentful.
The feeling of being unable to move while being dominated…
To be honest, it was enjoyable, but the lingering sense of injustice was undeniable.
It feels like I’m the one who got the short end of the stick…
“Yesterday, you really went overboard, Lily.”
I slowly approached until I was just in front of Lily’s lips.
Instead of kissing her, I gently nibbled on her inviting lower lip.
It was more like holding it with both lips than an actual bite, to avoid hurting her…
But Lily’s body twitched a few times.
“Umm…”
Even though seeing her like this was adorable, the residue of my resentment hadn’t dissipated.
I briefly pondered what would resolve this feeling and then…
“…Is this okay?”
I slightly adjusted my position.
Changing to our usual cuddling pose, I gently lowered the hand resting on Lily’s waist.
Passing over her hips and moving lower, I encountered a rounded curve.
At the same time, my heart began pounding wildly.
The fabric of Lily’s dress brushed against my hand, the rough texture and the sensation making my head spin.
Her heartbeat might be enough to wake her.
‘…Should I stop now?’
Starting the morning with a kiss as usual wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
But…
“She’s the one who crossed the line first…”
Though my stomach churned with tension, I made my decision.
Slick-slick.
Placing my hand on the highest point of the large hill,
Chap-slick!
“Hiiyaa?!!”
With a damp sound, Lily’s body convulsed violently.
Opening her eyes widely, she stammered in confusion.
“Huh, huh? Arthur? What just… huh?”
While Lily’s reaction was confusing, I was also flabbergasted.
‘W-What kind of sensation is…?’
The plump lump that filled my grasp.
The sticky sensation adhering to my hand felt overwhelming.
“Ah, Arthur…?”
With great difficulty, I managed to lift my head and look at Lily’s face. And then…
‘My goodness… what have I done?’
The damp emotions clouding my mind dissipated, replaced by a wave of shame.
My face grew red with embarrassment, and I swiftly made a decision.
“I-I’ll… use the restroom!”
With my pronunciation mangled by the tension, I hastily slipped out of the bed and ran to the restroom.
Once inside, I closed the door and collapsed onto the floor, my legs feeling like jelly.
“Ugh…”
Cupping my face in my hands, I cursed myself internally.
‘Idiot! Fool! What on earth has gotten into you? Why did you just slap Lily’s… that… that place!’
Being drowsy from waking up suddenly is no excuse for doing something like that…
A wave of both embarrassment and guilt washed over me.
Lily’s genuinely confused reaction lingered before my eyes.
And what made the guilt worse was… that the sensation in my hand hadn’t faded yet.
Recalling that sticky sensation made my face grow hot again.
Splashing cold water on myself, I pressed my face against the sink.
“What must Lily think of me now…”
Ending my life by hiding under a rock didn’t seem so bad at this point.
—
Meanwhile, Lily, who remained tangled in the bed.
She stared blankly at the restroom door, lost in thought.
“…”
Lily reminisced about what had just happened.
In reality, Lily had already woken up before Arthur and had been pretending to sleep.
She had realized that today was Arthur’s turn to wake her up.
Almost every morning, Lily usually woke up before Arthur.
As befits a goddess of night, she could easily wake up instantly despite falling into a deep sleep.
Thus, observing Arthur’s sleeping face while waiting for him to wake up had become her hobby.
Especially when she thought about yesterday, Lily couldn’t help but smile broadly.
“Yesterday was truly extraordinary…”
Even the advice from Eibon seemed to work.
Determined to be as good as possible to his granddaughter Callisa, Lily gently touched her lips.
“Shall I try this quickly before Arthur wakes up?”
Her eyes shimmered with a hint of red as Lily approached Arthur.
“Mmm…”
As Arthur started to awaken, Lily immediately closed her eyes, pretending to still be asleep.
After a short moment with no response, she wondered if he had fallen asleep again or needed to be woken up to avoid being late.
But then, Arthur’s movement embracing her put her at ease and filled her with happiness.
Being able to start every day like this in Arthur’s arms filled Lily with happiness.
With a trembling heart, she waited for his kiss.
But…
…
…
“…?”
Arthur’s movement stopped again.
Wondering what was going on, she considered opening her eyes just slightly when…
“Yesterday, you really went too far, Lily.”
Grip-grip.
“?”
The sensation of pressure on her lower lip filled Lily with curiosity.
Why focus only on the lower lip?
And what did that statement mean?
Should she open her eyes now and kiss him?
Just then,
Slick-slick.
“!!!”
Arthur’s hand moved downward.
The warmth of his hand felt through the dress slowly traveled lower.
Finally stopping at her bottom, Lily’s heart began to race wildly.
“A, Arthur is… touching my body…!”
Was Arthur stimulated by yesterday’s events?
His bolder movements filled Lily with anticipation.
If Arthur crossed the final line, there would no longer be anything to hold back.
The Academy and everything else would be forgotten, and they could spend every day in bed…
But at that moment,
Chap-slick!
“Hiiyaa?!!”
Startled by the sudden shock, Lily’s eyes wide open.
Confused by the situation, she babbled incomprehensibly.
“Huh, huh? Arthur? What just… huh?”
Finally, she called out to him to understand the situation.
To which Arthur replied,
“…Huh?”
Her eyes, which had been trembling, now gazed steadily at him.
Arthur, with a flushed face,
“Um, I-I’ll use the restroom!”
And rushed out of bed toward the restroom.
And that’s how the situation ended up as it stands.
Left alone suddenly, Lily rolled her eyes to make sense of the situation.
When she noticed the clock,
“Eh?”
Come to think of it, today was Monday.
It was a day to go to school…
Jumping up immediately, Lily headed straight to the kitchen.
Regardless of understanding the situation, breakfast had to be made first.
Tying an apron around herself, Lily absentmindedly patted her bottom.
Frankly, it didn’t hurt.
Her scream moments ago was more due to the suddenness than actual pain.
After all, it’s impossible for an ordinary human to injure an outsider.
Furthermore, the strength in Arthur’s hand wasn’t that strong.
However, a tingling sensation lingered.
Lily slowly massaged her bottom while savoring that sensation.
“Maybe… it’s not so bad.”
—
As I was cooling my head at the sink, I remembered why I had come to the restroom.
Sighing, I lifted my head, turned off the sink, and instead turned on the shower to clean up afterward.
The problem was…
“Oh, I didn’t bring a change of clothes…”
In my haste to run here, there was no time to stop at the wardrobe.
And putting on dirty clothes again would be utterly foolish.
Though I’d wandered around naked before when I was alone, since no one was watching…
“…Should I just cover myself with a towel?”
However, doing that would likely worsen the already uncomfortable situation.
While pacing back and forth in the restroom wondering what to do,
Creak!
The door opened.
“!!!!!!”
Fumblingly, I covered my lower body with a towel as a slightly opened door slit revealed a voice.
“Didn’t you change clothes last night? Here’s fresh clothes.”
A neatly folded set of clothes was placed on the door frame.
“Eat breakfast quickly. We’ll be late.”
With that, Lily closed the door.
I stood frozen for a moment before stiffly approaching the clothes.
The freshly washed clothes smelled pleasantly.
Truly, Lily was remarkable —
“No, no, judging by Lily’s tone just now… does she not particularly care?”
She was her usual self.
My tension eased as I sat down on the restroom floor for the second time.
“Thank goodness…”
I had thought she would surely hate me, but for her to even bring me clothes…
Her kind-heartedness filled my chest with warmth.
Reinvigorated, I changed clothes and exited the restroom.
At the dining table, set with various dishes including hot tofu soup, Lily was seated.
The moment I made eye contact with Lily, I unknowingly turned my head away.
“It’s… embarrassing…!”
Regardless of Lily’s forgiveness, I felt deeply embarrassed about my impulsive actions.
“Eat quickly. We’ll be late.”
Responding to Lily’s call, I hesitantly approached the table and sat down, doing my best not to look directly at Lily as I ate.
Lily seemed to understand, silently waiting for me to finish eating without saying a word.
As the silence continued,
“Arthur.”
At Lily’s call, my hands froze stiffly.
Warmth was placed atop my frozen hands.
Gentle and warm… Lily’s hand.
“Can you tell me what just happened?”
Surely, it must be confusing.
Even I thought it was an utterly insane act.
However, there was a reason, so I hesitantly expressed it through my voice.
“Because of what happened yesterday…”
“Yesterday?”
“…You tied me up yesterday… and… anyway, something like that.”
“Did I?”
“…It was kind of… unfair… so…”
The final word was so quiet it was as if an ant barely turned its head.
I finished speaking and immediately lowered my head.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at Lily.
“I’m sorry…”
The silence during the meal weighed heavily on me.
The heaviness in my chest felt like it might overwhelm me when,
“Why are you sorry?”
“…”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“…”
After contemplating an answer for a while,
“…Because I suddenly hurt Lily while she was asleep…?”
My contemplation wasn’t entirely clear if it formed an adequate response, so it ended as a question.
Nevertheless, Lily’s reaction was surprising.
She released my hand and pulled me into a hug.
Enveloped in the warm embrace, the gloomy mood disappeared completely.
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m fine. And… actually, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt so unfairly treated.”
“Lily…”
A warm smile adorned Lily’s face that I finally looked at.
How reassuring it was that there wasn’t any disdain or anger that I had expected.
As I buried myself deeper into Lily’s embrace, I spoke.
“Thank you, Lily.”
“For what?”
“For forgiving me.”
“Oh, it’s really no big deal. If anything, rather…”
At a certain moment,
“Ah! Time!”
“…Ah!”
We both looked at the clock simultaneously and quickly got up to prepare to leave.
After preparations were complete, I picked up Lily transformed into a cat and hurried toward the classroom for the first class.
While running down the corridor,
“-Arthur, maybe… could you…”
“-Yes?”
“-This lunchtime… could you…”
Pausing for a moment, Lily asked,
“-… Could you slap my bottom again?”
“?!?!”
Ker-thud!
Surprised by Lily’s words, I tripped and fell.
And that day, I found myself late for the first time in my life.
