Chapter 122: Sleeping Beauty is Waiting for Her Chef to Awaken Her!
On the new day, at 5:30 AM, Lucoa appeared in Ryohei Tanaka's room right on schedule.
Her pale fingers slid under the hem of her tank top, and just as she was about to take it off, she suddenly realized Ryohei wasn't in the bed.
'Hm? He's already up?'
The thought flashed through her mind. At the same time, Lucoa instinctively followed the power of their contract and looked toward the adjacent room.
"Eeh?"
Σ(゜ロ゜;)
'They... slept together last night?!'
Lucoa's mind was instantly flooded with numerous R-rated scenarios. She was a little envious.
A moment later, an idea struck her, and she teleported directly into Yurine's bedroom.
This was the first time Lucoa had ever been in Yurine's room. The moment she arrived, she was greeted by a lovely fragrance. Her gaze swept over the room's layout, which was different from Ryohei's, and finally settled on the bed.
There, she saw Yurine's petite body nestled in Ryohei's embrace.
Her hand was resting on his shoulder, fingers slightly curled, her face pressed against his chest. Her right leg was draped over his thigh. And Ryohei's right arm was wrapped around Yurine's back, holding her gently. The two of them were sharing a single thin blanket, sleeping soundly and sweetly.
Lucoa looked at the empty space on Ryohei's other side, feeling that there was definitely enough room for one more person.
She hesitated.
'Forget it, forget it... Next time, next time!'
It wasn't that Lucoa had no sense of propriety. If it were just Ryohei, then it would be no problem. But with Yurine there as well... mmm. She had a feeling this would be a very bad idea and would cause a major problem.
Besides... for some reason, whenever she tried to "tease" Ryohei with Yurine present lately, she always felt a strange lack of confidence and a hint of guilt.
Lucoa vanished from the room without a sound.
...
When Ryohei Tanaka and Yurine woke up, it was already past seven. They had woken up a little later than usual, probably because they had gone to bed later.
Although they both really wanted to stay in bed and be affectionate, considering they had to leave at eight for their private beach trip, Ryohei and Yurine forced themselves to get up.
They squeezed into the washroom to get ready together. Ryohei finished first and went back to his bedroom. He had slept in his bathrobe last night with nothing underneath, and he planned to just put his swim trunks on now to save the trouble of changing later.
He glanced idly at his bed and froze. Lucoa was lying there, a tranquil expression on her face, covered only by a thin blanket draped from her chest to her thighs... like a... not-so-proper Sleeping Beauty.
The exposed scenery was enough to make one's heart race. Ryohei swallowed, lamenting internally that "life is full of temptations," and then, with great effort, tore his gaze away.
Even though he was sure she was just pretending to be asleep, he still tiptoed over to the round coffee table to find the swim trunks he'd bought yesterday.
"At this moment, Sleeping Beauty is waiting for her fated Prince Charming to awaken her with a kiss."
A narrator's voice suddenly echoed in his ear, the kind one hears in a documentary.
Ryohei was speechless for a moment. Holding his swim trunks, he turned around and retorted, "Sleeping Beauty is nothing like you!"
"This is exactly what Sleeping Beauty is like!" (The narrator seemed a little flustered.)
"Then that's a serious problem. Grimm's Fairy Tales is about to become an 18+ story," Ryohei quipped, looking at the fanservice-ready Lucoa.
"And it would, therefore, become even more popular with both adults and children."
"...Nice!"
'Damn it, she actually has a point!'
Ryohei looked at Lucoa, momentarily at a loss for words.
Deciding not to bicker with her, he turned his back, untied his bathrobe, put on his swim trunks, and then pulled his beach shorts on over them.
Stare—!
While he was pulling up his pants, he felt a distinct gaze on him. Ryohei looked back suspiciously, only to see Lucoa still lying on the bed, playing the part of Sleeping Beauty.
"By the way, when did you even get in here?" Ryohei asked, grabbing his car keys from the coffee table, putting them in his pocket, and heading for the door.
"...At this moment, Sleeping Beauty is still waiting for her Prince Charming."
"What a shame. I don't have a white horse, and I don't know how to ride one."
"Sleeping Beauty is waiting for her Chef to awaken her... and fill her stomach."
"You've completely butchered the Grimm fairy tale! You need to apologize to the Grimm Brothers right now!" Ryohei couldn't help retorting. He glanced back at Lucoa, his heart skipping a beat before he looked away, grasped the doorknob, and said, "I left your swimsuit on the coffee table."
Without waiting for her reply, he opened the door and left.
Hearing the door close, Lucoa opened her eyes and puffed out her cheeks.
...
"Oh? You're already here? Have you eaten?"
When Ryohei got downstairs, he saw Yusa and Koji-kun in the living room. The ice-demon sisters were still wearing their kimonos, but Koji-kun had an extra accessory: a blue pool float with a cartoon shark on it, which was rather adorable.
"We already ate."
"Kori-kun couldn't wait, so..." Yusa stood up from the sofa, her pale hands clasped gently in front of her, looking at Ryohei with a slightly embarrassed smile. The grace and elegance of a Yamato Nadeshiko were perfectly displayed in her every move.
The moment Koji-kun saw Ryohei, she slid off the sofa, hugged her pool float, and ran over to him on her short little legs—pat, pat, pat. She stood right in front of him, tilting her uniquely cute mole-like face up to look at him happily.
Over the past few days, Ryohei had been feeding Koji-kun snacks from time to time, so Koji-kun had become very attached to him, almost as much as Yurine was. A couple of days ago, when Ryohei casually mentioned "it's getting hotter lately" in the shop, Koji-kun had even actively offered him shaved ice. It was strawberry-flavored. He had been genuinely touched at the time.
"It's fine. Kids are always impatient when it's time to go play," Ryohei said with a smile, reaching out to pat Koji-kun's head.
"Servant, you woke up really late today," Jashin-chan commented from the sofa, still watching Baron Pigeon.
"Yeah, a little," Ryohei replied casually. He walked into the open kitchen and skillfully began to steam some rice. Then, he came back out and looked at his "royal bodyguard + coolie," Minos. "Minos, come with me for a minute. I need to buy some ingredients, plus some snacks and drinks."
"Okay!" Minos answered cheerfully, hopping up from the sofa.
Yusa stood up as well. "I'll help, too."
"Sounds good," Ryohei didn't refuse. More people meant they could shop faster by splitting up. Koji-kun, clutching the pool float around her waist, trotted after them on her short legs.
Medusa looked at Ryohei and the others leaving, then looked at Jashin-chan, as if she wanted to say something but was hesitating.
As if sensing her thoughts, Jashin-chan said casually, "Just let them go. They already have enough people. If we go, we won't all fit in the car anyway."
"Mhm," Medusa replied, figuring that made sense. So, she settled back down, content to stay and watch TV with Jashin-chan.
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