It was no good… Fresh out of her bath, she was so captivating, so alluring, that I found myself entertaining indecent thoughts…
“Oh-ho… It’s okay, Hugh. You’re my fiancée, after all… And I quite like it when you look at me that way, you know…”
“O-oh…”
Ugh… Hearing those words in such a seductive voice, I can’t help imagining all sorts of scenarios…
Shaking my head in an attempt to clear away my vulgar thoughts, I rose to my feet and called out to her. “M-Melza! Shall we go?!”
“Ho-ho… Yes, let’s.” She chuckled and took my hand, and I led her outside.
Soon, we had arrived.
“Is this it…?” she asked.
“Ha-ha… I know it isn’t much…” I had taken her to the garden outside the cottage. “…But this is the one place I would always come when I was sad or hurting, in order to find peace and heal my heart.”
“I see…”
“Yes… I’m told my mother liked to visit it often, too…”
Had she suffered as I had? Had this garden been a solace for her as it was for me…? I couldn’t help but wonder.
“…When you come to live with us, let’s make one exactly like it,” Melza whispered as she leaned against my shoulder.
“Ha-ha… I might not need it anymore once I’m there. You and the archduke are already like family to me… But thank you.”
“S-stop it, Hugh… You always know just what to say to tickle my heart…” She blushed.
In the soft moonlight, her translucent skin seemed to glow an even paler white than usual. Her ethereal beauty was fantastical—like something from another world.
“Melza… I’m so glad I met you…”
“Ho-ho… I feel the same. I feel as though my whole life has been a prelude to our meeting…”
We huddled together, sitting shoulder to shoulder as we watched the waning crescent moon hovering above us in the night sky.
Whoosh.
The wind blew in, fluttering Melza’s hair and tickling my ears.
“…We should head back inside,” I suggested. “I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”
“Oh… I’m fine,” she answered. It seemed she wanted to stay a little longer.
“We have a very important event coming up in only a week’s time. Your health must be our priority,” I advised her.
“…Very well. But could you bring me here again tomorrow…?”
“…Of course.”
But as she reached out to take my hand so we could return, something caught her eye.
“Is that…?”
“…Louis…”
He was lurking outside the cottage’s entrance. We watched him scan his surroundings before sneaking inside.
That bastard… Pulling another of his idiotic stunts despite the Marquis’s direct warning…
“…Let’s see what he’s up to,” Melza suggested.
“Agreed…”
We tailed him carefully, making sure he didn’t notice us. He wasn’t very stealthy, however. With movements like that, he was practically crying out for someone to catch him.
Before long, the inevitable happened.
“…M-Master Louis?!”
Sure enough, one of the cottage’s residents spotted him—my chamberlain, Molly.
“…Are you stupid or something?! Be quiet!” he whispered in a panic, throwing one hand over her mouth.
“Ngh?!”
Just what does he think he’s playing at…?
“…You listening?” he growled. “You never saw me. Got it?”
Molly nodded.
And yet…I couldn’t help but notice that she was smiling. Perhaps she thought this intrusion would be to her advantage later on. Maybe she intended to recruit Louis to help conceal evidence of her crimes.
“All right…,” he said. “Get out of here.”
“P-pardon me…”
Released from his grip, Molly slunk away, a furtive grin on her face.
“Phew… That was close…,” Louis muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow before continuing up the stairs.
We followed him up the steps, all the way to the third floor.
“…He’s going to my room…?” Melza murmured, a disgusted look on her face.
Was he seriously trying to sneak into a girl’s chambers in the middle of the night…?
He made his way down the corridor and reached for the doorknob of the room farthest from mine, then slipped inside.
Come to think of it, that was the one he had instructed Ellen to set aside for Melza…
He must have realized she wasn’t inside, because he quickly stepped back into the corridor and made his way toward my door, instead.
Suddenly, we heard someone speak in a low voice.
“…Master Louis. What in the world are you doing here?”
“…?!”
It was Ellen, my maid.
“…Ellen. Where is Meltreza’s room? Why didn’t you do as I said? You were supposed to keep her as far from my brother as possible,” he said reproachfully, as if blaming her for the fact that Melza wasn’t where he expected.
This from a man who clearly intended to force himself on a guest under cover of night.
“Master Louis, I believe His Lordship instructed you to stay away from this cottage, did he not?”
“I’m the one asking questions here! Answer me already!” he shouted.
It seemed he’d given up on sneaking around now that a second person had found him. What exactly did he expect to achieve with all this…?
“…Hugh,” Melza said hesitantly, her voice full of pity. “It pains me to say this about your brother…but I think he may be somewhat lacking upstairs…”
I could feel Melza’s kindness in the careful euphemism. I suspected anyone else would have been a lot more direct about what exactly my brother was lacking.
Heaving an overly dramatic sigh, Ellen pointed to the room next to mine—right at Melza’s door.
“Tch… You could have just said so from the beginning.” Louis clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“……”
Ellen shot an odious glare at Louis’s turned back, then hurried off.
“…Those two are the worst,” I growled under my breath.
“…Indeed.” Melza nodded.
We watched as Louis snuck into her room, then positioned ourselves in front of the door.
Crack.
“Huh…?” My mouth flew open in shock.
Melza had grabbed the doorknob and completely crushed it.
“Ho-ho… He can stay there all night and face disgrace tomorrow morning,” she muttered in a frighteningly low voice as she stared daggers at the closed door.
“U-um… Melza…?”
“Oh… W-well, you know…”
She seemed to notice all at once that I was still standing beside her, and she fluttered her hands as if to hide the pulverized doorknob. I found her anxious expression and panicked gestures incredibly endearing.
“Pffft…! Ah-ha-ha!”
“…H-Hugh…?”
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about how adorable you are.”
“Huh?! Oh dear…!”
This must have made her even more self-conscious, because she turned away with a pout. I found this utterly charming, too, of course, and reached out to stroke her glossy black hair.
“Ah…”
“Melza… I’m so glad I could see such a cute side of you. Please, never stop showing it to me.”
“I-if you agree to do the same for me…I’ll consider it,” she said, turning bright red.
I couldn’t keep myself from laughing. “Ah-ha-ha… Well, since you can’t very well use your room… Would you like to, um…come to mine…?”
“Oh… Ho-ho. Certainly.”
I turned away, hoping Melza wouldn’t notice how flushed I was. After that, she placed a hand over mine and followed me to my room.
We could both hear violent banging coming from the other side of Melza’s door, but we ignored it without so much as a second thought.
Not long after that, we got into bed together.
“……”
“……”
Ugh… I’m so nervous…
I was currently sharing a bed with a divine beauty, huddling under the covers right beside her.
“Hugh… Y-you seem nervous…”
“Yeah… D-do you want to hear how much?” I gently brought her face close to my chest.
“My… I can hear your heartbeat. It’s so fast…”
“Yeah, It’s really racing. I can’t help it when I’m around you.”
“U-um, would you like to hear mine, too…?”
“What?!” I cried out in surprise. “I—I can’t! How could I possibly press my ear up against your chest?!”
“Oh…! R-right!”
She must have realized what I meant and flushed all the way up to her ears. She then covered her face with both hands.
“A-anyway, let’s just try to get some sleep,” I suggested.
“Y-yes, of course…”
We awkwardly covered ourselves with the blanket.
“U-um… Good night, Melza.”
“Y-yes… Good night, Hugh.”
As we held hands and fought to calm our racing hearts, we somehow managed to drift off into a deep sleep.