The Damn Family Is Back Again

406. Unresolved Relationship (1)

The long night passed, and morning arrived.

The sound of rain that had been relentlessly drumming against the windows turned into a few scattered droplets trickling down the eaves and the ends of the pillars.

“Umm…”

Harnier awakens to the intense sunlight.

A bright morning.

A day where the dark clouds and raindrops have cleared.

That’s right.

A day has passed.

Yesterday, soaked with rain, has vanished, and the next day has arrived.

Harnier, her eyes barely open, acknowledging the bright sunshine, encountered a sensation wholly unfamiliar.

“Ugh…?!”

A prickling, spreading sensation from her lower back.

Coursing through her body, riding the nerves, this tingling feeling.

It was pain.

At first, she wondered why such pain had come. . .

But then she understood.

“Oh, right… Yesterday I…”

The ache in her back was utterly, painfully obvious.

She had intertwined her body intimately with his.

Stuck together, her back had swayed and collided.

Bending as though about to break.

Her pelvis, constantly twitching and contorted.

Her body, surrendered to the pleasure that washed over her, was only now absorbing the aftershocks.

This tingling sensation, then, was the result of that fervent, intimate night.

But.

Now, another, alien sensation arrived.

‘Ugh, ugh… What do I do!’

Along with the pain, memories of the previous day blossomed anew, Harnier issuing a scream, more internal than heard.

‘How, how could I say such things, kyyaaak…!’

It was embarrassment.

She had felt embarrassed plenty before.

Sometimes endlessly, sometimes shyly concealed.

But this was embarrassment of a different kind entirely.

‘What was I even thinking back then…’

Thinking about it now made her face feel as though it was about to explode.

The memories of yesterday, so vivid.

The way she had begged and pleaded with Carsein to go harder, the way she was so impatient… Every single bit of it returned as pure mortification.

‘But…’

Something more important remained.

No matter how much she had clung to Carsein’s body and uttered words she could barely bring herself to repeat, what stood out even more clearly was the fact that she had spent the night with him.

It wasn’t just her back that tingled.

The marks of his touching, licking, biting, and sucking remained clearly on her body.

Those aching sensations were more intense than the memories of moaning and whimpering in Carsein’s embrace.

All these sensations proved that she had taken a step even closer to him.

That she had spent a day of immense significance.

“Umm.”

“Ah.”

Carsein, who had fallen asleep with his arm around her, stirred and snuggled closer to Harnier.

That rascal, always rattling my heart, was nestled between my breasts, still fast asleep.

All the shame Harnia had felt, it all dissolved, transformed into pure happiness.

“Right. My man’s a sleepyhead.”

Such a diligent person, but once he’s in my arms, he’s utterly still, sleeps in like this.

Falls asleep soundly on my thighs too.

Sometimes, when I hold him, he’ll just close his eyes as if he’d been awake the whole time.

That, too, feels inexplicably good.

Just the fact that I, and only I, have become a sleeping draught for him.

“Then… sleep a little longer. I, I want to indulge myself a bit too.”

She pressed close, hugging him tightly.

With only a single layer of underwear on both top and bottom, their bodies were practically bare, but she didn’t care about such things.

Ah. Just holding him like this is enough.

Just being skin to skin, naked, is enough.

This happy morning, I can have it every day now, can’t I?

From today on, we’ll spend our nights watching each other in the same bed, won’t we?

“And next time, if you want… like yesterday…”

Just imagining it makes me happy.

Before I know it, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

And so, Harnia embraced the deeply sleeping Carsein, deciding to savor this moment a little longer.

The later it got, the better, it seemed.

The more the morning was delayed by sleeping in, the better.

Or rather, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just skip lunch altogether?

The embarrassment had long since transformed into happiness. Indulging this happiness endlessly, she was once again revealing her desire in full.

But.

The time Harnia had to indulge herself didn’t last long.

-This is practically the end here, right?

“…Huh?”

The voice from outside startled Harnia, and she lifted her head.

“What is it?”

Irritation laced her tone. No, she was openly annoyed.

She’d woken up earlier than Carsein for once, ready to indulge herself, and now someone’s voice was disrupting the mood. It was more than a little irritating.

I should just ignore it.

I don’t want to ruin this moment for nothing.

However.

-Well, everything we’ve been preparing is done, isn’t it?

-Clean every nook and cranny well. Set up the outfits, accept and attach the extra mannequins… um.

-Hey. You said we’re just doing light introductions today, not the full customer service.

-Ah, that’s right!

The conversation coming from outside sounded oddly familiar.

And that wasn’t the only thing making her uneasy.

“You’ll have the opening preparations finished by today, right?”

“Of course! We need to start today to get the word out. Alright, alright, everyone listen up? Let’s move!”

Listening to the conversation a little longer, I snapped to attention.

“Wait a minute… this conversation…”

Right before the opening.

A branch about to open its doors.

It was about this very place I’d sought shelter from the rain.

Besides, how could I not recognize that voice?

That distinct voice cutting through my merchant guild’s employees.

I could hardly forget the one who’d been helping me the closest.

“Mi, Mina is here…!”

In short, it was an emergency.

No time to indulge in personal desires. Harnia urgently woke Carsein.

“Uh, um… Carsein. Wake up.”

“Uhm…?”

“Quickly. Hurry and get dressed. Here!”

“Huh…? What’s going on…”

“We need to leave here fast.”

“Didn’t you say this was a branch that hadn’t opened yet?”

“I’ll explain everything later. Just put on… Hup, t, this is underwear… uh, uhhh! Ah, no. That’s not the point right now…!”

Still half-asleep, Carsein was bewildered.

He gazed at Harnia with a dazed look, but figuring he should at least move, he awkwardly tried to sit up…

But… it was already too late.

“Alright. I guess I should start by tidying up here? This place could even be where Master and Miss stay, so I should start with space for a bed…”

-Click.

The door had been opened.

“…Eh?”

“Ah, ah…”

“Oh…”

As Harnia suspected, it was Mina who’d found this place.

Blinking blankly, Mina rubbed her eyes as if she were seeing things.

But it was no illusion.

The real deal. Not a dream, but cold, hard reality.

The corners of Mina’s lips tilted upwards.

Those eyes, like a wildcat’s, turned towards Harnia, and then, nodded.

Her hand covered her mouth, but her grin threatened to reach her ears, impossible to conceal.

“Oh my. How scandalous. Starting the day like this… heeheeheehee.”

“Uh… Ah… Th, th… no. Th, th-that’s not…”

“My apologies! I’ll discreetly make myself scarce. I’ll have all the employees preparing the branch reassigned to other tasks for today! I’ll make sure no one, absolutely no one, comes here! I’ll even postpone the opening date!”

“Wa, wait a minute…! Mi, Mina! No! It’s not like that!”

“Young Master, Young Lady. Fighting!”

-Click.

Harnier, face about to burst, desperately shook her head, denying it, using her hands to negate what wasn’t…

Mina, with a sly smile, departed and didn’t return.

A moment of awkwardness hung in the air.

And within that awkwardness, Carsein sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

“…Is this why you said we had to leave quickly?”

Of all places, it had to be a branch scheduled to open, so who knew someone could find them? They’d escaped the rain, even spent a day thanks to it, and done even better things… but Harnier probably hadn’t imagined being caught like this.

And look at Mina’s sly smile.

It was obvious she was thinking of starting something.

Thinking things like being bold and passionate, or that they started from the morning, and even blatant words that they would delay the opening, moving the employees elsewhere, only proved it.

“Hngh… What to do now…”

Harnier mumbled, face flushed crimson.

“…What ‘what to do’? There’s no need to do anything, isn’t there?”

“Huh…?”

Harnier, burying her face in her hands, peeked out with only her eyes showing, and asked.

“That’s right. There’s no reason to run away, no need to be ashamed. If we’re going to get married.”

“…What is that supposed to mean.”

Harnier shivered, seeing no sign of strangeness on his face.

“Ah, aren’t you ashamed? She definitely misunderstood.”

“There’s nothing to be gained by continuing to think about it. Even if we went to Mina now and explained that it wasn’t like that… we’ve already shown her everything.”

“…”

“Mina isn’t a blabbermouth, either. As your maid, there’s no way she’d carelessly spread rumors anywhere. I know she’s a quick-witted maid. So, roughly by tomorrow, the rumor that the two of us are living together will spread, and I think that’s a good thing.”

“Eep?!”

Carsein laughed, pulling Harnier into a tight embrace.

“I was starting to think about living together, too.”

“Living… together?”

“Yes. If I marry you, we’ll naturally live together, so it’s good if the rumors spread early. Other women won’t swarm around, and families who were glaring with fire in their eyes will subside.”

The flames of shame, burning so intensely, quickly subside.

As if she had never been embarrassed, the flames burn once more, fueled by the good kindling of happiness.

“Living together…”

Living together with Carsein.

A house where she lives alone with the man she loves.

In that house…

It seems her heart rate is already rising.

But dreaming of such a future happiness is for a little later.

“Of course, to do that, we’ll need some preparation, right?”

Harnier, returning to her original state, understood Carsein’s intentions.

In response, Carsein releases Harnier from his embrace.

“Ah, I see. You have somewhere to be. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

A relationship still unsettled.

The time to resolve it had arrived.

*

– Clatter.

Isabella dropped her pen at Heron’s report.

“Carsein came to the ducal residence? Is that, truly so?”

“Yes, Madam. He’s in the drawing room with Lady Harnier… Oh, Madam! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Go, go. Let’s go quickly.”

Action preceding words.

Carsein, who would never come again, who she would never see again, had come of his own accord. It could only mean he had a significant reason.

And if that reason was a request for her, Isabella was determined to grant it, come what may.

Striding swiftly from her office and into the hallway, Isabella met her two daughters at the central point.

“Ah, Sister. There.”

“Flora? Claire?”

“We heard too.”

“…I see.”

They were all the same.

Hearing the news of Carsein’s arrival, they had rushed out.

“…Mother feels the same, doesn’t she?”

“That’s right, dear.”

“Me too, me too!”

Even without a lengthy discussion, the three women were of one mind.

“Let’s go quickly. Carsein must be waiting.”

“Yes! We mustn’t make Brother wait!”

“Indeed. Let’s hurry.”

Anything.

Whatever it may be.

If it was what Carsein desired, they would grant it.

And so, with matching hearts, the three women headed towards the drawing room.