“Mm...” They kissed a third time, and Isuzu let out a girlish murmur. He’d never heard her make a noise like that before. He wanted to hear more.
Isuzu’s bathrobe fell open; she was all but naked, now. Her voluptuous form, her soft, white, fragrant skin... She was trembling, just a bit. “I’m afraid...” she admitted.
“So am I,” he told her.
“What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know.” Seiya undid the tie of her bathrobe and reached for her waist.
Just then, the Blackberry she had left to charge vibrated loudly. It was sitting on a glass table, which made the sound especially noisy.
With a gasp, Seiya and Isuzu snapped back to their senses. They didn’t even realize the sound was her smartphone buzzing, at first.
“Let it go,” Seiya urged.
“I... I can’t,” Isuzu said with a sigh.
“Why not?”
“It’s probably... Her Highness.” Latifah, she meant. The word was like an ice cube down the back of Seiya’s neck.
“She always calls me before she goes to bed,” Isuzu told him. “Can I... answer it?”
“Y-Yeah...”
Isuzu hesitantly sat up, closing her bathrobe, and hurried to the charging station. But it seemed she didn’t make it in time, because the call vibrations stopped. “She hung up.”
“......” Seiya didn’t reply.
“Can I... call her back?” Isuzu suggested tentatively.
“Sure.”
“I’m sorry.” Isuzu dialed back on her smartphone, and the other side picked up immediately. It was Latifah’s voice; the soundproofing in the room meant Seiya could identify that much, even if he couldn’t make out her words.
“Your Highness... forgive me,” said Isuzu, apologizing for not having picked up the first time. He could vaguely hear the princess’s girlish, cheerful voice on the other end. She said something.
“Yes. We found a nice... bed and breakfast,” Isuzu responded.
Latifah said something.
“Yes, we’ll be back tomorrow... There’s no need to worry.”
Latifah’s voice, unintelligible.
“Of course,” said Isuzu. “Take care of yourself.”
Latifah’s voice.
“Yes. I’ll tell him.”
Latifah’s voice.
“Goodbye.”
Latifah’s voice.
Isuzu hung up, and the smartphone went silent.
“......” Seiya still didn’t know what to say.
It was over. Isuzu stepped back uneasily, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Suddenly, there was distance between them—moments ago, there had been none; now, she was a million kilometers away. It was almost impossible to believe what they had been doing just seconds ago.
“I lied to the princess,” Isuzu realized.
“About where we’re staying?” Seiya asked.
“Yes.”
“But it’s not like you could have told her the truth...” he told her. Besides, whatever she called it, they were still spending the night together. Latifah wouldn’t find anything suspicious about it.
“Yes, but...” Isuzu turned her eyes down, and then let out a lengthy sigh. “I’m a terrible royal guard...”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Seiya argued back.
“...and I’m a terrible secretary,” she finished.
“Neither does that.” But hearing her talk about her positions like this, a part of Seiya knew for certain... Yeah. It’s over for the night.
That was that. He was well aware of Isuzu’s earnestness in duty—her duty to Latifah; her duty to Seiya. When seen from that standpoint, this situation was inappropriate.
He felt the same way. The minute I heard Latifah’s name, I knew I couldn’t go any further. She’s such a nice girl, and she loves me. She wouldn’t even be mad if she found out what we were doing; she’d mask her sorrow and congratulate us. But just imagining that brought a huge wave of guilt rushing over him.
“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “Let’s write off what happened as an accident.”
“An accident?” Seiya repeated.
“Yes. An accident.”
Of course, he thought, an accident. That was basically how it started, anyway... Maybe it was best to think of it in those terms. “Yeah... I know what you mean,” he agreed. “After all... fidelity is the most important thing to both of us, right?” Seiya said.
“Seiya-kun...”
“I lost my head, too. Sorry.” But despite his words, Seiya’s mind swirled with complaints. Specifically: Come on, I’m not even dating Latifah! It’s not like this would be cheating on her! And is that all it meant to you?! Is this as far as you were willing to go when you let me kiss you?! Don’t give me that ‘just a spur-of-the-moment thing’ crap! Do you like me or not? Just tell me! It’s so damned hard to understand your reactions!! But to shout that at her now would be too pathetic; it would ruin his cool-headed(?) image. So, of course, he didn’t.
Though to be perfectly honest, I want to keep going! he thought in frustration. I want to lose my mind with pleasure! I’m still a healthy young man, you know! You can’t make those girlish squeals, set my balls on fire, then leave me like this! What am I supposed to do now?! Just take a cold shower and wait until morning?! After seeing all that... dammit, everything?! Sento Isuzu! Are you trying to kill me?! But if Seiya said those things, he’d lose any chance of a relationship with her, so he endured it. He swallowed it down.
“No, I’m sorry,” Isuzu said.
“Mm...”
“Let’s just go to sleep,” she mumbled, returning to the sofa and curling up in her sheet. She looked like she was determined to stay there, after all; the only difference from before was that now, she was facing away. The gesture felt simultaneously like rejection, and like pouting. Seiya couldn’t know for sure which one it really was.
Left with no other choice, he’d gone to sleep in the bed, when he heard Isuzu whisper, “Seiya-kun...”
“What?” he asked shortly.
“I love the princess.”
“I know.”
“But you love her more,” she said wistfully.
“......” Seiya didn’t know what to say.
“You don’t have to respond,” Isuzu told him. Her tone was indifferent, quiet, and relaxed, just like it had been the first time they met. “I just wanted to say it. Good night.”
But Seiya knew that Isuzu was a soldier. That kind of calm always came to her only during the most dangerous, anxiety-ridden times.