“Melissa, you don’t have to prepare supper today. I’ll eat outside”
“Oh, even though you came back after a long absence you want to go out?! I put so much effort into it and yet–”
“My bad, leave it here I’ll eat it tomorrow morning.”
I left the mansion while hearing Melissa’s scolding in the background.
I put on my mask on the way to the hideout as to not attract any attention.
I passed Doji outside the mansion and he said “I delivered her properly” in a low voice.
But honestly, I thought that Elsa might not be in the hideout.
Aah, though this is the first time seeing her after that time.
But if one thinks calmly about it wouldn’t be weird for that to happen.
She didn’t sign a contract with me so Elsa is a free person and able to go where ever she wants.
Generally being a mistress isn’t normal.
That’s why I decided to be neither disappointed nor angry even if Elsa isn’t there.
That would be too excessively miserable as a man.
If that’s really the case I want to be capable to get through it with a laugh.
That’s what the popular villain Carlo would do, right?
As I thought about such things I reached the hideout with a fast beating heart.
I thought about knocking the door first but it’s my own house and if no one is in there that wouldn’t be too cool so I opened the entrance with one of the spare keys the old landlady gave me.
Gacha
When I opened the door– Elsa was standing there.
She waited for me and didn’t run away.
I was deeply moved and approached her to hug her.
“El–”
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
“What, what happened?!”
As Elsa screamed Crescent moon jumped out from the back of the room.
Why are you here?
“A, a strange looking person suddenly came in here!”
Elsa quickly hid behind Crescent Moon.
Ah, I forgot I was wearing a mask.
“You, a strange person you say, but isn’t that Akatsuki?! Didn’t you say you were Akatsuki’s mistress?”
“Eh?”
Elsa became speechless as she heard Crescent Moon’s words.
This girl, maybe……That’s natural, huh?
“No, I’m sorry for surprising you, it’s me.”
I took off the mask.
“Carlo-sama”
Elsa suddenly wore a joyful expression.
I’m relieved, it seems like she is happy to see me.
“What’s the meaning of this, Mister Akatsuki? Explain it to me properly”
I heard Crescent Moon speaking in a harsh tone.
I mean, why are you even here?
I decided to first sit down in the living room and drink some tea.
Yeah, the tea Elsa made isn’t bad at all.
Though I’d prefer it if it was a little more black.
“I came over because I thought I might be able to meet Mister Akatsuki because I didn’t see your face around that much recently and then when I came over I found this girl here”
Crescent Moon started to speak with me.
Without a doubt the eyes behind her mask were cold.
“So, when I asked her who she was she answered with “I’m Akatsuki-sama’s mistress”.”
Mmm, you should fix that habit of telling every person you are someone’s mistress immediately.
That will give us a bad image.
“Because I’m really Carlo-sama’s……I mean Akatsuki-sama’s mistress. Hey, it’s like this, right, Carlo-sama?”
Ehm, she mixes up Carlo and Akatsuki a lot.
Well, though I think that’s unavoidable.
“Elsa, call me “Akatsuki” from now on”
“Ah, I’m sorry, ehm……Akatsuki-sama”
So, shall I tell everything to Crescent Moon?
“What Elsa said was the truth. This girl is supposed to stay here from now on.”
“Heeh, “this girl”, huh? Just when one thinks he just had his debut as an adventurer and borrowed this place he’s already surrounded by mistresses as one would expect of “Akatsuki-sama”.”
Why is she so angry?⌈1⌋
“Didn’t you say something like “I’m no good with women”? Is that so? So it was like that.”
“It’s not like that but various things happened. Well, let’s get along.”
Why is my heart beating like this?
I just share a work-relationship with Crescent Moon while sometimes looking at her mountains, right?
By the amount of money she cheated out of me it should my privilege to take a look.
Besides, I’ve only kissed Elsa so far.
So her being angry while I’m completely innocent⌈2⌋ is unreasonable.
“Apart from that, do you have any business with me, Crescent Moon?”
“Hmpf, oh well, fine. Yes, that’s right, I came over to invite you to go together exploring a labyrinth for a while because the guild asked me to do it.”
Was I able to safely change the subject?
Getting angry for some incomprehensible reason is one of the reason’s I don’t like women.⌈3⌋
“Labyrinth exploration, that sound’s interesting”
“Doesn’t it? Even though I came all the way just to invite you……”
“Then, let’s go to the guild at once. Crescent Moon, I’m sorry but could you please go ahead? I’ll be coming soon as well.”
I was somehow able to send Crescent Moon away and it was just the two of us left.
“You arrived safely.”
“Carl……Akatsuki-sama, can I really live in such a nice house?”
“Yeah. You may freely use it. I’ll also usually wear this mask”
I got the mask from the other room and put it on.
“Well, it’s a bit scary. But I think it suits you well.”
“Is that so? You’ll probably get lonely because I can’t come here that often so I don’t mind if you go outside.”
I took out three gold coins and put them in front of Elsa.
“You should be able to live with this for the time being. Of course, you are allowed to send it to your grandparents if something remains. Tell me if it’s not enough, okay?”
“Well, this is more than enough. Thank you very much. This not being enough is outrageous.”
“But I might ask you to go shopping for me, anyway, just tell me.”
Then I stood up and got close to Elsa.
“I thought that Elsa might have already left this place.”
“Why? I did properly promise you this.”
“No, it’s just that we only met once. Thank you very much.”
“I should be the one to thank you. Thank you for treating me this well.”
“I heard it a lot already but is it really okay?”
At my question, Elsa looked down bashfully and answered me in a low voice.
“……Of course. Because, ehm, you were totally cool and it was love at first sight. And I also gave you my first kiss.”
I couldn’t stand it anymore and hugged Elsa.
I forgot to remove the mask……Like this, I’m not able to kiss her.
How regrettable!
