Chapter 80

"Thanks for the bookmark rating."

"……a……"

It seems I had fallen asleep at some point.

When I woke up, the outside view from the window was still bright, so I realized that I hadn't been asleep for very long.

"Ah, Nest, you're awake!"

Lily, noticing that I had woken up, quickly came over.

"Ah……"

Fortunately, the depressed mood I had while sleeping seemed to have improved a bit.

"By the way, what were you doing?"

Even though it was just a short time, I was actually asleep, and I wondered if she had been bored the whole time.

"Hmm, it's a secret~?"

While bringing her index finger to her mouth, Lily told me with a playful smile.

"A secret, huh?"

I didn't expect her to say that, but since she's a girl, she might have been doing something, so I was a bit puzzled but accepted it.

"Oh, by the way, I found Aura and the others."

I had forgotten to tell her because I went straight to bed after coming back to the room, but now that I remembered, I told Lily.

"Really!? That's great!"

Lily also seemed happy.

I felt bad for her, but I couldn't tell her that her real older sister was there.

"Um, since we're done and there's still plenty of time, do you want to play?"

"Sure!"

Lily nodded without any hesitation in response to my invitation, which was an attempt to distract her a little.

"Phew, we played a lot……"

A considerable amount of time had passed since we started playing, and the outside view from the window was already enveloped in darkness.

We did take a few breaks during the play, but mostly we were playing.

"That's right."

Lily, who seemed to be tired, was rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Lily, being a demon, didn't show any signs of fatigue at first, but as I used healing magic on myself while playing, she eventually got tired in the second half.

……By the way, right now, we are lying on the same bed.

Lily is lying next to me, almost nestled in my arms, and she seems to be comfortable, leaning against me.

Thanks to playing with Lily, I was able to distract myself quite a bit.

By the way, the maid who brought us dinner told me that I would meet the king tomorrow evening.

It was supposed to be earlier, but it was delayed, and the maid apologized. I told her I understood, and she apologized again before leaving the room.

At that time, I made sure Lily was wearing a coat, so it was fine.

Then, I turned my gaze to Lily, who was in my arms.

Her hair, which I was touching, felt good and was beautiful.

The warmth of Lily's body I felt under the blanket was also very pleasant.

……I still want to be with Lily.

While feeling the faint scent of Lily, I thought so again.

"Nest, are you awake……?"

After lying in bed for a while, Lily asked me in a rare whisper.

"……Yeah, I'm awake."

To be honest, I was just about to fall asleep, but I managed to respond when I heard Lily's voice.

"……I asked you before, but do you really admire princesses……?"

"……Yeah, I do……?"

But the sleepiness was too much, and I responded half-asleep.

I still think that being a princess is amazing.

Noble, elegant, polite, and beautiful.

I think being a princess is something that any man would admire at least once in his life.

……But even so, I want Lily to stay by my side forever.

"……I'm sleepy, so I'm going to sleep……"

After saying that, I finally decided to go to sleep.

Before closing my eyes, I thought Lily looked happy, but maybe something good had happened.

Well, if Lily is happy, anything is fine, I guess.

With that thought, I let go of consciousness.

"……Is it morning……?"

The morning light shining through the window was a bit bright for me, who had just woken up.

But there was a definite warmth, which felt good, so it was hard to describe.

"Hey, Lily, it's time to wake up……"

I said that much and finally noticed.

Lily was gone.