Blackwood Estate, Ethan's Private Room

Ethan had rushed Lillis to his room after she suddenly collapsed in the dining room. Now, with her head resting on his lap, he gently stroked her hair as she slept peacefully.

'She hasn’t slept properly for almost three days... No wonder she's so exhausted.'

Ethan had been the first to notice Lillis’s deteriorating condition, as he spent most of his day with her, given she was his personal maid. He had suggested she rest from the very first day she seemed tired, but Lillis had refused, or more accurately, she couldn’t afford to rest, which Ethan hadn’t understood at the time. Now, with her collapsing from overwork, guilt gnawed at him.

The only reason he had been able to catch her just before she hit the floor was that he had a bad feeling that day and decided to follow her closely.

He hadn’t intended to let her rest on his lap like this—it had just happened. Originally, he was going to let her sleep on his bed, but when she moaned and seemed distressed whenever he tried to move away, he had eventually settled on this position.

'Is she having nightmares lately?'

If nightmares were the reason she hadn’t slept well for the past few days, there was nothing Ethan could do. No matter how much he loved Lillis, he couldn’t protect her in her dreams. Unbeknownst to him, Lillis was actually sleeping soundly, soothed by his warmth, free from the nightmares that had plagued her. But Ethan couldn’t know this.

All he could do was continue stroking her hair, knowing it seemed to calm her. To Ethan, the sight of Lillis, resting peacefully with her head on his lap, was utterly endearing. It even stirred a desire within him to kiss her as she slept, a desire he barely managed to suppress.

'...Come to think of it, what exactly was that?'

Ethan shifted his thoughts, trying to focus on what had happened earlier in the dining room. He remembered holding Lillis in his arms after she collapsed, telling the other maids to let her rest. Then, out of the blue, Lillis had opened her eyes and, seemingly half-awake, had kissed him.

His heart started racing again as he recalled the moment.

'It wasn’t a dream, right?'

Lillis might have kissed him in a daze, not fully aware of what she was doing, but to Ethan, it was undoubtedly a kiss initiated by her. It wasn’t like the times he had approached her or asked for something—this was a kiss she had given him freely.

The feel of her lips on his, though brief, lingered in his mind.

'What could it have meant...?'

He thought he might have heard her faintly whisper his name just before the kiss. She had looked troubled, as if she were having a bad dream, but then, after whispering his name, her expression had softened, and she had kissed him.

And to make matters worse, her colleagues had witnessed the whole scene, which meant that by tomorrow, the servants would be buzzing with gossip.

'I did warn them to keep quiet, but...'

He trusted Isabel, who had accompanied Lillis to the academy and helped her with her duties. But the other maid, with her presence so faint, didn’t inspire much confidence.

Not that it really mattered to Ethan if rumors about their kiss spread. If their relationship became public knowledge, it might at least deter others from pursuing Lillis among the Blackwood staff.

What mattered more was Lillis’s feelings. No matter how much he loved her, if she didn’t want him, the future he dreamed of would remain just that—a dream.

There had been a time when the mere suggestion that she might end up with the hero had made Ethan’s blood boil. But since Lillis had confirmed her feelings for him, Ethan had been able to relax.

After all, she had initiated a kiss, forgiven him for his previous aggressive behavior, and had done things that only someone who truly cared would do.

And then there was the recent kiss, which, though mysterious, seemed to confirm her affection for him.

"Puuu... Puuuu..."

'You’re sleeping so soundly. You must have been really tired.'

"Don’t press my head down, Ethan... You know I don’t like that..."

"...!!!"

Ethan quickly pulled his hand away from her head, startled by Lillis’s sleep-talking. The words brought back memories of a certain incident a few days ago, when Lillis had brought her face close to his thighs—a memory that made Ethan’s face flush a deep red.

'...I never imagined she’d go that far.'

He had thought that as his personal maid, Lillis wouldn’t be knowledgeable about sexual matters, but her actions had proven otherwise. Perhaps she had more carnal thoughts than he had imagined, though he quickly dismissed that idea, reasoning that it was unlikely for a young lady to think that way.

'We agreed to wait until after the academy...'

They had an agreement that they wouldn’t engage in a full physical relationship until after graduation, and that if her feelings remained unchanged, they would talk about it then.

At first, Ethan had thought this was just a way for her to delay giving him an answer, but after what happened recently, he couldn’t think that anymore.

He had always feared that while he was the only one in love, Lillis was simply going along with his advances because of the difference in their status. But if the interim relationship she had proposed was genuine, and if she, like him, was holding back due to her role as the Saintess...

Maybe there were other ways to deepen their relationship without crossing the line they had set.

'She seemed to think oral wasn’t a problem for the Saintess...'

If that was allowed, then perhaps other similar acts might be acceptable too.

Ethan had occasionally picked up some lewd knowledge from his interactions with other noble heirs at the academy. Though he never spoke of what he and Lillis did with others, he couldn’t avoid hearing the stories other nobles boasted about.

The things he had heard included what Lillis had done—metaphorically described among nobles as “wrapping the wine bottle neck,” or other acts like “licking the soup from the clam dish” and “rubbing the sausage between the hot dog buns.” Such vivid metaphors often came up in conversation.

Of course, Ethan wasn’t brave enough to ask Lillis for anything like that. He didn’t want her to despise him or look at him as if he were some sort of pervert.

'...Maybe I should leave her to rest alone.'

It wasn’t that Lillis’s head was too heavy or that he disliked the current situation of her resting on his lap. But he feared that if he stayed too long, he might start harboring inappropriate thoughts. The memory of what had happened a few days ago was enough to make his head feel hot.

-Slide, slide...

Carefully, he lifted Lillis, making sure not to touch her inappropriately, and laid her on the bed. He was just about to leave the room quietly when...

"Ethan...?"

Lillis’s faint voice reached his ears, and the next moment, he was yanked back onto the bed.

"Uwah?!"

-Thud.

Lillis had pulled him down with surprising strength, leaving him sprawled on the bed in a rather embarrassing position, especially since it looked like the two of them were in the middle of an intimate act.

Of course, they were both fully clothed in their formal attire, but the position itself was unmistakably suggestive.

"W-Wait, Lillis... Are you awake...?"

-Squeeze.

"Lillis...?!"

Before he could gather himself, Lillis wrapped her legs around his lower body, trapping him in a position that resembled a romantic encounter, leaving Ethan caught in a mix of emotions.

'No, this isn’t right... I need to break free...'

If he didn’t pull away, he might lose both his self-control and his sanity. So, despite knowing she was asleep, Ethan tried to extricate himself from her hold.

"Ethan, don’t go..."

"......"

But the pleading tone in her voice was something he couldn’t ignore. In the end, Ethan abandoned the idea of escaping and instead lay still, holding back his desires as he stayed by her side.