Chapter 216 – 67.5 – The Shirt And The Fake Mana Depletion

It was already evening and Zoemi knocked on his master's door.

Because he didn't hear any objection, he entered the room without hesitation.

"E-eh!? W-wait, no!"

"!!!"

And he froze when a surprised voice of his master welcomed him.

The dark-haired girl was just walking out of the bathroom.

She was wearing only a man's white shirt and her underwear was showing from underneath it.

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

When she saw her attendant entering she panicked even more than if she was naked.

"Don't look!"

Miriette cried out and tried to cover the shirt she was wearing – she even crouched down.

While she was at it, she was focusing on the shirt itself and not her own body so Zoemi unintentionally ended up seeing a few more sights than he expected..

|You're an attendant! Stay calm!|

He ordered himself, but his eyes refused to close and he found himself unable to turn away..

|Still.. that shirt.. is it Horeo's shirt..?! I want to slap the shit out of that damn Horeo! Did the two of them get that far already!? WHEN?! HOW?! No, calm down..! There are other ways she could come into possession of the piece of clothing – her having it doesn't mean its a war spoil..!|

Jealousy hit Zoemi like a truck – the black-haired boy certainly wasn't prepared for that either..

Usually, he could control himself pretty well but after calming down crying Ehmi something seemed to change.

..the attendant didn't really realize that yet, but Ehmi slowly started taking the spot of a master in his heart, which made Miriette naturally become someone more approachable..

"I-It's not what it looks like! Definitely not what you think! Not at all!"

Miriette exclaimed in a panicked voice and shook her head, not wanting the boy to notice that she got teary-eyed.

|Uuugh! He saw me wearing the shirt that I stole from his room..! He hates perverts and now he is going to hate me! He knows that I'm an indecent woman..!|

Miriette was about to burst into tears, cursing herself for foolishly changing into her sleepwear – she was sure that Teo would be the one to bring her supper since Zoemi mentioned that he would like to have more time to train in the evening..!

|Why didn't I confirm that with him..!|

The dark-haired girl wanted to slap herself for making such a basic mistake..!

".."

Zoemi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth so hard that they creaked.

|Not what it looks like..!? Then it is EXACTLY how it looks like, isn't it?! No! Focus! As long as she's happy everything's fine! The closer she is to the first prince the better..! Focus! Focus! She is the master, I am the attendant..!|

*rip*

"..!"

The black-haired attendant growled internally and he clenched his hands so hard that his bulging muscles tore the sleeves of the shirt that he was wearing at the moment – thankfully the sound of the fabric being shredded apart snapped him out of the rage mode.

"My lady.. everything's fine..."

He opened his palms and breathed out, forcing himself to stay – or at least sound – calm and composed.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of – it's all good as long as you are happy."

Zoemi said and extended his hand to her.

"R-really..?"

Miriette sniffled and looked up at the dark-haired boy..

..she tried to stay as collected as he was, but her eyes kept darting over to his bare arms and ended up adjusting her position, clenching her thighs together before she took Zoemi's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.

The dark-haired girl kept blushing and unable to stop herself from getting her hopes up.

No matter how she looked at it, Zoemi wasn't hating her for stealing and wearing his shirt..! Didn't that mean that he..!?

"Y-you're not mad at me..?"

Miriette asked bashfully and peeked at the boy's face.

"No. Of course not. I could never get mad at you, my lady.."

Zoemi breathed out and smiled at her reassuringly.

He wasn't mad at her, after all – he felt like tearing Horeo apart, even though the first prince was his friend and, well, the first prince..

"Y-you're really aren't mad at me for taking your shirt without permission..?"

Miriette sniffled and peeked at his face bashfully.

"Of course, I'm not.. Wait..! Wh-what..!?"

Zoemi was about to say that he's not mad that she was wearing Horeo's shirt but then Miriette just said something completely outrageous!

"Hold on a second..! Could you say that again? Please?"

The black-haired boy couldn't believe his own ears and took a step forward while leaning towards the embarrassed dark-haired girl.

"Uuuu! I knew it – you are angry! But it's just a coincidence, I swear!"

Miriette's chin shook and she desperately tried to explain herself without admitting that she stole his shirt.

"My lady.."

Zoemi shook his head and spoke awkwardly.

"It..! It just so happened that I couldn't find a nightgown because there was a mixup in the laundry and I ended up in your shirt instead..! I just didn't want to sleep naked! That's it! It's only that! I swear I am not an indecent woman!"

The usually composed Miriette was acting like a child caught doing something she shouldn't have and was straight up crying..

"My lady.. Are you.. Under the influence of mana depletion..?"

Both what the dark-haired girl said and how she acted, made Zoemi realize – or rather misunderstand – that something wasn't right..

..and he ended up connecting the dots in a completely wrong way showing off the denseness on par with his adoptive father's..

"What..? Do I..? ah..!"

Miriette opened her mouth to ask if she really looked as if she was suffering from mana depletion, but then she spotted her way out!

"Y-yes! That is exactly what is going on! Because of the mandatory duels for the second and third-year students, I felt like practicing my own spells a bit and I think I went too far while doing so.. I'm a bit lightheaded- you see – that's why I put on your shirt when I couldn't find my nightgown.."

She declared, actually getting lightheaded from the relief of having a way out of the utterly embarrassing situation.

"So that's not the first prince's shirt..? You two didn't..?"

"..eh..?

Zoemi asked, blinking repeatably, and Miriette tilted her head like a confused puppy.

"Horeo's shirt? Eww! No! Why would I want to wear his shirt?!"

"!!!"

Miriette shuddered and scoffed shaking her head in disgust which in turn made Zoemi's heart fall light as a feather again.

Still..

|..wait, wait, wait..! Since he thinks that I have mana depletion.. isn't this my chance..!?|

"My lady..?!"

Miriette's eyes shone with excitement and she leaned on stumbled into Zoemi's arms, causing the boy to hug her – again – to stop her from falling.

"Zoemi, I'm tired..!"

The dark-haired girl complained while shamelessly nuzzling her face against his chest.

"M-my lady..!"

Zoemi gasped and tried to move away but she chased after him without any remorse.

"No! I'm a noble lady, I wish to be pampered!"

Miriette demanded while trying to make her voice sound as if she was drunk.

"My lady, considering the difference in our status.."

Zoemi didn't want to take advantage of Miriette in her weakened state – because he thought she was in a weakened state even though she was only acting – and tried to speak to her better judgment..

*SNIFF*

..but that was interrupted by an almost obnoxiously loud inhale through a nose..

"..Zoemi.. why do you have a smell of a woman on you..?"

"HNGH..!"

The cold and suspicious tone made the boy almost spit blood from shock.

|Is she smelling Ehmi on me..?! Oh no, she seemed to dislike her..!|

"It's probably because of the female attendant that walked into me right before I got here, my lady!"

He hurriedly came up with the most basic lie.

"What can I do for you?"

"Pamper me!"

Zoemi hurriedly cast a bait that Miriette swallowed instantly as she hugged him with all her might.. Which wasn't much at all since without her enchantment, she was very weak.

|Well ..Miriette always acts tries to act like a proper lady.. Her parents were always busy, and they didn't have much time to spend with her.. Plus she's under the side effects of mana depletion and all.. Not to mention her spoiled character..|

Zoemi was basing his assumption of mana depletion on Miriette's unfocus eyes because he knew that's how his father's eyes looked when he had the mana depletion.

The black-haired boy actually managed to forget that the symptoms of mana depletion are different for Miriette since she has a few thousand times more mana than his father.

Or maybe his mind didn't want to remember that fact simply because it was enjoying the situation too much..

"My lady.. Just how much mana did you use..?"

Zoemi gulped down his saliva and asked with hesitation, considering his options.

|Ah! He is judging if I will remember anything tomorrow!|

Excited Miriette took a guess and was spot on.

"I don't know.. but it was a lot..! I'm all woozy.."

She said happily.

"I see.."

|Well, I'm an attendant it's not that weird to indulge my master from time to time.. Right..?|

Zoemi nodded and thought to himself before patting the girl's back.

"Fuaahh!"

Miriette let out a contented sound.

"My lady, what do you want to do..?"

"..!"

|There it is..!|

Zoemi's next words made her heart skip a beat.

What could they do..?

Miriette's head became flooded with all sorts of lewd scenarios and requests but she discarded all of the ideas.

|If I'll go too far he'll realize that I'm not actually mana depleted and I'm just an indecent woman! How far can I go, though..? Maybe a kiss..? No that's still too soon!|

She bit her lip and pondered.

"Sit on my bed!"

In the end, the dark-haired girl commanded and pointed at the furniture..

"..as you wish.."

Curious Zoemi did as she wanted.

He sat on the edge of her bed and put his back against the wall.

"Hmhm~!"

Without further explanation, Miriette grabbed a book from her nightstand and laid down right next to him, leaning against his body with a satisfied expression.

"Here, you'll read this to me!"

She demanded while putting his arm around her and sticking the book in his other hand.

"Open it on the page with the bookmark."

"As you wish."

She demanded and Zoemi complied without a word of complaint.

Honestly, why would he complain in this situation?!

His heart was beating so fast that his only worry was that Miriette would notice it and learn about his feelings – but the dark-haired girl was actually experiencing the exact same problem..

".."

".."

As he opened the book Miriette adjusted her position and grabbed onto his vest.

"You may start reading."

She sounded so proud of herself that if she was a balloon, she would most likely blow up from all this pride.

historical

Miriette was going to enjoy that evening to the fullest – she completely forgot about the meal waiting for her – but honestly, so did Zoemi.