Chapter 28: The Scent
"Depends on the situation. It could also be Stelle, Mikasa, 2B, Violet—but it absolutely, definitely CANNOT be Morgan!"
"Eikou-san, aren't you going to invite me in?"
She had already knocked a few times without getting a response, so she spoke again.
Though her tone was gentle, it was clearly a final warning.
Before she could barge in, Eikou didn't even think—he immediately threw on his clothes, yanked his collar high to cover the hickey on his collarbone, and hurried to open the door.
He carefully cracked it just wide enough to poke his head out, trying to prevent her from discovering that there was another woman inside.
"What's the matter, Ishikawa Yui?" he asked.
"Are you still not sober?"
Morgan spoke coldly.
"I wish I weren't…"
"I suppose I can understand how you feel. The party last night got pretty wild, but it was fun—a precious memory worth remembering."
"I just want to forget it entirely…"
Eikou let out a long sigh.
"Actually, I already have forgotten everything. No matter how hard I try, I can't remember a thing."
Morgan didn't quite understand the pitiful tone in his voice, but she did sharply notice the panicked way he avoided her eyes, the strange behavior of only opening the door a crack, and...
"You smell like another woman's perfume. What's that about?"
His heart instantly clenched.
If the woman inside the room were discovered by Morgan, what would happen?
["The death of Eikou."]Or another ending: ["A gruesome, unwatchable death of Eikou."]
Dying like that would be way too lame!
Maybe it's better to just come clean?
Tell her that as soon as he woke up, he found a hickey on his collarbone, and there was a dominatrix onee-san in a skintight bondage-style outfit sleeping next to him, and claim he was totally innocent... He could say that—but would she believe it?
Or maybe it was safer to just bluff his way through.
[You have activated the skill "High-Speed Divine Words B"]
[Check successful!]
[You attempt to convince the other party that you were completely innocent last night.]
"I see… well, it was a party, and you kept drinking even after I passed out. It's not that unusual to pick up someone else's scent."
Morgan gave a slight nod, reluctantly accepting the explanation.
Seeing that her suspicion had been dispelled, Eikou let out a small sigh of relief. But right after, he became aware of a much bigger problem.
Morgan had the skill Fairy Eyes—a power that allowed her to see through things.
In other words, even if she didn't step inside the room, she could still perceive what was happening within. Blocking her at the door had only ever been symbolic.
The fact that nothing had been exposed until now simply meant she hadn't activated her ability yet.
"Morgan-san, what brings you here?" he asked, discreetly wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Oh, nothing. I just thought it was a rare opportunity, so I wanted to sit with you in your room for a bit."
"Sit for a bit? How about we head down to the lounge? The sofas there are super comfy."
"You misheard me. I said 'do it for a bit.'"Queen Morgan replied calmly, "It's just the two of us here, after all. No one will get in the way."
Do it for a bit… what exactly are you planning to do in my room?
Also, it's not just the two of us in here! What, is she planning to let Carmilla join our play session too?! That would be disastrous in every possible way!
Absolutely cannot let her into the room!
But refusing outright would raise suspicion. If she used Fairy Eyes even once, this fanfic would be over.
Therefore, he needed to please Morgan just enough to make her leave of her own will—without suspecting a thing.
Eikou inhaled deeply and slowly stepped out of the room. Then, circling behind Morgan so she would turn her head and focus completely on him.
"What is it, Eikou-san?"
"Morgan."
Eikou spoke seriously:
"I don't want to rush into things. How about… we start with dating first?"
Morgan's beautiful blue eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then she gazed into him deeply, starlight flickering in her icy pupils.
"Be ready, Morgan. Your break's coming up soon, right? Let's go somewhere far, just the two of us. Two days and two nights. What do you think?"
"…Anywhere I want?"
"You decide everything," Eikou said firmly, silently praying it wouldn't involve staying inside a room for two days straight.
"Very well. I understand how you feel now."
Morgan quickly composed herself, as though slipping back on the icy mask of a queen. Only her tone softened ever so slightly.
"Then I'll look forward to our next vacation. You'd better prepare properly."
"I will."
Eikou nodded.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Morgan pulled him into a tight embrace.
Feeling the soft, plump elasticity of her body and the warm scent clinging to her, Eikou's limbs went stiff.
Morgan's face was now so close that her long lashes nearly brushed against his neck.
From this angle… she could easily spot the hickey on his collarbone!
"Is something wrong…?" Eikou froze.
"Nothing," she murmured."It's just—the scent of another woman on you really pisses me off. So I wanted to mask it… with my own."
Is this level of possessiveness really necessary…?
Morgan held him like that for a long time, making Eikou's heart race wildly—half from the beauty in his arms, and half from panic that she'd spot the damn hickey.
Eventually, Morgan finally let go, turning away with a satisfied smile and walking off.
The sharp, echoing clack of her high heels rang crisply across the smooth floor.
Only then did Eikou breathe a full sigh of relief.
Whoosh!
He dashed back into the room and slammed the door shut.
His instincts screamed—RUN NOW, don't even THINK.
But looking at the woman sleeping soundly on the bed, then glancing at the class time, Eikou hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he couldn't just pretend nothing happened.
He casually picked up a piece of paper, wrote down his contact information, and placed it on the bedside table.
Even if he couldn't clearly remember what had happened, as a man, in a situation like this he couldn't just play dumb and run away.
Once Carmilla woke up, if she wanted to contact him, she definitely would. At that point, he would ask her clearly about the situation before deciding what to do next.
[Faced with this unexpected situation, you have acquired a new skill: "Disaster With Women C."]
["Disaster With Women C": You become more prone to getting involved in social troubles caused by women, judgments from women will inflict more emotional damage on you, but the difficulty of judging women's situations is slightly reduced.]
What the hell is this, suddenly gaining such a bizarre skill—did he just unlock some weird hidden achievement or something?!
In short, he had just obtained a kind of "special attack on women," but women also had "special attack" skills that dealt damage to him too?
Damn it, he really wanted to write down that bastard Tristan's contact info on that note instead!
The specific situation wasn't clear, but "Instinct C" was telling him—this absolutely had something to do with Tristan.