━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Surprisingly enough, Emilia didn't seem to mind it at all. "I don't need you to see me as a 'superior' anyway. For those I like, I always allow the privilege of treating me as an equal."
With her attempt at teasing the little beauty failing so miserably, the older girl felt like she had just punched cotton.
Of course, Noelle hadn't known Emilia so long in vain, and knew exactly what to do to make her pout. "Since that is so, you can forget about ordering me to get things done in the future. I'll do as I please, and will only help you when I feel like it."
And as expected, Emilia's previously serene expression immediately turned a little dark. "No! I don't allow it!"
Noelle felt her heart skip a beat as she saw the distress in the younger girl's eyes, but steeled her expression just in time. "So? Are you going to force me?"
This was something she was curious about anyway, so might as well take the chance to ask.
Emilia could tell that the older girl was teasing her, but this was not a topic she was willing to compromise on anyway. "Please, Noelle, I really need your help, okay? You can play around with everything else, but when I tell you to do something, you must get to it seriously!"
Noelle grinned. "Well, little boss, isn't it you who is playing around? You pretended to listen to me before, but as soon as I put my will forward, you immediately rejected it so forcibly?"
The gray-haired girl could tell that Emilia was displeased the moment she uttered those words, but she quickly stifled the regret in her heart the moment it came up. After all, the one who seduced her was Emilia, and she also refused to let her take full responsibility!
If she was going to play around like this, wouldn't it have been better to never take their relationship forward? But now that she'd had a taste of this sweet poison, Noelle knew that there was no way she could extricate herself from this whimsical beauty's snare.
Noelle believed that since she was willing to surrender herself for a lifetime even then, wasn't it only fair that she enjoy seeing Emilia sulk for a few minutes?
But looking at the crimson-haired girl pout all the way till they arrived at the White Deer mansion, Noelle finally couldn't endure it anymore.
Parking the car in front of the mansion's gate, the older girl coughed. "Y-You know I was just joking, right? I just wanted to tease you a little, so—"
Her heart thumped in inexplicable panic when Emilia opened the door without a word and walked out, Noelle couldn't help but get out of the car and chase after the beauty in a hurry.
Before she could catch up to the younger girl, however, Emilia unexpectedly turned around and made her crash right into her soft embrace.
Noelle's mind turned blank when a soft and wet feeling enveloped her lips, and she realized that Emilia was kissing her. The girl's fresh breath was still as fragrant as she remembered, and the gray-haired girl couldn't help but recall the scenes from last night.
She didn't even realize that a few of the servants and maids who saw them hurried off while blushing, and as their kiss got more and more intense, Noelle couldn't even keep her hands from wandering.
Just as she was about to clutch at her girlfriend's hips, however, Emilia abruptly released the plump lip she had been suckling on, and stepped back with a grin. "Are you the only one who can tease?"
And under Noelle's half-enlightened and half-disbelieving gaze, the crimson-haired beauty entered the mansion without looking back.
Noelle knew right away that not only was Emilia not fooled by her joke, she was also taking revenge! And worst of all, this little minx was so vengeful and unforgiving!
Feeling the stickiness down below, Noelle could only walk away awkwardly while trying to avoid all the strange stares from the maids and servants. 'Looks like I have to take another bath before heading to work.'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Emilia wasn't too bothered by the blushing maids, as she was already quite used to it. Anyway, they blushed even when she didn't do anything, so it would instead be strange if she didn't get used to it.
She briefly spotted a patch of brown hair from atop the stairs, but like a scared little squirrel, Michelle scurried away before she could even squint.
Emilia shook her head with a smile. "Don't tell me she's been working?"
The blonde maid with waist-length hair who had come to attend to her hesitated for a while before shaking her head. "N-No, young miss, but…"
"But?"
The poor girl tugged at her skirt in distress. "B-But she always comes to stare at us working with such envy… it's hard not to feel bad…"
Emilia felt her lips twitch in amusement. "Well, if you feel sorry for her, feed her a little more. The poor baby suffered a lot in the hospital, and she's malnourished. If we can't stop her from overworking, we should at least make sure she's healthy enough, no?"
The young maid nodded seriously, as if receiving a great mission. "Don't worry, young miss! I'll make sure to convey the orders to everyone."
Emilia nodded, satisfied. "What about my friends, have they left? Is breakfast over?"
The blonde maid shook her head quickly. "Miss Dixie just returned from the dojo and is taking a bath. Everyone else was waiting for you to return first."
Emilia hummed. "Should I join her in the shower?"
She considered that thought for a while, but soon realized that there really wasn't enough time left before school, and she would just end up making her poor knight miss breakfast.
In such a situation, Emilia knew that she couldn't expect Dixie to be able to control herself, and she wasn't quite so sure of her own 'willpower' either. It had been a while since the two of them did it, after all.
Emilia could only sigh in regret as she waved the blushing maid away. "Some other time, then."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
