Zoemi suddenly realized that he is lying in bed and hugging something warm and comfortable.
Oh, thank god! It was all just a dream!|
He sighed out in relief and opened his eyes to check what time it was.
"...huh...?"
And what he saw thanks to the pale light emitted by the magic crystal lamp by the bed, was a pair of brown eyes staring at him intensely.
"Uu... Umm... Hi...?"
The black-haired boy was so surprised that he spoke up awkwardly to the brown-haired girl lying motionless in his embrace before he could fully comprehend what was happening.
"Hello, sir Zoemi."
The girl answered in a monotone voice.
O-oh, so she's not just a cute hallucination, huh...|
"Why are we here...?"
He thought to himself and asked the girl after blinking a few ties, still half-execting her to disappear...
"After you got along with mistress Miriette and master Horeo's plan your mana got completely drained, causing you to enter the state of mana depletion and I carried you to your room under my master's order.."
The girl answered and waited, overall looking quite comfortable if not pleased.
Zoemi closed his eyes in defeat.
"Oh... oh no...! So it wasn't a dream?"
The black-haired boy closed his eyes and breathed out.
"Indeed."
The brown-haired girl confirmed.
"The fancy show and people calling me the successor of the Ghosts of Bellcephora also...?
He asked bracing for the bad news...
"Indeed."
"..."
...that came in form of an indifferent single-word confirmation.
"So we missed the inauguration ceremony and the official supper?"
"Indeed."
Another question got a straight-up answer.
Then Zoemi jolted in realization.
"My lady! I must go and check on her!"
He gasped but for some reason, he couldn't let go of the unknown girl...!
"Sir Zoemi, you don't have to worry about a thing. My sister is by the mistress's side right now so she is safe. Besides, it's the middle of the night already - even as her attendant it would be rude to barge into her room."
Ah! She's right!|
After hearing the calm explanation, Zoemi stopped struggling.
"But won't there be any repercussions for missing the ceremonies?"
He asked worriedly.
"Everything will be fine, master Horeo took care of everything already."
The girl assured him.
"Whew... all well that ends well..."
Zoemi calmed down thanks to the girl's words.
Horeo was a prince, what could go wrong?
But... now that I think about it...|
"Who - may I ask - are you exactly?"
Zoemi carefully, blinking repeatedly feeling increasingly embarrassed over his position.
"My name is Teo, I'm seventeen and work as an attendant of the first prince Horeo, and so is my older sister, Veo."
The girl explained in a flat voice as their position clearly did not bother her in the slightest.
"Well then... nice to meet you, miss Teo... What are we doing here...?"
The black-haired boy nodded while constantly glancing to the side awkwardly.
"As I've said, sir Zoemi, after you got along with mistress and master Horeo's..."
"No, no, no. Umm, I'm asking, why are we in the same bed... Together..."
Teo started to repeat the same thing she has already said and Zoemi stopped her.
"After you took a bath and changed into a pajama I put you to bed but then you've said that I'm such a good girl and as such, I should have some rest too - and you've pulled me in your arms."
"...I did...?!
Zoemi felt like he could die from shame at any moment.
"I'm so terribly sorry!"
He bowed his head apologetically.
"I wasn't thinking straight! I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable!"
"I'm the earth mage, if I've felt uncomfortable I could have beat you up at any moment. Also, master Horeo warned me that you might do something weird."
But the brown-haired girl shrugged her shoulders.
"Once again, I'm so sorry!"
"You don't have to worry ...unfortunately... you haven't touched anywhere inappropriate."
That was a good thing because if he did - his master would have most likely abandoned him and he wouldn't be able to help her, so it was a blessing in a cursed situation...!
...Zoemi was so agitated that he missed the single word that Teo muttered under her breath.
"But, don't you feel kind of awkward right now...? Umm...? Huh...?"
The black-haired boy realized that he cannot release Teo from his embrace because she is holding his arms in the soft but absolutely inescapable grip.
She was so strong that Zoemi had no doubts that she could stop him from doing anything, including living...
"Now that you mention, I got a bit sweaty..."
Teo nodded and looked down at her butler's uniform.
"I'd better go..."
She released the black-haired boy and he could finally let go of her.
"...whew..."
Zoemi breathed out in relief.
"Well then, see you soon, miss Teo."
He bid the brown-haired girl farewell, thinking that if she's Horeo's attendant they'll see each other in the morning while preparing meals for their respective masters.
"Alright, thank you."
Teo nodded once more and left the room after the door closed behind her - Zoemi turned off the magic crystal lamp with a click and closed his eyes.
The situation that played out was shocking and unexpected, but he needed to get up early to cater to his master's needs, so he had to get some sleep to be in top shape.
After closing his eyes and relaxing his muscles, Zoemi was already dozing off when his mind registered the sound of the door closing and a click of a magic crystal lamp - but he only fully awoke when he felt someone sneaking inside his bed!
"WHAT IN THE...?!"
Zoemi wide opened his eyes and saw a pair of brown eyes staring back at him basking in the light of the magic crystal lamp.
Teo was laying on the bed right next to him, this time wearing only an oversized white shirt...!
Her body was releasing soft clouds of steam, her brown hair was still slightly wet, and was leaning towards one side of her face showing off her forehead.
"Wh-what...!?"
Zoemi's brain short-circuited and he almost jumped out of his own bed.
"What are you still doing here!? You just left!"
He exclaimed trying to wrap his head around this new situation.
"I went to the bathroom to wash up, I told you I got a bit sweaty."
The girl explained keeping up a straight face.
"But...! But, why didn't you return to your own room and do that there...?"
The black-haired boy gasped in exasperation.
"I didn't expect that helping you would take so long so I didn't take the key to my room... Also, my sister is by mistress Miriette so I would have to spend the night in the hallway otherwise, also you've allowed me to stay."
She explained with a light shrug that made the oversized shirt slide off of one of her shoulders.
"That was a very loose interpretation of 'see you soon!"
Zoemi couldn't help retorting to her.
"Argh! No matter! But what about this get-up...?! Urgh...! You know what? Never mind! You've helped me. You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor!"
Zoemi decided there was no use arguing with the indifferent brown-haired girl.
He instinctively felt that he'll just be swept into Teo's logic anyway.
"...!?"
He was getting out of the bed to lay on the floor when suddenly an iron grip locked on his wrist.
"Sir Zoemi, as a fellow attendant you should know how important a good rest is for us. For your master's sake, you should always be in your top condition. Also, I didn't have any spare clothes with me so I took one of your shirts."
"Thanks for the explanation but... umm.. please let me go...?
Zoemi pulled his hand in an attempt to free himself but it just felt like if his arm got encased by solid rock.
"Denied"
Teo shook her head with no intention of letting him go.
"So you're saying you want us to sleep together...?"
Zoemi wanted to confirm that just in case.
"Indeed."
The response came in the usual emotionless voice.
"Could you at least turn off the light?"
"Can I not do that? I'm a bit afraid of the darkness."
You should be scared of me then, shouldn't you!? Hello?! Darkness magician here!|
Zoemi felt like screaming but he gave up, this girl was like a mountain, a tiny stubborn mountain - his arguments would just bounce off of her.
"Yeah, sure, alright... Goodnight."
Zoemi sighed and closed his eyes.
"You have pretty eyelashes, you know?"
The girl spoke up to him softly.
"Miss Teo...! Good...! Night...!
He responded gritting his teeth, doing his best to stay calm...
"I'm not wearing any underwear right now."
"I SAID, GOODNIGHT!"