met free #229 - Meet again
#229 - Meet again
“It's morning.”
The morning light seeping through the gap in the curtains illuminated her eyelids. Consciousness slowly returned, and the girl, clutching her blanket, propped herself up, wiping away the tears that blurred her vision. She yawned, listlessly surveying her surroundings.
She had dreamt of that scene again.
The specific details of the dream were entirely forgotten, only remembering herself being held in a pair of large hands, while she looked at someone—whose appearance she also couldn't recall, only the red eyes and golden hair remained vividly in her memory. And that sentence—
“To think I'd be helping a human. It seems this old man has fallen to such a state.”
“I will always, always love you.”
The red-eyed, golden-haired man didn't argue, only leaving behind this meaningless reply.
Thinking of this.
Her heart twinged slightly, and a feeling of grievance surged up, but just as tears were about to spill from her eyes—
“Felt-sama, are you awake?”
A knock came from the door.
On the other side was a clear, resonant, and pleasant voice calling out.
Felt, holding back her tears, knew whose voice it was. If other girls could be awakened by the owner of that voice every morning, they would surely faint from happiness.
However, Felt, also a maiden with a heart full of longing, pouted quite displeasedly, glaring at the door, as if she could see the person on the other side through it.
“No, I'm not awake yet, so you're not allowed to come in.”
“You can converse with people just by talking in your sleep? I didn't realize Felt-sama possessed such an unknown talent.”
“That kind of talent where you casually gain new abilities is only something Reinhard, you monster, would have.”
The voice came from the other side of the door as well. Upon hearing this voice, Felt's displeasure turned to joy.
“Zun-sama actually called me a monster, how saddening.”
“You are one. Besides, Reinhard, don't call me 'sama.' Aren't we friends?”
The person didn't reply.
But Felt could guess that he was probably shaking his head helplessly right now. It was rare to see the noble Sword Saint at a loss.
However—
“Also, Reinhard, you don't need to be so polite with Felt either. That girl is definitely still sleeping in! Look at me! … Hurry up and get out of bed! At your age, at your stage of life, how can you sleep so soundly!?”
Accompanied by a rude scolding, the door was suddenly pushed open.
The red-eyed, black-haired youth, dressed in a noble shirt and trousers, had a face so perfect it seemed as if it had been personally sculpted by a goddess, with a slightly arrogant smile that lacked any sense of aloofness.
Felt liked this way of interacting, which was different from the hypocritical Sword Saint, but sometimes she didn't like this kind of interaction, and if she had to choose a specific time, it would be in the morning.
“Oh?”
The newcomer stared at her meager body, carefully examining it before saying, “Felt, although Reinhard said you can do as you please, it doesn't seem very elegant to wander around in just your underwear.”
“Well, it's better than someone running around naked.”
Felt rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Living under the same roof, interactions between the two were naturally inevitable, and the matter of being naked had been heard from other maids.
It had caused quite a stir at the time.
“Besides, I just happened to be getting up, and I did say not to come in, but you didn't listen. Don't put the blame on me.”
Felt, wearing only conservative underwear, stood in the center of the room with her hands on her hips, boldly thrusting out her flat chest.
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
Zun raised an eyebrow.
Although both were young men and women, there was no sense of shame between them. To Felt, Zun, despite being male, had a completely different symbolic meaning.
Felt coldly snorted dismissively.
“Why, are you saying you're excited by my poor excuse for a body?”
“Sorry, I don't fancy barren land. Besides, I like someone like my fiancée.”
“I didn’t tell you to call me a child’s body! You’re clearly younger than me…!”
Felt, provoked by Zun, bared her teeth.
She had seen Youyou's self-portrait and bluntly called her a complete breast monster, wondering why she had developed so well despite being a year younger than her.
Zun, as if seeing through her thoughts, said, “Of course, it's because she eats breakfast properly! Only by ingesting enough nutrients can the body develop better!”
“Is that so?”
“That's right, Felt-sama.”
Reinhard agreed.
Felt pondered for a moment before nodding earnestly.
But then Zun suddenly spoke again: “Ah, but there are exceptions, such as another of my childhood friends. She clearly eats so much but still has the same childish figure as you, Felt. It's probably genetic. You seem to be the same, Felt… Ouch, ouch, ouch! Let go, don't bite me!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Felt transformed into a vicious dog and bit him.
Reinhard sighed softly at the sight.
“The two of you have such a good relationship.”
“What's so good about it!?” X2
The two shouted at him in unison.
————
Reinhard and Zun left first because they had something to do. Not long after, Felt, fully dressed, walked out of her room.
“Oh, oh, Felt, you're up early today.”
“Ah… it's Old Man Rom, good morning.”
She looked up at the giant man walking towards her from the other side and greeted him listlessly.
Old Man Rom looked surprised and said, “Hmm, you were just arguing so loudly, and now you're like this?”
“All my energy has been used up.”
Felt hunched her small body slightly, looking even smaller and more pitiful. She complained to Old Man Rom, “I really don't want to wake up so early, but in this mansion, you always get woken up at a time that's almost normal.”
“Wahahaha, it would be nice if you could be called normal! After all, you're smaller than your age. Eating well and living a regular life should help you grow taller, right?”
Old Man Rom shook his body and laughed loudly.
His words were almost the same as Zun's, but the genetics part made her a little uneasy.
“Besides, whether I grow taller or shorter, it's just a slight error in Old Man Rom's eyes, right?”
“That's not true, this old man has been watching you grow up properly.”
Having said that, Old Man Rom's deeply wrinkled face broke into a smile, and he patted Felt's head generously. Although it still felt like her head was about to be twisted off, she didn't dislike the touch of his calloused hand; in fact, she quite liked it.
Even though she had been reluctant to be treated like a child for a while, to be honest, only at this moment could her mood calm down.
Felt recalled the dream.
“Hey—! Felt, what are you dawdling about? Didn't you say you wanted to go out and play? Or do you not want to go anymore?”
Zun was shouting at her from afar.
The inexplicable sadness was interrupted again, and Felt retorted to Zun in annoyance.
“Don't even think about ditching me. We're definitely going out to play today!”
“Then hurry up! Grandma has already made breakfast. Also, this morning, she carefully prepared delicious pastries for you!”
“What, I'm coming!”
The so-called Grandma was Green's wife, the twins' grandmother—Carole, a kind person despite her stern words. Especially her pastries, which were very delicious, and Felt liked them very much.
With expectations for breakfast, Felt arrived at the dining room with Old Man Rom.
When she opened the door and entered the room, the long table was already filled with steaming breakfast.
Then, facing Felt, who entered the dining room full of energy, two figures turned around and bowed. Reinhard affectionately called them Grandpa and Grandma, and Felt also addressed them that way and maintained a good relationship.
Adding in the twin maids, only a few of them currently lived in this mansion.
After breakfast.
“Old Man Rom, are you really not planning to come out and play with us?”
“No, no, I'd rather have a drink at home than go out.”
Old Man Rom smiled rather lewdly.
He raised his giant hand in the shape of a wine glass, thoroughly looking like a drunkard who valued wine over freedom.
Felt sighed helplessly.
She had wanted to take the opportunity to sneak away with Old Man Rom, but unfortunately, he didn't understand her hints at all. However, what she didn't know was that Old Man Rom had long understood what Felt was thinking, but he pretended not to know in order to participate in the royal selection.
So, with Reinhard and the others seeing them off, Zun and Felt left the mansion.
The streets were bustling with activity.
Felt opened her arms, stretched, took a deep breath, and exclaimed, “Hmm—! As expected, it's better outside. I was so bored in the mansion!”
“Then you should enjoy yourself today.”
“Of course! Speaking of which, these clothes suit me better. That light, floaty dress was too uncomfortable.”
Because they were going out to play, wearing something too flashy would easily attract the attention of those with ulterior motives, so Felt took the initiative to ask to wear the clothes she had worn in the slums.
Originally, Reinhard didn't agree, but after Carole washed the clothes, he reluctantly agreed.
Speaking of which, Reinhard really wanted to come along, but the Sword Saint's name was too appealing in the royal capital, so he was decisively rejected.
“Where does Felt plan to go?”
“...I don't know.”
“Hmm?”
“I used to run around stealing things for a living, but I don't need to do that anymore.”
So she was lost?
Zun understood her meaning, a typical symptom of 'working hard in a big city for ten years without ever taking the time to look around'.
“Then today, let's leisurely stroll around the royal capital. I'll treat you to whatever you want to eat and drink!”
“Really!?”
“Reinhard gave me a lot of money before we left, so it's no problem! … Huh?”
“What's wrong?”
Hearing Zun make a soft sound, Felt curiously looked in the direction of his gaze and saw a girl wearing a white cloak and a man in a butler's uniform with a fierce look in his eyes.
“Ah, it's Big Sister and Little Bro!”
She waved instinctively.
The two were Emilia and Natsuki Subaru. They hadn't expected to run into them by chance.