Published at 29th of July 2019 2:18 am

Volume 1, Side Story - Everyday Life For Three

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Our life repeats like a refrain.

Every time I lay eyes on Milkit’s bandaged face I can’t help but remember how pretty she is underneath.

“She really is cute…” I whisper to myself.

I’m sitting in the living room, resting my chin in my hand as I sit at the table there.

Even though I only mumbled the words, there’s no way that Eterna-san didn’t hear me from where she sits just across the table from me.

“Jiii…”[1]

Someone’s watching me, but that someone isn’t saying anything. I quickly cast a look at her, but she averts her gaze just as quickly.

I quickly return to my thoughts.

Ever since last night I just haven’t been able to sit still. Milkit told me she’d show me her face again when we’re alone together, which means I’ll be able to see it again tonight.

I’m really looking forward to it… I think.

The area around my heart feels really hot, and I get the feeling it’s beating a lot faster than it normally does. I guess you could say that means I’m looking forward to it a little bit… though maybe it’s more than that. Whenever I think about taking off those bandages and the feeling of her soft skin on my fingertips I start to get all tingly… t-though not in a weird way, of course.

“Really, it’s just taking off her bandages…”

I mumble to myself again.

“Jiii…”

I feel someone staring at me again, but she doesn’t say anything.

I’m kinda curious as to why she’s staring at me like this, but somehow I’m getting a bad feeling about starting up a conversation with her right now so I ignore her.

I’m not the only one who’s been a bit weird since then, though. Milkit’s feeling fidgety just like me… I think.

Okay, so maybe I don’t know for sure that she’s feeling the same way I do, but I’m positive she’s been acting strangely since then. I just sorta get the feeling that she’s thinking the same things as I have been.

That means she’s been seeing me in that way too, right?

I can’t think of any other reason why.

Wait a second --- what if it’s because she’s started hating me since then?

No, that’s impossible.

It’s certainly not that.

I don’t have a real reason for being so sure, I just am.

“If anything, it feels like we’ve gotten even closer since then…”

I talk to myself for the third time.

Splash, the sound of overflowing water comes from the bathroom.

I react conspicuously.

“Jiii…”

This time I can clearly tell that Eterna-san’s smirking at me.

“I-I wasn’t thinking of anything strange, honest!” I manage to avoid saying at the last moment.

The sounds coming from the bathroom are because of Milkit, in the middle of taking one of Eterna-san’s wonderful baths. Thanks to her Water magic we’ve been able to take as many baths as we like without having to go through the pain of drawing water from a well, unlike probably everywhere else in the West Quarter.

This house is really something for having a full bath in it, though. It might be a little old, but there are a ton of rooms and it’s really spacious. It must’ve been built for someone pretty rich, despite being in the West Quarter.

“Leave it to Reach to think of the rich… Fufu.”

I mutter a lame pun to myself without thinking.

I bet Eterna-san’s going to stare at me and start smirking again for saying something so stupid---

“---You’re not even looking at me this time!?”

“...What?”

“You’ve been making fun of me this whole time, haven’t you!?”

“I’m just a perfectly humble top-class master mage. I wouldn’t do that. You’re overthinking things.”

“You were even saying ‘Jiii…’ the whole time!”

Honestly, I don’t know how she can say that with a straight face.

Also, I don’t think people who are actually humble would call themselves humble, let alone that ‘top-class master mage’ bit.

“Fine. If you want attention that badly I’ll play with you.”

Does she think I’m a puppy or something!?

“Why’re you suddenly looking down on me…? And no, I don’t want to play.”

“What were you thinking of when you heard that splash from the bath just now? Milkit naked?”

“Why’d you suddenly jump to that conclusion!?”

“Your face was like a pubescent teenage boy’s before his first date.”

That’s a rather harsh way to put it…

At least call me a girl.

“I’m just a perfectly normal sixteen-year-old girl!”

“Do normal girls get turned on dreaming of taking off other girls’ bandages?”

“Guh!!”

It’s a critical hit. I grasp my chest in pain.

Her words hit the heart of my worries head-on.

But wait a second, if I just back down here it’d be the same as admitting to being turned on. It’s not that, really! Her bandages were on my mind, sure, but not in that way.

And besides, couldn’t she have used a more maidenly word like ‘troubled’ or ‘flustered’?

“Hold on a second, Eterna-san, ‘turned on’ is the wrong way to put it no matter how you look at it!”

“Hm… What about ‘horny’?”

I collapse.

It got worse.

How’d that happen!?

“That’s not what I meant! I just, how do I put it… I’m thinking about it in a perfectly clean and pure way.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“What don’t you get?”

“Milkit recovered perfectly. You took off her bandages.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“So why is she still wearing bandages and why does she only take them off for you? You never told me.”

Come to think of it, she’s right.

...Don’t tell me that she was just teasing me because I didn’t explain it properly? Was she just trying to get attention? I suddenly feel very guilty. I mean, she was the one who cured Milkit, so it’s just too rude to leave her out of the loop.

“I’m sorry I forgot to tell you, Eterna-san.”

I bow deeply, apologize, then proceed to explain why.

“Milkit’s just too embarrassed to show her face to anyone except me, that’s all.”

“Nn. I see. She’s spent so much time with the bandages that she doesn’t feel safe without them.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

I left out the part of the story where I practically smothered her with praise so I get the feeling Eterna-san’s explanation isn’t completely accurate, but it’s just close enough to the truth to work.

I hope she’s content with that… but I notice that she’s put her hand to her chin in deep thought.

“So she only shows her face to you, her master.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You sit together in a room and take off her bandages.”

“Yeah, that sums it up.”

“You sit together in a locked room, take off her bandages and expose her skin.”

“Yeah, but why do you keep repeating yourself?”

“You sit together in a locked room, take off the fabric concealing her supple flesh, and…”

“Isn’t that different from the others!?”

I take it back.

Her mood doesn’t matter. She’s always like this. She was just screwing with me all along!

“Flum, you’re a pervert.”

“How!? Why can’t you seem to get your mind out of the gutter…!? … Okay, so maybe I did find her really cute. Maybe I started to overheat a little, and maybe the mood got a little weird, and maybe I did wonder a bit about why taking off her bandages made it feel like something else entirely, but… But…!”

Maybe taking off her bandages and seeing her bare face when she won’t show it to anyone else isn’t unlike seeing her naked body. But really, it’s absolutely not lewd in any way, shape, or form. We’re just not used to it yet. If we keep on practicing we’ll be able to do it perfectly normally… probably.

In response to my confession, however, Eterna’s face turns grim.

“...If you agree, I can’t tease you anymore.”

“Then how about you don’t tease me in the first place---!!”

I stand up out of my chair, my yell echoing loudly throughout the twilight Capital.

◇◇◇

As soon Milkit gets out of the bath, she heads straight to our room. She’s a step ahead of me in getting on my bed, and she casts me a slightly impatient, pleading look as she waits for me to join her.

My heart skips a beat.

Thanks to that conversation I just had with Eterna I’m feeling oddly conscious.

Really, all I’m doing is taking off her bandages. That’s it.

We did it just fine yesterday… I mean, yeah, I got pretty embarrassed near the end, but I probably wasn’t thinking the same things I am now.

This is all Eterna-san’s fault.

“Master?”

She cocks her head to the side inquisitively. She’s unfairly cute in those pajamas. On top of that, she just got out of the bath, so her skin looks a little redder and a lot more charming than usual…

There’s surely not a creature alive that could look at her and walk away unfazed. Even Eterna-san’s heart would start beating out of control if she saw Milkit’s slightly damp hair clinging to her collarbone like this…

Eh? Just me? Impossible, I refuse to believe it.

I might have to admit, though, that it was far easier to call her cute last night without getting strange thoughts… although come to think of it, it’s not like I didn’t have any later on. It must all be because I’m the only one who gets to see her real face.

I guess I’m being a bit, what do they call it… proprietorial?

“Um… Is something wrong?”

“Eh? Uh, no, nothing, nothing at all! Ahaha…”

“...?”

There’s no point worrying about it any more. I sit on the bed facing Milkit.

Our eyes meet.

Her flawless, infinitely deep eyes seem to peer into the depths of my soul.

“It’s really not fair…”

“Is there something troubling you, Master?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I was just thinking of how unfairly beautiful your eyes are.”

I wonder if you’d call this an eye fetish?

Fetish… Yeah, maybe not. It sounds a bit off.

I’m helplessly drawn to them nonetheless.

“You have pretty eyes too, Master.”

“C’mon, no need to be polite. My eyes are just as dirty as my heart.”

“I’m not being polite. You really are a lot prettier than I am.”

“No, I’m telling you, you’re prettier.”

“No, you are.”

“You are!!”

I grab both her hands and practically shout. Milkit suppresses a laugh.

I guess I was a little too forceful, but it’s the truth. I feel mildly disgusted every time I look in a mirror. The reason why I decided to protect Milkit in the first place had nothing to do with her, after all.

“Just think of this as putting up with another one of your master’s silly requests, okay?”

“I get the feeling that you put up with far more of my foolish requests than I do yours, but… If you say so, Master, I shall.”

Hmm… Somehow it sounds like I’m just being really selfish… Even if it is the truth, there’s no real need to make her admit it like this.

Well, negative thinking may be a bit of a bad habit of mine, but thanks to that the weird mood in the room is gone. I shouldn’t have any problem taking off her bandages now.

“Well then, how about we get started?”

“Of course. I have all my feelings in order, so proceed as you will.”

‘Feelings in order,’ huh… It looks like there’s a lot on Milkit’s mind after all. The feeling of sameness helps me relax even more.

I put my hands behind Milkit’s head and start to work at the knot of her bandages. She has to bring her head closer to mine so I can work, but as a result of that her hot breath tickles my ear.

“Nnh...”

I accidentally brush the back of her neck with my fingertips and she lets out a soft moan. Determined not to get distracted, I hurriedly finish undoing the knot and start to peel off her bandages.

Even though I know exactly what’s under them this time, I can’t hold back a sigh of amazement at the silky-smooth snow white skin that slowly appears before my eyes.

Slowly spreading across her skin is a red tinge like strawberry jam.

The colour of emotion.

That shade of crimson that tells me we’re feeling the same emotion, even if neither of us know quite what to call it yet. It may take slightly different forms between the two of us, but we’re headed in the same direction. I get the feeling that if we continue to let these emotions deepen and grow, we’ll eventually end up at the same point. That final destination, though, is probably so infinitely far away that we can’t even imagine it --- or something like that, I stopped understanding my own train of thought partway through.

At any rate, we’re on the right track.

No matter what Eterna-san says, we’re really not in that kind of relationship!

--- Having mentally asserted that to noone in particular, I finish unraveling Milkit’s bandages and place my hands on her cheeks, staring deep into her eyes.

“You really are cute.”

“Don’t say that too much today, Master… I’m happy, but I get the feeling I wouldn’t be able to look you in the face afterwards…”

“Fufu, got it. I’ll be more indirect about it.”

“You’re still going to say it, then…”

“Of course. How can I not when you’re this cute?”

Milkit’s cheeks turn bright red all at once. I can feel her rising temperature through my palms, and for a while I focus on getting my fill of her smooth skin.

“A-Are my cheeks… do they really feel that good…?”

“Yeah. They’re the cheeks of an angel.”

Seriously, I feel like I could live off of this sensation alone.

“Um… I know this is rather insolent of me to ask, but…”

“Hm? If you want to do something go ahead and ask. I’m all ears.”

“Okay… In that case, I think… I-I’d like to touch your cheeks, too…”

Her voice is thick with hesitation, but if that’s all she wants she really doesn’t even have to ask.

“My cheeks were just feeling Milkit-deprived, so go on ahead and do whatever you want with them.”

“I-In that case… I’m sorry!!”

Her hands envelop my cheeks completely. They feel a little cold as they suck the heat from my face, but a moment later they’ve reached the same temperature as my skin.

She gently strokes the slave mark on my cheek with blissfully narrowed eyes.

“This is what brought us together…”

Just last night she looked at that same mark and said that we’re the same. I’d thought that she was just trying to hide her embarrassment at the time, but it looks like she put a lot more thought into it than I did.

Even now she’s determined to stay a slave, and determined to have me remain superior to her as her master. If that’s still how it is between us, then the only thing truly connecting us is our slave marks.

“Is touching my cheeks really that fun?” I ask through my smile.

She firmly nods.

“It feels like a part of me that’s been empty for a long time is finally being filled.”

I know exactly how she feels.

It feels like everything we’re doing is for the sole purpose of filling that empty something --- and definitely not in a lewd way, of course. It’s not like I’m denying it just because it’s on my mind, it’s really the truth.

What’s going on between us isn’t something that occurs between family members, between friends, or even between slaves but rather something else entirely, that’s all.

“...Thank you very much.”

Milkit separates her hands from my cheeks. The air feels somewhat cold on my skin now, and maybe just a little bit lonely.

“May I do it again tomorrow?”

“Of course!”

Milkit’s question sounds a bit apologetic, but my response is enthusiastic.

“If you want you don’t even have to stop now. Just saying.”

“That’s… impossible.”

Her face turns a shade redder as she looks down at the bed.

“It feels like my heart will explode if I suddenly go at it for a long time… I’ll just have to go a little at a time.”

Aahh… I have no idea how this girl’s so good at hitting all my weak points like that…

“I really appreciate the offer, Master, but… Hyan!?”

I suddenly lunge forward, pushing her down on the bed and clutching her head into my chest.

“M-Master… I-If you’re going to do something like that please let me know first…”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

Just like last night, I moved on emotions alone, but even through the regret I tell myself that I really had no other choice. She’s just so cute that I really can’t hold back --- and so good at pushing my buttons that I can readily accept such a ridiculous excuse.

“Y-Your heart is beating really fast…”

Yeah, well, I’m sure she can hear even better since it’s not like I have an especially meaty chest.

“I was really startled, but… for some reason just feeling your warmth like this is extremely relaxing…”

She wraps her arms around me.

I feel relief from the bottom of my heart.

I was betrayed, abandoned, enslaved --- but I have her.

I can feel that I’m really not alone.

[You forgot me.]

I can practically hear Eterna-san’s voice inside my head, but I ignore it.

For the second day in a row now, we spend a long time in a tender embrace, doing nothing else.

After a while, though, she lets out a cute little yawn, and at my suggestion we separate our bodies and she returns to her own bed.

As I crawl under the covers I can still feel her warmth and smell her unique scent. That alone is sure to bring me sounder sleep and sweeter dreams than any magic ever could.

◇◇◇

We continue that exchange every night from then on.

Regardless of how fed-up with it Eterna-san seems already, it fills both out hearts and reminds the other that we exist, and neither of us has any intention of stopping that sweet skinship anytime soon.

Even if that nightly ritual changes it’ll be sometime in the far, far future, when Milkit and I finally find a name to put to our relationship.

1. ↑ The Japanese onomatopoeia for staring.

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