Chapter 120: Butterfly Dream

Morning. Warm sunlight slipped through the wooden boards that sealed off the entire window, falling onto the floor, and onto... Natsuki Subaru's bed and the bulge swelling up beneath his blankets.

"Is it... already morning?"

Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes with a touch of weariness, staring blankly straight ahead at the familiar ceiling in a daze.

Last night had truly been a heart-pounding one.

Four gorgeous girls, each with their own contrasting charm, had thrown themselves into his arms—only for him to get caught in the act by Emilia-tan at the crucial moment.

Oh no, he couldn't put it that way. If he overthought it he might let it slip later and ruin everything.

Natsuki Subaru let out a feeble sigh. In any case, last night he really had burned himself out completely!

On one hand, he'd been nervously explaining to Emilia-tan the misunderstanding that had just occurred.

On the other, he'd reached one hand behind his back, and in the spot Emilia couldn't see, let each of the four beauties who had somehow gathered around toy with one of his fingers.

And the rather domineering Priscilla had claimed two fingers all by herself...

Damn it, why did he remember such a pointless detail!

Natsuki Subaru was about to pull an arm out from under the blanket to cover his face and express his helplessness.

But when he tugged, it wouldn't budge.

?

Natsuki Subaru froze instantly.

He twisted his body to one side, trying to exert even more force, but his arm still didn't move an inch inside the blanket.

Holy crap, this blanket has muscles!

The corner of Natsuki Subaru's eye twitched, and at the same time he chanted out loud.

"What manner of demon dares to burrow into my blankets! Come out at once and meet your doom!"

On the surface he was perfectly composed, but inside he was scared to death.

What could be more terrifying than suddenly discovering, first thing in the morning, that there was an extra person inside your tightly locked room?

And the extra thing might not even be a person... it could be an Imitation Human or something else entirely.

Most crucial of all, the place it had appeared was not beside his bed, but inside the most vulnerable spot of all—his blankets!

"Mmm... my husband, you rise this early today as well? For one who would be king, how very diligent of you."

Suddenly, a languid and coolly aloof voice rang out from the spot where the blanket bulged up so high.

She was like a kitten that had just woken from a sweet dream, stretching her waist freely across the bed.

And this action caused the blanket to slip down a little.

It only stopped once it had slid all the way to the fragrant shoulder of the beautiful girl, who sat up with sleepy, half-lidded eyes.

"Priscilla?! How are you here?"

Natsuki Subaru gaped, staring at the scene in shock.

At this moment, Priscilla had her hair let down in a way rarely seen, as though she had dropped all her defenses.

Two locks of lovely hair draped down in front of her, lending her an air of gentle, virtuous softness.

Even Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but be momentarily stunned by how full of contrast she was in this instant.

Just then, the blanket that had already lingered in its precarious position on Priscilla's fragrant shoulder coincidentally slipped down a little more.

This caused the faint, barely-there spring scenery that had been hidden in shadow to suddenly shed all its disguise, displayed without reserve right before Natsuki Subaru's eyes!

"Because this lady wished to see her husband the moment she woke in the morning, so she came. Is there some problem with that?"

As she spoke, Priscilla proudly lifted her fair, tender swan-like neck.

In the posture so familiar to Natsuki Subaru, she declared the reason for her appearance here.

And just as she said—

Priscilla believed from the bottom of her heart that she had been born to be beloved by the world.

Everything in this world should make way for her—that was only natural!

And so, Priscilla instead found Natsuki Subaru a little strange, while in her heart there was also a faint, barely perceptible touch of grievance.

She only wanted to spend a little more time with the one she loved—what was wrong with that?

Thinking this, Priscilla suddenly noticed the way Natsuki Subaru was staring at her in a daze.

So the girl who had just felt a hint of grievance curved her red lips into an alluring arc.

"Hmm? Does my husband enjoy looking at this sort of thing? Or could it be—"

Priscilla leaned down, twisting her waist like a water snake as she crawled forward two steps, her gaze practically dripping as she said,

"—that you prefer the kind of game where things are half-hidden, half-revealed?"

"Hsss... not good, not good!"

Natsuki Subaru instinctively covered his nose, though no nosebleed actually came out.

But due to the power of suggestion he kept feeling a warm sensation there.

As if in the very next second the tiny blood vessels would burst from his spirit being far too overexcited!

"No, it's... last night I watched you with my own eyes enter a certain room."

"Under the normal rules binding this manor, there's no way you could have opened the door and come out in the morning."

"Unless you entered the room last night and then went out again—but in that case..."

Suddenly Natsuki Subaru's voice grew gradually softer, as though he had realized something in his heart.

After all, if she hadn't gone out in the morning, then she must have walked out of the room at night.

And the only existence capable of moving about at night—that was an Imitation Human!

No wonder he'd kept feeling that something was off about Priscilla, and that she kept handing him all this fan service—

"Audacious demon, I saw at a single glance that you're not human!"

Natsuki Subaru roared furiously to draw her attention, while his right hand quietly slipped into his pillow.

He wanted to draw out the thing he'd hidden in there—the Execution Gun that could kill an Imitation Human in a single blow!

"You take this lady for those revolting monsters outside?"

Priscilla puffed out her cheeks in displeasure, looking at Natsuki Subaru with a face full of resentment.

Her eyes darted left and right, swiftly observing everything around her that could be put to use.

And before long, she noticed it—the Holy Sword that Natsuki Subaru had tried so hard to conceal, yet whose magnificence could not be hidden: Excalibur!

So she no longer dwelt on Natsuki Subaru's rude conjecture just now, and instead inched closer to him bit by bit again, while her lips spoke.

"Of course, being doubted like this can't be helped."

"After all, before I entered my room last night I heard you muttering something—'why can Emilia-tan break the rules and go out at night,' and the like."

"It seems Emilia holds no real advantage over me. But none of that matters—"

At this point, Priscilla's tone took a turn.

"Because I will properly 'prove' myself."

As her words fell, Priscilla was already practically face to face with Natsuki Subaru, with nowhere left to advance.

And after gazing into Natsuki Subaru's eyes for a few seconds, before his astonished gaze, she bent down and lowered her noble head.

"Mm... mn..."

Natsuki Subaru shuddered all over at once, struggling with all his might to keep his thoughts clear.

Because what Priscilla had just said reminded him that Emilia really had behaved strangely last night.

The manor's rule was that at night all guests were forced to fall asleep.

Yet Emilia had walked out of her room at that time and come to the first-floor hall—what on earth had it been for? For what reason?!

"Hsss, that's a little painful."

Suddenly Natsuki Subaru sucked in a cold breath, instinctively steadying the obedient head of Priscilla before him.

But his once-smooth train of thought had been cut off.

After this interruption, he couldn't even recall where his thoughts had gotten to.

The warm, balmy sensation transmitted from his body gradually surged into his every limb and bone, making Natsuki Subaru feel as though he were soaking in a hot spring.

Gradually, he could no longer sustain a single thought, unable to help but sink completely into this tender paradise.

____

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