My Stepmom is Too Pretty, and It’s Troubling Me – Chapter 89

“………”

“Young Lady.”

“Ah, why? Rize, is something wrong?”

I had been staring out the window, lost in thought without realizing it.

I didn’t even notice Rize had come up behind me…

“I just thought because you were staring outside for so long… that something might be bothering you.”

“Ah…”

“Is there… anything at all…”

“No. I was just bored and looking outside.”

“Ah…”

I brushed aside Rize’s question like that.

The truth was, nothing was really wrong or troubling me outside.

The reason I was lost in thought was simply due to the time I had spent with Rosalyn a few days ago.

Honestly, it was only thirty minutes spent together in the bathroom that had turned my head upside down.

I never expected that… just thirty minutes could make me feel this way…

“Ha…”

“…?”

“Rize. Can you please bring me a really cold drink? With a lot of ice.”

“Um… Okay…?”

I knew it wasn’t great for my health to have such a cold drink in this weather.

But still, I wanted to clear my head a bit…

“Ha…”

After Rize left my room, a sigh I’d been holding back escaped.

Really… it was stifling.

No matter how hard I tried to think of something else, Rosalyn’s body, her silhouette, all her forms kept swirling around in my head.

It was just… her body…

“To say ‘just’…”

She was really pretty though.

Yeah.

Honestly, it wasn’t my first time seeing a girl’s body, but Rosalyn’s was definitely… yeah…

“Am I really going through puberty?”

Given my age, it made sense.

Twelve years old… even in counting years, I was practically fourteen.

Since my birthday is in January… it indeed was the right age to hit puberty…?

Whether I had memories from my previous life or not, there was no escaping physical changes like hormones…

“Ha…”

Ever since that day I washed up with Rosalyn, I had been having such strange thoughts; it was a real problem.

I had planned to simply spend as much time as I could before heading to the Academy, just that simple thought.

But here I was, fixating on her body in such a strange, perverted way; I felt like such a fool.

*

“…Huh?”

Life can throw many curveballs at you.

You might suddenly find yourself reborn in a fantasy world as a pretty young girl from a wealthy family with memories of your past life.

You could live with an incredibly beautiful stepmother and an adorably cute maid.

And you might even end up making enough money to amass not just baron-level wealth, but an entire count or duke’s fortune.

Yeah… a lot of things can happen, that’s true…

“…Huh?”

But how should I react in a situation like this…

No, how should I… deal with it…

“…What is this?”

As I slightly lowered my head, I saw tissues, and on my underwear… red blood.

It wasn’t just any blood; it was something…

“This is… my period…?”

I’m not an idiot, and I’m not so clueless that I wouldn’t understand the situation.

In fact, I’d been feeling a bit of pain in my stomach since this morning, and my body felt heavy, so I couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Hearing about this condition was one thing, but actually encountering it? That was a first…

“…What should I do?”

I understood the situation and realized what was going on, but figuring out how to properly handle it was beyond me.

How on earth…

“I need to call Rize first…”

For now.

Sitting on the toilet, still in my underwear and pants, I thought this to myself… then slowly stood up from the toilet.

“…I shouldn’t wear panties, right?”

I had wiped a bit with the tissues and wasn’t leaking, but I was sure it wouldn’t be wise to put them back on.

No matter how many clothes or underwear I had, I didn’t want to risk staining anything further.

“…Rize.”

I called out softly at first.

Of course, Rize wasn’t in my room.

She wasn’t like a pet that spent all day in my room or anything.

She was just a maid.

Naturally, she could be moving around and was just spending a lot of time in my room.

So my small call didn’t echo back to her.

Thus…

“Rize…!!”

I had to call out louder.

…How embarrassing, but I couldn’t handle this alone.

“Rize!”

But still, my quiet calls hadn’t reached Rize, forcing me to call out again, even louder this time.

“Young Lady? What do you need…?”

Finally, Rize burst into my room.

Seeing her out of breath… she must’ve rushed in after realizing I’d called her loudly.

“Y-Young Lady?”

“…I think my period just started.”

“Ah, uhhh… w-wait a moment…”

“…Okay.”

Rize’s expression froze as she took in my appearance.

Yeah, I could understand why.

Looking at me in this state… it was impossible not to be caught off guard…

“…….Hah.”

Rize rushed out of the room, and I could hear some commotion outside.

And there I was, still waiting for Rize, completely without my panties.

Damn… it was incredibly embarrassing.

The feeling was so much different than when I felt embarrassed because of Rosalyn… this was pure, genuine embarrassment.

Like a little kid who wet the bed.

“Young Lady, here… new panties, and this… um… a sanitary pad… inside…”

Rize rushed back into my room, and she began explaining things quite energetically.

From how to use the sanitary pad to checking on any aches I might have, worrying a lot…

She went on and on.

I stood there, still with my panties down… just listening to her.

Both of us were so flustered that I didn’t even think about sitting down or putting on the sanitary pad and my panties again.

-Drip…

“Ah, ah… Young Lady, first… um…”

“…Okay, I’ll take them off.”

While listening to Rize’s explanation, I suddenly felt another slight flow of blood and knew we both had to handle the most important thing now.

Really…

“Ha…”

I wanted to close the door and crawl away like Karen—feeling so much embarrassment.

Really… truly…

*

“Camelia…? Really, it’s something all girls go through, you don’t have to feel too embarrassed…”

“…I know.”

…And I did know.

I was well aware, and it wasn’t strange, nor was my reaction abnormal. I understood that well.

Plus, since Rize helped me change every time, it wasn’t a big deal to show her my bare body or for her to see it.

I knew all of that.

But…

“……..”

“So, um… feel a bit better? Get some air for your face…”

“…I didn’t do that.”

“Haha… is that so?”

“Yes.”

…So childish.

Even I thought that was childish.

I wasn’t some actual teenage girl going through puberty or anything, I understood I shouldn’t act this way, but I still felt pretty embarrassed about what happened this morning.

Standing there before Rize, while also having my panties down, was embarrassing.

Hearing Rosalyn worry about it was embarrassing too…

“Um… it’s normal for girls Camelia’s age to go through this… and you actually started a little later compared to others…? You don’t have to feel so embarrassed…”

“…I know.”

“And besides, Rize is older than you, right? She’ll probably understand well enough.”

“…Yes.”

Even though I wasn’t unaware of any of this, I still felt embarrassed.

Really… if it weren’t for Rosalyn, I would’ve sighed more than once by now.

Though I had already sighed plenty when I was alone in my room and even when Rize was around, I still wanted to sigh.

“Um… Camelia, does your stomach hurt more, or anything…?”

“…I’m okay.”

“If it’s hurting, you need to tell me right away, alright? You don’t have to hold it, no need to pretend everything is fine.”

“Yes…”

It’s clear Rize, as a seasoned woman, knew her stuff.

While we had tea time, Rosalyn kept throwing in advice about periods for me.

“Oh, and during your period, it’s better to keep your belly warm and not to move around too much… ”

…Of course, I felt way more embarrassed than comforted hearing Rosalyn’s advice.

“Mother…?”

“Yes, why? Do you have more questions?”

“…I think I’d prefer to not talk about periods anymore. I already heard a lot from Rize…”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I was just worried about you… haha.”

“…It’s fine.”

Honestly, under normal circumstances, I would’ve just gone along with the conversation.

She was just casually expressing her concern for me, after all.

But… with my stomach hurting a bit and feeling heavy…

“…Young Lady, here. Strawberry fondue chocolate. Please have some.”

“Ah, thank you…”

“…Camelia, how about milk tea instead of black tea?”

“Um… should I?”

“Yeah, I think that would be better than something too bitter.”

“…Alright.”

I didn’t need to force myself to drink what I was currently having.

I could finish my black tea and then switch to milk tea afterward, and it wouldn’t be an issue to eat the chocolate after the cookie.

But… craving something sweeter and more stimulating than what I was currently eating was unsettling.

Normally, I would’ve just said I’d eat it later, but today I went along with them.

“Ha…”

Experiencing my first period was… genuinely hell.

It felt like there was lava boiling inside me.

Like my stomach was about to erupt from the inside.

Seriously… it was absolutely awful.