The Interrogation and the Curse

“Eileen… what are you two doing?”

The Young Miss raised her eyes and fixed her gaze on my hand holding Sophina’s, pressing aggressively.

Just that look made my palm sting.

I had long known that our Young Miss had a strong possessive streak!

But I never expected her gaze to have such power!

I quickly pulled my hand back and averted my eyes.

“Nothing, Young Miss. Sophina just woke up, and I got excited and held her hand…”

“Oh?”

At that, the Young Miss swept her gaze over Sophina beside me, the cold, sharp look startling her.

“Eep…!”

Seeing Sophina flinch like a scared little rabbit, the Young Miss withdrew her gaze and resumed interrogating me.

“Eileen, you haven’t done anything guilty, have you?”

I shook my head frantically.

“No, no, no! Absolutely not!”

“Then why does the school now have a fan club for you? Two of them, even!”

“…Huh?”

Two?!

No… that’s not right…!

“How did you know, Young Miss?”

“I was stopped by members of that fan club on my way here, and they tried to convert me.”

…They’re still proselytizing?! And they went after the Young Miss!

My head hurts…

“They organized themselves… I only found out today. It started because I helped them before… and they just went and formed a fan club-like organization.”

In truth, most of it was due to [Charm], but I couldn’t tell the Young Miss that.

If possible, I wanted to take the secret of being a succubus to my grave, never letting the Young Miss find out!

“Hmph?”

The Young Miss pursed her lips, full of suspicion.

“Then why are you meeting with this woman in such a secluded place?”

The Young Miss pointed at Sophina.

“This woman…”

I could hear Sophina’s dejected mutter…

But I couldn’t worry about her now.

“It’s not a secret meeting! We only ran into each other! And we’re not the only ones here! Miss Margaret and Miss Elizabeth are also here!”

In my hurried explanation, I pointed to Little Black Seaweed, who was watching with a sly grin.

“Oh dear, I was trying to make myself unnoticeable. I was hoping to watch a family drama a little longer.”

“How can you say that at a time like this!”

I quickly signaled her for help.

“She’s telling the truth; their meeting was just a coincidence. She was only here to help me with an experiment. As for what experiment—”

Her gaze shifted between me and Sophina.

“The one we’ve been working on, you know?”

Wow… she was acting so convincingly, I couldn’t spot a single flaw.

“Could it be about Kiss”

The Young Miss seemed to mutter something, but judging by her expression, she believed most of it.

“Fine.”

Finally, the Young Miss gave up on questioning me.

“Haah…”

I let out a long sigh of relief…

So this is what it feels like to be grilled by a little girlfriend… I managed to get through it!

By the way…

“Young Miss, why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to rest in the infirmary today?”

I remembered specifically reminding her this morning!

“Um…”

Now it was the Young Miss’s turn to look away.

“Young Miss”

I stared at her with a moe half-lidded gaze, applying pressure.

“Ugh”

The Young Miss’s face turned redder and redder… a rare expression since she grew up.

“I just couldn’t stand it anymore! It’s been ten days!”

After saying that, she blushed, pouted, and expressed her dissatisfaction huffily.

“…What?”

That was the reason?

But she was so cute, I forgave her!

“Wow… even a neglect play.”

Margaret was making snide remarks again…

It’s not like I wanted to neglect the Young Miss! I really wanted to chat intimately with her too!

But now wasn’t the right time; the Young Miss still hadn’t fully recovered. If I lost control and hurt her again, it would be a big loss!

I’ll make it up to you double later, Young Miss. But sneaking out like this isn’t good, okay? Please don’t do it again.

“Later… no! I want it now!”

With those words, the Young Miss immediately hugged me.

“Young Miss!?”

“Whoa…”

Sophina covered her mouth in surprise.

“Sorry for interrupting!”

After saying that, the pink-haired girl quickly slipped behind the door and disappeared.

But even without Sophina, the Margaret sisters were still here!

“Young Miss, people are watching…!”

“So what! My Eileen intake is seriously lacking!”

The Young Miss hugged me even tighter.

“What the heck is ‘Eileen intake’!”

I’d heard that phrase a long time ago… but recently not as much, so it felt nostalgic.

Come to think of it… when she was little, the Young Miss often hugged me regardless of where we were.

I would hug her back affectionately and ruffle her little head.

After we grew up, such pure interactions became rarer. It felt like returning to childhood…

Except now, she was taller, so I was more like the one being doted on… which left me with mixed feelings.

“Hmm… Katerina, how are you feeling now?”

Rubbing her clean chin, Margaret rarely showed a serious side.

“Me? I’m okay, still not fully recovered. Though I can’t split rocks with a sword aura barehanded, jumping from the third floor without a scratch is still doable.”

At that, Margaret twitched the corner of her eye.

“No, no… neither of those are things a normal person can do, right?”

Holding her forehead, Margaret sighed.

“Forget it… It’s good that you’re so lively… we can proceed with the next stage of testing.”

“Next stage of testing?”

Both the Young Miss and I said in unison.

“Yeah, I think it’s about time for you two to be unsealed. After all, holding back is bad for your health.”

“…”

Why did that sound so wrong?

“Does that mean I can be intimate with Eileen!?”

The Young Miss’s eyes lit up, but soon turned doubtful.

“But has the ‘curse’ problem been resolved?”

“Curse”? What cur—

Oh no, I forgot to tell Margaret that I lied!

I quickly made faces under the Young Miss’s nose to convey the message to Margaret.

Margaret reacted quickly and immediately caught on, hurriedly changing her tune.

“Ah! That curse! It was just an accident! It’s already been taken care of!”

“Really? That’s great!”

The Young Miss was overjoyed.

“Finally I can be intimate with Eileen!”

“That’s right, so I’ll leave the stage to you two!”

With that, she took Elizabeth’s hand and headed for the door.

Before leaving, she winked at me.

The meaning was probably something like “use this chance to test if absorbing vital energy is controllable” or something…

But what if I went berserk?

“Bang!”

Before I could ask, the door slammed shut.

Leaving only me, lost, and the Young Miss, full of anticipation.