—--
The next day, Mira shyly knocked on Rotsard's door, clenching a single vial with murky green liquid to her exceedingly modest chest.
This time around, she walked slowly, arriving only after a proper long bath.
She was still slouching, though...
She knocked politely and waited.
And waited…
And began to think about the previous day when Rotsard showed her affection for the first time.
Her face got flushed, and she started sweating.
She… she was going to meet him again…
W-will he act the same way…?
Was… was it too indecent of her to hope for him to act the same way…?
Before she knew it, she was all sweaty again and…
"Mira...? Say that it's you...! Because of all that floral smell you have on, I couldn't recognize you."
"!?!?"
Then the door opened just a bit, and only the tip of someone's nose poked out, before Rotsard opened the door ajar and declared with a worn-out smile.
He looked a bit miserable, with dark circles under his eyes indicating that he didn't sleep well... and skin dry like parchment... he sure appeared sick.
"...w-wait… m-my lord… what did you say…?"
She mumbled, frozen stiff, suddenly making a connection between her getting sweaty and Rotsard talking about smells…
She...
She was stinky again?!
The realization almost knocked her out, but suddenly she felt someone's hand on her waist, and then someone pulled her close.
Close enough for their nose to be right by her collarbone…
"I need your help for a bit…"
"I…! I'M SORRY FOR BEING STINKY!"
It really took Rotsard's hot breath tickling Mira's ear for her to realize that the person holding her close was her fiance, and the combined shock of the experience caused her brain to overload... She wobbled her way out of the embrace and sprinted away as desperately as clumsily.
"???"
…once again leaving the bewildered Rotsard behind, but not without leaving the vial with the murky green substance in his hand.
"...ugh…!"
And once again, Rotsard opened the vial and winced from the stench.
"Young lord, you didn't even have your morning drink…"
"Go to the faculty office and inform them I will be taking this week off. Hurgh…!"
The butler approached the bleached-white boy from behind with a glass of amber liquid, but was sent off with a command as Rotsard gagged immediately after taking a single sip from the vial.
|What is she feeding me…?|
Some time later, Rotsard thought to himself while seated on the porcelain throne as the second grand battle was taking place in his bowels.
In the first place, he decided it was okay for him to stay back in his room precisely because, according to the story read to him by the deofol, the future hero, Justin, could develop a positive relationship with his classmates precisely because of Rotsard's absence.
Although in the story, that absence was supposedly caused by the hurt pride and not the intake of an unidentified murky green potion... Still, the effect was exactly the same.
"...although… I wanted to start practicing magic in the meantime… shit… I can't gather any mana like this…"
As his stomach roared like a wounded beast, Rotsard spoke to himself in hopes of taking his mind away from the ordeal.
The next day, Mira appeared with her concoction again, this time completely on guard, keeping her distance with the hand holding the vial extended so that she couldn't be grabbed.
"Than…"
"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY FOR BEING SO STINKY"
Seeing her like that, Rotsard, looking even more worn-out than the day before, only took the vial and was trying to thank Mira for the trouble, but she panicked nonetheless and escaped, barely saving herself from stumbling and diving head-first into a window…
And he was trying so hard to be nice to her.
She was the only person who cared about him... even a trash like him could understand that much after learning about what the future held for him.
"Young lord, your…"
"Shut up… Hurgh!
Again, Rotsard was approached by his butler holding a glass of amber liquid, but this time the bleached-blond boy scoffed at him in annoyance before taking a swig of the murky green potion.
The fourth and fifth days went by in a similar manner, and only on the sixth day, there was a difference.
This time around, Mira approached the door with a tiny bit of confidence.
In her hand beside the vial with the murky green potion, she had a tiny vial.
Upon opening that tiny vial, a sweet scent spread across the entire hallway, and she breathed it in before nodding and lightly ripping just the very tip of the vial against the base of her neck before closing it.
It was a very pleasant smell…
"...!"
But then, suddenly, the black-haired girl began to doubt her decision.
That sweet scent…
Did she ever notice Rotsard appreciating sweet scents…?
Was she making a grave mistake…?!
If he opens the door and glares at her with disgust because of a terrible choice…!
"Mira."
"!!!"
As she was in the middle of a panic attack, the door did open, and a terribly worn-out-looking boy with bleached-blond hair that had dark roots showing, walked out and startled her.
"I…!"
"..."
She was already about to run away, but then she felt someone's hand on the back of her head and her waist, and she was pulled in close…
"!?!?"
…and got licked…!
Someone had licked the spot at the base of her neck where she rubbed the perfume on…!
"Ptfu! I much prefer your natural smell."
Once again, only when Rotsard spat to the side with disgust and whispered into her ear was Mira able to comprehend that her fiance was the one doing….!
"U…"
"U…?
Mira trembled and sniffled before letting out a small voice, making Rotsard tilt his head and repeat the sound she made…
"UUUUUUWEEEEE…!"
"!?!?"
But then the black-haired girl burst into tears, sounding as if she was crying her heart out, startling the bleached-blond-haired boy, as from his perspective that came out of nowhere.
"What in the…? Hey…! Are you okay?"
"UUUUUWEEEEEEH! I…! I'M SOOOORYYYYY…!"
Rotsard pulled away, worried that he had harmed the girl in some way, and asked, but the moment he loosened the grasp on Mira, she ended up crying even harder and ran away, leaving the vial with the murky green substance.
"...scum…"
"...just the worst…"
"...?"
Students passing by Rotsard's room on their way to lectures scoffed at him from afar, while he struggled to figure out what made Mira react in such a way.
While drinking the disgusting potion and walking to the bathroom out of habit, even before his stomach began to ache, he did some self-reflection.
Honestly, it was the most he used his brain to think about another person in years!
It was a testament to how trashy he was, because it took him a while to figure out.
He and Mira were engaged, but they weren't that close physically... Licking the perfume off of her was definitely not something that could be considered appropriate...
She must have gotten awfully embarrassed, especially when he did it to her in public.
That deserved an apology.
Then there was the case of him licking the perfumes off and spitting them out.
Although he did say that he preferred her natural smell, he did indirectly say that he disliked the perfumes she chose...