| Author: Shizuku | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 3879 characters |
| Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1870 words |
| Editor(s): Robinxen | ||
“Young Lady, your face is really red.” Damnit, I shouldn’t have gotten distracted. This is her first time drinking so she probably drank too much at once.
“Mmm, I feel really hot.” As she says that, she unbuttons and takes off her cape and then uses a fan to blow some air at her face. The way she’s doing that looks really alluring, almost making me forget that she only barely turned into an adult recently, at least as far as this country’s laws are concerned.
I’m fully exposed to her long lustrous black hair, her eyes that seem so dark I could get lost in them, her skin so clear in contrast with that, her plump lips, her fit limbs and body that somehow still retain plenty of curves… I might be biased, but I can only describe her as beautiful.
And now she’s clinging around my arm.
“…” What’s gotten into me? I can’t be thinking that now. She’s my master, and the daughter of Ophelia, who I owe my life to. It’s always been this way, and it’s never going to change.
But I can’t help but wonder, what would our relationship be like if I had reincarnated as a human here? Or somehow crossed worlds alive?
“Natalia?” Olivia’s voice makes me snap back to reality. “Are you that interested in my chest?”
“N-Not at all!” I was just lost in thought, but Olivia assumed I was staring at her chest.
“Oh? You seem really desperate to deny it hmm, suspicious~” She says that with a teasing chuckle, which makes me gasp. Usually she’s really playful, but somehow she sounds a lot more mature and seductive now. “You can do more than just look, you know? I’d let you touch them too.”
“I…I’m not doing that! Young Lady, you’re still too young for such things.” I faltered for just a second, but I can’t allow myself to give in.
This is Olivia in front of me. No matter how alluring she might look, she’s still a child, and Ophelia made me responsible for her, so I can’t betray that trust.
“You know, Natalia?” With a sudden movement, she moves closer to whisper into my ear, her voice feeling steamy against my ear. “I’m an adult now.”
“..!”
She’s right, according to this country’s laws, she’s already an adult1. That’s why I let her drink in the first place.
Graduating from the Magic Academy already made her an adult responsible for herself, and that’s why she’s protected me a few times already. I’m not so dense as to not know that.
But…
“N-No, we can’t. I’m just a magic automaton, nothing more.”
“But what if I still want to?”
No matter how many reasons I find to reject her, she just continues pursuing me. It’s not like she’s refuting the reasons, but somehow I still feel like I can’t find a way to stop her.
“I’ve been telling you all this time, haven’t I? I like you. I don’t care if you’re a magic automaton or human or whatever2. I like you, and you alone.” She whispers softly to me. She’s done this many times before, and I’ve always pushed her away, but tonight she’s being more insistent than usual. I don’t know if it’s because she’s drunk, or because of something else.
“Natalia, do you hate me? I’m not your type? Do you like someone else?”
“I…”
“Even if you’re an automaton, and we’re both girls, I still like you.”
“…”
No… That’s not it… I used to be a guy in my past life, and that makes things awkward. I really want to just be done with it and blurt out the truth, but I contain myself. If I do that, she’ll know I’ve been deceiving her this entire time.
There’s no way she would ever forgive that. She’s only been so comfortable around me because of the premise that I’m a magic automaton that’s also a girl. Without that, she’d definitely turn away, and I won’t be able to fulfill my promise with Ophelia.
I feel dizzy just imagining that happening.
Somehow I lose my footing too and my whole body tips back. But Olivia keeps holding my body, as if not wanting to let go. Her black eyes are staring straight at me, like they’re trying to engulf me whole.
“You don’t like me? Is that why you’ve never given me a clear reply?”
Please, stop.
“Or is it because you feel like you shouldn’t like me?”
I used to be human…
“Are my feelings a bother to you?”
I might have a female body now, but my mind is still the same…
“Just tell me if I’m being annoying.”
I’ve been deceiving you the whole time since I’ve been scared of being pushed away…
“I’m just going to kiss you if you don’t say anything, you know?”
It’s not like I have a right to say anything…
I know I have to stop her, but somehow I can’t move my body right now. Her lips just keep coming closer…
“Heyyy! I got more wine! Oh, is Olivia already wasted?” Just before they touch, a loud brazen voice stops everything.
I look around and see Fan Yen staring at us, carrying enormous jugs on her shoulders
“Why didn’t you just give her some of the water I left there to sober up?” She puts down the wine, then picks up a water jar from a side of the carpet and pours a glass for Olivia.
“Here, drink this. It’ll help you sober up.”
“I don’t need… Alright.”
Olivia first tries to refuse, but then changes her mind and accepts the glass of water. I use that time to retreat a bit and sigh in relief, having avoided that dangerous situation.
“Well, I’m going to drink again now. What about you, Olivia?”
“…I’ll drink.”
Fan Yen asks that, and Olivia holds out her empty glass. The two don’t say anything more and just drink in silence. At first, Olivia just took small sips, but with time got used to it and began to drink faster.
“Umm, Young Lady? I think it’s best if you slow down a little…” I try to get her to slow down, but she ignores me and continues drinking as much as she can.
“Hahah, I could tell Olivia was a good drinker too.”
No, please, I think she’s overdoing it already.
“…Phewwwww!” Olivia finally lowers her glass while letting out a loud breath, then turns her completely flushed face upwards, looking at the moon under a thin veil of clouds.
“Ah…”
Thud
Olivia lets out an absentminded voice before toppling back like she just lost consciousness. I rush to her side, and thankfully she’s just sleeping. I don’t know if I should feel relieved she just passed away, or baffled.
“Fan Yen, I’ll carry her to her room.”
“Sure, I still feel like drinking a bit more so don’t worry about me.”
I carry Olivia and take her away from the garden. I just saw Akane and Erika fighting again though, so I’ll have to reprimand them later. All the lights are off inside the mansion, but since I’m a magic automaton I have really good night vision.
Thinking about it now, Olivia really has grown a lot, considering she was just a child when I first met her. I mostly became aware of that during her fight with Fan Yen.
“Mmm…”
She lets out a murmur. Did she wake up?
“Natalia…you dummy…”
She doesn’t say more after calling me that, and just goes back to sleep peacefully. I’m pretty sure she’s just talking in her sleep, but I feel like what happened earlier is the main cause.
“I’m…”
I start to apologize, but then bite my tongue and stop myself. What’s apologizing going to accomplish? Ask for forgiveness? I’m an automaton built to serve, but I’ve just been lying the entire time, I don’t deserve or have the right to ask for forgiveness. All I can do is to continue enduring this guilt, that’s my punishment.
So I remain silent and bring Olivia to her bed. When I get back to the garden, I find Fan Yen and Clarissa sleeping in really inappropriate ways, and Akane and Erika are knocked out, probably as a result of them fighting.
I guess I’ll have to clean up everything on my own.
The next morning we get ready to depart, and now I’m just placing the last bits of luggage into the carriage.
“Is that everything then?”
“Yes, sorry I made you wait.”
Earlier, I went to the mansion to say goodbye to Fan Yen, but before I could say anything she came to us, and gave me a bundle wrapped in cloth for some reason.
“I only packed what was necessary, so it shouldn’t be too much added weight, right?”
I’m still trying to process why Fan Yen is giving me her luggage, when I receive an answer from inside the carriage. “Ah, did I forget to tell you that Fan Yen is coming with us too?”
I’m a bit miffed that I wasn’t told until now, even if Olivia forgot, but if that’s her decision, then I’ll just have to go along with it.
“Let’s get going then.” Fan Yen urges me on, so I go to the driver’s seat while everyone else goes inside.
There, I grab the reins and Clarissa starts pulling the large carriage along. Our next destination will be a port, where we’ll embark to Reibana.
“Hm?” I hear some distant voices so I look behind us, and I see a large number of dragonborn gathered around Fan Yen’s mansion.
“Claire, stop for a moment.”
“Woof?”
Once the carriage comes to a stop, I use the small window behind me to talk into the carriage. “Fan Yen, there’s people at your mansion. Maybe we should go back to see what they want?”
“Hm? Ghah!” Fan Yen looks out of one of the side windows to look at the mansion, and then lets out a yelp like a prisoner spotted by the warden mid-escape.
The dragonborn at the mansion also notice the carriage and start running toward us in a hurry.
“Natalia, get us moving, fast!”
“Just what did you do?!”
Feeling pressured by her, I get Clarissa running, but thinking about it more calmly I feel like I should’ve asked what’s going on first.
“…I’ve been selling everything I had to pay for the repairs from our fight the other day, but I ran out of things…”
“So you’re just trying to run away?!”
So that’s why the mansion felt so empty! And what was she thinking preparing such a banquet while being so indebted?!
“I left a note saying they can do anything they want with the mansion and everything inside it, that should be enough!”
“Then we could just go back and explain that to them.”
While Fan Yen sounds really mortified about facing them, Olivia makes a rather good point, considering she was also partly at fault there.
“Olivia, there’s no shame in running away from your problems sometimes.”
“Don’t teach ridiculous stuff to my Young Lady!”
Ugh this really has to be our worst departure!
