NOVEL NEXT Book 17: Chapter SS
Extra Story: The Prickly Girl Wants to Be Spoiled Too
It was a little after Souma and his group returned from the Demon Lord’s Domain to the Kingdom.
Around this time, the two countries were sorting out how they were going to announce the complete liberation of the Demon Lord’s Domain as the result of a joint operation between the Kingdom of Friedonia and the Great Tiger Empire. Even with the calamity passed, there was the shadow of a new battle on the horizon—but the continent was at peace for the time being.
A group of five friends from their days at the Royal Academy gathered for the first time in a while...
“Okay, Ichiha. Say ‘Ahh.’”
“A-Ahh.”
Tomoe offered a spoonful of pudding to Ichiha, who hesitantly ate it. Tomoe was beaming, and Ichiha didn’t seem to mind the gesture. It was Yuriga, Lucy, and Velza who looked like they were going to be sick at this sugary-sweet display of affection. They were at the parlor run by Lucy’s family enjoying a spot of tea. Their paths had parted ways after graduation, so it had been hard to get the whole gang back together since.
“Look, Ichiha. This eclair is tasty too.”
“No, it’s clearly too big for—mmph!”
Ichiha got his cheeks stuffed full of eclair.
“Hey, cut it out, you two!” Yuriga shouted, unable to take any more of this. “Do that when you’re on your own! Think how I feel, having to watch that lovey-dovey nonsense!”
“Aww. But we’re engaged, you know?” Tomoe said with a chuckle, earning wry smiles from Lucy and Velza.
“So you’re one of those, Tomie. You’ll act as sweet as ya think ya can get away with, is that it? Ya musta had a lotta stress built up durin’ the time it took you two to finally get together, huh?”
“It was a long, long courtship, after all. Ichiha, do try to accept all of her love.”
“Gulp... Ah ha ha... Okay.”
Ichiha swallowed his eclair and then nodded with a troubled laugh. But Yuriga was having none of it.
“That doesn’t mean you can just do this stuff anywhere! Consider who’s watching...”
“Oh, Ichiha. There’s a little cream on your cheek.”
“Hey, listen to me!”
Tomoe put her hands on the table and leaned in, paying no mind whatsoever to Yuriga’s complaints. Then, putting one hand on the opposite cheek, she brought her face up close and...
“Mmm.” (Slurp!)
“Whah?!”
“T-Tomoe?!”
She stuck her little tongue out and licked the cream off his cheek. Lucy and Velza were both blushing.
“Wow! Ya sure are forward, Tomie.”
“I think it’s lovely... Maybe I’ll try it myself with Hal.”
As for Yuriga, her brain seemed to pause for a moment, then she came to her senses and got really mad.
“I told you to consider where you are! Look, you’ve got Ichiha freezing up!”
“Heh heh, you jealous, Yuriga?”
“No one said I was!”
“Well, if you’re jealous, why don’t you go flirt with Big Brother?”
“...!”
When Tomoe said that, Yuriga imagined doing what she had just witnessed with Souma, and her face suddenly turned red.
Tomoe smirked. “He’s your husband, after all. Why not let him spoil you?”
“Sh-Shut up! You’re such a little brat!”
“Little? I’m about the same height as you now, actually.”
“Shut up! Shut! Up! I’m going home!”
Yuriga rose from her seat and indignantly stormed off back to the castle. Ichiha sighed when he saw the grin on Tomoe’s face as she watched her go.
“Tomoe... Was that intentional?”
“Hey, if I didn’t do something, they were never going to make any progress.” Tomoe shrugged, not trying to deny it. “It’s a political marriage, and Yuriga’s in a delicate position. Both she and Big Brother tend to hold back a little too much. They’re married, so don’t you think having a relationship like that’s a little...sad? Big Brother is supposed to be the closest person to her, and she ought to be able to let him spoil her.”
“Oh, so that’s why you were getting her all fired up,” Velza said, sounding impressed.
“That’s why they made you their chamberlain, huh? You’re always thinkin’ about how to help the royals get along.” Lucy agreed.
Tomoe chuckled to herself. “Well, it was half because I wanted to show off how in love Ichiha and I are.”
What a little devil!
The three of them shuddered at Tomoe’s hidden potential.
◇ ◇ ◇
That night, I was in the governmental affairs office, working on some simple documents that were too minor to bother putting off until tomorrow, when there came a timid knock at the door.
“Come in,” I said.
Yuriga entered, and she was hanging her head and playing with her hands.
“What’s up, Yuriga?”
“Nothing... It’s no big deal, I don’t really need anything, but...”
For having no business here, she sure wasn’t in any hurry to leave. She just stood there, fidgeting awkwardly. I thought it was strange, but when I turned back to my paperwork...
“P-Pardon me.”
Suddenly, Yuriga climbed up to sit on my lap. Yuriga might not have been as small as Naden, but she was still petite, so she fit there neatly. The wings growing out of her back brushed my arms and it really tickled. Huh? What’s going on here?
“Um, I’m still trying to get some work done.”
“Am I in the way...?” Yuriga asked, turning her head to look at me with upturned eyes. It was kinda cute.
“Nah... You’re light, so it’s not that hard to work around you.”
“Okay... Let me stay like this for a bit then. You’re my husband, so it’s fine, right?”
“Uhh, okay. Sure.”
She was like a kitten, nibbling at you when it wanted something. Does she feel the need to be spoiled today?
I continued working at my desk with Yuriga on my lap for a while.