It was a clear night, the hallways of a mansion were empty and dark, with the only respite amongst such darkness being the moonlight, illuminating the hallways with its brilliance piercing through the windows. No signs of life could be found, almost as if the mansion was deserted, but then...
*Thud*
A low, but characteristic, sound of something blunt hitting a wall resounded through the empty passageways, going after the sound, one would find a door to a room, and next to it, two people could be seen, a boy and a girl, amidst the moonlit darkness, their bodies very close to each other, with only a few centimeters preventing them from touching the other.
The girl was pressed between between the wall and the boy, while he had his right hand pressed against the wall, next to the girl's head, it was a classic kabedon move. The girl's face was red as she looked away, clearly embarrassed and flustered from seeing the boy standing so close to her.
"Princess Atsuko... I want you"
"W-We cannot, S-Sir E-Edward. You are already engaged to someone else"
"I do not care about such things, Princess Atsuko. All I want is you"
"B-But still-!"
As the two figures, revealed to be Atsuko and a strangely handsome Edward, spoke those very soapy opera lines, the moonlight sifted, moving as if some dreamy power was behind it, to properly illuminate Atsuko's blushing face. She attempted to look away from Handsome Edward, but it was futile as Handsome Edward gently held her by the chin and made her look at him right in his eyes.
"Princess Atsuko, I like you"
"! Y-You cannot..."
"But I do, ever since I laid my eyes on you"
Then as Handsome Edward finished saying his soap opera lines, he slowly brought his face closer to Atsuko, she knew for what it was and she had to stop him before it was too late.
"W-Wait, S-Sir Edward. Do not... P-Please wait"
But Handsome Edward didn't stop.
"W-Wait, m-my heart isn't ready... W-Wait..."
The closer his face and lips got, the weaker Atsuko's resistance became, and then she closed her eyes as if she wanted their lips to meet.
<Wait... Wait... ... ...>
Now she didn't even attempt to say her words anymore, as she practically gave herself to her desires.
<Wait...>
One last word inside her mind, their noses were almost touching, and their lips just mere moments from sealing each other, and then...
"WAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!! Haa... Haa... Haa... Haaaaaaa... ... ... Huh?"
With a ragged breath and red cheeks, Atsuko looked around nervously, and all she could see was the room assigned to her at the Neville mansion, being dimly lit by the rising sun, and with only herself inside. Then she slowly put her right hand on her lips, as her blush increased.
"Uuuuuuuuuh..." <This makes it the tenth time already...>
Atsuko had been staying for around two weeks at the Neville Estate, and around ten days had passed since the tea party with Edward, Lysette, and Nanako, the same tea party that Edward caused a rather big misunderstanding.
<... I can't stop thinking about Sir Edward ever since he said that he likes me...>
Ever since, Edward's "honest confession" as Atsuko saw it, she has been unable to think about anyone else but Edward, and the more she kept thinking about him, the more embarrassed she became and the redder her face became. And to make it worse for her, whenever they happened to pass by each other, which was bound to happen practically every day, her thoughts about him would only increase as seeing his gentle smile and demeanor caused her heartbeat to increase, and even make her want to stay close to him.
Having never experienced such a thing before, Atsuko couldn't understand why her emotions and feelings became such a mess just from seeing and thinking about Edward, and why they kept increasing each passing day, or rather it could be said that she was intentionally trying her best to keep herself from realizing her blossoming feelings.
*Knock knock*
"! W-Who is it?"
Then as she was deep into her thoughts, trying to stop thinking about Edward and failing, she heard a knock on her room's door, which caused her to respond in a rather flustered manner.
"Princess, it is me, Mako"
"Ah! Please come in"
Hearing the familiar voice and name of one of her servants, Atsuko permitted her to enter the room, which Mako did so, as she opened the door and then bowed to Atsuko, who was still sitting on the bed. Differently from the servants of the Neville family who wore the more classical-looking maid uniforms, Atsuko's servants wore a more colorful set of uniforms, in what many would call a Japanese style maid uniform, with long hanging sleeves and a shin-length skirt, which helped in differentiating the servants of each group.
"Hm? Are you feeling alright, Princess? Your face is quite red"
"I-I am fine... I-I just a little hot f-from the weather"
"If you say so, Princess. Now, shall we begin changing your clothes?"
"Yes, thank you"
Mako then clapped her hands, causing the few other servants who were part of Atsuko's entourage to enter her room, help her change, and clean her room as well. When Mako began to gently help Atsuko take off her Yukata, she noticed that it was somewhat humid.
"Hm, you worked quite the sweat while you slept. Would you like to wipe your body before changing clothes, Princess?"
"Ah. Yes, I would appreciate it"
Hearing Atsuko's confirmation, Mako told one of the servants to fetch a bucket of water and a towel, while Atsuko blushed slightly more because ever since she started to have those dreams, she would always wake up with her body covered in sweat, and as a consequence she was being forced to have her body wiped every morning, like now.
Still, Atsuko endured this small embarrassment, so that she wouldn't accidentally end up showing or causing something unsightly to Edward, and everyone else in the Neville Estate.
.
.
.
After having changed out of her sleepwear and into a beautiful kimono with the help of her servants, Atsuko was now making her way to the dining room to have breakfast, with Mako, and her guard and guardian, Kenichi, accompanying her.
"... ... ...!"
Then as she was walking down the hallway, she noticed two familiar girls, one with long and slightly wavy blonde hair and the other with long and straight black hair, walking side by side as they appeared to be talking about something. Seeing the two, Atsuko approached them to give them her first greetings of the day
"Good morning to you two, Lady Lysette, Nanako-san"
"! *Nods* Princess Atsuko, Good morning to you too"
"*Bows down* Good morning to you as well, Princess Atsuko"
"Thank you, and by the way, are you two also making your way to have breakfast as well?"
"That is correct, Princess Atsuko"
"*Nods* Yes, Princess Atsuko"
"I see, then would it be possible for me, Mako, and Kenichi to join you two as well?"
"Of course, Princess Atsuko"
"Mm *Nods*"
"Thank you"
With that, the three girls and the two escorts of Atsuko returned on making their way to the dining room, with the girls all having small talks as they walked, but Atsuko had noticed something amiss today... Yes, she could easily see it.
Edward was nowhere to be found. Which was weird to her, since in all the other previous mornings, she would always see him accompanying Lysette and Nanako for breakfast, a constant morning reminder that he was engaged to the two, which in turn caused her to think about him and her chances of getting in a relationship with him as well, that combined was causing all of her sleeping troubles lately.
So Atsuko couldn't help, but be curious about Edward's whereabouts, both from constantly thinking about him lately, but also from a genuine desire to talk to him, even if it was just for giving him a greeting.
"Lady Lysette, Nanako-san, do either of you know where Sir Edward is right now?"
"... I will have to apologize to you, Princess Atsuko, but unfortunately neither I nor Nanako-san, know where Edward-sama is right now. He most likely got up before we could wake him up today"
"Hm? Do you two perhaps, wake him up every day, Lady Lysette?"
"Only sometimes, Edward-sama has the worrying tendency of waking up way too early due to his upbringing, however in these past days, since he does not have to keep working from early in the morning until late into the night, Edward-sama has been oversleeping more frequently. And that is when I and Nanako-san go wake him up"
Lysette seemed a bit more talkative and amused than usual when talking about that with Nanako nodding to her words all the time, as for Atsuko, she maintained her usual business smile, but under it...
"..." <Waking Sir Edward up, it must be a quite nice thing to do... Ah! What am I thinking!? I'm not Sir Edward's fiancée! That's something only they can do to him!>
She was feeling quite flustered from imagining herself attempting to wake Edward up, but she quickly tried to dismiss such an idea, especially when she was walking right beside his two fiancées. As she did so, they all arrived at the dining room, where the table inside, was already set to receive them, and in front of the table, receiving the five with a gentle smile was Edward, with a slightly sleepy look.
"Good morning, Lysette-sama, Nanako"
" "Good morning, Edward-sama" "
The two answered Edward at the same time, and since he hadn't attempted to greet the two like usually did, yet, neither of them looked particularly embarrassed since this was something they were all accustomed to doing already.
"Princess Atsuko, Good morning and it is great to see you again today as well"
"Ah... G-Good morning, Sir Edward"
Atsuko on the other hand, answered Edward with a tone that revealed her flustered feelings from being able to greet him, and from thinking about him just more minutes ago.
"Mako-san, Kenichi-san, Good morning to you two as well"
" "... *respectfully bows down*" "
As for the servant and guard escorting Atsuko, neither of them greeted Edward by saying something, and instead simply responded by bowing down respectfully, which Edward immediately understood what it was for.
"Now shall we all have breakfast?"
At his question, the three girls nodded, while Mako and Kenichi both remained quiet. The four took a seat at the large table with Lysette and Nanako both taking a seat right next to Edward, while Atsuko sat across the table right in front of him. Then shortly after servants from the Neville family walked in as they carried trays with them.
The three girls all made surprised faces at sensing the delightful smell and seeing the perfectly golden-colored circle that resembled some form of bread covered in butter, maple syrup, and honey, then when they all took a bite of it, the pleasant taste of the dish caused them to make delighted expressions at having one of their favorite, and delicious, meal first thing in the morning.
However after a few more bites, they all realized that there was one tiny small problem... and that was that out of everyone eating, one of them was the only one who was showing the weakest reaction to the dish, and the only one who didn't look surprised by the dish was Edward.
And with Lysette, Nanako, and Atsuko, all knowing that Edward knew how to cook, they all looked at him with rather suspicious and judging gazes, to which he responded by looking away in a very guilty manner.
"... Edward-sama, did you wake up early to make this?"
"... ... ... Well, I did end up waking earlier than everyone else, and since I couldn't fall asleep again... I ended up going to the kitchen, to see if there were the ingredients for making pancakes because I wanted to try something..."
Hearing his excuse, Nanako began making an angry, but cute, expression as she pouted her cheeks while looking at him.
"Edward-sama! I already told you, that you're supposed to be using your time here to rest! And even though I agreed to let you help Sir Hamilton with his work, we agreed that you wouldn't do anything in the mornings or at night! But you won't stop trying to find work for yourself even at those hours unless we stop you from doing so!"
As Nanako reprimanded Edward as if she were his wife, all that he answered her with was a troubled expression as he tried to calm her down, while he also tried to find something to distract Nanako with.
"... Erm... Nanako"
"What?"
"... You have some crumbs near your mouth"
"..."
Hearing Edward say that Nanako's cheeks turned slightly pink as she kept her angry glare. Then Edward taking opportunity of Nanako's momentary silence, picked a napkin.
"Here, let me clean it for you"
"... *Nods*"
Refusing to say anything, Nanako simply responded to Edward with a nod, which he followed by getting closer to raise her face by gently placing his hand on her chin and then slowly rubbing the napkin close to Nanako's lips, at where the crumbs were, in turn causing her to show an angry and embarrassed face.
"Nanako, sorry for making you angry, but I just wanted to make something delicious for you all to have this morning"
"... I'm not angry, Edward-sama. I just want to have more time with you..."
"Is that so? Then I will make sure to spend more time with you and Lysette-sama"
"Okay..."
Losing her bravado due to Edward's usual gentleness, Nanako's face slowly went from angry and embarrassed to just embarrassed, from having Edward this close to her and from him helping her clean the crumbs near her mouth.
"And done... ... ..."
"... W-What i-is it, Edw- Mnn!?"
" "!?" "
When Edward took away the napkin from Nanako, what remained in front of him was the cute sight of Nanako blushing and of her pink lips, which caused him to stop moving as he appeared to think about something as he continued to hold Nanako's head up. The few more seconds she remained in that position, caused Nanako's embarrassment to grow now that her anger had subsided, and then before she moved, Edward kissed her on the the lips, surprising her even more.
As for Lysette and Atsuko, they also made surprised faces, but for different reasons. Lysette was from her usual possessiveness and from having Edward's first kiss of the day taken away from her, and Atsuko was from having a first-class view of the kiss between Edward and Nanako.
Seeing that together with the still vivid images of her dream inside her mind, caused her face to turn completely red as her embarrassment skyrocketed, as the kiss scene in her dream between her and Edward, which she stopped before it could happen and was continuing to stop it from going forward any further, was now taking over all of her thoughts, as she replaced the image of Nanako being kissed with herself.
"... Nanako, did I tell you that you're cute today as well?"
"..."
After a few seconds, Edward stopped kissing Nanako, only to follow with his usual sweet words to her, unable to respond as she felt a mix of embarrassment, joy, and anger from being suddenly kissed like that, Nanako just turned away from him, and began stuffing her mouth with pancakes in hopes of making her embarrassment go away. To which Edward, just made a small laugh at seeing Nanako look like a hamster as she ate.
Retreating to a more straight position, Edward noticed Lysette pinching the hems of his clothes as she looked at him with a flushed face and begging eyes. Something that she always did whenever she saw Edward doing something with Nanako that she also wanted him to do with her.
Knowing what she wanted, Edward got closer to Lysette, and gently kissed her on the lips as well, again giving Atsuko another front-row seat view to another kiss on the lips, causing her mind to fall even further into confusion as she was unable to think of anything but her dream kiss with Edward, and as her embarrassment only kept growing her eyes started to spin while steam began to come out from her head.
Again, after a few seconds, Edward stopped kissing Lysette, different from Nanako who had become rather energetic from her embarrassment, had turned meek, shy, and extremely embarrassed as the courage she had mustered to ask Edward for a kiss suddenly vanished, so just like Nanako she also looked away and returned to eating her pancakes as a way to distract her from the embarrassment she was feeling, but instead of stuffing her mouth, she had to eat with small bites.
Edward again returned to a straight position, but with Nanako and Lysette both refusing to look at him for the time being, he ended up looking ahead of him, where Atsuko just so happened to be.
"Princess Atsuko, are you feeling alright? Your face is all red"
"I-I-I-I-I Am f-f-f-f-ine..."
"Is that so? That is good... Ah!"
"Hm!? W-W-What i-i-i-is I-i-i-it, S-Sir E-E-E-Edward?
"You have some crumbs near your mouth"
*Twitches* "NGH!?"
Hearing such words from him, caused Atsuko's body to tremble, and that was because of the current confusion in her mind, she ended up thinking that Edward would attempt to kiss her just like how he had done to Nanako, only creating even more of a mess in her currently messed up imagination. And so, for a few seconds, Atsuko froze completely with a surprised face.
"... Erm... Princess Atsuko?"
"..."
"P-Princess Atsuko?"
"!" *Slams the table as she gets up*
"!?"
"Ah!... E-Erm... S-S-S-S-Sir E-E-E-E-Edward, i-i-i-i-if y-y-you e-e-e-excuse m-m-me, I-I-I m-m-m-must t-t-t-take m-my l-l-leave n-n-n-now!"
"O-Okay?"
Stuttering such words, Atsuko hurriedly fled from the room with a bright red face. Initially, Edward felt confused at this turn of events, but then he felt a chill running down his spine causing him to look at the source of it, which was none other than Kenichi as he made an expression befitting a demon, further causing Edward to feel his body going cold at receiving such killing intent. However, right next to Kenichi, Mako was making quite an amused expression almost as if she saw something really entertaining while giving Edward a thumbs up.
Meanwhile
<Why?... Why?... Why, can't I stop thinking about Edward!?!?!?>
As Atsuko hurriedly made her way back to her assigned room, that was all she could say to herself as she was unable to do anything to stop thinking about Edward and everything that happened just now, both of which were repeating inside her mind over and over again without stopping.