Chapter 1661 – In the Cottage Illuminated by Moonlight ⑦

When we came back from the veranda, I checked my watch and found that it was getting reasonably late. It seems we stayed on the veranda longer than I expected, but as Alice wished…… I’m not really sure if it went exactly as she wished, but I think we made out enough.

Alice looked embarrassed, but she wasn’t as stiff as she was a while ago, and to some extent, she seemed to have gotten used to it…… or she might have given up.

[So, according to Alice’s assumptions, the next is the bath, right?]

[……W- Well, that’s right but…… hmmm. No, I’m not going to say let’s stop because I’m embarrassed even though we’ve gone this far or anything like that…… but I have a lot of bad memories in baths……]

[Ohh……]

Looking at Alice, who looked as if she just bit on a bitter bug, it dawned on me. I’ve had the opportunity to take a bath with Alice several times before, but she frequently ends up experiencing embarrassing incidents.

No, putting aside if these incidents just coincidentally happened or if Alice herself was just self-destructing, in any case, it seems that bath-related troubles had become some sort of minor trauma for Alice, so even if she doesn’t want to, those incidents come to her mind.

[After all, I’ve experienced various humiliations and was brought to tears at the hands of the sadistic Kaito-san. Those incidents just terrify me, and memories of embarrassment keep on flooding back into my mind.]

[Oi, don’t you start fabricating memories here. Almost all of those incidents happened because you were blowing yourself up……]

No, I’m not denying that she had embarrassing experiences in the bath, but the first incident during our first time bathing together was caused by Alice kicking the chair I was sitting on for the bath, and when we had a mixed bath with Kuro and the others, due to getting carried away after disguising herself with Transformation Magic, her magic was forcefully canceled out by Shiro-san’s Blessing.

Of course, I know that those incidents weren’t intentionally instigated by Alice, but if you ask me if that was my fault or not, then that’s a completely different story.

[No, no, Kaito-san might be a Mixed Bathing Meister with numerous experiences with various women, but I’m just an amateur. In such situations, experts should be leading and supporting amateurs properly. And so, Kaito-san was at fault.]

[That’s an extremely outlandish argument…… Rather, who the heck are you calling Mixed Bathing Meister? That’s completely false……]

[Who among your lovers have you not brought to a mixed bath?]

[…………Can’t you at least not call me Meister? Makes it sound like I’m a pervert.]

Is this what being debunked feels like? In any case, I couldn’t refute anything. I mean, I have certainly had a mixed bath with each of my lovers at least once, and heck, I even have had a mixed bath with Life-san, Chronois-san, and Ein-san, who aren’t my lovers, so I really can’t refute her at all.

N- No, I certainly do feel like I have a strange connection with mixed bathing, making me wonder if I have some bathroom curse or something……

[……W- Well, umm, I guess it’s okay for lovers to take baths separately, right?]

[You ask that, but do you really think people take mixed baths with someone before they become lovers?]

[……I- In any case, let’s go to the bathroom…… Ahh, I wonder if they properly have hot water provided?]

[You’re gonna evade the question huh. Good grief…… Eh? Ahh, please wait, Kaito-san. Does the flow of things earlier lead to us heading to the bath immediately? I still need to mentally prepare myself————- Ahh, wait, don’t pull my hand…… I- I may have said something unnecessary……]

For the time being, I couldn’t stand the unbearable feeling anymore, so I forcefully grabbed Alice’s hand and headed towards the bath.

<Afterword>

Makina : [Now, which one will you choose, Serious-senpai? I respect Serious-senpai’s choice!]

Serious-senpai : [No, before I say I practically only have one choice…… that choice you gave doesn’t answer what I asked, isn’t it!?]

Makina : [Why not? It’s a proper answer though?]

Serious-senpai : [Like heck it is! I asked “How I can escape from this sweet development”!!!]

Makina : [Unnn. “No matter what you do, you can’t avoid the sweet development”, so that’s why I presented you with the answer “Just give up and love my beloved child”.]

Serious-senpai : [……Ahh…… That’s…… what you meant……]