https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/56/
Red
Melia, Dahlia, and I refused to rest on our laurels after completing the request with Don’s ring and continued to take on requests together. We became quite the odd job specialists with the varied chores everyone wanted us to do.
I think Don did something after my little visit too because ever since, I have had a lot more people coming up to me in the slums asking for me to perform non-sexual dances.
My rank on the streets has risen from “Lowest rank” to “Dancer”. It’s nice having people know me by my abilities and job rather than where I rank inside some competition.
This was my life until the time period for the first screening finally came to a close. Today and tomorrow are days off for us contestants to give the administrators time to work. Counting up people’s votes takes time plus they need to wait for all the ones from the suburbs to come in.
Despite it being a day off, Lily still dragged me out of bed to do our morning routine, and when we were finished, she brewed some tea and sat by herself while staring out the window. She really did come across as a fine noble lady–to the point where I found it too hard to take a seat next to her.
While I was lying on the bed staring at Lily, she did eventually return my gaze after she got bored of watching the scenery.
“Bored.”
“Me too.”
“What should we do? This may be the last break you will get in the royal capital.”
Once this break is over, the results for the first screening will be released. Anyone who can’t get in the top 30 of 51 is out of the competition. I have no contacts or hopes of employment in the capital, so I will be returning to the countryside if that happens. Lily suggested making a plan as if she was looking at such a future.
However, I should’ve earned a ton of points from the quests I completed. Bonus votes are given to whatever teams manage score high, so I am confident I will at least be able to escape last place.
I can’t be as confident that it will carry me all the way to 30th place, but if I don’t fully convince myself of it right now, the anxiety is going to cause my stomach to eat itself over the next two days.
“I’ll still be in this room afterwards.”
“Oh ho, is that so? You sure sound confident.”
With a smirk on her face, Lily closed her eyes and savored just the smell of the tea. A boring yet peaceful moment. If only it could last forever.
Lily finished up the tea she had, placed the teacup on the table without any clattering noise, and looked outside again.
“Liffy, let’s head out. Make some memories.”
“Go for a walk?”
“No. I will teach you a game. It is called, ‘Noble Life’.”
Lily smiled and moved next to me on the bed. She isn’t that heavy, but the bed still made a creaking noise as she sank down into the mattress.
“Noble Life….?”
“Correct. Let us begin with makeup. Look. Bags have begun to form because of the lack of sleep.”
Lily faked a worried expression and pointed to the dark circles forming underneath her eyes.
Lily has been forcing me to lick her feet every night now. I’ve reached the point where just that is enough to satisfy me now. That’s why we haven’t been sleeping lately.
Now that I’m thinking about it with a clear mind, I might’ve been trying extra hard to enjoy myself since the day we part could be anytime now. I’d wait as long as possible if Lily told me not to go, but she is going to be a hero. She’ll have more important things to do than spend time with me.
With that being the case, the day I leave the competition is the day we’ll separate. Thinking about it like that, Lily saying we should, “make some memories” is depressing.
“Liffy, come here quickly.”
Lily beckoned me over through the mirror after sitting in front of the dresser. I wasn’t sure what she was doing as I walked over, but when I got there, she simply sat there and stared without moving.
“W-What is it?”
“You are good with makeup are you not? I would like you to do mine as well. I have been doing my own since coming here, but try as I might…. I am merely imitating the maid who always did it for me back home.”
So I’m not the only who can lack confidence. How to apply makeup has been hammered into my head ever since I was a baby because of my family’s job, so she’s coming to the right girl.
“It’s nothing you should worry about. Everything about you is beautiful, so you’ll only need a little bit.”
Lily laughed at me through the mirror.
“Where did you learn how to laud praise on someone? I appreciate it. But today I would like to pay close attention to the little details. That way we can go out together, side by side.”
Lily looked just a little excited as she closed her eyes. I think she wants the end result to be a surprise.
“Okay.”
I’d be lying if I understood exactly what she meant, but at least, I could understand the feelings behind those words. So with a small nod, I picked up a brush and got to work.
♠
“There! All finished!”
I pulled off the sheet we put over the mirror and let Lily see her reflection. She stared at herself, titling her face right and left several times over as if to confirm every single angle she could be seen from. I started worrying that maybe there was something she didn’t like, but that was me just being a worrywart. She was smiling almost immediately afterwards.
“Thank you. I knew you could do it. Well, the quality of the materials you were working with did most of the work I’m sure.”
For a long time now I would’ve hesitated to laugh at something like that, but I’ve gotten good enough at reading Lily’s expressions to know when she’s joking. It’s a relief to know she genuinely likes it.
“We only need to find some suitable clothing for the trip. We will procure proper outfits on site. Shall we head out?”
It felt like Lily had forgot how to stay still as she moved around the room, randomly grabbing a set of plain-looking clothes and throwing them on over her head.
They’re a bit rough looking for a game called ‘Noble Life’. It honestly looks more like we’re about to hang out in the commoners’ market.
Despite that fact, Lily took me out of the dorms and led the way towards the royal castle. The buildings kept getting bigger and fancier as we moved on, so there was no two ways about it–we were headed to a place where nobles hang out.
“Um…. won’t you stand out in those clothes?”
“We both will. Get used to it. Your goal is to stand out to others for the rest of your life.”
After walking for a while, we arrived at a corner building with walls made of glass. Inside you could see rows of finely detailed clothes and richly colored fabrics. Judging by that and the luxurious looking passers-by around us, and I could take a guess at what kind of store this was.
“We’re going clothes shopping?”
“Good guess. In truth, I would rather have had your measurements taken and had something tailored to fit, but we simply do not have the time. We will need to settle for ready-made clothes instead.”
“No…. even the ready-made stuff looks way too expensive for me….”
“Do not worry about the price. I will be paying for it anyway.”
“No no no…. there’s no chance I can make you pay.”
“And you aren’t. We will be playing with my parents’ money. That is a privilege offered to those born to nobility.”
Lily entered the store as she tried convincing me, so I hurriedly followed after her. Thankfully, they aren’t going to charge us a huge amount of money for just walking in.
Inside there was an older woman taking the measurements of someone who I could only guess to be a noble lady. Lily and I both were wearing clothes that didn’t fit in with a place like this, so when we walked in, both of them saw us and frowned.
The old woman immediately after managed to pull off a business smile at least and asked her previous customer to wait a moment as she spoke with us.
“Lily-sama, welcome. Have you been playing around somewhere? You look as if you have taken a tumble.”
“Well…. something like that. I’m looking for some clothes my friend and I could wear together.”
“Is that so? Then please head this way.”
A line of all sorts of clothes were hung up in one side of the building the saleswoman pointed out to us.
“Then I shall take a look around. May I close the curtains in the meantime?”
The old woman smiled and nodded. She clearly knew who Lily was, and Lily seemed used to the shop. She might be a regular here.
Led by Lily’s hand, we headed over to one corner of the store where some different clothes were hanging. Just this small space alone was bigger than our entire room at the dorm.
I can somewhat understand now why Lily chose to wear clothes that were shabbier than normal. She must’ve known how uncomfortable it would have been if I stood out with my normal clothes by myself here. For anyone who doesn’t know me, they might’ve mistaken me for a young lady Lily has decided to have ‘entertain’ her.
As soon as Lily pulled the curtain closed, she shed herself of her clothes and stood there in just her underwear. She makes me jealous every time I see that beautiful body of hers. If she stops her morning routine, is it possible that even Lily could put on weight? I feel like I’d want to see it, but with the way she is happily checking herself out in the mirror, I decide on keeping that particular thought locked in my mind.
Through the mirror, Lily narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I didn’t realize it before, but she could probably see me staring at her through the reflection.
“Envy, jealousy, and lust.1 Did I miss anything?”
“No that pretty much covers it. The lust makes up about 80 percent of it though.”
“At least you are honest. Quickly undress. We do not have time to spare. We must make our decision quickly.”
Lily is someone with two different minds in her. One controls her mouth while the other controls her body.
Her mouth is telling me to hurry up, that we don’t have a whole lot of time. Meanwhile her body has coiled behind me as it slowly unbuttoned my clothes.
“Eighty percent of me feels the same way. But now is not the time.”
As she whispered into my ear, Lily violently threw my clothes to the side as our eyes met in the mirror. I could see myself in my underwear as Lily looks over my shoulder.
She wasn’t even trying to hide the fact she was staring at my body. I guess I can trust that 80 percent as an accurate number.
“Your skin is so pale white. Red would look great on you.”
I spun around where I stood out of surprise since Lily was saying the same thing Illusion Lily was saying in the royal castle’s treasure house.
“Lily-san…. was that really an illusion back there?”
Lily looked incredibly confused. I could just tell she had no idea what I was talking about, and I think her jaw may have literally dropped somewhat.
“Did the me in your dream say something similar? Amazing. If I said the same thing as the one you imagined, I can only think you managed to create a faithful reproduction.”
There were a few points with the sadism that weren’t that faithful, but besides that, things were pretty normal. I already know quite a bit about Lily and have a fairly complete picture of her in my mind. That might naturally happen when you’re sharing a room and keeping such ‘close’ physical contact with each other, but it shows just how absorbed I’ve become of Lily.
“Well, I care little for what happened in a dream. The important thing is that I had the thought here, in reality. Shall we find a nice red for you to wear?”
Lily began sorting through the hanging clothes, enjoying the feeling of shopping around with a friend.
When I’m with Lily, there is always this small bit of anxiety and admiration that eats away at the edge of my mind. It’s hard to just relax when you heart is always pounding and you’re always trying to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.
But, in this one moment, it didn’t matter what we talked about. I could feel myself naturally smile as a sense of peace washed over me.
1. In Japanese, these two ideas of envy and jealousy are slightly different. One is focused on wanting what someone has while the other is focused on the resentment that someone has something you don’t.
Experimental Translations 