Master and Slaves

"Um, it’s me, Cathy. May I bother you for a little while?"

"Ah, ah, sure. Come in."

The door opened hesitantly, and Cathy peeked in.

She entered with her head tilted, looking around the room, and was wearing a white robe.

Normally, women sleep naked or in underwear, so if they wander around the house for some reason, they wear a robe. Cathy was no exception... but the sight of her fully covered in a pure white robe made me imagine a teru-teru bozu doll.

"Um, I hope I’m not intruding?"

She asked while looking down and using upward glances.

...She’s so cute.

"Ah, Sir Hiroyuki?"

Cathy tilted her head cutely when she noticed me staring blankly.

"Ah, ah, no, it’s fine. I wasn’t sleepy yet, so it’s okay."

"Ufufu."

I was trying to make an excuse, but she laughed at me.

Well, the mood had turned friendly after all.

"Um, I wanted to talk... or rather, I have a request..."

"Ah, ah, about yesterday’s lunch?"

"Eh? Ah, no, um..."

"Sorry. That was insensitive. I’m seriously regretting it. Please forgive me."

I apologized before Cathy could get mad.

That was from my experience.

"Eh? W-Why would you apologize, Sir Hiroyuki? You cherish Tiria, so... more than that, I... um..."

It seemed I had misunderstood.

"Ah... what’s wrong?"

"Um... I-I, Hiroyuki-sama..."

Cathy put both hands on my shoulders and slipped off the robe hanging there.

The robe slid down her skin against gravity and fell to the floor.

Cathy stood there, hugging herself, face bright red and looking down shyly, completely naked.

"Ah..."

Cathy’s pure white body, illuminated by the glowing orbs, was mysterious. I couldn’t help but stare.

Cathy felt my gaze, slowly put her hands behind her back to cover her chest.

"H-Hiroyuki-sama... I-I want you to make me your Dule!"

Cathy bowed her head to me...

Huh?

What did she just say?

"Cathy? Um, sorry, say it one more time."

"Ah, um, I-I want you to... make me your Dule..."

Cathy’s voice grew smaller.

"...Cathy. Look at me."

"Y-Yes."

Cathy raised her head.

Cathy’s eyes trembled.

"Cathy, do you understand what it means to become a Dule?"

Of course she would if she was looking at Tiria.

To follow her master at all costs, even in such embarrassing situations.

Even A-Dule (Helene) was far better than that, but she would still be a slave until I died.

She had to devote herself to others while her own will was sealed.

Did Cathy understand that?

"Cathy. Becoming a Dule requires a lot of resolve. Helene does too, and Tiria does too. So..."

"If it’s resolve... then..."

"Hm?"

"Resolve is there! I wouldn’t dress like this otherwise!"

Of course.

A naked man’s room — of course she has resolve.

"But why me? Why me?"

"Because I like you... I fell in love with you even though I shouldn’t...."

I was bewildered by the sudden confession.

"Well, I’m really happy, but... then you should be my lover, not a Dule. Wait, hold on."

First, I picked up the robe Cathy had been wearing and handed it to her.

"For now, put this on and calm down. I’ll calm down too."

I smiled at Cathy and took a deep breath — sū, hā.

"Cathy, try it."

"Y-Yes."

She put on the robe, spread her arms, took a deep breath, and clapped her hands to exhale.

It was a bit different, but fine.

"Are you calmer?"

"Yes."

"Alright, sit here."

I sat on the bed and patted the right side.

"Ah, excuse me."

Cathy sat beside me on the right.

"Alright, tell me the whole story."

"Y-Yes. Um, since the time I was serving Sir Hiroyuki at the castle, I... I had feelings for you like that. I’ve felt the same throughout this journey, but when I think about Tiria-san... and I’m a commoner from the countryside and a maid... Sir Hiroyuki is like a person above the clouds... I’m honored just to serve you, so I’ve been holding back for so long..."

Confessions like this always make me embarrassed.

"S-So, at lunch yesterday, seeing Tiria sitting on your lap was so envy... envy... snf... uuu..."

Cathy got choked up and started crying.

What should I do?

How should I answer?

For now, I pulled Cathy close with my right arm and pressed her against my chest.

"Cathy, I understand your feelings. I’m really happy. But you should still not become a Dule."

"Hiroyuki-sama..."

Cathy sniffled and looked up at me.

"Could you give me a little time?"

I had Tiria, so I couldn’t answer right away.

"Let me think. Can you wait a little longer?"

"...Yes."

Cathy kept staring at my face and waiting.

"...Um, I won’t answer immediately, so please wait two or three days?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. I’m sorry."

She looked down shyly.

I really had misunderstood.

It was my fault for saying something that could cause misunderstandings...

"Well, it’s late at night."

"Ah, yes. I see. Then I’ll go back."

"Yeah."

Cathy stood up and walked to the door.

When she opened it, she turned back with just her face visible.

"Good night, Sir Hiroyuki."

"Good night, Cathy."

Cathy bowed, smiled, and slowly closed the door with obvious reluctance.

"Daaa~."

I threw myself backward onto the bed and yelled.

I guess she was really nervous.

Of course she would be.

If she confessed so seriously, I had to respond seriously too.

But what should I do?

Yuki wasn’t here in this world, and Tiria was a Dule, so I was alone.

I could date Cathy, though...

What should I really do...?

...

The next day, I woke up to the girls’ laughter from outside the room.

I had slept poorly yesterday, so I wanted to sleep longer...

I put on my glasses and clothes, opened the door.

Three women were gathered around the table, laughing without noticing me.

"So, what did Sir Hiroyuki say?"

"He said he needed some time to think."

"I see. ...So what if he said okay?"

"Eh, um, of course..."

Cathy turned bright red and looked down.

"Auu auu auu..."

Tiria flapped her mouth in panic.

"What are you going to do~? What are you going to do~?"

Helene was grinning wickedly.

What kind of chaos is this?

"Cough, good morning."

"""Kyaa!"""

The three of us jumped up in surprise when I greeted them.

"H-Hiroyuki-sama, when did you get here?"

"Just now, Helene."

"Um, did you overhear?"

"I heard everything, Cathy."

"Auu auu auu..."

"Calm down, Tiria."

I satisfied myself with making the chaos even more chaotic, then sat in one of the chairs.

Smiling at the three of them, I said:

"Then let’s have breakfast."

...

"Well, I’m leaving now."

"Bye-bye~."

"...I’ll be back."

"Take care."

We — Hiroyuki, Helene, and Tiria — headed back to the ruins.

Today we were going inside, so Cathy would stay behind.

The awkward atmosphere from yesterday was gone, and they waved us off with smiles.

Having people send you off like this is a good thing.

"Hm? What’s wrong, Tiria?"

As I was looking at the smiling Cathy, Tiria who was following behind me came into view.

Tiria’s face looked unhappy.

"It’s nothing."

She was clearly pouting, so it couldn’t be nothing.

"You’re too spoiled. You need stricter training."

Helene sighed at Tiria’s behavior and spoke to me.

"Training... huh."

"More like this — swish swish..."

Helene mimed slapping with a whip.

"Eek!"

Tiria shivered and let out a short cry, then looked up at me with a pale face.

"It’s not like that. I’m fine."

I pulled Tiria close, hugged her shoulders, and comforted the tearful girl.

"Really. Helene, stop scaring Tiria unnecessarily."

"It’s not unnecessary. Tiria is being rebellious toward her master, Sir Hiroyuki. Just spoiling her isn’t enough. You need proper training."

Helene lectured me seriously, and her words turned to Tiria.

"Tiria, although you belong to Sir Hiroyuki, Sir Hiroyuki doesn’t belong to you. You might get married someday. Even then, you must bless him as his Dule. Tiria, you need more awareness of your status as a Dule."

"Uu... yes..."

Tiria answered while looking down.

"Well, that’s for later. For now, let’s do the ruins investigation."

"I’m really spoiled."

...

"Alright, what should we do? First, let’s go inside..."

When I turned to ask Helene whether we should enter the ruins, Helene and Tiria were hugging each other and trembling.

"Master, where is that gross insect?"

"That gross insect?"

"The one that looked like that horrible bug! Don’t remind me~!"

Helene writhed and clutched her head while her huge breasts swayed — good eye-candy for me.

"Ah, it’s not around here."

The corpse of the giant bug we killed yesterday was lying at the edge of the ruins.

No presence at all.

"I knew that! I was asking if there’s none inside!"

She didn’t need to get so angry...

Sigh.

"Illuminate all directions with light"

"Illuminate"

I picked up a small branch lying around and cast the illumination spell on it.

Then I held it up to the entrance and checked inside.

"...Ah, it’s not there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Really really?"

"Really really."

"Re-really-really..."

"Aaah! It’s noisy! If you don’t trust me, check yourself!"

I grabbed Helene’s wrist, threw her into the ruins, and closed the door.

"Gyaahhhhhhh!!"

A very young-looking woman screamed inside the ruins, and the sound echoed magnificently.

"Quiet!"

Pat — I tapped her head.

"Aaah! You’ve never hit me before, Master!"

Helene recited a line from a robot anime protagonist in a twisted way, then glared at me while clutching her head.

Sigh.

Where did the Dule awareness I mentioned when we came here go?

"...For now, let’s do the ruins investigation."

"...Yes. Let’s do that."

After a while, Helene and I, who had calmed down, began investigating the ruins with Tiria.

...

"Here it is. This is the innermost room."

We entered the ruins, and after about five minutes of no obstacles, we reached the innermost room.

The walls were covered with writing.

I saw the familiar characters for the first time in a while, and my eyes grew warm.

"What’s wrong, Sir Hiroyuki?"

"Nothing... then shall we begin?"