Chapter 126: Lucretia-san’s Soft Tsundere Moment
Lucretia leaped off the bed with a bounce, twirling once in front of me. Her skirt billowed up, revealing her slender, porcelain-white thighs.
“Lecty lent this to me. Does it look good…?”
The slightly oversized uniform was something I was used to seeing on Lecty and Lily. But when Lucretia wore it, there was an indescribable freshness… in any case, it suited her incredibly well.
I reflexively coughed to cover up the creepy “fuhi” laugh that was about to escape, like Lily’s, and knelt on one knee before Lucretia, lowering my head.
“You look very lovely, Princess Lucretia.”
As long as Lucretia was standing before me as Lucretia von Reese, the Seventh Princess of the Kingdom of Reese, I had to show her the respect due to a subject. Even if we were alone, and even if I knew Lucretia didn’t want it.
“Muu… Hugh, you’re so serious at weird times!”
“I can’t help it.”
It was difficult to treat Lucretia, a member of the royalty, with the same casualness as Rouge. Even though I had long since realized that Rouge’s true identity was Lucretia, I had been pretending not to notice (roleplaying) all this time.
That was how I had managed to maintain appearances somehow, but with Lucretia standing right in front of me, that pretense (roleplay) no longer worked.
“Then, by royal decree. When it’s just the two of us, treat me as you always do!”
“Gu… Understood, Your Highness. …Is that okay?”
I sighed as I stood up and asked, and Lucretia nodded with satisfaction. If the Princess ordered it, I had no choice. It was emotionally difficult to act exactly as I always did, but I would do my best.
Lucretia sat back down on my bed, patting the mattress. It seemed she wanted me to sit next to her. Reluctantly, I sat on the bed, leaving a little distance between us, but Lucretia immediately scooted closer.
“Why are you sitting so far away?”
“No, just… because.”
“Muuu.”
Lucretia puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction. I-It can’t be helped, can it? I’m sitting next to the girl I like on my bed in a cramped dormitory room. I’m going to be nervous, normally!
If I told Lucretia that directly, she would probably understand, but that would be like a confession. Confessing that I’m nervous because I like her is too pathetic.
For now, I can’t just keep staring at the ceiling in silence.
“Um… Lucretia-sama?”
“Pui.”
She turned her face away when I called her name. Did she not like the “-sama” suffix…?
“L-Lucretia-san…?”
“Puuu.”
It seems the “-san” suffix is no good either. I can’t help but think that this reaction is cute in its own way, but I don’t want her to dislike me, so I’ll stop here.
“…Is it okay if I just call you Lucretia?”
If His Majesty the King were to find out that the son of a Baronial House was calling a princess by her given name, it wouldn’t be surprising if I was immediately beheaded for such disrespect…
Lucretia turned to me at my question,
“It’s okay to call me by my name, but…”
“But?”
Her cheeks flushed faintly red, and she muttered as if whispering,
“…I want Hugh to call me Tia.”
Tia? That’s Lucretia’s nickname, isn’t it…? I see, this way, it’s less difficult than calling her Lucretia without any honorifics.
“Okay, Tia.”
“Hau.”
Tia covered her mouth with both hands and made a strange noise.
“E-hehe. Hugh called me Tia…!”
She started wriggling her body, looking incredibly happy. Seeing her so delighted just by being called by her nickname, I felt an overwhelming surge of affection.
Desperately suppressing the urge to hug her tightly, I asked Tia a question I had been wondering about for a while.
“So, why did you suddenly return to your original form?”
It was too late to keep pretending to be a man (Rouge) in a situation where it’s just the two of us, but that’s just how it is. She shouldn’t have returned to her original form on a whim without any reason.
When I asked, Tia snapped back to reality with a “ha” and puffed out her cheeks again.
“Hugh Pnosis-san. I am very, very angry! Puu puu puu.”
“Ah, yes.”
What is “puu puu puu”…?
“Do you have any idea why?”
“Um…”
To be honest, it’s not like I don’t have any idea. I can think of at least two or three things. …However, if I guess and get it wrong, I’ll probably receive even more criticism, so I can’t easily say it…
“Sorry, I don’t know.”
“Muu. Hugh’s an idiot.”
Tia turned her face away again. Then, she said quietly,
“…Lily and Lecty are the only ones who are being unfair.”
“Ah, ah…”
I see. Finally, Lucretia’s series of actions… and the attitudes of Lily and Lecty, who came to greet me at the school gate, connected. Tia heard about me kissing those two from them.
I wish she would have just said so, but Idiot was there too. Lily and the others could only give a subtle warning.
If Lecty lent her the uniform, then Lily probably came up with the idea of returning to Lucretia’s form. To make me recognize her as a girl (Lucretia) instead of a boy (Rouge), and reduce my resistance to kissing…
No, no, what’s the point of reducing my resistance?! If I kiss her, my reason (brakes) will break down! If that happens, I might go all the way. There’s a good chance that things will become irreversible.
I have to somehow gloss over it. No, that would be too insincere to Tia. Apologizing and asking for forgiveness is a little different too. Tia isn’t angry about the kiss itself, but she’s angry that she’s the only one who hasn’t been kissed yet.
She doesn’t want to be apologized to, so an apology is meaningless.
That being said, kissing her is… I have a feeling that she would accept it. But, it’s a problem if we go any further than that. We both have our positions, and more than anything, I want to carefully advance my relationship with Tia one step at a time.
So,
“Tia.”
I gently placed my left hand on her right hand and called her name. Tia turned to me, her sapphire eyes slightly moist, reflecting my figure like a mirror.
“Could you close your eyes for a moment?”
“—! U, un…!”
Tia widened her eyes once, then closed them tightly, wrinkling her brow. I think she doesn’t have to strain so much, but that’s also adorable.
I gently stroked her silky, smooth golden hair with my right hand. Then, I gently pressed her slightly protruding lips with the index finger of my left hand,
“Sorry, please forgive me with this for now.”
I gently kissed Tia on the forehead.
I can’t deny it if you say I chickened out, but if I could make just one excuse, it would be,
“Tia is the first person I’ve ever kissed.”
So please, forgive me with this for now. I desperately tried to calm my breathing, which was about to become rough in response to the pounding of my heart.
I was stepping on the reason (brakes) with all my might, suppressing the urge to hug Tia and fall onto the bed.
When I slowly pulled away from Tia, her face was so red that steam seemed to be coming out of her, and her mouth was trembling.
“H-Hugh! I, I, I!”
Tears welled up in her wide sapphire eyes, and Tia,
—Goo.
“…O, I’m hungry.”
Now that she mentions it, I haven’t had dinner yet…