Chapter 20

"Fiona, are you free now?"

After the mission, I returned to the dorm, changed clothes, and was taking a break on the sofa when Muriel came to visit. I invited her into the room, and we sat across from each other at the table.

"You know, I've told you this many times, but I really think Matthias likes you a lot. So you don't need to worry about how to make him like you."

"...Thank you. It makes me really happy that everyone encourages me like this. But there's no reason for him to like me so much."

Fiona had no memory of doing anything to make Matthias like her. She had only been a burden to him, causing him countless troubles. It was a miracle that he didn't hate her. And to him, she was probably like a little sister, or even a daughter.

If she were a beauty, she might be considered a romantic interest, but she wasn't. She thought her appearance was decent, but not exceptionally beautiful. She knew that the term "beauty" referred to the women who served the prince.

They had deep, chiseled features, long, thick eyelashes, plump lips, and curvaceous bodies. Compared to them, she felt utterly lacking in charm.

"No, you're beautiful and have a great figure. You look like someone who could be at first sight. Have more confidence."

"Thank you. Muriel, you're so cute. Maybe you'll become as sexy as Reila someday... If you combine charm and cuteness, you'll be unbeatable. That's great... You and Alan have been getting really close lately, haven't you? Are you two already a couple?"

"What? Why did Alan come up now!?"

Why did the conversation suddenly turn to her? Muriel's face turned red with embarrassment as she raised her voice. Fiona, looking puzzled, answered calmly.

"Why? Nina said that Muriel likes Alan. Is that not true?"

"Th-that's... not...! Nina...!"

Muriel's face turned as red as if it were steaming. But she didn't deny it. She didn't want to lie about her feelings. Since she stopped being annoyed with Fiona and Matthias, she had found herself increasingly attracted to Alan.

Alan, who was the mood-maker in the First Magic Corps, was the first person Muriel became close to when she joined. He paid special attention to her as the youngest member, and helped her get along with the other members since she was bad at closing the distance with people. Recently, she had finally noticed his kindness, and her feelings for him were growing day by day.

Muriel shared these feelings with Fiona. It was the first time she had talked about love with someone, and it felt strangely ticklish. Once she started talking, she felt like opening up more. It was so enjoyable that they spent a while talking about love.

In the flow of the conversation, Fiona, who wanted to learn how to be more charming, was led by Muriel to her room. Muriel took out a few clothes from the chest and pushed one of them towards Fiona.

"First, try this on."

Fiona had no choice but to take it when it was pushed into her chest. She changed as instructed into a black long-sleeved dress with white lines on the cuffs and hem, and a white collar. The dress, which reached just above Muriel's knees, was even shorter on Fiona.

"It looks good on you. You don't need to try on any other clothes; this one is perfect."

"...It's too short."

Fiona, who usually didn't wear skirts shorter than her knees, felt a bit embarrassed just by having her knees exposed. The fact that her thighs were also visible was completely beyond her comfort zone.

Fiona had once exposed her abdomen in front of Matthias to check the curse mark. At that time, she was full of questions about why the pain from the curse mark wasn't coming. She wasn't even aware of him, and she had resigned herself to being executed.

But now it was different. She was very aware of him. It was embarrassing to show so much of her thighs.

"This length is not too short. Do you want to show more?"

Muriel grinned and showed her a shirt with a large open neckline and an even shorter skirt. Fiona panicked and stopped her.

"N-no, I don't want to show more. This is fine."

"Ah, you said it's fine! Then you'll wear this until tonight. It's a promise, okay!"

"Ugh... Okay."

For some reason, it became a promise. Although she wasn't enthusiastic, she agreed under Muriel's pressure.

Fiona, holding the clothes she had been wearing, trudged back to her room. Her knees felt exposed and she felt uneasy. To distract herself, she decided to read a book until dinner time. She chose a book from the shelf and was about to start when there was a knock on the door.

"Fiona, are you there?"

"!"

Just as she was trying to calm down, Matthias came. Fiona, flustered, dropped the thick book she was holding.

"Ouch!"

The corner of the book hit the top of her right foot. Even with indoor slippers, it was excruciatingly painful. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she clutched her foot, writhing on the floor.

Bang! Clatter!

She hit her knee on the chair, which fell with a loud noise. The loud noise inside the room made Matthias open the door quickly.

"Fiona! What happened?"

Matthias hurriedly rushed to the fallen Fiona, lifted her upper body with his hands on her shoulder and the back of her head, and looked at her worriedly.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Ugh... I'm fine... I just dropped a book on my foot."

"Your foot. I'll take off your sock."

Her slippers had already fallen off during her writhing. Matthias supported Fiona's head with his right hand and took off her right sock with his left hand. He gently lifted her foot to check the injury.

"There doesn't seem to be any bleeding. It doesn't look like it needs healing, but does it hurt?"

"No, the pain is already subsiding, so I'm fine."

"That's good. I'm glad."

Fiona's face, which had been contorted in pain, was now slightly smiling, despite the sweat. It was good that she was okay. Matthias sighed in relief and then realized something. The foot in front of him looked smooth and soft. He almost reached out to touch it, but his rationality kicked in. It was a close call, but he managed to stop himself.

Fiona's legs were completely exposed, showing even the tops of her thighs.

"AH!"

Fiona herself had just noticed. She quickly straightened her skirt, pulling it down as far as it would go. But no matter how hard she tried, a few centimeters above her knees remained exposed. It was too short to begin with.

"Can you stand?"

Matthias pretended not to notice. He didn't mention what had just happened, stood up, and offered his hand. Fiona, too embarrassed to look up, took his hand.

He couldn't see Matthias's face. She couldn't see it, but she could feel his gaze on her knees. She must have noticed that she was wearing something different from her usual clothes. Although he hadn't asked, she decided to explain.

"Um, this is a dress I borrowed from Muriel. That's why it's shorter than usual."

"...I see."

Fiona's chest was filled with various styles of clothes. When she was brought to the kingdom, they didn't know her preferences, so they had a variety of styles. After figuring out her preferences from the clothes she usually chose, they stocked only the styles she liked.

She had declared that she would buy her own clothes now that she was receiving a salary, but there were enough clothes to last for a while.

Despite this, the fact that she had borrowed clothes from Muriel made Matthias understand the situation.

—She's too cute.

Recently, Fiona had been much more aware of him than before. Muriel had told him that she was trying hard to win his affection. Matthias found her so adorable.

He wanted to confess his feelings and touch her freely. But he also wanted to savor the current tense situation a bit longer. He was torn between these conflicting desires.

In any case, the skirt Fiona was wearing now showed too much of her legs. He didn't mind other women showing as much skin, but he couldn't stand it with Fiona. From her expression, it was clear that she wasn't very enthusiastic about it either.

"You look good in that kind of dress, but it's so different from what you usually wear that it must be embarrassing, right? You look really good, but you don't have to push yourself. You really do look great, though."

He emphasized that looking good was important, so he said it three times. It seemed to have gotten through, as Fiona's cheeks turned a light pink and her lips curved into a smile.

"Really? That's good... Hehe, thank you. Well, I promised Muriel I'd wear this until tonight. So even though it's embarrassing, I won't change."

Fiona didn't want to betray her friends. No matter how trivial or insignificant, she wanted to keep her promises.

"I see. So as long as you wear this dress, it's fine, right?"

"Uh, yeah, that's right."

If that was the case, it was simple. Matthias decided to have Fiona wear tights and a long cardigan over the dress. If she couldn't take it off, she could just put something on.

"Thank you, Matthias. This way, I won't feel embarrassed. I wonder why I didn't think of it."

Her embarrassed feelings subsided, and Fiona's expression became calm. Although she thanked him, Matthias had given the advice mostly for his own benefit.

(I can't let other men see her bare legs.)

Yes, not only bare legs, but even tights that showed the outline of her thighs were out of the question. He hid his possessive feelings.

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help. ...Oh, right, I brought cookies. Do you want to eat some?"

Matthias remembered the cart he had left outside the room.

"Sure, I'd like to. Thank you always. I keep receiving so much from you, Matthias. I want to do something in return..."

"You don't need to worry about it. It's fine just to say thank you."

"Okay. Thank you so much. I'm happy to receive cookies, of course, and I'm happy to spend time with you, my favorite person, Matthias."

"...I see."

Not only did she express her gratitude, but she casually said she liked him. Matthias quietly savored the joy as he pushed the cart to the side of the table.

"Wow... they're so cute."

Fiona's eyes sparkled. The basket contained several cookies with cat designs. She quickly brewed tea for both of them and placed it in front of herself and Matthias. He didn't usually eat sweet things, but he could manage some baked goods. He placed the basket in the center of the table and set out two plates.

"Let's eat."

Fiona took a cookie and placed it on her plate, took a sip of tea, and stared at the plate, then took another sip of tea.

...

Fiona continued to stare at the plate. Matthias watched her, ate one cookie, then another, and was about to take a third when he couldn't hold back and started to tremble.

"Ah, ah... If you can't eat it, there are plain cookies