CH 27

After exiting Count Alpharetta’s room, we then met Felix’s mother and two brothers, who had returned from an outing. The mother, a woman with radiant blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes, looked incredibly youthful, which was hard to imagine given that she had three children.

Similar to their mother, Felix’s two older brothers were also tall, slender, and handsome men with light brown hair and greyish blue eyes. Looking at them from this angle, Felix’s eyes and personality were inherited from his father, but his facial features appeared to have been inherited from his mother. When his mother saw Felix’s face, she began to cry.

Well, that’s right. The mother was probably the most heartbroken by the situation of the rift between her own child and her husband. While everyone was pacifying the weeping mother, the sun had already set.

Then, Countess Alpharetta, Felix’s mother who had swollen eyes and tears in her eyes said, “Excuse me for my transgression. Takumi, thank you for bringing our stubborn and obstinate son home for once. It’s getting late, so if you don’t mind, you can stay at our house tonight.” 

Thus, with her insistence, Felix and I ended up staying at the Count’s house for the night. After that, Felix sent a messenger from the count’s house to the Black-winged Knights and obtained permission for the two of us to stay out overnight, which brought us to the present.

After being treated to dinner and even being lent a bath, I sat idly on my bed, thinking about the events of the day.

“Takumi, may I come in?”

A voice suddenly called out as I was daydreaming, and I sprang to my feet. I jumped out of bed, quickly straightened my hair and put on some clothes before answering Felix’s request to come inside with a loud “Sure.”

A short time later, the door slowly opened. There was Felix, who seemed to have already finished his bath as well. He was wearing a comfortable, light-colored shirt and loose-fitting pants of the same color. This was the first time I’d ever seen him dressed so casually, although he had always been very well-groomed.

“Oh, did you just get out of the bath, Takumi?”

“No? It’s been a while since I got out.”

“…. It looks like your hair is still quite wet.” 

“Oh, I just didn’t feel like wiping it off, so I let it sit for a while.”

By the way, the bathtub in the Count’s house was a claw-footed bathtub! Unexpectedly, I got carried away by the cat-leg bathtub and took an unintentionally long soak, which led me to sit idly on the bed until a few minutes ago.

Felix, who may or may not have known this, wrinkled his brow, said, “Don’t do that, you’ll catch a cold,” and tugged my hand away, forcing me to sit down on the bed without further explanation. After that, he returned from the bathroom with a new towel and sat down next to me.

“Please, take care of yourself more.” 

After saying this, he placed a towel over my head and began to gently wipe my hair. His graceful fingertips were slowly caressing and wiping away the moisture in my hair.

W-Wait, this… is a little embarrassing. But it feels so good.

Heat naturally gathered on my cheeks. Though I wanted to say, “I’ll do it myself,” Felix’s fingers were so meticulous that I that I find myself hesitating to interrupt him. For a moment, neither of us spoke as Felix kept silently wiping my hair with his hands together.

“Takumi, thank you very much,” Felix spoke, breaking the silence. He removed the towel from my hair and put it on the side of the bed, then stared at me with beady eyes. 

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. I’m sorry you had to go out of your way to wipe me down.”

“No, it’s not that… Today, if Takumi hadn’t pushed me to go back. Or if he hadn’t told me that it was okay to go back to this household and to my father… It’s possible that I could have been completely wrong about my dad right up until the end. I had no idea he felt that way about me. Felix mumbled; his eyes downcast. The movement of his long eyelashes revealed a slight sway in his eyes.

“…Felix…”

“For Takumi’s kindness… I would like to thank you for meeting me. Without you, I would not have had the joy of this day. Thank so much, Takumi.” 

Two amethyst crystal eyes looked straight at me. I couldn’t help but notice the fire that burned in his eyes.

I mean, before I knew it, Felix’s hand was around my waist! Seriously, when did this happen? Felix is really smart, even in his actions!

“Felix… I still haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to respond to either Gazelle’s or Felix’s feelings.”

“Yes, I know. We are not even lovers… It’s just that I have one-sided feelings for you.” 

I feel so guilty when you say that!

“I know that in my head, but I still can’t stop the love that wells up in my heart tonight.”

“That’s…”

“Just once. Please allow me to kiss you just this once, right now.” 

K-Kiss…! I wonder if it’s okay if it’s just a kiss. I did brush my teeth properly earlier…

Unsure of what to do, I glanced at Felix’s face once more. Felix continued to shed his feverish gaze and lovingly caressed my cheeks with his palms.

Really, Felix’s face is too beautiful.

His artistic appearance seemed to charm people regardless of their gender, whether they are of the same or opposite sex. However, his attractiveness was more than skin deep. What really made Felix stand out was not just his outward good looks, but his upright and immaculate inner disposition that shone from within him. 

Who could refuse Felix when he stares at you pleadingly?

In addition, I owe Felix a debt of gratitude for going out of his way to show me around town today, even though I caused him a great deal of trouble by disappearing for a while during our excursion. Furthermore, it was clear that Felix was troubled by concerns for his family, most notably his father’s health. Both his mind and body had probably reached their limits.

If he can be cheered up by a kiss from me… then I guess it’s okay.

“Just once.” 

Right as I was about to finish saying this, Felix came toward me and pulled his face toward me with great force. His arm around my waist slid quickly in, and we were soon pressed up against each other, with no room to breathe. In the next instant, Felix’s lips were on mine.

“Mmmnh…”

My shoulders jumped as his tongue entered my mouth through my thinly opened lips. Felix saw this and smiled, which was conveyed through our combined lips. Felix’s tongue tangled around mine, this time crawling around my mouth in a coquettish manner as if he was savoring my mouth.

A warm, pleasant sensation spread from the back of my throat as the tip of his tongue traced the rows of my teeth and teased my palate. There was no time for me to adjust to the rapid succession of touches, and I let out a breathy gasp in the pauses between our kisses. 

“Mmmmnhh, ahh.”

Before long, the room was filled with the sound of the squelching, obscene sound of water. In the beginning, I had grabbed Felix’s clothes and lightly slapped him on the chest to get him to stop, but gradually I could no longer afford to do so. When our lips finally parted, I languidly rested my body against Felix’s.

“I’m sorry, Takumi. I went a little too far.”

Despite his apologetic words, Felix, with a contented smile on his face, tenderly patted me on the head. A heavy breath on his shoulder prevented me from answering his words. 

Erm, Felix-san? You know, I was sure you said it was only a one-time thing, but you never told me that you were going to stick your tongue in me?

“…That was a pretty long—kiss…”

“Fufu… I’m sorry. But why worry about time when you are kissing the one you love?”

He flashed me a grin, and the mischievous light in his purple crystal eyes made my cheeks flush uncontrollably. Hiding my ruddy cheeks, I finally raised myself up, only to have Felix release my hand with a regretful look on his face. 

“Takumi, thank you very much for today. Let’s go out to the city together again next time.”

“Un…”

“Well, good night. Sweet dreams.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” 

At the end, Felix finished by touching my cheek with his fingertips. Every time Felix touched me, I felt like I was made of glass because of how tenderly and thoughtfully he did it. In spite of this, I didn’t mind when Felix touched me. On the contrary, his kindness made me feel like he really cared about me.

Hmm, wait a minute… This is pretty bad for my heart!

I sat on the bed again in the room where Felix had left and sighed heavily.

“Huh… I can’t help it. I really wanted to end by only making potions, but… if this is how it goes, I’ll have to make ‘that thing’ as well. Count Alpharetta looks considerably pale and in poor physical condition. In addition, he could barely get out of bed. Originally, I had no intention of making ‘that thing’… Still, I couldn’t stand by and watch things unfold like this, could I?” 

In the silence, I nodded my head and hardened my resolve.

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Translator’s Notes

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