Phil reluctantly began shaking Kahlua’s shoulder to wake her, in order to lead his reason to victory.
“Hey, Kahlua. An amateur actor who’s not used to the stage shouldn’t be hoping for an advanced situation like a morning after situation yet. Wake up, Hayaku.”
“Nn… mmh…”
As her shoulder was shaken, Kahlua slowly opened her eyes.
Then, she began squirming around under the sheets, finally sitting up and separating from Phil.
“…Oh my, you’re awake. That was quick.”
“Yeah, I ended up waking up. Before that, how about we hear the reason why Kahlua-san is here? Just so I can subjectively judge whether I’ve crossed any boundaries.”
“You worked hard last night…”
“Boundaries!? Or is that supposed to be gratitude for last night? Which is it!?”
What a confusing way to put it.
“Yesterday, you came home late, so I wanted to make sure you got back safely…”
Kahlua spoke while rubbing her eyelids.
By the way, Kahlua’s just-woken-up appearance was quite rare for Phil.
After all, he was usually the one who woke up late, and by then Kahlua would already be properly dressed as a maid.
Therefore, her slightly vulnerable sleepy state, the shoulder strap slipping down revealing her moderately curved chest, and the small bedhead in her red hair—all of these factors made Phil’s heart race.
Phil tried not to let it show, forcing himself to maintain composure while his cheek twitched.
“S-so, then?”
“When I came to check on you, Phil was sleeping so peacefully. Your sleeping face was cute.”
“Oh my, how embarrassing.”
“I watched for about an hour.”
“Oh my, that’s really embarrassing!”
Being watched that long was genuinely embarrassing, even though they see each other’s faces every day.
“Then I got kind of sleepy… so I decided to sleep in Phil’s bed.”
“H-hey, try imagining the image of being assaulted, Kahlua-san? Your big brother here is more worried about your lack of crisis awareness than the fact that privacy-kun was casually violated, yeah.”
“It’s fine if it’s Phil…”
“…!?”
At those words, Phil’s heart skipped a beat.
Heat rose to his face, and an indescribable emotion welled up in his chest.
“Don’t complain later when you wake up feeling [embarrassed]…! You’re a grown adult, so you should learn through experience that your words carry responsibility!”
“Will you… make a move on me…?”
“F-for today, courage, energy, and guts have all gone outside to play, so I’ll let you off this time!!!”
Phil reached for Kahlua’s sides and waist, then lifted her up in a princess carry.
For now, he needed to carry the half-asleep Kahlua to her room.
In this situation, if someone saw them, they might get the wrong idea—
“Phil-oniichan, let’s play!”
“Please wake up, Phil-Salemabart. It seems breakfast is ready.”
The… the wrong idea…
“””Ah.”””
The three sets of eyes intersected.
And then—
“A-auu… Phil-oniichan and Kahlua-oneechan are…”
“Oh my, oh my, how lively you are in the morning.”
“It’s a misunderstanding! Let me say it’s a misunderstanding recognized by both self and others!”
“Others aren’t recognizing it though?”
“It’s a misunderstanding I recognize, Lily, don’t blush—the objective composition is getting even worse! This is too pitiful for me when I haven’t even made a move yet!!!”
After this, it took several dozen minutes and a large amount of sweets to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Hehehe… Phil’s princess carry…”
“Argh, geez! Isn’t this partner of mine breaking through the heavens with more neediness than usual!? I can see a future where we’re both embarrassed later!”
Incidentally, it was Phil’s secret that he thought Kahlua’s usual unseen appearance was even cuter than normal.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
“…I want to crawl into a hole and die.”
After finishing breakfast, Kahlua crouched in the corner of the office where Phil was.
Incidentally, Phil was gently patting her head beside her.
“Now, now, don’t be so down about it. According to one theory, gaps are in high demand. To put it bluntly, you were cute.”
“Uuu… this is a lifelong disgrace. My selling points were supposed to be dependable, kind, and gentle.”
“???”
Hmm, he felt like he’d been receiving affection from her all along, Phil thought, tilting his head.
“Well, it was just a bit lacking in sex appeal though. Especially that barren unexplored territory— [stab♪] My eyeeeeeeees!?”
Phil’s vision suddenly went dark.
At the sharp running pain, Phil reflexively covered his eyes while writhing on the floor.
“Is that all you wanted to say? We have a relationship deeper than mountains… don’t hold back, if you still have stock left, spit it out now—I’ll crush it cleanly.”
“Weren’t your selling points supposed to be dependable, kind, and gentle!?”
That hand speed was far from gentle.
“Phew… somehow, because Phil was acting like that, my embarrassment went away. That was Phil’s own consideration telling me to end the innocent time, wasn’t it?”
“O-of course it was…!”
Kahlua returned her previously crimson-dyed cheeks to normal, reverting to her usual expression as she stood up.
Meanwhile, Phil’s tears hadn’t stopped and he was still crouched down.
“Ah, come to think of it, we’re having a guest come soon.”
Kahlua spoke as if remembering.
“What, a guest’s coming? Isn’t not being informed becoming the standard? Is it okay? If the process isn’t clear, I’ll end up eating something weird, won’t I?”
“We’re going to check if it’s weird or not and throw it out.”
“At least you know the dish name, right?”
“Marquis Iglas’s Daughter ~With the [Hero of the Shadow]’s Engagement on the Side~”
“Alriiight, go throw it out right away!”
What a thing to say about someone from a marquis family.
That’s what he’d like to say, but the other party was someone with obvious ulterior motives wanting to get engaged to the [Hero of the Shadow]. Right now, they were the guest Phil least wanted to welcome.
Therefore, if you could say it was unavoidable, it was unavoidable.
“Besides, I still have to go anyway, right? Unless she’s a caretaker who’d be satisfied dealing with Zan, if you make her deal with a cute maid, she’ll get angry while stretching her nose out, right?”
“Oh my, even if it looks like this, I’m from a ducal family, you know?”
“You really do look like it.”
A person from a ducal family working as a maid was unprecedented.
“We’re just sending her back anyway, and even if I go, I won’t let her pick a fight with Count Salemabart’s house. She came without an appointment, and we have no reason to buy a fight even if they lower the selling price.”
“I see.”
Phil nodded repeatedly at Kahlua’s words.
Indeed, putting aside the succession issue, if she came without an appointment, it would be the other party who was rude first.
If told that the person in question was absent, the other party would have no choice but to accept it, and if they had Kahlua—not a servant but a person from a ducal family—deal with them instead of preparing Zan, there would be no reason to complain.
In the first place, Phil wasn’t seeking an engagement with ulterior motives at this point.
Even if he had given up and would accept someone with full-open ulterior motives, it would be for Lily who came first.
No matter how things turned out, he would never accept an engagement with the marquis family’s daughter who came.
“So, what’s the real reason?”
“I want to quickly return the woman making eyes at Phil to her fancy birdcage.”
So it seemed.
“Well then, I’ll be going now. Don’t leave here until I come back so you don’t run into her, okay?”
Saying that, Kahlua turned toward the room’s door, her maid outfit fluttering.
“Call me if it gets dangerous!”
“Fufu, thanks.”
With a final smile, Kahlua disappeared from the room.
In that instant, the room became quiet all at once. Since the liveliness changed so much depending on whether his partner was there or not, Kahlua’s presence seemed to be much larger than he’d thought.
Feeling somewhat lonely, Phil sat in his chair and began looking through some documents he randomly pulled out.
He’d finish work quickly and reward Kahlua—thinking such things.
(Come to think of it, I didn’t used to feel lonely like this in the past.)
Phil suddenly remembered.
Even saying “in the past,” it was really a long time ago. Before Kahlua came… when Phil was just a child.
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