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Helga immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere.

“Count? Are you… drunk?”

“I’m not drunk. Mere alcohol can’t make me drunk.”

“Huh? No way, that’s a lie!”

“Don’t speak carelessly.”

Tristan roughly covered her mouth.

Helga was quite flustered by his unusually wild demeanor.

But she quickly regained her composure.

Stay calm. The Count is just drunk right now. Besides, in terms of pure strength, I’m stronger.

If I just get up now…

“…!”

“Don’t struggle and stay still.”

Something strange was happening.

Tristan was just pressing Helga’s mouth with one hand, but she couldn’t get up.

‘Why can’t I move my body…?’

Is it because of the alcohol? The effects of the drink?

No… That’s part of it, but I’m overwhelmed by the ‘wrath’ I feel in his eyes.

Only then did Helga realize she had poked a sleeping lion.

“Hmm…?”

At that moment, Tristan’s expression twisted as if he smelled something. His gaze was directed at her feet, which he was holding.

No way…

“Eek?! Eek?! Pfft! W-wait! Stop!”

“…What is it?”

“O-oh! It’s because of the rain today!”

“What about the rain?”

“Well… I got a bit wet from the rain… and the stockings I’m wearing now, I’ve been wearing them for two days…”

“So you’re saying it smells?”

Helga tightly closed her eyes and nodded.

She was too embarrassed to look at his face.

This was the worst.

She hadn’t washed because she had been wandering around pubs like a drunk for two days. And to make matters worse, she got caught in the rain, so the smell was inevitable.

“So… could you let me go now?!”

A shiver ran down her spine as she felt a sensation at the tip of her foot.

“…You’re right.”

“?!?!?”

Tristan’s brow furrowed.

Wait… did the Count just smell my… feet?!

“D-don’t smell it! You shouldn’t smell it!”

“Don’t give me orders.”

Helga, who was about to recoil in shock, froze again.

Tristan was looking down at her with a very displeased expression.

Seeing his gaze mixed with a bit of ‘wrath,’ her body wouldn’t move.

“You always boasted about your pretty legs…”

“Hup…!”

Tristan’s fingers trailed down from her ankle to her calf and then her thigh. At that chilling touch, Helga’s body trembled as if she had been electrocuted.

“Shamelessly hiding this smell from your feet.”

“Stop! Don’t say any more! Ugh…!”

“I told you not to give me orders.”

Tristan looked down at her with a ‘proud’ smile. Like a boy who had found an interesting toy.

‘What what what?! Why are you suddenly acting like this…?’

This was a side of Tristan she had never seen before.

His cold tone was the same as usual, but his somewhat high-handed and playful attitude left Helga quite flustered.

“Not only that, but you dared to try to step on me with these feet…”

“Ugh… I’m sorry! Count. Please forgive me…”

“No. Someone as arrogant as you needs ‘education.'”

“Nyaha?!”

Without a chance to resist, her stockings were removed by his hand.

‘Weird weird weird!!!’

She had often taken off her stockings in front of Tristan to seduce him. But now, having her stockings forcibly removed by him, she felt a new sensation awakening.

“N-no… not this…”

“Didn’t you start it?”

Tristan used the stockings to restrain Helga’s hands on the bed.

There was no way to resist him anymore.

“Then please… be gentle…”

Helga, now defenseless, begged while pulling her exposed legs together.

But Tristan chuckled as if ignoring her plea.

“Being gentle isn’t education.”

“Count…”

“You said when we got in the wagon. If I did something unnecessary, you’d become my slave instead of my bodyguard.”

Tristan stroked Helga’s chin and spoke in a cold voice.

“You are my slave. From now on, call me Master, not Count.”

“……”

“Answer me. Helga.”

“Yes… Master…”

“Show me proof of your obedience.”

Tristan held out his hand in front of Helga.

Understanding what he meant, Helga silently kissed the tip of his finger.

But Tristan clicked his tongue.

“If this is all the obedience you can show, I’m disappointed. Maybe it would be better to have Rian do it.”

“Huh…?!”

“Open your mouth.”

At his commanding tone, Helga obediently opened her mouth. At that moment, his index finger pushed into her mouth.

“…Eek?!”

“Lick it.”

“!”

Helga looked up at Tristan.

He wasn’t joking at all. He wanted her complete submission.

What Helga had to do was already decided.

“Aah…”

She slowly began to taste his finger with her tongue. Like licking a melting ice cream, she carefully licked between the joints of his finger.

It might have been a meaningless act, but the more she did it, the more Helga felt herself submitting to him.

“Ugh… ah…”

Every time her tongue and his finger mixed with saliva in her mouth, Helga felt a strange joy. She realized she was sincerely sucking, biting, and licking his finger.

Tristan smiled, satisfied with her actions.

“That’s right. Submit thoroughly.”

“Yes, yes…”

How long had she been licking his finger?

Finally, Tristan pulled his finger out of her mouth and untied the stockings that bound her hands.

A signal that his ‘education’ was over.

“Master…”

Helga, feeling a bit disappointed, immediately knelt and bowed her head before Tristan. Completely trained, she now only had thoughts of submission.

“Please ‘educate’ me more…”

“……”

Despite Helga’s plea, Tristan said nothing. He just stared at her back with a piercing gaze.

Meanwhile, Helga was secretly looking forward to it.

What kind of ‘education’ he would give her next.

And how she would be handled at his will.

Eventually, Tristan’s tightly closed mouth opened.

“Take it off.”

“Yes…”

Helga didn’t hesitate to remove her top.

What kind of command would he give?

Helga was prepared to accept any embarrassing command.

But what came from Tristan wasn’t a command but a low scolding.

“You foolish thing…”

“…Huh? Kyaha?!”

Tristan grabbed Helga’s shoulder, now in her underwear, and pointed at her pure white back.

“Is this a wound from Patrick?”

“…!”

She had forgotten.

Helga checked the shirt she had been wearing just moments ago. The shirt stained with dried blood. She could imagine what her back must look like.

“Well… I treated it, but I couldn’t reach my back…”

She hadn’t been able to hide it. The wound from when she had taken Patrick’s magic head-on at the restaurant.

Seeing this, Tristan spoke in a cold voice.

“You drank and got caught in the rain with an unhealed wound.”

“……”

“Foolish thing.”

“I’m sorry. I must have looked hideous…”

Helga could only bow her head deeply.

She was overwhelmed with guilt and self-loathing for disappointing him again.

‘Ah… it’s all over…’

After coming this far, I ended up angering him. As he said, I’m really foolish.

With this, I don’t even deserve to be a slave, let alone a bodyguard.

As Helga, feeling gloomy, was about to put her shirt back on…

“…!”

“I’ve had dreams.”

Tristan hugged her gently from behind and spoke.

“Dreams where you died countless times for me.”

“Me…?”

“Yes. You got cursed in my place, died falling into traps trying to save me… Sometimes you died shielding me from arrows in the rain.”

His hand rested on her wounded back.

“And sometimes… even small wounds like this would lead to your death.”

Tristan’s voice was calm, like reading a book. But there was a deep sadness in his voice.

“In my dreams, I kept losing you. No matter what I did, you wouldn’t come back.”

“……”

Helga couldn’t say anything.

Tristan spoke as if he had truly lost Helga before… or as if he had seen the future.

But more than anything, the reason she couldn’t speak was…

“Is it strange for me to worry about you like this?”

She had never heard such passionate feelings from him before.

Helga opened her mouth, feeling choked up.

“N-no… it’s not strange. I just didn’t know that you… the Count… thought of me so dearly…”

“I won’t hand you over to death or anything like that.”

Tristan held Helga tightly.

As if he would never let her go.

“No one else can worry about you. Only I can.”

“Yes…”

“You are entirely mine.”

“Yes… Ugh…!”

Suddenly, a hot sensation on her nape made Helga let out an involuntary moan.

Tristan whispered in her ear.

“This is a mark that you are mine.”

Even without a mirror, she knew.

There was a kiss mark from Tristan on her nape now. And it was much deeper than the one she had secretly left on his nape before.

She was happy.

Even if he did it in a drunken state, she wanted to believe it was a drunken truth.

Even if he wouldn’t remember tonight, she wanted to remember this night forever.

Helga gently held Tristan’s hand.

“I’ve always been yours… Brother. No… Master… So please leave more proof that I am yours…”

And she kissed his hand as she spoke.

“Could you leave a few more marks on me…?”

*

When I woke up in the morning, my head was pounding.

I almost cursed out loud from the headache.

This was probably due to the alcohol I drank last night.

Thanks to that, I learned for the first time that I could get such a bad hangover.

Just five more minutes lying down…

With that thought, I hugged the blanket.

‘Huh?’

Maybe because it still had some warmth.

But it felt unusually warm. Wait. No. Could it be…?

As if sensing my presence, the ‘blanket’ I thought I was hugging wriggled and poked its head out.

“Are you awake…?”

“…Helga.”

What I had been hugging wasn’t a blanket but Helga. And she was in her underwear.

Did she come in while I was sleeping? When did she even get in??

“Last night was really intense…”

Helga shyly touched her nape as she spoke. Seeing the red marks scattered across her nape, I felt dizzy.

There was no one else who could have left those kiss marks on her.

It seemed that drinking too much last night was the cause.

I must have been so deeply asleep that I didn’t notice her coming in.

Seeing Helga’s clothes scattered around, I felt the alcohol completely leave my system.

I used ‘Pride’ and ‘Patience’ to maintain my composure as much as possible.

Stay calm.

Right now, only Helga is in her underwear. Meanwhile, I’m in my usual sleepwear.

Even if I don’t remember, I probably didn’t cross the line with her. Maybe.

“Master? Are you okay?”

Master…?

It’s not wrong, but why did her way of addressing me suddenly change?

Not remembering last night’s events is making me nervous.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

“I don’t remember.”

“I thought so…”

I admitted honestly.

I felt bad for her, but it was true that I couldn’t remember what had happened.

But Helga didn’t seem too disappointed.

“Oh, here… take this.”

“…?”

“Please use this as you wish, Master…”

What Helga handed me was her black stockings.

“…What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Ah, well… for Master’s… um… pleasure…”

Helga stuttered like a broken machine. Her face turned bright red, and she soon spoke in a mosquito-like voice.

“Use them as you like…”

“……”

“They might smell, but… you seem to like them… so… if you use them all, I’ll wear them again for you… Huh?! Master, do you… want me to take them off for you…?!”

“…I don’t need them.”

What does she mean by ‘take them off’…?

Even though I don’t remember what happened last night, my title had changed to Master, and now I was some kind of stocking exploiter.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask Helga about last night’s events…

As I was worrying, I noticed something about Helga, who had started rambling to herself.

“Helga.”

“Yes? Master?”

“…Call me Count.”

“Ah… yes.”

“The wound on your back. I’ll treat it now.”

I clicked my tongue and took out some ointment from the drawer. It was probably from the fight with Patrick at the restaurant.

And yet you’ve been drinking all day…

I was about to scold her when Helga suddenly said something strange.

“…You’re just the same in this regard.”

“What…?”

“No. It’s nothing. It’s probably something you wouldn’t understand, Count. Hehehe…”

“?”

Helga let out an inexplicable laugh.

Her smile wasn’t sinister but somehow seemed joyful.

 

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