The Damn Family Is Back Again

409. Unresolved Relationship (4)

Harnia, who had been sulking just a moment ago, suddenly sighed, and then began to gather the dishes.

“All done?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…”

“I’ll clear this away then.”

-Clink. Clink.

Watching her clear the table, seemingly back to normal, I sank into thought.

‘Hmm… something’s definitely up.’

It bothered me. We’d just had a wonderful dinner… but somehow the ending felt… off.

-Tch. Dummy.

That last little pout of Harnié’s… it left a lingering unease.

After switching my gaze between Harnié and the tabletop for a moment, I came to a decision.

‘No, this won’t do. I need to figure this out.’

No grand reasons, no concrete evidence, just a feeling that I had to.

I wracked my brain, wondering if I’d missed something.

To start, the atmosphere had been wonderful until just then. My reactions, too, I thought were spot-on.

I’d played along with her transparent lie about bringing the food because I must be hungry, and happily ate what she’d brought for my worn-out self.

Complimenting my girlfriend on her improving skills from all that practice also felt appropriate, and praising the taste twice didn’t seem to raise any flags.

And the decision to share rather than eat it all myself had felt like a natural progression.

Watching us feed each other, anyone would think we were a couple lost in a sweet, romantic haze.

So, the early supper had concluded perfectly well.

Except for that one moment.

When Harnié called me a fool.

‘…Was it when she wiped my face with her handkerchief?’

That’s the only time I can think of where something could have happened.

…But why? Nothing happened, right? Just a simple wipe of a smudge, that’s all?

No. I must have missed something.

I mulled it over.

‘The touch itself… I couldn’t have been too rough, could I?’

…Impossible.

She’s someone who’d definitely say if she didn’t like it.

Having dealt with her fair share of persistent guys, she’d set clear boundaries.

‘Was there something on the handkerchief?’

If something was stuck to it, that could have been unpleasant.

But no? Looking at the handkerchief again, there’s nothing. Just a clean, blank square of fabric.

‘Did I wipe it off too late…?’

Admittedly, I had noticed it a while before, so there’s a point to that…

But then why the ‘fool’ remark? It doesn’t make sense that she’d dislike being wiped clean.

I wracked my brains trying to figure it out, but nothing came to me from my perspective.

…So, shifting my perspective slightly, a strange feeling emerged.

‘Could it be…that she wanted something more than just a wipe?’

What if she wanted something else besides a simple cleaning?

If the problem wasn’t the handkerchief, but some other action she wanted?

What if the slightly awkward placement of the cream was connected to it all?

What if, taking all of that into consideration, this was all a calculated move?

Then, that thing called reason whispered a question.

Come on, that’s ridiculous, isn’t it? What else can you do besides wipe someone’s cheek when they have something on it? Tell them it’s there? Point at it with your finger? Wiping it off is more efficient and normal, isn’t it? Who’d be idiotic enough to orchestrate that, deliberately create an awkward situation and then smudge their own face with cream?

It’s true, when laid out like that, it’s all perfectly logical.

Coldly considered, you might even wonder why anyone would bother with such a thing.

But, if we abandon such things, if we erase the realms of logic and concept and delve into an endlessly abstract domain, a completely different answer emerges.

-W-what are you even saying!

-Y-you really are…!

-Suddenly what? Hmph.

I never quite understood the reason, but there were times when Harnier’s attitude would abruptly shift.

Those were definitely the times when I’d unknowingly screwed something up.

…Since things invariably ended with a hand-shaped bruise on my back.

Anyway, after accumulating such experiences, I began to see it.

That her reaction was a perfect replica of those times.

Turning my head to watch her clearing the dishes, I knew the situation was no different.

-I told you, don’t say anything!

The traces of her desperately, awkwardly revealing her inner thoughts, blushing with boundless shyness.

-U-um… Karsein.

-Aren’t you hungry?

-We went all over the place today. I thought you might be hungry, so I prepared a little something…

-I already ate, so I’m fine… b-but I thought, th-that you might be hungry!

-S-say, ahh…

“…”

-Tch. Idiot.

Only now did the reaction I’d seen, accompanied by that final whisper, truly resonate.

Her expression, somehow sulky.

Her eyelids, slightly lowered as if something hadn’t been fully satisfied.

Even the barely perceptible puffiness of her cheeks.

That was… dissatisfaction.

‘Ha, seriously. That’s what it was?’

The corner of my mouth twitched involuntarily.

I couldn’t deny it even if I had the slightest inclination to do so, now that we’d reached this point, even though I harbored some doubts.

Harnier had noticed the unmet desire. Stemming from the act of wiping the cream from her cheek.

In that case… besides wiping away the cream, what else did she want?

I had a vague understanding.

‘This is driving me insane.’

Why does she only ever do things that are so utterly endearing?

My body rose almost of its own volition in response to the transparently revealed intent.

*

The early dinner was over.

The fact that the basket of food had been emptied was proof enough that it had been a delightful meal.

The taste, the atmosphere, the care.

Everything had been well-received and accomplished as intended.

But there was only one thing that hadn’t been fulfilled.

The thing Harnier had desired the most.

‘Haa.’

Harnie started moving the dishes, ready to wash them.

Inwardly, she was releasing a series of small sighs, each heavy with disappointment.

‘Ruined…’

It was all a plan.

A scheme born from pure, unadulterated greed: to satisfy her desires through a little skinship with Carsein.

Though they’d spent a passionate night together just the previous day, she realized it had acted as a fuse, igniting a noticeable increase in her body’s demands for Carsein.

Holding hands, offering her thigh, leaning on his shoulder—anything was fine.

She wanted this sweet time, intertwined with Carsein in any way possible, to stretch on longer.

But today, there was no time to savor the butterflies those touches created.

She’d been caught by Mina in the morning, forcing a hasty escape.

Then, after heading to the Duke’s residence, Carsein, now understanding what awaited him, had to journey to the Imperial Palace alone, leaving little room for skinship.

There *was* contact, but between embarrassing situations and distractions, she hadn’t met her quota at all.

And so, waiting for Carsein with that awfully empty feeling… her craving had only intensified.

It was then she began to seriously devise a plan.

A rock-solid one. A plan to satiate her desires with this man called Carsein.

Carsein was completely unaware of the fact that he’d received the title of Grand Duke from the Imperial Family. Even if he knew he’d received territory, he didn’t seem to think it could be something so grand.

Therefore, she could anticipate a reaction of great surprise when he found out.

Surely he would. She knew Carsein had worn a weary expression and tuned out most of the announcement at the Imperial Palace.

Probably, Carsein would return utterly drained after receiving the news that he was to become a Grand Duke, along with territories he never imagined.

Then this would be like the time she carefully handed him Valentine’s chocolate on the terrace. Wasn’t this a situation where the preparations were being made to welcome her *man*?

A golden opportunity.

In every way.

‘But why is it turning out like this…!’

Harnie puffed out her cheeks, sulking.

A chance to hold hands? It existed. But, her desire overflowed, and she wouldn’t be satisfied with just that. So, she passed.

A chance to offer her thigh? It existed. But, she kept wanting more, so she let that chance slip away.

A chance to lean on his shoulder? She passed on that too.

She even passed on the chance for a sneaky indirect kiss, and even the chance to embrace him when he returned.

All for one thing.

For a greater yearning: to kiss him.

It’s only natural that someone might get something on their face while eating. So, couldn’t she intentionally show him a smudge on her lips?

However, she overlooked the most important fact.

This man was frustratingly oblivious to such things, failing to notice.

Thanks to that, all she got was a wiping with a handkerchief…

For all the time spent strategically foregoing opportunities to touch Carsein and fulfill her desires, the result was terribly meager.

‘After all, will something like this not work with Carsein…?‘

Just as she was lamenting and about to wash the dishes,

A large hand appeared from behind and took the dishes from her.

“Are you going to keep doing this. Huh?”

“Yes… yes?”

Startled, she spun around, only to realize Karsein was already right behind her. She quickly whipped her head back forward.

‘W-what? What is it?’

Then, she felt his breath growing steadily closer.

‘It’s… it’s not just my imagination…’

He was definitely getting closer. Definitely.

-Thump. Thump.

Her heart, which had been shrunken by the earlier events, leaped to life.

“At first, I didn’t really notice, but now that I do, it’s quite vexing, isn’t it?”

“What are you…”

-Thump!

One step closer.

His arms wrapped around her waist.

“You even made me food to eat. Then I should do the dishes.”

“No. There’s really no need for you to do that…”

“No way. I have to do it to get it completely clean.”

With those words, he tilted his head slightly from behind, and his lips sealed hers for a brief moment.

Karsein, who precisely remembered the spot of cream she’d deliberately left on the corner of her mouth, leaned in even further, focusing on that spot.

“You had something here. I have to clean it properly, you see?”

“…!”

He wasn’t talking about dishes.

Not about the plates that had held the food.

This time, what he was cleaning was quite different.

*

‘So, I was right.’

Her pouty lips had disappeared, pulled inwards.

The purple pupils, which had been filled with a look of disappointment only a moment ago, had changed.

A tingle ran through her body.

Lips that didn’t reject.

Even her reaction of gradually accepting his back hug and closing her eyes.

This was the answer.

He’d been half expecting it, but he never imagined it would be like this.

He might have never known, perhaps for his entire life.

Because there were no past exam questions for this kind of thing, no formulas, and not many ways to learn it in life.

You couldn’t arrive at that conclusion unless you thought deeply about it.

The answer: that Harnie had deliberately left cream on her mouth as a signal for him to kiss her.

But…

It seemed Harnie wasn’t satisfied yet.

“It still doesn’t feel properly cleaned…”

She was now actively clinging to him, wanting an even more intense kiss.

“Shouldn’t we… wipe it clean? All the way inside…”

All the way inside, huh.

She was right. It needed to be wiped clean.

Every nook and cranny, without a single spot missed, it had to be cleansed.