Chapter 64

"Sorry! I'm late because of a reservation mistake >.< I'll be more careful!!"

"Hey, we have to get up early tomorrow, so let's go to bed."

After being scolded by Aura about the size of the clothes, I was busy dealing with the next arrivals, Turue and Lily, and now that things have finally settled down, we are all relaxing together.

"That's right..."

"Whaaat!?"

Turue nods at my words, but Lily still doesn't want to sleep and shakes her head in protest.

"I don't want to sleep yet!"

"Well, you know..."

We have to go to the castle early tomorrow and prepare the clothes.

I send a pleading look to Aura for help.

"...Well, there's no helping it."

Aura, who had been sitting on the bed, got up and approached Lily.

"Lily, you can't be so selfish, you know? Come, let's go to bed together."

She picks up Lily with a gentle voice that she never uses with me.

"Okay, I understand, Aura-nee!"

Lily, who had been so stubborn, becomes docile as soon as she is picked up by Aura and is led to a different bed.

"..."

I feel relieved but also a bit disappointed as I wrap myself in the futon and close my eyes.

"..."

Suddenly, I feel something moving in the futon.

In the darkness, I strain my eyes and see that someone has come to my futon.

"Is it Lily...?"

This has happened before, and the other two wouldn't do something like this...

"Master..."

"Wh-what!?"

However, my guess is wrong, and I hear Turue's voice faintly from under the futon.

"What's wrong...?"

I ask Turue, who is awake, surprised by her unexpected behavior.

"I want Master to like me more, more..."

"..."

I am speechless as she speaks her words firmly, pausing between each word.

...What does this mean?

"Um, why...?"

Since I can't figure it out, I ask Turue honestly.

"...When Master isn't around at the guild, I heard from the adventurer uncles..."

Probably when I was having lunch.

"They said that when a man buys a slave, it means... that kind of thing..."

"U-uh?"

Wait a minute?

When Turue says "that kind of thing," does she mean what I think she means...?

"So, if a man doesn't do that kind of thing to a slave, it means he likes the slave, or if he doesn't..."

Turue's words trail off.

Turue gradually moves up under the futon, and before I know it, her breath is touching my neck.

Then, she grips my clothes tightly and rests her small head on my chest.

"...He doesn't like the slave..."

The area where Turue's head is resting is gradually getting wet.

"...It's okay."

I realize I'm murmuring these words.

In the futon, I hold Turue's small body and murmur repeatedly until she stops crying.

"..."

Exhausted from crying, Turue falls asleep almost immediately after stopping.

I stroke her hair while she sleeps contentedly with her head on my arm, and I decide to sleep as well to prepare for tomorrow.

"Alright, let's go."

We got up properly without oversleeping, finished our preparations, and decided to head to the castle early.

After yesterday's incident, I feel like Turue has started to be a bit more affectionate with me.

Even now, she is holding my arm tightly.

"..."

Aura looks a bit displeased at this.

By the way, we didn't get scolded this morning for sleeping together with Turue.

The reason is that it was already known last night that we were sleeping together.

After I fell asleep, something similar to what happened with Turue happened again, but this time it was Aura.

Of course, I woke up immediately because I had only just fallen asleep, but Aura, with her face as red as it could be in the dark, said, "I came to take Turue back!!" in a suppressed voice, took Turue, and went back to her bed.

That's why I didn't get scolded.

"Thank you very much!"

"Sure thing!!"

After saying goodbye to the innkeeper, we finally set off for the castle.

It shouldn't be too far from here, so we should arrive soon.

We start walking towards the castle, with Lily excluded, feeling a bit nervous.

By the way, just so you know, the reason I don't touch the slaves is not because I like men!