“…I’m home,” I heard Rae say as she returned. Her tone was stiff, evidence she was still displeased with me. It made me sad to have things be like this between us. But that was exactly why I was now going to such lengths to fix things.
“Welcome back, Rae.”
“…I’m tired, so I think I’ll hit the sack now…wh-wh-what?!” She took one glance at me in the kitchen and went wide-eyed. Understandably so. The way I looked right now was as shameless as could be. “M-M-Mah, M-M-Miss Claire?!”
“Th-this is a token of my appreciation for all you do. Please, forgive me already, Rae.”
“Wh-wh-whuh…”
I had never, ever seen her blush this hard. But who could blame her? I was wearing a frilly apron (handmade by Lene) with only underwear underneath.
“I-I believe this is called a ‘naked apron’? I’ve been told this is the highest display of affection one can give their significant other. You’ll have to forgive me—I kept my underwear on, as I was a bit too embarrassed to attempt this fully nude.”
“W-w-wait, hold on. What’s going—”
“Oh, right! There’s something you have to say when you wear this, isn’t there? Welcome back, dear. Would you like to cook dinner? Would you like to prepare a bath? Or…”
“Isn’t that backward? Wait, no, that’s not what’s important here! Why are—”
“O-or would you like m-m-m-me…?”
Rae dropped to the floor, clutching her head.
H-huh?
“Who put you up to this? Wait, no, I already know… It was Lene, wasn’t it?”
“…It was. She told me to do this after I told her I wanted to make amends with you. Did I do it wrong?”
“You did so many things wrong, but—”
“I knew it. I shouldn’t have even tried.”
“No, this was wonderful, Miss Claire.” She got up to her feet and slapped her cheeks, as if to smack some sense back into herself. “That Lene, just what was she thinking… No, wait, I should be thanking her… Yes, thank you, Lene, wherever you are.”
“Er, Rae?”
“I’m sorry for sulking like a child, Miss Claire. Your feelings have reached me.”
“Th-then you’ll forgive me?”
“Of course! How could I not when you’ve gone so far?! Thank you so much! Thank you so so much! I’m so lucky to be alive! Thank you, God! Thank you, Spirit God!”
“R-Rae?” I was a bit bewildered by her sudden elation.
She hugged me gently, our first physical contact in three days. All at once, I felt at ease. Oh, Rae. You’ve come back to me.
“O-okay then, I’ll start preparing dinner now,” I said bashfully. “That’s what this apron is for, after all, ha ha.”
“No, wait. Go change, Miss Claire.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Huh? Why? Are you already tired of this look?”
“Not at all, but that look is purely for aesthetic purposes. If you’re going to actually cook, then you need to wear real clothes. I’d hate for cooking oil to mar your perfect porcelain skin.”
“I, er, I see.”
I didn’t quite get it, but I obeyed, as Rae was the expert on the matter. That is, if one could even be an expert on whatever this was. Genuinely, what was all this? At any rate, I was glad I’d caught her making such an absurd face.
From there on, whenever the two of us fought or I had a request to make of her, I would pull out my new trump card, the “naked apron.” It continued to have a dramatic effect, bringing an end to even our worst quarrels. The embarrassment I had to endure was always great, but seeing Rae so happy made my wariness fade. Unfortunately, there came a point where my wariness faded too far…
“I’m home, Miss Claire.”
“Welcome back, dear. Would you like to cook dinner? Would you like to prepare a bath? Or…”
I welcomed Rae home like I often did…but that day, she was not alone.
“…Claire. What is the meaning of this?”
“F-Father?!”
My father, Dole, was with her. They had run into one another on their way home, so he decided to drop by and say hello. I screamed out of sheer embarrassment, ran to the bedroom, and changed.
From that day onward I never brought out the “naked apron” again.
Incidentally, Rae was so shocked that I stopped doing the “naked apron” that she tried doing it for me instead, one day. By coincidence, I happened to have brought Misha home as a guest that day.
“…Disgusting.” Misha looked at Rae with a gaze as cold as ice. I had a feeling this memory would keep Rae up at night for a very, very long time.
“Um, Mama Claire?”
“Mother Claire, there’s something we want to know.”
“Yes, May, Aleah?”
Sometime later, after Rae and I adopted May and Aleah, I told the two of them about my fight with Rae. Of course, I omitted the “naked apron” part.
“What was it you two were fighting over after all? Was it a misunderstanding?”
“Did Mother Rae not keep her chastity?”
“W-wait, do you two even know what that word means?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“How old do you think we are?”
“Uhhh…”
With them being orphaned, I did not know their exact age. But they should have been around four or five. “Chastity” was certainly not a word that should be in their vocabulary.
“Mama Claire, tell us what happened.”
“Hurry up and tell us!”
“W-well…” I felt cold sweat form on my brow. “O-okay, it was a misunderstanding. Just a small one, though.”
“What was the misunderstanding?”
“Tell us!”
“O-oh, I don’t see why we need to talk about it. It’s really not that interesting…”
“Tellll ussss!” they nagged.
“…It’s really nothing, though.” Reluctantly, I began to recount the story.
“I-I’ll be going then, Rae, Miss Claire. Please take good care of the children.”
“Of course.”
“We will wish you safe travels.”
A few days after we took May and Aleah under our wing, Lilly embarked on her pilgrimage of atonement. Rae and I went to the checkpoint to see her off. My father was watching May and Aleah in our absence, though I’m sure they wanted to see Lilly off as well.
“Oh, right. Before you go, there’s this misunderstanding I want us to clear up,” Rae said.
“Wh-what misunderstanding?” Lilly asked.
“You said something about me giving you my first. Miss Claire and I got into a big fight as a result—although something good did eventually come out of it.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You don’t need to go into that much detail,” I chided Rae, covering her mouth. “And you needn’t make excuses for me, Lilly. Even if Rae did give you her chastity, I understand that the one she loves is me, and I will never doubt that again.”
“Wh-what? R-Rae’s chastity? What are you talking about?!”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The three of us all gave one another looks.
“Is that not what happened?” I asked. “You said you received Rae’s first.”
“Whaaat?! I-I said no such thing!” Lilly exclaimed.
“Huh?” Sensing this didn’t bode well for me, I said, “Please try to remember. It was a few days after the revolution took place. To celebrate you being released from custody, we went together to a café with sweets.”
“I-I remember that, yes. You bought me strawberry daifuku, didn’t you?”
“I did. It was then you told me that Rae gave you her first. You even asked if I was okay with it.”
“…Oh, ohhhh!” Lilly exclaimed with horror.
“I-Is something the matter?” I asked.
“M-Miss Claire, I am so sorry. It seems there’s been a terrible misunderstanding.”
“…Pardon?” Oh no…
“The first I was referring to was not Rae’s chastity but her first handmade strawberry daifuku.”
“Her…first handmade strawberry daifuku?” I repeated the words in a half daze.
“Ohhhhhh!” Rae exclaimed, as though just remembering something. “That was around the time we rounded up those corrupt nobles, wasn’t it? I’d been wanting to make strawberry daifuku ever since our holiday, so I made some while Miss Claire was out and had Miss Lilly taste-test them for me.”
“I-I’m quite particular about my strawberry daifuku, you see,” Lilly said.
I wanted so very much to crawl into a hole at that moment. “S-so, I misunderstood what Lilly meant?”
“It would appear so,” Rae said.
“I-I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! This is all my fault for not articulating myself well!” Lilly said.
Wait, then I had worn that shameless outfit for nothing? “…Ack.”
“Miss Claire?!” Rae exclaimed.
“Eeek?! Her eyes are rolling back in her head! Rae, quick, use your healing magic!” Lilly shouted. “…W-wait, could this actually be my chance to do something with Rae behind Miss Claire’s back?! Rae, let’s—”
“No chance,” Rae said.
“A-aww… H-how about a farewell kiss, at least?”
“Nope.”
Lilly clicked her tongue. “Prude. Would it kill you to at least toss me a bone?”
“M-Miss Lilly?”
“Ah! N-no, that wasn’t intentional! I didn’t mean to say that!”
The two of them shouted this and that, but I was too far gone to pay any mind. In my daze, I swore to myself that I would always ask for clarification before leaping to conclusions from here on out.
Incidentally, when I told May and Aleah about all this…
“Oh, Mama Claire…”
“You can be a bit silly sometimes, Mother Claire.”
I certainly couldn’t argue with that!