Chapter 79: Very Sleepy (1/2)

The bedrooms were located on the second floor of the lodge. I think there’s a total of five rooms here. There’s also a single separate toilet.

Since there were enough rooms, each of us was able to get one for ourselves. My room is the first one you see after going up the stairs. If you’re wondering why I pointed this out, it’s because the girls had to pass by my room if they wanted to go down to the first floor.

I did some reading about the current news in the Sierra system using my portable terminal before going to sleep. When I finally resolved to get some shut eye…… I felt someone pass by my room in order to get down to the first floor.

I looked at my terminal and found that it was already almost midnight. Everyone should have been fast asleep at this time already.

I wondered if it was Elma who went down in order to get a drink before going to sleep. I felt a bit thirsty myself, so I decided to come down in order to have a glass of water.

I got up from bed, went out of my room, and descended the stairs.

“……?”

I went down to the first floor, but found that only the dim lighting was on. That’s weird. I thought somebody went down here ahead of me… I tilted my head in puzzlement and headed to the kitchen in order to get a pet bottle of drinking water from the cooler. I then went to the living area.

“……What are you doing here?”

“Ah……”

I found Chris, who already had sleepwear on her, lying on one of the sofas in the living area. I saw Chris’s face under the dim lighting and found that she had tear stains on her cheeks. Her eyes were slightly red. Chris got flustered and hurriedly turned away from me. I already saw everything so there’s no use hiding it, young lady.

I sat down next to Chris without saying anything and opened the water bottle. The sensation of cold water going down my throat felt quite pleasant.  Now then…… What should I do here?

“Can’t sleep?”

“N-No, it’s just–“

“Holding it in is hard, huh.”

“–Yes.”

Chris dropped her shoulders dejectedly while still facing away from me. When I looked at her side profile, I confirmed that her eye rims really were swollen a bit. And her eyes really were red from crying.

“Well, I’m the only one here now, so isn’t it fine to vent it all out? There’s no need to keep the act because you want to live up to being an upstanding noble’s daughter.”

“I-I’m not really pushing myself or anything.”

“That so?”

I took a sip of water again. Mm, cold and delicious. I really like how this cold water goes smoothly down my throat. How’d I handle something like this aga– Oh, right. I slept together with Mimi back when she was feeling depressed huh. I think Mimi’s room has two beds, but I bet this girl wouldn’t be able to sleep if she didn’t have someone by her side.

“Shall we sleep together?”

“I’m alrigh…… Eh?”

“We’re just gonna be sleeping together, okay. It’s not like we can wake up Mimi or Elma at this time since it’s already so late.”

Since she’s already like this, there’s no way I can leave Chris on her own. If I did that, I bet she’ll remain awake until morning. I’m not planning on doing anything lewd to her, okay. We’re just gonna be sleeping on the same bed. We’re the only ones in this lodge anyway, and I don’t think Miro will leak out the private details of our stay here.

“U-Um… Y-You mean…?”

“We’ll just be sleeping together. Fuaa…… And boy, am I sleepy.”

I put the cap back on the pet bottle and tightened it. I then got up from the sofa.

“Well, c’mon then.”

“Y-Yes.”

Chris took my outstretched hand and got up as well. I went back upstairs with her in tow and we entered my room together. The bed was actually king sized, so there was enough space for me and Chris.

I let go of Chris’s hand and plopped myself down on the bed. I put the pet bottle containing water down on the bedside table.

“Well, good night… Do you want to use my arm as a pillow?”

“N-No! Y-You don’t have to mind me!”

“I see.”

Haha. She was so assertive back then, but she’s actually backing down now. She’s the type to get flustered if everything isn’t going at her own pace huh. She seemed hesitant for a few moments, but when I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, she finally climbed up to the bed. She was wriggling on top of the bed restlessly for a while, but eventually settled down.

Has she finally gone to sleep? When I turned to check, I found myself meeting Chris’s gaze.

“So you did pretend to be asleep.”

“Nah. I was actually just about to snooze y’know…”

My eyelids are on the verge of drooping right now. I’m actually really sleepy already.