“I felt I had no choice but to absorb the energy. Yet, it felt so good that I feared I might cross a line someday.”

I lacked the confidence to like someone. I also doubted my ability to accept someone else’s feelings. Thus, I shuddered continuously, pushing away, rejecting, and spouting nonsense that anyone could see was illogical, but it ended up this way regardless.

“Fortunately, it’s not swollen. If it hurts, I’ll apply some ointment.”

“Noona, your face looks very pale. If you’re tired, sleep more. I’ll hold you!”

“Yes, I will.”

“No, let me!”

Damian and Regulus, as if handling a delicate sculpture with a lukewarm wet cloth, carefully wiped my body. I was half-conscious that I murmured as if enchanted.

“I wish it were all just a dream.”

“Yes, yes. I understand how you feel, but this is reality.”

“But I really thought it was just a dream too. It was when I was talking and made eye contact with Commander Damian that I realized, and it made me so happy…”

Regulus, with flushed cheeks, couldn’t finish his sentence. My face turned red too, and I anxiously fiddled with my hands, looking elsewhere.

Honestly, very honestly, the shock wasn’t so much that I was returning to a human form or that becoming a succubus was caused by my grandmother. It was more shocking that they found out what I was thinking, leaving me unable to think about anything else.

I wanted to run away right then and there. But I couldn’t use magic, so returning to my room through a mirror was impossible, and above all, I had no clothes to wear. Since it was rare for me to take off my clothes in such a mundane way, I expected it, but this made going outside impossible.

Whose were they, Damian’s or Regulus’s? I sighed, glancing at the clothes scattered on the floor, when Damian pinched my cheek as before.

“What are you thinking about so hard?”

“The, the clothes…”

“Clothes? Ah, because you have nothing to wear?”

“I can’t keep being naked.”

Trying to cover myself with a blanket felt embarrassing due to the sticky and stained remnants of the night’s activities. As I struggled to cover myself, Damian went down, picked up the fallen clothes and started dressing.

“Well, I have something you can wear, so don’t worry.”

“There’s something I can wear?”

I tilted my head in confusion, wondering if there was something here I could wear….. Damian, slipping his arms into a shirt with a playful smile, walked towards the wardrobe. Meanwhile, Regulus also got down from the bed and began to dress.

“This, this is what I’m talking about. You know it, right?”

“Ah.”

Soon after, Damian brought over a familiar black dress and apron, freshly laundered and smelling nice. The moment I saw it, my face stiffened, and Regulus was shocked.

“Commander Damian, why is there a maid outfit here? It’s not for Noona, is it?”

“Yes, our Reg doesn’t need to know. I’d like to give you my shirt to wear, but since you said something affectionate would be better, there’s no helping it.”

“Affectionate…”

Clearly, considering Damian’s usual behavior, it was his way of being considerate. With a reluctant expression, I alternated my gaze between him and the dress before finally bowing my head.

“Tha…thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Ah, but what about underwear? Should I give you mine?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

The dress came with a built-in petticoat and additional fabric at the chest area. With the apron, there wasn’t much discomfort, and since the skirt length went down to my calves without any puffiness, it wouldn’t be obvious I wasn’t wearing anything underneath unless deliberately revealed.

The issue was my embarrassment, but it was better than wearing Damian’s underwear.

Turning my back, I slipped into the dress, which surprisingly fit my body well, making me realize anew that Damian wasn’t as large in build as I thought. But when wrapping it around my body, the arms felt firm… No, I should forget that.

My face heated up for no reason. After buttoning up and turning back around, Damian and Regulus were staring at me intently, but I didn’t meet their gaze and instead tied the apron before stepping down from the bed.

“I’ll be going now…”

“Noona, where are you going?”

“Home… No, I mean, back to my room.”

“Leaving like this?”

“There’s no problem. No problem at all.”

“Noona, do you dislike being with me that much…?”

“No, it’s not that I dislike it. But, um… I’ve been leaving the bed alone. It must be waiting for me.”

“Right, the bed might feel lonely. But you, you didn’t like walking around with that face, did you?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. I can cover it up.”

I pulled my hair over my flushed cheeks to hide them. As I kept glancing at the door, looking for an opportunity, Damian blinked in bewilderment before sighing, and Regulus had a gloomy expression.

“Noona…”

“Wait, I’ll take you as far as the front.”

“What? No, that’s not necessary…”

“There are weird guys around.”

“Weird guys… No, there can’t be weird people in the knights.”

“Why not? Most of them would lose their minds and pounce at first sight of you.”

“Including Commander Damian?”

“I’ve already lost my mind, so that’s settled… Ah, fine. I won’t say anything like that, so don’t run away.”

The comment felt embarrassingly out of character. Unable to raise my face, I started to back away when Damian gestured with his hand and approached. However, going back together in this situation was absolutely out of the question.

“I’ll go by myself. Alone.”

“Do you dislike it that much?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Lily Noona.”

“So, that…”

My mind went blank. I didn’t know what to say. After all, everything that could or couldn’t be said was already expressed in the dream. It was then that a sharp voice rang in my head.

“Are you planning to run away again?”

“…”

“If you’re going to pretend you don’t know, pretend it’s not happening, then say it now. Tell them to never bother with you again.”

“It’s not that, it’s not like that…”

“Noona?”

“What’s not it? How long are you going to act so frustratingly? Enough already. Otherwise…”

The petulant voice turned into a low chuckle. As my heart raced and I nervously clenched my fists, suddenly, my lips parted.

“My cuties, of course, I like you!”

“…”

My face instantly heated up at the words that I had blurted out. Calling them cuties, what was I thinking! I was at a loss for how to recover, looking distressed when I saw that the faces of the two in front of me had turned as red as mine, if not redder. I took a deep breath. It felt as though I could hear mischievous laughter in my head.

“Tha, that…”

“If you don’t speak clearly, next time I’ll declare I love you in front of everyone.”

The very thought of love made me feel so embarrassed I thought I might die. I licked my dry lips and shut my eyes tightly, my heart feeling like it would burst.

“Ye, yes.”

“Huh?”

“What I said in the dream, it’s all true. Not a single mistake.”

“Do you hear voices in your head right now?”

“Voices? Sister, are you okay?”

“…Saying it like that makes me sound like I’m the strange one.”

“Why? It’s cute when you’re worried with that face.”

Well, that’s right… No, it’s not! I shook my head and took a deep, calm breath. The narrowed brows, the droopy eyes. Though their appearances were not at all similar, seeing them both having the same expression gave me a different kind of queasy feeling, not in a romantic sense.

I looked up tentatively, then bowed my head again, repeating the motion several times, but Lillith did not rush me. As my palms began to sweat from nervousness and tension, after much hesitation, I finally managed to speak.

“I could say it because I thought it was a dream. Because it wasn’t real. I know that Damian and Regulus like me, I, I know.”

Just saying those few words felt suffocating. I opened and clenched my fists tightly, continuing to speak.

“I might also, possibly, be thinking, that I could, feel the… Anyway, I need time!”

“Wow, after saying all that, you still need time?”

“That’s because until now, I had a bad relationship with one that was like a younger brother to me, and the other, I almost considered an enemy!”

“…You’ve thought of me that way until now?”

“That’s why you should have been nicer, Commander Damian. Better a younger brother than an enemy.”

“Our little puppy, seems like you’re really out to stir things up, saying the rolling stone dislodges the embedded one.”

“How small and fragile must the embedded stone be to be displaced by a rolling one!”

After watching them bicker as if their previous friendly laughter was a lie, I quickly left the room and crossed the office. I needed time to organize my thoughts. I wasn’t sure what exactly needed sorting, but the idea of bumping into someone else in this state made me so flustered I thought I might scream or even jump out a window.

That’s when, as I briskly walked down the corridor and turned a corner.

“Lily?”

“Ah!”

“Oh my, it’s just Odil. Why are you wandering around like that?”

“No, it’s just, that… ”

“…Have you returned to your original form?”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“That’s a relief. After you collapsed and changed yesterday, I was quite worried. Are you feeling alright?”

Odil’s concerned gaze, with his striking blue eyes, carefully scanned me. Just as Damian and Regulus seemed to share the same dream, Odil must have experienced it too, yet he showed no sign of it. Could he not remember, or did the other commanders not dream it at all?

It’s not uncommon to completely forget a dream upon waking up, so I nodded slowly.

“Yes, I’m fine. And about my face, I couldn’t use magic…”

Before I could finish, my gaze dropped slightly. I sighed and continued.

“It was gone, but it’s okay.”

“That’s good to hear. Damian and Regulus didn’t attend today’s meeting, and I was about to check on them… Were you with them?”

“…Yes.”

“Hmm, I see.”

An awkward silence followed. Odil, who seemed headed towards Damian’s room, hesitated before speaking again.

“It’s not that I had a particular business, I was just checking in. If it’s alright, maybe you could come up with me. Like I mentioned before, I’d like to catch up on some work there.”

As Odil casually glanced at the stack of documents he was carrying, he spoke. I could immediately recall the conversation we had not long ago, yet I found myself unable to respond easily. The problem wasn’t the dream at this point, but rather the fact that I wasn’t wearing any underwear.

And just as I was about to carefully decline, I suddenly felt something touch my body, and recognizing the familiar sensation of fabric, I felt a sense of resignation and answered.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go.”

He smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed. It was clear to me that Odil did not remember the dream. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to face me so nonchalantly.

Just that thought alone made me feel more at ease, and I started walking alongside Odil. As we silently climbed the stairs, he said,

“But Lily, about that dream yesterday…”

My foot slipped in an instant.
 

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