"Hahh! Shit!"
Soren bolted upright, horrified.
He practically launched himself off the toilet seat and stumbled toward the door like he needed to confirm it was real.
Then he locked it again, hands shaking slightly.
Click.
"That was close," he breathed, chest heaving. "Far too close."
He was lucky the bathroom was dim.
Lucky she didn't ask questions.
Lucky she didn't move around much.
If any one of those conditions hadn't been true, he might have genuinely died of embarrassment on the spot.
Click.
He flicked on the magic light.
The bathroom brightened immediately, and Soren moved toward the sink, bracing his hands on the counter as he looked up.
Only when he faced his reflection did he fully understand just how dangerous that had been.
"..."
His face was burning red, so red it almost matched his eyes.
The marks on his neck from Lilliana's teeth were visible, and blood trickled faintly from them.
And then…
His gaze flickered downward.
Soren's face went blank.
"...Alcohol's more dangerous than I thought."
He splashed cold water on his cheeks like it could erase the memory.
It didn't.
The image of her lips.
The heat of her breath.
The sensation of her tongue.
It stuck stubbornly in his head.
As a man, Soren had obviously had thoughts about the women around him; their beauty was undeniable, but this was something else.
His body reacting to Lilly's feeding?
That was a new and humiliating experience.
He had gotten used to Lilliana's feeding, Esper's clinging, Amelia's blunt closeness and distance; he had adjusted to all of it without letting his mind go there.
Even as he felt deep embarrassment, he couldn't stop the strange thoughts from appearing in his mind.
And because of his perfect memory, he could recall every moment of the touches from the women around him.
So why today?
Why now?
Soren stared at his reflection, grimacing.
"This is dangerous. Seriously dangerous."
He turned the faucet on and splashed water across his face again, slower this time, forcing himself to breathe through the heat.
He didn't want to think about them like that.
The thoughts circling his mind were stray thoughts, influenced by alcohol.
That was all.
They were friends.
It would be disgusting if he suddenly became conscious of them for reasons this dirty.
Soren swallowed hard, leaning closer to the sink, lowering his voice as if saying it out loud would make it true.
"They're just friends."
Under the right circumstances, sure, friends could do things.
He wasn't a child.
But he didn't want that.
Not now.
Not with everything hanging over his head.
And even if he did want it, what then?
It was unlikely any of them would accept it.
Their statuses alone made it absurd.
A princess.
Heirs.
Nobility.
And him?
A class F nobody that had been all but abandoned by his family.
'I'm also too busy…'
The thought tasted bitter because it contradicted his old opinion.
Back when he first transmigrated, he had scoffed at protagonists who refused to accept anyone because "the story wasn't over yet."
He had thought it was an excuse.
Now… it didn't feel like an excuse.
It felt like reality.
His life was busy.
Even his time with friends was training in disguise.
Physical sparring with Amelia.
Blood magic tutoring with Lilliana.
Endless effort toward survival.
It would be unfair to start lusting after people who gave him kindness so purely.
"Hoo…"
Soren exhaled, long and slow, forcing the last of the heat down.
His reflection still looked mortified.
But at least his mind was a little clearer.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Only after a few minutes passed did the flush on Soren's cheeks finally fade.
The discomfort in his pants also, thankfully, disappeared.
Soren stared at himself in the mirror for one last second, expression stiff, then looked away like he couldn't stand his own face.
"Let's go out now…"
He took one deep breath, unlocked the door, and stepped back into the private room.
And immediately froze.
The moment he returned, Esper's sing-song voice rang out, far too cheerful for the state of the room.
"Professor Roseblooddd~"
Soren blinked.
Lilliana was curled in the corner, hiding her face in her knees while Esper poked her back repeatedly, grinning like a menace.
"...What's going on?" Soren asked cautiously, already feeling dread creep back up his spine.
Felix and Amelia were awake now, too.
Felix was leaning back with a smug, sleep-ruined grin that promised nothing but trouble.
Amelia's gaze was sharper.
Very sharp.
She looked at Soren like she had caught him committing a crime.
"Soren," Amelia said, voice flat but dangerous. "Seriously?"
Soren's brain stalled.
"What?" he asked, genuinely lost.
Esper pounced over to him the moment he spoke, eyes glittering with mischief.
"Cutieee~" she sang, dragging out the word. "You and the professor snuck into the ensuite together, huh?"
Soren's face went blank.
Slowly, he turned his head toward Lilliana.
Lilliana lifted her head just enough for him to see the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
Not full crying.
Not sobbing.
But the kind of watery-eyed panic of someone who thought they had just been exposed.
'Oh god…'
Soren's stomach dropped.
"Essy, it's not like that."
Esper tilted her head innocently.
"Not like what exactly?"
Soren's mouth opened.
Then shut.
Because, curse her, Esper had cornered him perfectly.
He forced himself to speak anyway.
"Lilly was just thirsty and needed help getting to the bathroom, and I was the only one awake."
For a second, a glimmer of hope returned to Lilliana's eyes.
She looked at him like she wanted to cling to his explanation.
But Esper wasn't done.
"Not buying it!" Esper chirped, hands behind her back, like a teacher scolding students. "Why'd you lock the door then? And why'd you stay after she left?"
Soren stared at her.
His mind scrambled desperately.
He could not say, because I needed to calm down before I died of embarrassment.
He could not say, because I was having a bodily reaction I didn't want anyone to see.
He could not say anything that wouldn't either incriminate him further or embarrass Lilliana more.
Soren opened his mouth.
Then shut it again.
"…I've got nothing," he admitted flatly.
"Ren???" Lilliana squeaked, lifting her head fully now, looking betrayed in the most devastated way possible.
Soren threw his hands up, desperate.
"I mean, Lilly, seriously," he hissed, keeping his voice low, "how the hell am I supposed to explain it?"
Lilliana's expression crumpled.
"T-That's…" she whispered, ears drooping. "…true…"
She wilted visibly as she realised just how bad it looked from the outside.
Felix, of course, looked entertained.
Then a voice cut in, dry as stone.
"You've got blood on your neck."
Soren stiffened.
His hand shot up instinctively, fingers brushing the bite marks.
Amelia leaned in closer, eyes narrowing.
She blew lightly on the wound, soft, barely there, but enough to make Soren flinch.
The sensation hit his already-frayed nerves like a spark.
Soren's spine went rigid.
Felix's eyes sharpened immediately.
"You're bleeding? What happened?"
Esper's grin vanished in an instant, replaced by genuine concern.
"Huh? Cutie, are you hurt?"
Soren forced a sheepish laugh that sounded completely fake.
"A bug must've bitten me in my sleep or something," he said quickly. "Doesn't hurt though."
Amelia stared at him.
Her expression said, "That is the worst lie I've ever heard."
Esper, thankfully, didn't press.
Instead, she rummaged for half a second and pulled out a handkerchief like she had been waiting for an excuse to mother him again.
"Here," Esper said, moving closer. "I'll wipe it for you! It could be dangerous if you just leave it!"
Soren sat still, letting her dab at his neck.
He was grateful for the shift in topic.
Grateful enough to ignore how humiliating it was to be treated like a child.
'It must've been because I was acting weirdly…'
Ordinarily, after feeding Lilliana, the wound wouldn't continue bleeding.
She usually drank enough that it stopped cleanly.
But earlier, because he had shifted away, because he had been tense, because he had reacted…
She must have stopped early, thinking something was wrong.
Soren's stomach twisted again.
He glanced toward Lilliana.
She looked small in the corner, ears drooped, cheeks flushed, eyes still watery.
Guilt stabbed through him.
'I made it worse for her.'
Only after Esper finished cleaning the bite marks did Soren finally speak, careful, very careful, to steer the conversation away from him and Lilliana entirely.
"So…" Soren said, clearing his throat. "When should we wake those two up?"
He pointed.
Everyone's attention followed the motion.
On the floor, Alex and Olivia were still asleep.
Still cuddling.
Still far too close for two people who would absolutely deny being a couple if asked.
The tension in the room broke instantly.
Felix snorted.
Esper's eyes lit up again.
Even Amelia's expression softened slightly, though her gaze still flicked to Soren's neck like she hadn't forgotten.
Olivia's face was tucked into Alex's chest, and Alex's arm was loosely around her waist, their bodies angled together like they had naturally found comfort without thinking.
It was adorable.
It was also extremely incriminating.
And Soren, as the number one Alivia shipper, felt his soul ascend.
"It's adorable, isn't it, Cutie?" Esper said with a grin, elbowing him lightly.
Soren nodded immediately.
"Yes, very," he said without hesitation.
It was as if his shipping fantasies had come to life.
How could he not enjoy it?
Soren cleared his throat again.
"Should we give them a couple more minutes then? Then once everyone's awake, I can pay the bill, and we can leave."
"Yep!" Esper chirped.
"That's good with me," Felix said, smirking like he was already planning what to say when they woke up.
"Sure," Amelia replied.
"Alright," Lilliana murmured, still shy, but the panic on her face eased a little now that the attention was elsewhere.
With everyone in agreement, they sat there exchanging small talk for a few more minutes, gentle teasing, quiet groans about hangovers, Felix complaining about how his head felt like it was being stabbed.
Then, finally, they moved to wake up the somehow-not-a-couple and laughed at their flustered reactions.
————「❤︎」————