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[AI CENSORSHIP BLOCKED THIS CHUNK - RAW ENGLISH RETAINED]

When I returned to my room, Eris, who should have been asleep, was sitting on my bed.

“Oh, w-welcome back!” She was wearing a red negligee. Extremely sexy.

I was sure she had never worn anything like this before. What was going on? Also, wasn’t she supposed to be asleep?

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

When I asked, her cheeks burned red and she averted her eyes. “I-I thought you would be lonely by yourself, so I was going to sleep with you tonight!”

Apparently, she was still worried about what I said during the party, about whether my parents were coming. After all, she was still clinging to her parents at age twelve. Maybe imagining being without them for three years spurred her into coming here.

No. Unlikely as it seemed, it was possible this was Hilda’s idea. Maybe she roused Eris, forced her to change, and sent her over here.

“…”

I took a second, hard look at Eris. Her body had not yet fully matured, but it was beginning to. Probably because of all the sword practice, her arms and legs were well toned. Whether it was because she was taller than the average girl or the negligee she was wearing, she also looked more grown-up than usual.

Eris was already twelve after all. She was barely entering my strike zone.

My body was still immature as well. I had yet to hit puberty, though it would surely be upon me in a few years. Maybe then I would welcome the opportunity to pop my cherry with this spoiled, tsundere loli.

The moment that thought crossed my mind I felt like that thirty-four-year-old, homeless, jobless pervert again. I saw an image of him with his face covered in acne and lips set in a disgusting smile, swooping down on Eris.

I snapped back to my senses. No, I couldn’t. I couldn’t touch her. That would be playing right into Philip’s hand. I would be planting my foot right in the middle of an intense power struggle. The same one Philip had already lost and Paul had run away from.

I didn’t want to get involved in something that seemed to have so few payoffs. So I just prayed I could get out of this peacefully.

She loathed my habitual sexual harassment, so maybe I could say something to that effect to scare her off? “Th-that’s right! I’m feeling pretty lonely, so if you don’t leave I might do something perverted to you!”

Or so I thought, but then I received an unlikely response.

“Y-you can do it. J-just a little bit!”

Seriously?!

You’re really being bold today, Eris!You’re really being bold today, Eris! How’s an old man like me supposed to resist when you put it like that? What to do…

I debated internally and finally decided to take her up on her offer. Just a little.

“…”

I sat beside her. The bed let out a small creak. If I were still my previous self, it would’ve surely let out a much larger groan, effectively killing the mood.

I wasn’t thinking anymore, not about any of that complicated stuff. This was playing into Philip’s hands? Fine then. Three years ago, Eris had been so tsun, but now she was finally showing me her dere side. How could I refuse when she was offering herself willingly? At times like these it was best to just accept the risk and take the plunge, right?

“You’re stuttering,” I said.

“Th-that’s just your imagination.”

“Really?”

I petted her head. Her hair was so smooth. Even though this was a high noble family, there was no bath in the manor, so it wasn’t as if you could wash your hair every day. Her hair was normally coarse and rough from spending every day outside practicing swordplay from morning until dusk. She must have cleaned it up today for me. Forme.

“You look so cute.”

“Wh-what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

She looked away, her face red to her ears. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“Hngh!” Her body went stiff, but she didn’t try to run.

Ah, so she really is okay with this? I thought. She was definitely the type to run if she didn’t like something.

“I’m going to touch you now.” Unable to hold myself back, I reached for her chest. The lumps were still small, but they were definitely breasts. Being able to touch these was proof she had given me permission. Not like all the times before when I had reached out in trepidation, fully prepared to be punched as I groped them. It was through a layer of clothing, but there was no doubt that I had true loli breasts in my small hands right now.

“Mm…”

It wasn’t pleasure that made her hum, I was sure. She was just realizing how embarrassing what we were doing really was. I knew that. She was watching me with her lips clamped tightly together, tears in her eyes as she struggled to tamp down her embarrassment and confusion.

I stroked her back comfortingly. Thanks to all her sword training, it was firm with muscle. Not as much as Ghislaine’s, of course, but well-toned and smooth.

Eris snapped her eyes shut and grabbed my shoulders like she was clinging to me. Did this, perhaps, mean she was giving me the okay? She was, right? If so, I was going to go the whole way. Right now.

O-okay, let’s d-do it then, I thought.

I reached my hand toward the inside of her thigh. This would be my first time ever touching a girl there. It was warm and soft, of course, but firm with muscle.

“Nooo!”

She shoved me away. Then slapped me across the cheek, loud and hard. I landed on the floor with a thump after being kicked. She continued her attack, the sounds of her blows filling the room.

Rendered completely defenseless by my own confusion, I took the full force of her attack. Once it was over, I looked up at her, flat on my back.

Eris was standing over me. Her cheeks were red. She was glaring at me. “I told you just a little, didn’t I?! You moron!” The door was left hanging wide open after she kicked it and marched out.