“…….”
“…Ahem.”
Perhaps unable to endure the continuing silence, Chris let out a dry cough.
The atmosphere grew even more awkward than before, and my shoulders instantly felt heavy.
Just a moment ago, I’d been wondering who would sleep on the floor. I never imagined it would turn into a situation where we’d be sharing the same bed.
Fortunately, it was still around nine in the evening. A little early to be lying down.
For now, I should steer the conversation elsewhere and buy as much time as possible.
As for the sleeping-together problem, I could somehow rack my brain and come up with an alternative in the meantime.
“Ah… How about we eat? I’m really hungry right now.”
To force a change of topic, I decided to make use of the hunger I’d been enduring all this time.
I’d been planning to make do with cup noodles, but then Chris had shown up, so in the end I still hadn’t eaten anything.
“I’m sorry about that. I ended up taking your time for no reason.”
“No, it’s fine. I was just going to get by with this anyway.”
I showed her the cup noodles in my hand and was about to tear open the packaging when Chris suddenly approached and snatched it away.
“Wait. No matter how much of a hassle it is, if you keep eating only things like this all the time, you’ll ruin your health.”
An argument so correct I had nothing to say back.
It seemed she’d seen the boxes of cup noodles stacked up behind me.
“But I’m hungry right now…”
If I wanted a proper meal, the best option would probably be going to some shop and getting takeout.
This world did have a food delivery culture, of course, but it was inconvenient in various ways.
It was expensive, and the quality was poor enough that even compared to cup noodles, there wasn’t much difference in nutritional value.
In that case, it was better to spend the time and effort to get takeout myself.
‘On top of that, Lapis put up some barrier or whatever, so I can’t even leave.’
Even if a delivery driver came, I wouldn’t be able to open the door, so receiving the food would be impossible.
When I explained that part to Chris, she thought for a moment, then turned her gaze toward the refrigerator as if something had occurred to her.
“…If you don’t mind, I’d like to make something with whatever ingredients are left.”
“You’re going to cook for me, Lady Chris?”
Even if I treated her, it still wouldn’t be enough, and yet she, who had come here as a guest, was offering to make me food.
But it was far too tempting an offer to refuse out of pointless pride.
The lunchbox Chris had made at the park last time had tasted incredibly homey.
‘It’s exactly the sort of feeling I’ve always missed since living alone.’
It was on a completely different level from a mediocre meal eaten alone in a shabby apartment.
Surely it held the fruits of all the affection she had poured into caring for her younger brother.
I had learned cooking aside from desserts too, technically, but that was only an extension of a hobby.
I didn’t have the kind of passion to make meals on a daily basis like Chris did.
‘I did make dinner for that Amber brat while helping her study last time, but…’
Even though it had only been for a short period, just thinking up the menu had been so tedious that I never wanted to do it again.
“Then please do. Anything is fine, so please make something.”
I nodded vigorously, opened the refrigerator, and showed her what was inside.
“Hmm. There’s enough meat and vegetables… and mushrooms too.”
She rummaged through the refrigerator for a while, taking out ingredients one by one.
A short while later, ingredients that looked nutritious just by looking at them were lined up on the dining table.
“Mm. With this much, I should be able to make enough for one serving.”
“No, since you’re going through the trouble, let’s eat together.”
“Are you sure? These are ingredients you bought with your own money.”
“What’s the point of eating alone after you’ve gone out of your way to make it for me? It’ll obviously taste better if we eat together.”
“…Is that so.”
For having said something so obvious, her reaction was unexpectedly favorable.
“Hmm, it’ll take about thirty minutes. Sit and wait in the meantime.”
“Then at least let me cook the rice.”
“I said it’s fine. I’ll do everything, so rest comfortably.”
Chris stubbornly refused and pushed me out of the kitchen.
Still, I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing, so I took out a broom and began a sudden room cleaning.
‘Come to think of it, I was entertaining my superior in a room I hadn’t even cleaned.’
Given the situation, I hadn’t noticed, but no matter how I looked at it, it had been rude.
It was simple work, sweeping visible dust and hair into the dustpan.
But that simple repetition was more boring than the cardio I’d done today.
Looking at it this way, a housewife might actually be a pretty impressive profession. It was a daily life of endlessly repeating cooking, cleaning, and laundry at home without any stimulation.
On top of that, it didn’t really bring in money, so it seemed hard to find anything to feel motivated about.
‘At least exercise gives you motivation, but cleaning goes beyond just being annoying.’
Café Eclipse, which was several times wider than this place, at least felt worth cleaning out of a sense of duty.
When I saw the café become clean after I’d cleaned it myself, it made me feel good for no reason too.
After spending around twenty minutes like that and somehow finishing the cleaning, Chris just happened to lay out numerous dishes on the dining table.
“Ooh… This looks delicious.”
“I’m not particularly confident it’ll suit your taste, but I worked as hard as I could.”
Steaming rice, soybean paste soup, and side dishes like stir-fried pork liver and grilled fish… There was also rolled omelet and more.
It was a table that made my mouth water just from looking at it. She made all this in only twenty minutes?
“Slurp.”
I immediately tasted the soybean paste soup with a spoon, and sure enough, it had an incredibly refreshing and clean flavor.
“Mm… Is the seasoning too bland?”
“It’s just right. It’s delicious.”
“…That’s a relief. I should eat too.”
Restoring a body exhausted from hard exercise with delicious food. What greater luxury could there be?
Thanks to all the delicious side dishes, I was able to empty two bowls of rice.
“Thank you for the meal. I’ll do the dishes.”
“Phew. I’ll leave it to you.”
It was good that we’d finally finished our late dinner, but now there was nothing left to do.
But if we went to sleep like this, the two of us would have to use the bed together.
Wondering if there was anything else to buy more time with, I looked around and noticed the bookshelf beside the bed.
“Um, would you like to read some manga?”
In this world, where entertainment was lacking, it was a hobby I made frequent use of.
Sometimes Amber would barge into my place too, take over the bed, and leisurely read manga.
“I’ve never read any until now… but well, once should be fine.”
Since there wasn’t anything else to do, Chris readily accepted my suggestion.
“Pick whatever you want from that bookshelf.”
“Even if you say whatever I want, I don’t know what’s what. I’ll just grab anything.”
Leaving those words behind, the book she grabbed at random was—
~Finish It in One Book! 69 Correct Facts About Pregnancy and Childbirth~
“…….”
It was a maternity-related book I’d bought out of needless worry about a possible pregnancy when Ravi had forced himself on me.
Come to think of it, I’d left it on the bookshelf without throwing it away because it might be useful later.
“So manga like this is popular these days…”
I desperately stopped her hand as she moved to open the pages.
“Ah~ I bought that by mistake and was going to return it. I’ve been so busy I completely forgot.”
It was an obvious excuse, but the priority was to hide this pregnancy manual as quickly as possible, so I hurriedly took out a book beside it and placed it in Chris’s hands.
‘No matter what comes out, there’s no way the situation will get worse than this.’
Thinking that with certainty, I quietly checked the title of the newly pulled-out book.
~Maternity Lessons with the World’s Best Medical Team~
“…….”
My head began to hurt.
***
After floundering around like that, midnight eventually arrived, and we ended up sharing one bed.
“Lady Chris, still, since we’re not even dating, wouldn’t doing this be kind of improper…”
“A-are you planning to give up now?”
“But if the Silver Order guys catch us, it’ll be a huge problem.”
“You don’t need to worry about that, so… cling closer! This is for your life!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Following Lapis’s orders, we were even linking arms as we shared body heat in this situation.
If Amber were to catch us, she’d tease me for the rest of my life.
“Jade. Tell me an amusing story or something.”
“No, how can you give that kind of order in a situation this embarrassing?”
“Damn it! Then what am I supposed to do when I can’t sleep?”
Having no choice, I brought up some idle chatter about how I’d recently gotten into working out.
“I thought you seemed bigger than last time. I see…”
With a strangely suggestive expression, Chris traced her fingers down my right arm.
It seemed she found it fascinating that I’d gained this much muscle in such a short time. Thanks to that, I was going insane.
“Could you please move your fingers now? It feels a little strange…”
I turned my head to look at the ceiling, trying somehow to shake off my desire, but despite my attempt to stop her, her fingers still remained on my arm.
“…Lady Chris?”
No matter how long I waited, there was no answer, so I slowly turned my head—
And saw her face, eyes closed, sleeping with soft, even breaths.
The defenseless figure of Chris asleep, something she would never show to anyone in the Silver Order.
“…….”
For an instant, my heart thudded loudly.
Had I ever felt this kind of emotion since falling into a world where I knew no one and nothing?
“I guess sleeping is out of the question after all.”
Muttering those words, I simply stared at the ceiling the whole time, trying to shake away my idle thoughts.