A little after midnight—
Wanting to soothe Lieselotte and Chloe's fatigue, if only a little, as they worked away at the draft, Fiona quietly pushed a tea trolley down the corridor and gently slid open the door.
"Excuse me, Lady Lieselotte, Chloe. I've brought some coffee."
As Fiona carefully set down the cups, the steam rising from them seemed to melt into the stillness of the room, and a soft aroma spread through the air.
...Even so, how does my lord husband even have coffee this expensive?
Here in the Reberk Barony, coffee was a luxury so rare it was almost impossible to obtain.
Even royalty could not get their hands on it easily, so Fiona could not stop wondering how Yuri had managed to prepare it.
Could it be Lady Celine brought it with her when she married down into the barony...?
Even as the thought crossed her mind, Fiona felt a flicker of tension.
Was it really all right for Chloe and her to drink something so expensive, something meant for Yuri, the lord of the territory?
If it came out that they had helped themselves to his coffee, would they be scolded later?
Just then, without even lifting her gaze from the documents, Chloe murmured, "Thank you..."
"A thank-you from Chloe? That's really rare! You must be exhausted. Come on, let's take a little break. Lady Lieselotte, why don't you rest for a bit as well?"
When Fiona spoke up as casually as she could, Lieselotte turned her vacant eyes toward her with a stiff, almost reflexive motion.
She looked like an automaton that had been overworked to its very limit.
"...What are you saying, Fiona... If it's a break you mean, then there's been more than enough of that... in the next room..."
"No, no, no, that definitely does not count as your break!"
At Fiona's instinctive retort, Chloe, without losing her exhausted expression, lightly pressed at her temple and let out a sigh.
"You were listening to it too just a moment ago, weren't you? Being forced to sit here and hear moans that loud, one after another... It's agony! I can't concentrate at all!"
Taken aback by the force of it, Fiona blinked and looked quietly at Chloe.
"My lord husband is absurdly insatiable!
Even goblins would go pale."
Chloe lifted both hands in front of her, wiggling her fingers as she vented her frustration as though it were exploding out of her.
Just as Chloe was fuming, the sliding door to the Chamber of Dream Blossoms, which had gone quiet for a time, opened softly, and Ophelia and Lily returned with graceful steps.
A faint flush from the bath lingered on both their cheeks, and their skin seemed to shimmer as though steam still clung to it.
They looked somehow fulfilled, and not the slightest trace remained of the weariness they had shown before.
"We have returned."
When Ophelia greeted them in a soft, languid voice, Lily too lowered her head with a gentle smile.
At that graceful little gesture, Chloe sighed again, yet there was something like envy in the way she looked at the two of them, so thoroughly satisfied.
Lily somehow seems so much more grown-up!
Fiona, too, found herself staring at Lily's expression, an indescribable feeling rising in her chest.
It felt as though she had somehow been left behind, and mixed into that feeling was just a touch of envy.
"Even so, Ria... you were certainly enthusiastic.
You were even more vocal than Mother."
Fixing Ophelia with a half-lidded stare, Lieselotte let out a pointed sigh.
"Th-that could hardly be helped...
It was my first time experiencing anything like that."
As she said it, Ophelia shyly brushed back her hair, keeping her gaze turned away as she murmured under her breath,
"No one told me it would be that large...
or that grotesque..."
Her skin, fresh from the bath, held a delicate flush, and the nape of her neck gleamed with a sensual sheen that made it feel as though she had crossed the line from girl to woman.
Watching her, Fiona felt her heart skip.
Her eyes were drawn to Ophelia's softly flushed cheeks and the supple gleam at her nape, and before she knew it, Fiona herself felt a strange quickening in her chest.
Perhaps she had heard Ophelia's whisper, because Lily all but gave a little poof, as if smoke had burst from her, her cheeks turning peach-pink.
"Yes... it was like some enormous serpent-beast
was towering up right in front of me, and it startled me..."
Pinching the hem of her skirt between her fingertips, she lowered her gaze and let out a tiny, embarrassed sigh.
"Could it be... that both of you offered your flowers to my lord husband?"
Her cheeks lightly pink, Lieselotte asked the question of Ophelia and Lily with visible hesitation.
There was no way Fiona could help being drawn in as well when Lieselotte looked at them so steadily, without averting her gaze.
They say the first time hurts... I wonder what it was really like.
Feeling her heart beating faster and faster, Fiona discreetly pricked up her ears.
The subject of a first time made something inside her chest tremble, and she could not help feeling a little as though she alone had been left behind in ignorance.
Ophelia looked away for a moment, her cheeks faintly flushed, yet there was a quiet pride in the way she pressed her lips together.
"...Yes, I offered my flower to my lord husband.
It certainly did hurt,
but even more than that... I was overwhelmed by this feeling of being filled,
and it was all rather strange."
After saying that, she shyly ran her fingers through her hair and glanced softly toward Lieselotte.
A quiet sensuality had crept into that embarrassed smile, and Fiona caught her breath.
Beside her, Lily too fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, gripping it tightly as she began to speak in a small voice, her cheeks still pink.
"I-I did hurt a little too...
but my lord husband was gentle with me, so I was all right.
My whole body felt all floaty somehow...
like I was filled to the brim with happiness..."
Her words faded to almost nothing by the end, but a faint afterglow of happiness still lingered on her face.
Seeing the two of them like that, Fiona could not help staring.
"Liese is in the same position as I am.
Rather than saying you'll wait until after you graduate from the Noble Academy,
why not offer your flower as well?"
Ophelia kept her face turned aside, but sent darting glances toward Lieselotte all the same.
Lieselotte, cheeks reddening, avoided her gaze and protested with clear uncertainty.
"Th-that is...
I still need time to prepare myself mentally.
...Besides, it would be a disaster if I became pregnant, wouldn't it?"
At that, a faintly dissatisfied look crossed Ophelia's face.
"If you keep running away, you may lose something precious."
At Ophelia's words, Lieselotte lowered her gaze, just a little uneasy.
L-Lady Ophelia... is severe...
That was what Fiona thought as she watched their exchange, a little overwhelmed, yet unable to look away.
Just then, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, Lily touched her chin with one finger and tilted her head adorably.
"Come to think of it..."
Lily parted her lips a little and continued hesitantly.
"Um, my lord husband... said that, with his Merchant Gift, he's been taking... medicine so that children won't be conceived..."
Hearing that, Fiona tilted her head in inward confusion.
Huh? Aren't they trying their hardest to make children?
Maybe it's because they wouldn't be able to work if their bellies got big...
Mother had such a hard time with my little brother too...
At Lily's words, Lieselotte's eyes widened for an instant in surprise, and she cried out in alarm.
"Wouldn't that go against Church doctrine?"
"Lady Celine said it wasn't a problem, since it isn't killing a baby, only the seed.
...Do you use seed to grow flowers, then?"
With her head tilted slightly, Lily repeated Celine's explanation just as she had heard it.
There was something so innocent about her that Fiona could not help but find it endearing.
"I think that's... a different kind of seed.
Even after taking a step into adulthood, you're still Lily."
Chloe watched Lily with an affectionate look, amused that she still had not quite understood.
"My lord husband's Merchant Gift...
really can do just about anything, can't it?"
Lieselotte murmured the words in exasperation, and Lily, too, could not help smiling a little.
"So then... are my lord husband, Mother, and Aina still not back yet?"