That Dream Again

That night.

After checking tomorrow’s security arrangements and time schedule, holding a meeting with the squad leaders, and returning to the mansion, it was already late at night.

The head butler said, “Perhaps a late-night meal,” but I refused and asked about Shitoen.

It seemed she had been waiting for me to come home, but since I was likely to be late, and there would be more hosting duties tomorrow as well, even the head maid and the steward joined in and persuaded her to “please rest first,” then got her into the bedroom.

Well done, all of you. Assume that Shitoen is constantly exposed to stress. You all united well each time so she could spend her time in the best possible situation!

While thanking not only the head butler, but also the head maid, the steward, and the other servants, I took a bath, instructed them to “give a monetary reward to those on duty today,” and headed for the bedroom.

“…Now then.”

I had heard that Shitoen was already asleep, but entering without knocking might be bad manners.

So I gently knocked three times.

There was no answer.

I quietly opened the door.

As I had imagined, the room was pitch-dark.

There was only an oil lamp on the table placed away from the bed.

When I approached the bed while muffling my footsteps, Shitoen was asleep.

Relieved, I got onto the bed, slowly lifted the quilt blanket, and lay down, but…

The bed creaked faintly.

At that sound, Shitoen let out a soft, “Nn…”

Crap, I thought, and stiffened reflexively, but Shitoen slowly opened her amethyst-like eyes.

“Prince Saryu…? Welcome home… I am sorry, I…”

“No, it is fine. Good night, Shitoen.”

I said that quickly, but…

Shitoen stretched out her white, supple arms and wrapped them around the back of my neck.

“Thank you… for your hard work…”

Then she pulled me in.

However, it was certain that she was quite half-asleep. Even the ends of her words were indistinct.

The way she hugged me…

It was the way she hugged me, Shitoen!

This was insane…!!

My face was in the valley between her breasts…!

It was buried there!!!

Wa… this was bad.

This was dangerous!

I knew it!

Shitoen was absolutely going to fall asleep right after this!

And yet…!

I…!

My cheek was in Shitoen’s softness! And if anything, she smelled incredibly good!

Huh!? Are we using the same soap!? No, right! It is absolutely a different one, right! I want to ask the servants! What is Shitoen using, this stuff!?

If anything, I did want to press my face even closer to Shitoen’s body, but…!

“Goo’ night…”

After leaving behind the cutest and most precious “good night” greeting on earth, Shitoen began breathing peacefully in sleep…

…I know.

I know, no, I understand, don’t I, me?

You must not lay a hand on an unconscious woman!!!!

That is the most shameful thing!!

Even if…! Even if I am subjected to this living torture, enduring it is what makes a man!!! That is what makes me the Winter Bear of Tidros!

I told myself that over and over again…

But.

Even so.

Surely this would not count as laying a hand on her, I thought.

I placed one light kiss on Shitoen’s chest… near the dragon crest.

Then I stayed still so I would not strain her arms.

Because…

She would not let go of me while hugging me.

Could I sleep like this?

That was what I thought, but…

Sleep came quickly.

I was seeing that dream again.

A strangely built garden. Buildings made of construction materials I had never seen before.

This time, I was inside one of them.

There was a man.

That man, the one whose face I somehow could not see clearly, was walking down a long corridor dressed the same way as when I saw him last time.

When I looked closely, there were many people wearing the same navy short-sleeved shirt as the man. Some pushed silver wagon-like things, while others cared for what seemed to be injured or sick people. Was it… a uniform? Those short sleeves looked like underwear to me, though.

The man grasped a strangely shaped handle, slid the door sideways, and entered the room.

It seemed to be a four-person room.

Four beds were lined up, separated by curtains. On each bed, men of various ages were either sitting or sleeping.

There was a window cut into the wall facing the door, but…

It was high. What floor was this? Not only could I see the sky directly…

I was stunned to see buildings even taller than this one standing in rows.

What in the world was going on…?

Could such a world exist? No, this was a dream. This was the world of a dream, I told myself, convincing my confused mind, and then the man’s voice brushed against my eardrums.

As ever, I could not tell what language it was.

The man was speaking with a smile to an elderly person lying on the bed.

Several tube-like things extended from the elderly person’s body, and they were connected to a square thing that blinked with light.

What… was that?

Beside it was something like a square box, and what seemed to be numbers and incomprehensible marks kept appearing and disappearing in flashes.

“　　　　　　　　　”

The elderly person said something. Their face looked very anxious. The man nodded several times with a calm expression. Then he placed his fingers on the elderly person’s wrist and lowered his gaze to his own wrist. He was looking at that unbelievably small watch wrapped around his wrist.

The man kept touching the elderly person’s wrist and looking down at the watch like that for a while.

Then, suddenly, I realized.

Shitoen had made a similar gesture before.

The County of Sheen.

The sick people who had been gathered in one place after being mistaken for having that contagious disease. When Shitoen went around examining them, she often made that same gesture, softly murmured “Ah,” and smiled self-deprecatingly.

It was rare for her to smile that way.

That was why I remembered it.

What in the world was she doing then?

The man nodded slightly as though confirming something, then spoke to the elderly person again.

The elderly person finally smiled faintly, seeming relieved.

After that.

“　　　　　　　　　!”

That strange door opened, and a woman wearing the same clothes called out to the man. This woman had long hair tied together and rounded at the back. That was a little surprising. The woman in the white coat, whom I had thought might be Shitoen, had short hair like a nun, so I had thought women in this world had short hair like men.

“　　　　　　　　　　　”

The man lightly raised his hand in response, said something to the elderly person, and went out into the corridor.

The woman handed the man something like a blackboard and said something rapidly. Judging from her expression and tone, he was probably being scolded. The man scratched his head, accepted the blackboard, and began walking with the woman.

The woman still seemed angry and was still saying something to the man.

“　　　operating room nurse　　　　head nurse　　　　”

Those two words I suddenly managed to hear.

I had heard them somewhere before. Where was it?

At that moment,

Something square that the woman had put in her breast pocket made a sound.

The woman quickly pressed it to her ear.

My heart jumped.

A bad feeling rose up like gathering clouds, and I could not stay still.

A sense of impatience like the inside of me was being sharply scraped.

“　　　　　　　　　　　!?”

The woman said something.

Immediately,

The man started running.

I struggled to follow him too.

I will go!

If I do not go…!

Because you are…!

“I will…!”

I woke up to my own voice.

It was the bedroom.

It seemed to be early morning.

Morning sunlight leaked through the curtains, dyeing the room in pale colors.

I lay there on my back for a while without moving, but my heart was raging like an idiot. My mouth was dry. My neck, no, my entire upper body felt unpleasantly hot. Had I broken out in a night sweat? I was startled when the hand I raised to touch my face was trembling.

“Prince Saryu.”

The bed shook faintly, and Shitoen gently raised her upper body and looked down at me.

“Are you all right? You had been groaning for a while… I was unsure what to do.”

“No… Sorry. Shitoen, I woke you up.”

I consciously showed her a smile, but my face must have been stiff. Shitoen kept looking at me with concern.

“Maybe it is because I have been tired lately. It was some strange dream…”

With a heave, I also raised my upper body and sat cross-legged. It seemed my back really had been drenched in night sweat too. When I moved, heat escaped, and my skin felt chilly.

“If you do not mind, could you tell me what kind of dream it was?”

Shitoen gently offered.

I simply thought that it might be all right to tell her.

It was such a strange world, Shitoen.

It was in a place I could not even imagine.

But.

I opened my mouth and no words came out.

What should I call that building? How should I describe “construction materials I had never seen before”?

What kind of device should I say that blinking square box connected to the tubes was?

If I said everyone was wearing clothes like underwear… how would I convey the strangeness of it?

“Ah… yeah.”

I could not find the words I should use to explain it.

This was…

It was so different in level that it would be difficult unless we shared the same five senses.

“It was kind of an incoherent dream… When I have gathered my thoughts, I will tell you, Shitoen.”

I said that and glossed it over.

Shitoen stared at me silently for a while, but then rose onto her knees and hugged me tightly.

“Once your official duties are over, let us go to the hot spring. We can relax there.”

The hot spring!!!!

I forgot, the hot spring!!!!!

Shitoen’s lingerie!

And also…! Shitoen, this position!!!

My face was completely pressed into Shitoen’s chest… pressed in!!!!

“Wa… s-sorry, Shitoen. Um, could you move away a little…”

“I-I am sorry. Was it hard to breathe?”

“I will lie down a little more… over there…”

“Then you really are feeling unwell…!?”

No… I just could not let her see this lower half of mine…

Please leave me alone for a while… And you. Your chest is a little too exposed…