https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/19/
True Intentions
“Apparently I’m not stopping when I need to during my dance. My coach told me to be ‘more aware of when you’re moving or staying still’. Could you watch and tell me what you think?”
Lily gave me another small nod, but she still looked unsure of herself. She’s probably worried about my dance having an effect on her, but after the blow up I just gave her, she must be wary of saying anything to upset me again.
“Um….this dance is supposed to be for a dysfunctional lover. So, you know…..basically…..it’s supposed to turn people on. Let me know if you start feeling weird, and I’ll stop.”
“All right”
Neither Rose nor the newspaper reporter reacted when I danced for them before. Hopefully me being conscious of my “stillness and movement” would be able to get Lily to react at least a little. Although I can’t be going out of my way to excite Lily here. My primary goal here really is to focus on the sharpness of my dance.
I take the usual stance with my back to the audience–Lily.
“How is it? Am I moving?”
“It’s different than before.”
When I turned my head around, Lily’s gaze was aimed down. She’s staring at my legs. She must’ve sensed my flabbergasted look, because she immediately apologized with rose-tinged cheeks.
“Your legs did not move at all after I told you to act like a mannequin. It made it feel real. So I was thinking you could pull it off if you just did that again. I really wasn’t just mindlessly staring at your legs!”
I turned back around, and when I thought about Lily ordering me around under that comforter, I could feel my body stiffen up. Just thinking about it is enough to make me feel like this. I’m surprised she’s already trained me this well.
“Amazing….”
I can hear Lily’s seductive voice coming from behind me. Is she the type to be satisfied just by looking? The timidity seems to have been replaced by at least some excitement for now.
I closed my eyes and expanded my imagination. I am a human when moving, a mannequin while stationary. I don’t know if I can control my body that well, but I am willing to give it a try.
I moved my body according to that image. I can’t exactly give my own body an objective look, so I twisted my waste around while mimicking that vision. I dropped my hips and shook it again and again.
Rather than finishing things to the end, I stopped partway through to get Lily’s initial opinion.
Her face was a deep crimson, and she was rubbing her thighs together.
“U-…..Um…..”
“I’m fine. Get out of the room right now.”
Despite her expression, Lily’s tone and words were her usual coldness. Maybe the dance really did work.
“Did my dance make you feel excited?”
Lily wouldn’t look me in the eye, but she did lightly hit me in the arm with a clenched fist. I was expecting something more akin to her pushing me down, so this took me aback.
“This…..obviously not!”
Lily didn’t want to acknowledge any kind of change going on in her body, so she’s elected the option of forcefully throwing me out of her room. I heard the lock slamming in place immediately after she had shoved me into the hallway. I don’t know what triggered the change specifically, but I must have struck some kind of chord. I might have gone a bit too far.
I was kicked out of the room, so it would probably be better to come back later to apologize.
♠
Melia met me as soon as I got back to my room.
“Lily-chan! Are you okay?”
Melia would’ve thought the reason I was taken is because I was picked out as the main culprit behind hiding all the noble women’s underwear in that suit of armor. That isn’t the reason at all, but since it’s not like I can tell her the real reason anyway, let’s roll with it.
“I’m okay. There was just a small misunderstanding. Now that I’ve resolved it, shouldn’t the underwear matter be solved?”
“…..I suppose. Lily-chan, you and Lily-san get along well together.”
The look in Melia’s eyes became scary. Those are judgmental eyes. Have I been recognized as a noble’s friend, aka, Melia’s enemy?
Melia slowly closed the distance between us. When she got close, she smelled my hair. It can’t be, do we have similar tastes?
“M-….Melia? What’s wrong?”
“Your hair doesn’t smell like Lily-chan…..it smells sweet. Is this….Lily-san? What were you two doing together?”
Saying that, Melia made me take a seat on mind. She knelt down on the bed right behind me and ran her nose up and down my neck. She was sniffing like a dog, but it didn’t have the same desperate energy as when I do it.
Melia’s huge twin hills were pushed against my back, so I was getting worked up in more ways than one.
Melia calmly pressed me, “Really?” while continuing to sniff me like a detective searching for evidence. Her hands started groping my body. It was a little too intense for some casual skinship and was reaching lewd territory.
“Lily-chan, I want you to tell me the truth. We’re friends right?”
Melia whispered in my ear. Her voice was higher and cuter than Lily’s, but her words felt sticky and clung to my ears.
“T-…..There’s nothing between Lily and me. It’s true. We just talked a little.”
“You don’t use any honorifics with her? Hm? And this…..silver hair. I don’t know anyone with silver hair other than Lily-san, do you?”
After running her hands up my leg, Melia found Lily’s hair underneath my skirt. It must’ve gotten left behind when Lily was running her head against my leg.
Melia was steadily accumulating evidence one step at a time like an interrogation. I could feel her beginning to see through the mysterious relationship sprouting up between me and Lily.
“How far up did Lily-san touch you? Was it here? Or maybe here?”
The hand rubbing my knee moved up my thigh and was slowly making its way further and further up.
“M-…..Melia? Let’s stop? Okay? I’m friends with Lily. She likes dancing too. We share interests, so we talked some in her room. That’s all.”
Melia’s hands stopped, and I heard a small laugh from behind me. I know she moved away from me because I could no longer feel her boobs on my back.
Melia came round in front of me again.
“I’m sorry for doubting you Lily-chan. Tell me about Lily-san! A friend of a friend is also a friend!”
Melia’s face has the same expression as when she greeted me, her usual gentle expression. The look in her eyes and the tone of her voice that she carried while interrogating me were gone.
So, what caused Melia’s switch to be flipped? If she doesn’t like associating with nobles, she wouldn’t talk like she wants to be friends with her too.
“Melia, do you hate nobles?”
“Huh? I’ve never cared one way or another? I know Lily-san looks like a young lady, but she is a commoner right?”
“No, she’s the minister’s daughter. We talked about her when we first met.”
“Eh!? Really!?”
There’s no reason why anyone here wouldn’t know this. Besides talking about it during the unveiling event, it is a common topic of conversation with the other contestants. So how could Melia not know this? There are two sides to Melia, and watching her sleep in bed without a care in the world, I can’t read either one of them.
Experimental Translations 