...
Frown... frown.... frown again.
Mejiro McQueen opened her eyes and abruptly sat up in bed. The familiar surroundings let her relax, and she slowly exhaled.
"How... did I get home?"
She rubbed her temples. Last night's memories rose and fell in her mind—occasionally flashing a few blurry frames like a silent film.
"How how how how... how could something like that happen!"
Mejiro McQueen covered her flushed cheeks and burrowed back into the blankets.
She'd gone crazy... completely crazy!!!
How could she have said those things to Torena-san!?
Like an injured wildcat, Mejiro McQueen curled her tense body under the continuous stinging pain from her burning wound.
One hand clutched the sheet tightly, wrinkling the fabric into a mess—as if wringing every shameful scene from last night into those twisted folds.
The remaining air in the blanket was gradually overtaken by her hot breaths. Only when it became suffocating did Mejiro McQueen throw off the covers, gasping greedily for the cool air like a survivor.
Her body eased, but her heart still burned like a branding iron.
Oh god... how could she have said those words, done those things...
"Torena-san carried me on his back last night... and all that 'Your Highness, please climb on' stuff..." Mejiro McQueen stared at the ceiling, looking utterly lifeless.
She rested her hand on her forehead and gazed like that for a long time.
The room was so quiet a pin drop could be heard—only Mejiro McQueen's faint breathing sounded.
"Torena-san carried me on his back at the end, and the words he said to me."
Among the thousands of scorching triggers, Mejiro McQueen finally grasped one trace of cool relief—enough to bring her body back to normal.
She recalled every word Lucian had said to her yesterday, Tokai Teio's concern, and Gold Ship's comfort earlier. The last bit of gloom in her heart vanished completely.
Having adjusted her mood, Mejiro McQueen got up again. After overthinking for so long, a thin layer of sweat had formed on her back.
Turning her head, she spotted the desserts Lucian had left on the table.
Growl— Her little tummy whined in perfect cooperation.
Mejiro McQueen slowly approached, picked one up, and put it in her mouth.
Even after a night, the taste was just as good.
"Dessert..." Mejiro McQueen's chewing slowed. Because in her mind appeared the scene of last night—when she had nibbled Lucian's earlobe.
She still remembered him teasing whether she hadn't bitten a pacifier enough as a kid... But whatever—too many embarrassing things had already happened; one more didn't matter.
Gulp. The chewed dessert slid down her throat with difficulty.
"Dessert." Mejiro McQueen repeated it again. Her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth, as if savoring some lingering sweetness that hadn't faded.
But right now her lips held nothing—only the hazy memory haunting her mind: the light graze of teeth over Lucian's earlobe, warm, soft.
Mejiro McQueen swallowed. With a subtle shiver, she replayed the scene again and again.
More delicious than any dessert she had ever tasted.
It seemed... this was the "dessert" she was truly chewing on right now.
...
Meanwhile, Lucian—who still didn't know Mejiro McQueen had woken up—finally opened his sleepy eyes.
He too stared at the ceiling, zoning out quietly for a while.
A small mountain formed by Silence Suzuka, Seiun Sky, and Special Week pressed down on him.
Silence Suzuka had her arms wrapped around Lucian's neck—she still loved sleeping completely draped over him.
Three different warm, comforting scents played freely around his nose.
Unable to resist, Lucian turned his head, captured Seiun Sky's small lips, and pinched her nose with his hand.
In that breathless kiss, Seiun Sky—who couldn't hold it—jerked awake. "Mmm... Trainer..."
She pressed closer to Lucian, but one leg draped over Silence Suzuka, accidentally waking her too.
"Lucian-kun, good morning."
After opening her eyes, Silence Suzuka shifted upward—like a nocturnal creature crawling forward—until she buried herself in Lucian's neck, as if returning to the coziest nest.
She inhaled Lucian's thick, reassuring scent. Her dry lips brushed his neck skin intentionally yet unintentionally, as though trying to feel his presence through the faint contact.
"How did you all wake up at once?" Lucian released Seiun Sky, who gasped for air.
But from her reluctant expression, she seemed to prefer that earlier "torture."
"Seiun, why'd you put your leg on me?" Silence Suzuka asked.
"I wanted to put it on the Trainer—Suzuka was just in the way~" Seiun Sky yawned long, resting her chin on Lucian's shoulder. "Trainer, my chest is broader than Suzuka's, you know~"
Silence Suzuka clenched her fist. "Seiun, back when we trained hitting sandbags, I could flatten one with a single punch."
"Trainer, Suzuka's jealous—she's threatening me~ Mmm... Trainer will protect me, right?"
"You two were messing around all night and still aren't done? You just woke up and you're already at it." Lucian said helplessly, then kissed each of them once on the lips.
At that moment, heavier breathing broke the trio's atmosphere.
They all turned together—toward Special Week nearby. At some point she had opened her mouth and started breathing through it.
"Spe-chan's sleeping really soundly. We've been talking for ages and she's still out." Lucian laughed.
"Lucian-kun, you're the main culprit—don't you know why she's so exhausted?"
Silence Suzuka looked at Special Week with concern. When she turned to Lucian, there was a hint of standing up for her. "You can't be that rough with Spe-chan... You should let her rest more sometimes too."
For once, Seiun Sky agreed with Suzuka. "Exactly, exactly. Trainer can do it to me, but even sweet soft Spe-chan gets pinched~"
She pointed at the faint marks on Special Week's exposed neck. "You can still see some blurry traces here."
"This... Sorry, I always lose control and end up bullying Spe-chan too much." Lucian looked a bit embarrassed. "Let her rest longer. I'm going to take a shower first—you two?"
"I'll shower too."
"Me too~"
"Mm, perfect. After we finish and Spe-chan wakes up, there's something I want to talk to you all about."
...