Kars fell silent, realizing the situation. Thinking about what Patchouli had been doing in the room earlier, he was slightly surprised she wasn't wearing anything. Patchouli also stopped humming, and the room fell into silence.
Kars quietly looked at Patchouli, whose face was flushed. Faced with Kars's gaze, she simply looked back without saying anything, perhaps unsure how to ease the current tension.
However, Kars quickly returned to his usual demeanor, acting as if nothing had happened, and buried his face in Patchouli's chest. To him, whether she was wearing clothes or not made little difference. After all, he still did this sort of thing regardless, so it was best not to show any awkwardness. Besides, this way, Patchouli couldn't see his face, which might make her feel a little better.
"Patchouli, why did you stop?" Kars asked in a muffled voice from within her chest. After a moment of silence, Patchouli resumed humming the tune. Though her voice sounded slightly different and her face was red, everything else seemed normal.
Kars, however, could clearly hear Patchouli's heartbeat, which had sped up considerably, and her body felt slightly warm. He continued to bury his head, hoping he could fall asleep instantly, which would alleviate the situation even more.
But he still couldn't sleep. Clearly, this method wasn't working at all. And Patchouli couldn't possibly keep humming forever, as the original intention was for her to rest early. If she stayed up just for him, it would defeat the purpose. So, even if he couldn't sleep, he decided to pretend he was asleep. That way, once Patchouli noticed, she would go to rest herself.
Once Kars figured this out, he quickly put on an act of being soundly asleep. Patchouli, sensing Kars's state in her arms, stopped humming. She looked at Kars's hidden face, her own face still very flushed as she thought about what had just happened.
Kars, feigning sleep, felt Patchouli's chest move away from his face, but her hand remained wrapped around him, indicating she wasn't planning to leave. Then, a faint warm breath brushed across his face. After a slight judgment, Kars determined that Patchouli was now facing him, and the warm breath was her own. Their faces must be quite close.
The situation was exactly as Kars suspected. Patchouli was looking at Kars's face, which was also slightly red. She wondered if it was red from being muffled in her chest or from shyness after what happened, but she didn't need to dwell on the issue now. Thinking too much would only confuse her mind. If Kars hadn't reacted, she might have done something even more regrettable.
This made her wonder if she should try to restrain Kars's behavior in the future, but she quickly dismissed the thought, worried that it might make him feel she was deliberately distancing herself. If that happened, Patchouli decided it wasn't worth the risk.
"I wonder if my reaction to you is a bit strange?" Patchouli gently stroked Kars's face, careful not to wake him. She noticed that her feelings for Kars seemed to be subtly changing, even though he was just a child of over a hundred years old…
Realizing this, Patchouli stared at Kars's sleeping face and leaned in closer. Kars, with his eyes closed, felt the warmth on his face increase, clearly indicating the distance between them had shortened. Just as he wondered what Patchouli was doing, he felt a soft touch on his face. Kars immediately knew what it was. He felt no emotional fluctuation about it. After all, he had done the same thing to Patchouli before, so her kissing his cheek was no big deal.
Then, Kars felt the same sensation on his lips…
This touch made Kars's previously calm heart suddenly race, and his mind struggled to process the situation.
Patchouli, having done this, could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest. She somewhat understood why Koakuma would sometimes act that way toward Kars. Doing such a thing to a child made an unprecedented feeling well up inside her.
Just as Patchouli was lost in thought, the room door quietly opened. Koakuma peeked in and whispered, "Lady Patchouli, has Kars fallen asleep? If not, I can help you with the…"
As Koakuma spoke, she saw the scene of Patchouli kissing the sleeping Kars. Her expression froze instantly. She hadn't imagined Patchouli would do such a thing.
Could Lady Patchouli be a deeply hidden shotacon?!
The most shocking part was that Patchouli had done something that made her intensely envious and jealous—something she had never considered. If she hadn't come over under the pretense of checking on Kars and offering to take over if he wasn't asleep, she might never have known that Lady Patchouli was capable of such an act.