Chapter 96: Was I tricked?

A few hours ago(Doppelganger’s side)

*****

"Hmm...=￣ω￣=, brrr!"

Yeah, if I had to give my opinion, I’d say it’s kind of fascinating and curious how she can purr.

At least that’s a clear sign that she always enjoys my massage.

Although, come to think of it, Iris used to lie down on my lap sometimes so I’d stroke her hair.

When I did that, she’d make sounds very similar to a purr.

I don’t know how she did it—at least with Amarillys I can understand it, since she’s literally part cat.

Haaah~

Anyway, those few moments of tranquility now seem hard to repeat, since even now—when there haven’t been any customers or anything for over a full day—my main self and Iris have been busy practicing and doing things to adapt to this world.

As for me, as soon as I finish this massage for Amarillys, I’ll continue my work of gathering information and understanding this environment.

I’ve already made some progress.

It’s interesting that one of my first connections here was Itsuki, since it didn’t take me long to realize that if there’s one reason Amarillys hasn’t suffered any direct attempts on her life, it’s largely because of her.

She’s like a die-hard fan of Amarillys who, in her own words, was the cutest cat girl in the entire kingdom—and for that reason alone, she’d entered the palace and taken on the role of her medic, even though her skills and abilities went far beyond that.

Or well, that’s what she said. It might partly be as Meru says—just bragging—and if it is, she’s very good at lying.

In any case, the important thing is that, given her background, anyone who makes a move against Amarillys would be taking a risk that’s not worth it... But that’s for now.

If Amarillys’ daughters continue to be so remarkable, someone might end up thinking the risk is worth it, and that’s not something I’m going to allow... After all, she’s Iris’s friend.

"Sister, big sister! Are you listening?"

"Ah! Wait, don’t yell like that—I already told you the walls are thin."

At that moment, I was snapped out of my thoughts.

It seemed I’d gotten distracted, but even so, it’s not appropriate for her to call me "big sister" in such a loud voice.

"Oh, big sister, you don’t have to worry. My friend says that now that my mana has increased, I can prevent people outside from hearing us, so I can call you big sister without any problem."

"I see. So you can even do that. Wait, Amy, does that mean you’ve gone up a rank?"

As far as I know, Amarillys was at the top of the first rank in terms of mana. If her mana has increased, that means she’s moved up a rank.

"Yes! Oh! I forgot to tell you, big sister. I followed your advice and listened to my friends. I moved up a rank that very same day. Hmm, according to my friends, I might be able to move up another rank in a few days."

"I see. That’s good."

Well, Amarillys had a profession with high potential and excellent breathing technique, so progressing through the lower ranks must be easier for her than for low-potential professions like ours.

Although, of course, with the quest rewards, our pace is faster than average.

If Iris and I put everything into a single stat, we could advance all the way to the third rank—though, obviously, we’d have to clear those comprehension milestones first.

But since Amarillys has those friends, who seem to be closely linked to her profession, I don’t think she’ll have any trouble getting along with the lower-ranking staff.

"So, then... about what I asked you..."

"Huh? Sorry, Amy, I was a little focused on the massage and didn’t hear you. What did you ask me?"

"W-well, hmm... I asked you when the next lesson on how to be a very seductive wife would be—with my... I mean, y-your husband."

Since I was giving her a back massage, Amarillys was lying face-down on her bed and I couldn’t see her face, but I could feel very clearly how her body was trembling slightly and part of her exposed neck was turning a little red.

"Hmm... Well, I don’t think it’s time yet. You haven’t fully processed everything you learned last time, have you?"

Right now, Amy is in a very confusing situation regarding her feelings and the way she overlaps me with her husband.

You can tell—even unintentionally—that she keeps calling me her husband.

She knows and understands that it was all a kind of lesson and that I wasn’t really her husband, and therefore she shouldn’t develop any feelings toward me, but it’s one thing to understand and another to feel.

I really don’t feel very comfortable about having dragged her into this state.

Still, I don’t regret it, because that’s what I had to do, but now I had to find a way to take responsibility and steer this in the right direction.

"I-I think there are still some things I don’t quite understand... No matter how much I think about it, I just don’t get it. I think, hmm, I need another lesson. I want to use your husband again, t-to understand a few more things."

"..."

hmmm... what she said is obviously an excuse.

It’s obvious what she wants to do. Still, when she said that, I realized a smile had unintentionally spread across my face.

Well, I won’t deny that it makes me happy.

The fact that she—someone who was simple and naive—pulled off a move like that impresses me.

It’s clumsy, but she tried to trick me and hide her true intentions, which means there’s progress in that area I’ve been working hard to develop.

It really makes me happy.

"S-so, can I go take a lesson again? W-we can go together. I think I need your guidance, too."

"Hmm, well, that’s a little difficult. I really don’t think we should leave the palace."

"I see /_\"

It seems like she wants to repeat what happened that day, but I really don’t think it’s the right time.

The truth is that, after reading the letter, I stopped thinking that, now that I had placed the Stigma of Lethargy on her, there was no need to go any further than we already had.

I’m not really against her request, but it’s not the right time yet.

I need to gather more information, and I already understand how dangerous it is if we’re discovered escaping and get caught.

And, more importantly, there’s the fact that the area around the entrance to our place in this city is dangerous because of the incident caused by Iris and my main self.

I’d at least like to wait a few days before even considering it.

"I’m really sorry, Amy."

"I-it’s okay, I understand... Hmm, the massage feels really good, but, hmm, big sis, could you, you know...?"

"Huh? Do you want a different kind of massage, or are you feeling discomfort in a very specific area?"

"N-no, can you... Mmm, I was wondering if you could masturbate me?"

"￣へ￣"

There wasn’t anything strange about her request—after all, I’d taught her that myself—but right now, without Iris, this puts me in a bit of a bind.

"Mm, I tried it before just like you taught me, but it didn’t feel very good, and I couldn’t reach orgasm—I didn’t feel any pleasure or ecstasy. I think something’s missing."

"Yeah, I think the problem is visualization. When you do it alone, you have to imagine someone—like your husband. Or, to make it easier for you, imagine what happened with my husband. Do that next time."

"Oh! So it wasn’t just about touching. I get it. But, big sis... hmm, just in case, I think I need another demonstration. Can we go to the bathroom and do it like that time? I want to do it w-while you whisper in my ear."

I have to say, she seems to have taken a liking to that excuse; she’s playing dumb to get what she wants.

In this case, I don’t think I can say no, but it’s not worth bothering the other side just to call Iris, so.

"All right, let’s go."

I agreed, which made her get up, very excited, and literally drag me with her into her private bathroom.

Well, I’ll take this opportunity to teach her a thing or two as well.

She picked up on things quickly if I explained them to her properly, so this is a great chance to instill some more common sense in her.

..

.

*****

Present (Astan side)

*****

It was surprising enough that someone else walked in when there were already people inside.

It was the first time this had happened, but I couldn’t help but be surprised when I saw that the person was none other than Amarillys.

Quickly, I connected with my doppelgänger to see what had happened on that side recently and why there had been no warning, and what I concluded was that...

She tricked me.

Yes, my doppelgänger was surprised too.

He hadn’t known anything about it, since an hour ago he’d parted ways with Amarillys after her ’massage’ in the bathtub ended.

It’s just as I thought: it was all planned. After all, what did I teach Amarillys about masturbation? Sure, it was a source of pleasure and all that, but the main lesson back then was that this was the most effective way to attract men.

If she had it in mind that, even with my refusal, she’d come anyway, that sudden request makes more sense.

No, calm down—don’t jump to conclusions.

Well, the fact that she tricked me isn’t the only possibility.

There’s also the fact that, after that "massage," she changed her mind about listening to me and decided to come.

In any case, it made me realize that Amarillys was more rebellious than I thought.

"Amy!" (Iris)

This took me so by surprise that I didn’t have time to stop Iris, who rushed over excitedly to greet her with a hug—or rather, she pounced on her and threw her arms around her.

"Big sis!... S-sis? W-why...?" (Amy)

Amy seemed happy with Iris’s gesture at first and even hugged her back.

But then, as if she had realized the problem, she looked confused and asked worriedly.

Yes, even Amy understands there’s a problem—after all, she, too, had run away from me when I was pretending to be Iris.

’Love, repeat this word for word.’

’Huh?’ (Iris)

’Just do it. Remember, you’re supposed to be at the castle. It’s strange to see you here. Say...’

I started talking to Iris in my mind, and she repeated what I said.

"Oh, Amy, you snuck out! Even though I told you not to." (Iris)

"Um, it’s just that I... the lesson... husband..." (Amy)

Faced with the sudden change in attitude, Amy got nervous, and her gaze unconsciously drifted toward me, but I had Iris continue.

"You know, I got worried when I came back to look for something I’d forgotten and didn’t see you. I figured you were coming here, so I had to sneak out too. Looks like I was right." (Iris)

"I-I, hm..." (Amy)

’Okay, that’s it. You can act however you want now. Just keep in mind that she came for those ’lessons."

Well, the important thing was to give an excuse for why Iris was here and for Iris to understand Amy’s reason for coming.

"Oh, that’s all. Well, uh, Amy, by the way, you want my honey to give you another lesson, right?" (Iris)

"Y-yes, like I told you before, I feel like there isn’t much I haven’t understood yet." (Amy)

"Hmm, I see. That makes sense—honey Amy wants another lesson." (Iris)

"Wait a minute there. First of all, remember that we already have customers"

The situation had become even more complicated, and now Amarillys had arrived with more missions. I had to figure out how to handle this properly.