A faint, thin mist of water—no one knew where it had come from—hung in the air. Coupled with the gloomy wind that blew for no reason, it kept the temperature low. On some patches of dirt and rock, there was even a trace of frost.

But Ariel didn’t feel cold at all right now.

Not only was she not cold—she felt very warm.

Not just because of the orange campfire flickering in front of her, but also because, besides the bandages tightly wrapped around her, she was wearing an outer garment that didn’t belong °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° to her.

This was Miss Muse’s clothes too, right? Mm. It smells so nice.

The coat was new and looked like it hadn’t been worn many times. On Ariel it was a little too big... but Ariel still felt an indescribable sense of being wrapped up, of being sheltered.

Of course, what was warm wasn’t only her body—it was her heart, too.

“Miss Muse... were you the one who treated me?”

Ariel’s cheeks reddened as she shyly wriggled a little.

She’d always prided herself on being fierce, domineering, brave, and tough. She almost never acted this bashful. But once she thought about how Miss Muse had actually seen her naked—and done this and that...

Ariel still couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.

My offensive hasn’t even started yet—how did we jump straight to the stage where we’re completely bare with each other? Isn’t that way too fast?

But... she liked it.

“...”

“Miss Muse?”

After Ariel asked that, the space fell quiet for a moment.

It made her uneasy. Did Miss Muse not want to answer? Or had she said something wrong?

So Ariel secretly lifted her gaze and, through the flames, stole a look at Miss Muse’s breathtakingly pretty face.

The firelight lit up her profile—smooth and bright, making her look even softer. But right now, Miss Muse’s expression was... off.

She scratched her cheek, her eyes drifting, looking awkward and guilty. As if she’d struggled with it for a long time, she finally let out a few words softly:

“S-sorry... I... I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Huh? Why are you apologizing?”

Ariel was completely confused. She waved her hands instinctively. “It’s Miss Muse who saved me.”

“Well... yeah, back then it really was because there was no choice...”

Miss Muse coughed twice, looking even more embarrassed. “But in the end it was still an accident... Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything. Actually, I had my eyes closed...”

“It’s fine!”

Ariel suddenly puffed out her chest, comforting her. “Miss Muse did it to save me, so you did nothing wrong! Besides, we’re both beautiful girls—why would we make a big deal out of something like this?”

That’s right. Beautiful girls. Between beautiful girls, being completely open with each other like that is perfectly normal, isn’t it?

And anyway it happened for a reason. There was no need to lie about keeping your eyes closed.

Besides, if your eyes were closed, how would you treat and bandage someone—by feeling your way around? Wouldn’t that be even lewder?

Could it be... Miss Muse thinks I, Ariel Bugaard, am the kind of narrow-minded person who’d fly into a rage just because someone saw me naked?

Of course not. No one is more broad-minded than Ariel Bugaard!

No, no—she absolutely can’t misunderstand!

“I’m telling you, you really don’t need to care about this. Actually, if Miss Muse still wants to look... I can even—”

Ariel grew even more shy as she rubbed her bandage-wrapped thigh, her hands lightly settling on the buttons of the outer coat...

“Wait! That’s even less necessary!”

A flash of inexplicable panic passed through Miss Muse’s eyes. She hurriedly stopped her. “Y-you... you don’t need to prove that kind of thing to me. I just need to know you won’t... you know... punish me over something like this.”

“How could I ever lay a hand on Miss Muse?”

Ariel tilted her head, puzzled. “I can’t even thank Miss Muse enough.”

“Is that so... Then good. Good. I hope you’ll remember what you just said. That’s enough—no need for anything else.”

For some reason, Miss Muse very clearly let out a sigh of relief.

“Well... want to eat?”

“Eat?”

Only then did Ariel notice that something was bubbling away over the campfire. It was all because Miss Muse was too pretty—she hadn’t even noticed something that obvious.

“Recovering from injuries that fast burns a lot of stamina, right? I cooked a little. It’s some decent-quality meat. It’s definitely not as good as specialized recovery herbs, but it can at least hold you over for now.”

As Miss Muse spoke, she stirred the small pot, her movements practiced and neat.

She’s basically the perfect ‘virtuous wife and good mother’...

A smile rose at the corner of Ariel’s lips. She could already imagine it—sunlight pouring in on a morning, her eyes opening, and Miss Muse already standing by the stove, wearing a cute apron, making breakfast and turning back with a smile.

“Want to eat?” she’d ask, gently—just like now.

But then... there should be a second option, shouldn’t there?

Like: do you want to eat breakfast, or do you want to eat... me?

No, no—bad. This scene is too perfect. If I’m not careful, I’ll get lost in it!

“Meat... I-I can?”

“Of course. I can’t eat this much by myself.”

“Guh~”

The useless sound from her stomach made Ariel, who’d been thinking she should at least pretend to be reserved, flush red again. Luckily, Miss Muse had her head down, filling a small bowl, and didn’t notice her disgrace.

Damn it, this trash-fish stomach. I ate black bread not that long ago!

It has to be because Miss Muse’s food smells too good!

“The meat’s good, but if you stew it like a mixed mess, you can’t really taste the difference anyway. Make do. Here.”

Miss Muse handed the small bowl to Ariel.

“Thank you.”

Ariel took it, brimming with joy. Just as she was about to savor it with an incomparable sense of happiness...

She suddenly froze.

Because she noticed that Miss Muse’s hands weren’t just covered in a mess of wounds—they were trembling faintly, nonstop. Especially her palms and fingers. They’d been roughly bandaged, but because the bandaging was clumsy, Ariel could sharply tell that the skin underneath was practically rotted to hell.

“Miss Muse, your hands...” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Ah, it’s fine. Just some aftereffects from climbing, that’s all.”

Miss Muse glanced at her hands and quickly pulled them back, smiling like she didn’t care at all.

“Climbing?”

Ariel’s gaze passed over Miss Muse. A faint light flickered in her eyes as she looked into the darkness—and sure enough, she saw a towering cliff wall.

It looked like it had been cut with a blade. Incredibly steep.

Don’t tell me... Miss Muse carried me down from somewhere that high?

“This is what happens when you can’t use magic...”

Miss Muse let out a melancholy sigh, picked up the spoon from her bowl, and then—

Clang.

Before she’d even lifted it very high, the spoon dropped right back into the bowl.

Miss Muse fell silent.

The trembling in her hands couldn’t be suppressed. Doing things that didn’t require finesse was fine, but... she couldn’t even hold a spoon now?

Ariel’s eyes slowly widened as she watched. It was something she should’ve been worried about, yet right now, what shone in her eyes was even clearer—delight.

Because...

This was an opportunity.

“No choice. It’ll be a bit rude, but Ariel probably won’t notice from these movements...”

Miss Muse muttered under her breath, lifted the small bowl with both hands, and was about to tilt her head back—

When a small silver spoon suddenly extended in front of her.

On the spoon was food that had been carefully blown cool, fragrant with warmth.

“Huh?”

Miss Muse clearly froze. Then the corner of her mouth couldn’t help twitching as her gaze followed the spoon to Ariel, who had somehow come around to this side of the campfire.

“Ariel, what are you—”

“I’ll feed you, Miss Muse.”

Ariel was filled with yet another wave of shyness.

She felt like she’d never been this shy in her entire life. Even if she were surrounded by dozens of enemies, her heart wouldn’t waver—but right now, she could barely suppress the restless pounding in her chest.

How strange. In reality, the time she’d truly spent with Miss Muse wasn’t even that long. They didn’t even know that much about each other. And yet... they could already do something this intimate so naturally?

Sure enough, supporting each other between life and death was the best way to close the distance.

But she still couldn’t relax. After all, even a frog she’d slowly boiled for ten years could get stolen by someone else—when it came to feelings, what couldn’t happen?

So she had to try harder—launch an even fiercer offensive! She absolutely couldn’t let this golden opportunity slip through her fingers!

“Come on, Miss Muse. Open your mouth...”

Ariel held the spoon and edged half a step closer. Her shoulder was already close enough to brush Miss Muse’s arm. If she didn’t know she truly had no advantage in that area, she might’ve even tried one of those classic “fanservice offensives” from romance novels.

“N-no... um... this isn’t really a good idea.”

Only then did Miss Muse seem to react. She hurriedly shook her head. Her body instinctively leaned back, a trace of panic on her face.

Is she shy?

Heh-heh. Miss Muse really is pure.

Just like earlier—when she apologized for seeing her—this flustered shock she showed at Ariel’s sudden attack probably meant that, up to now, she’d never been this physically close with another girl before, right?

It sounds a bit like something a scumbag would say, but the purer and more naïve a beautiful girl is, the easier she is to win over!

Keep pushing forward, Ariel Bugaard!

“Don’t be shy, Miss Muse. Um... didn’t you help me just now? You even saved me. This is just a tiny little repayment.”

Ariel smiled, perfectly harmless, and brought the spoon even closer.

“It’s just feeding you a bite. That’s not some huge deal, is it?”

“No... I think, in a certain sense, this is pretty serious...”

“How is it serious? Between beautiful girls, isn’t this normal? Don’t be so shy. Come on—ah—”

“I’m not shy, I just...”

Miss Muse stopped mid-sentence. Her expression was complicated. “Thinking about the future for the two of us... I think it’s better not to.”

“Oh? Miss Muse is already thinking that far into the future?”

Ariel refused to give up. “Don’t worry. There’ll definitely be plenty of chances like this in the future.”

“Come on. Miss Muse already did that kind of thing to me—are you really going to refuse to let me feed you even once?”

“...”

Faced with Ariel pressing closer step by step, Miss Muse fell silent again.

It was like she was weighing something extremely complicated—like she was going through a psychological struggle that couldn’t be put into words. In the end, after she inexplicably wore an expression like she was going to her death...

Miss Muse finally gave in to Ariel and slowly opened her mouth.

“Ah...”