It was the seventh day of the Tree month, one day after my date with Shiro-san.
For some reason though, Shiro-san said "I don't care what number I am too" just as we were about to part ways, and although her statement bothers me, I'm sure that Shiro-san enjoyed our date.
And thus, with events happening in rapid succession, tomorrow, I'll be heading to the royal palace with Lilia-san.
It seems to be about giving me an apology for the fact that my invitation wasn't sent by mistake.
I don't really mind at all, but it seems that there are various things to consider when it comes to the country's prestige and all sorts of stuff, so they're going to make an apology in a public area.
[Miyama-san, you're really getting caught up in various things huh.]
[...Seriously.]
Unexpectedly running into her in the corridor, Kusunoki-san, who was walking with me, told me with a sigh, while I just replied with a wry smile on my face.
[Kusunoki-san, are you going to the magic school today?]
[Yes, I've learned various new stuff, so I'm having fun studying.]
[I see... Well, I'm sure Kusunoki-san will be fine if you just pull yourself together, but you should still be careful, okay?]
[Yes. Thank you.]
When we were close to the foyer, I exchanged a few light words with Kusunoki-san before seeing her off. I then headed to Lilia-san's room, thinking I'd ask her about tomorrow.
Coming inside Lilia-san's room, she wasn't there, and when I asked one of the servants about it, she said she was headed to the warehouse.
It's not that what I'm going to talk about is that urgent, but since it's okay for me to go there, I decided to head there. I was also a bit curious about the warehouse.
The warehouse is located just outside of the mansion, and I guess it's to be expected from a duchy, as the room is very large and spacious inside.
I knocked once, just to be sure... but even when I knocked on the warehouse's thick door, there was no answer, so I just opened the door and went inside.
The brightly lit interior is filled with tall shelves lined up so that it would be properly shined upon by the Illumination Magic Tools, and they were quite a sight to behold.
Equipment like swords and armors, something that looks like a carriage's wheel, I found all sorts of magic tools and other stuff around as I curiously moved my gaze around while looking for Lilia-san.
No matter how large it was, it was small compared to the mansion, and I was able to easily find Lilia-san.
Lilia-san was facing a shelf and moving her hands about, seemingly looking for something rather than organizing it.
[Lilia-san, good morning.]
[Kaito-san? Good morning. Do you need something?]
[Ah, no, I just thought I'd ask you about tomorrow's schedule... Are you looking for something?]
[Yes, I'm just looking for a letter from Elder Brother...]
[A letter?]
When Lilia-san sees me, she returns my greeting with a gentle smile.
And when I tilted my head when she said she was looking for a letter, Lilia-san somehow has an amazed expression on her face when she spoke.
[I'm still getting more than 20 letters a month from Elder Brother... And all of them were just meaningless letters, but even though they're only filled with his stupidity, they're still the King's letters... So I've been telling the servants to throw them in the storeroom.]
[I- I see.]
[So, I was wondering if there might be something written about this situation, so I thought I'd check it out for tomorrow... but I wonder where they are? They're completely unnecessary items, so it's supposed to be sitting around here with the items we're planning to discard but...]
I've already thought of it for a while now, but Lilia-san really has no mercy for her own brother. She even said it was completely unnecessary, and by the way she just said it, it's as if she hasn't even looked through his letters.
Well, how should I say this… I can clearly sense that she's really troubled by her brother's behavior until now.
It's true that many of the items on the shelves around here look like bulky trash, and they don't seem to be very organized.
And out of the corner of my eye, Lilia-san prepares a high foothold and reaches out to take the box that is placed high up on a shelf but….. It seems like she can't reach it.
[Lilia-san, would you like me to take it?]
[Eh? Ah, you're right... I'm sorry, may I ask you to do that?]
[Yes.]
I'm taller than Lilia-san, so I suggested that because I thought I should be able to reach it. Lilia-san then asks for my help with a slightly apologetic look on her face.
[...Unnn? Arehh?]
[Is there a problem?]
[No, I think it's stuck on something... If I put some strength, I should be able to...]
I guess things are pretty squeezed in over there, as when I pulled the box that Lilia-san was aiming for, it only moved for a bit.
But when I pulled with some force, I was able to move it a little bit, so holding the box with both hands, I tried pulling it again.
It's a little hard to use my strength to pull something because I'm standing on a high foothold but... If I just pull a bit more... wait, doesn't it look like the stuff placed beside it were also pulled along with the box... Isn't this bad?
The moment I think about that and try loosening the strength of my grip, the box slipped out so quickly that I was wondering how come I was struggling to pull it a few minutes ago, but I, who had managed to pull the box away from the shelf, was just standing on tiptoes before and ended up greatly losing my balance.
[Uwaaahhh!? Gehh, this box is heavy!?]
[Kaito-san!?]
I still somehow managed to regain my posture, but the box I pulled out was much heavier than I had imagined, and my wobbly legs slipped off the foothold.
The sight of the panicking Lilia-san rushing up to catch me as I fell seemed like a slow motion, and with a loud crash, I fell.
[Ouch... Kaito-san!? Are you alright?]
[...Ah, yes, I'm alr...]
[ [!?] ]
I must have fallen from a fairly high spot, but thanks to Lilia-san catching me, my body isn't in pain, and just as I was trying to reply to Lilia-san, who was calling out to me with concern... I stiffened.
Catching me was just a spur of the moment, and it seems Lilia-san couldn't catch me and also fell over... We ended up in a position where I was covering Lilia-san, who was lying on her back, with me on top of her, and Lilia-san's face was surprisingly close to mine.
[...….]
[...….]
Beautiful golden hair with a hint of elegance, blue eyes as beautiful as sapphires... The blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty in front of my eyes is the very same Lilia-san.
[...U- U- U- Ummm!? K- K- K- Kaito-san!?]
[!? I- I'm sorry. I'll immediately mo—– Ehh?]
As I was unconsciously gazing at Lilia-san's beautiful face, I came to my senses when she spoke to me, her face turning red, and so, I tried to quickly move away from being on top of Lilia-san... but for some reason, my body won't move.
I had a bad feeling about it, so when I moved my head and turned around... There were several items that must have fallen off the shelves and they were now stacked on top of each other, and underneath that pile of items were my feet.
[...Lilia-san... Errr... I can't move.]
[Eeeehhhh!?]
[It's just that there were things that fell on my feet...]
[Eh? ...I- Indeed... Or rather, even my feet are also...]
Fortunately, there seemed to be some gaps in between and my feet weren't crushed beneath those stacks of items, but there seemed to be something heavy weighing above my knees, and not only could I not move my body at all, even when I tried pulling my legs out, but they also seem to be stuck on something and I couldn't pull them out.
It seems that is also the case for Lilia-san, as she now has a pale expression on her face.
[...Lilia-san, ummm, it's so heavy I can't move my legs even if I put all my strength into it... What is that?]
[It's a large bathtub-shaped magic tool. It's quite old, so I thought of disposing it...]
[Why do you keep such a heavy thing so high up above a shelf...]
[Almost all of them were just randomly put away... After this, I'll sternly tell them off about this.]
I see, I'm not good at Body Strengthening Magic, so I haven't thought of it that way, but for people who can use Body Strengthening Magic well, that means it's easy for them to lift something this heavy... Wait, if that's the case!
[Then, Lilia-san, can't you lift it up with your feet?]
[...It's possible but... in this position, I might end up kicking Kaito-san's leg... and injure you.]
[I don't really mind.]
[Well, I do mind! That's no good! I can't do that!]
In our position, my legs are crossed over Lilia-san's legs, and it's true that if Lilia-san were to use her strength in this situation, she might hurt me but... I suggested that it's fine for me since we can get out of here, but Lilia-san vigorously shook her head.
Well, considering the gentle Lilia-san's character, she won't use any means that might hurt me... but then, what should we do?
[...Ummm, Lilia-san. That fall just now should have made quite a loud sound, right?]
[...This warehouse is under a powerful Barrier Magic, so no sound can leak out.]
[...Errr, what should we do then?]
[...After an hour pass, Luna will probably look for us... so we'll just have to wait for that.]
[An hour!?]
Staying in this position for an hour!? T- That's bad.
Because currently, I'm lifting my upper body with my arms so that I don't have to weigh on top of Lilia-san, and to put it simply, it's like being in a position where I'm about to start doing pushups.
No, I might be a harsher position instead since I can't fully move everything down my knees... And for me to be in this state for an hour!? Rather than it being difficult, that's definitely impossible!
To be frank, I'm one of the people with the lowest muscle strength in my generation, and even now, my two arms are already trembling.
To endure being in this situation for an hour, that's definitely reaching the limits of being a self-challenge... After this, I may not be able to lift my arm tomorrow.
[...Kaito-san. Please relax yourself.]
[...Eh?]
[That position must be quite painful, isn't it? Please, just lean on me.]
[E- Errr, but...]
Seeing me looking like I'm in pain, Lilia-san suggests that I relax my arms and lean on her.
[It's okay. Even if I've already quit the Knight Order, I'm still pretty sturdy, so carrying a person of Kaito-san's weight feels nothing to me.]
[No, but that would be too close...]
[Please don't say it! I'm trying not to think about it, you know!?]
[I- I'm sorry.]
Reacting to my words, Lilia-san shouted while her face turned bright red.
T- That reaction of her makes me strangely aware of it, or rather, it's making me very nervous.
[...Errr, ummm... Is it alright?]
[...Yes.]
Even though I could only resent my uselessness, my arms were pretty close to their limits, so I reaffirmed with Lilia-san, to which she gave me a small nod while hiding her face.
Slowly, I relaxed my hands and brought them over Lilia-san.
Feeling the soft bulges touching my chest, my heart greatly jumped, and at the same time, I smelled her gentle and reassuring scent.
Laying on Lilia-san's delicate body, it feels as if our bodies were perfectly glued against each other, our arms, chest... and feeling Lilia-san's body heat all over my body, I felt my face immediately turn boiling red.
Lilia-san seemed to be embarrassed to, as she turned her face away from me... turning her bright red ears towards me.
Dear Mom, Dad—— I was going to an appointment with Lilia-san tomorrow, but after a series of unfortunate accidents—— A really outrageous even occurred.
**********
{Author's Notes}
It's like that event in romcoms that happen in the gym warehouse.
I was actually planning to have the royal palace visit in the next episode, but it got longer than I expected, so I guess there are two chapters before that happens.
Lilia is just too attractive, so I don't have a choice.
She's not part of the no guard gang, but a character who's very shy about things.