Reasons for not wanting to stand out
“Wake up, Clarice. It’s morning.”
Clarice woke up as her body was shaken.
“Hmm…Melvin…?”
“Yeah. Come on, wake up. Drink this.”
My body feels tired and I have pain all over.
I still feel very tired and my brain isn’t working.
“I guess there’s no other way.”
His mouth was forced open and then sealed shut.
“Hmm?!”
A slightly bitter liquid flowed into her mouth, and Clarice finally regained consciousness.
He is being fed Clarice’s special recovery potion by mouth.
With his eyes rolling back, he somehow managed to swallow it down, and his mouth was finally freed.
“Melvin…?”
“If you don’t drink this, you can’t move.
I pushed myself pretty hard last night.”
Clarice instantly blushed as she remembered what had happened before she fell asleep.
Feeling uncomfortable, I quickly hid under the blankets, then blushed even more when I realized I was still naked.
Yet Melvin mercilessly begins to remove the blanket.
“Today isn’t your day off, Clarice?
I have to get ready for work.”
Hearing this, Clarice jumped to her feet.
I looked at the clock on the wall and was relieved to see that I still had plenty of time.
Melvin picked up Clarice, along with the blanket she was wrapped in.
“Ahh! What are you doing?”
“It takes time for the medicine to work.
In the meantime, let’s have breakfast.”
I was dropped down onto a chair and there was a takeaway sandwich and coffee on the table.
The wrapping paper was from a local store, and it seemed Melvin had bought it for him.
“…Oh, thank you. I’ll eat it.”
Clarice was hungry and decided to eat it without hesitation.
“Kyu!”
Chico came over to the table, so I tore off some bread and shared it with him.
“Kuuum.”
Kurt sat at Clarice’s feet and looked up, thinking that if he could have Chico, he could have her too, but Melvin got angry at him.
“Hey Kurt.
If you want too much, Clarice won’t have enough to eat.
Come on. I’ll give you some magic, so just bear with this.”
Kurt looked reluctant and brought his face close to the hand that Melvin offered to him.
Since living with Chico, Clarice has learned that animals have a variety of facial expressions.
Once Chico had finished his bread, he naturally jumped onto Kurt’s back.
Both Chico and Kurt are very cute.
Even though we had become such good friends, we soon had to say goodbye.
“Once you’re done, I’ll take you to work.
I have the day off today.”
“No, that’s fine.”
“I’m worried about whether you’ll be able to walk properly.”
“The castle is just around the corner, and I’ve taken some healing potions so I’ll be fine.”
If a respectable knight like Melvin were to give the plain Clarice a ride home in the morning, it would cause quite a commotion in the brewing room.
I want to avoid that kind of hassle.
“but”
“It’s really okay!”
Melvin shrugged his shoulders and seemed to have given up trying to persuade the stubborn Clarice.
Instead, he offered a different suggestion.
“I’m going on another expedition soon.
I don’t know where I’m going, but I’ll bring back some ingredients, so could you give me the same medicine as before?”
“That’s fine…”
Clarice makes potions as a hobby, but doesn’t often have the opportunity to use them.
That’s why, even though we make it, it often ends up being wasted.
It would be great if Melvin could put it to good use.
“You’re not very clear-spoken. I guess I’m a nuisance after all.”
“No, that’s not it…
I thought this was just a one-time thing.”
Clarice had received the materials as a reward for the medicine she had given him the other day, and thought that was the end of it.
“So this is about exchanging medicine for materials?
Or maybe the fact that I held you?”
Melvin gently stroked her hair, and Clarice blushed again.
“… Both.”
“I never intended to do either of them just once, from the beginning.”
“Is that so?”
“Your medicine has helped me a lot.
I can’t let it go now.
And I took your virginity.
There’s no way I’d do something so dishonest as just saying goodbye once.”
“But I…”
Clarice looked down.
I figured it was just a one-night stand, so I gave myself over to it.
I don’t want a boyfriend or anything more.
“Clarisse, don’t think too hard about it.
I have no intention of forcing you to do anything.”
Melvin put his hand on Clarice’s shoulder and looked her directly in the eye.
“I want to become friends with you.
That’s it.”
“…Are you on good terms?”
“Really? You don’t hate me, do you?”
Of course, I don’t hate Melvin.
If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t even think about hugging him.
“There isn’t much time right now.
Let’s save the difficult talk for later.
Are you free tonight?
Want to go out for dinner somewhere?
I’ll treat you to dinner as thanks for the stew yesterday.”
Clarice thought.
Tall and well-built, Melvin is sure to stand out wherever he goes.
If she stood next to him, even Clarice would stand out.
“Ummm… In that case, could you please buy me some takeout again?
I’m not good at eating out… I can relax more at home.”
“Okay. I’ll get you something.”
Melvin nodded generously.
Then Clarice went to work as usual and worked.
So many things had happened between last night and this morning that my mind was in turmoil, but I concentrated on silently continuing to make the medicine and pushed Melvin out of my mind.
Clarice was normally quiet and reserved, so she didn’t attract any particular attention from her colleagues. She just kept working hard, and when it was time to go home, she hurriedly left.
“Hey, Chico. Do you think he’s really coming?”
“Kyu!”
Melvin promised to come back to visit her in the evening, but Clarice was skeptical.
“Oh, no.
If you don’t come, there’ll be no dinner.
I should have at least bought some ingredients before going home…”
The stew and salad that she had planned to eat over several days had all been eaten, so there was almost no food left in Clarice’s room.
“Wait a little longer, if she doesn’t come I’ll go shopping.”
“Squeak, squeak!”
Chico interrupted me and turned his head to the front door.
Immediately afterwards,
“Hey, Clarice! Open up!”
A voice came from outside and my heart skipped a beat.
I hurriedly opened the door and saw Melvin with a large basket in one hand and a paper bag in the other.
Apparently he couldn’t knock because his hands were full.
“I didn’t know what you liked, Clarice, so I brought a variety of things.”
Colorful salads, grilled meat, pots of soup, and other items were pulled out of the basket one after another and placed on the table.
All of them go beyond home cooking.
It must have been made by Melvin’s family chef.
“Clarisse? What’s wrong?”
As I stared blankly at the food, Melvin tilted his head quizzically.
Yesterday he was wearing his knight uniform, but today seemed to be a holiday, so he was wearing ordinary clothing of a plain shirt and trousers.
“…You really came…”
“What are you talking about?
You promised you’d come.”
Melvin smirked and pulled out a bottle of wine from the paper bag.
“You’re hungry, right?
Let’s eat quickly.”
“Kyu!”
“won!”
Before I could reply, Chico and Kurt replied.
These two also seem hungry.
“Here, this is for you guys.
Let’s eat together.”
Melvin seemed to have thought about it, as he placed a deep dish on the floor containing what appeared to be a stew of meat and chopped vegetables.
Clarice didn’t have any cutlery or small plates, but since she didn’t have any wine glasses she just set out regular cups for two on the table.
The meal thus began and was surprisingly delicious.
“This wine goes well with meat dishes.
Come try eating it with me.”
As instructed, I chewed a piece of meat and then took a sip of wine.
Then, something happy happened in my mouth.
“…It’s really, really delicious.”
That was the best Clarice could muster with her vocabulary.
「Right?
Eat a lot.”
Melvin smiled happily as he watched Clarice munching away, but his expression quickly became a little tense.
“Hey, Clarice.
Can I ask you something a little more in-depth?”
“Hmm. What is it?”
“Is there a reason you don’t want to stand out?”
“Oh, that’s it.”
Clarice had expected to be asked about it, so it wasn’t a big surprise.
“It has to do with where I come from.
It’s not going to be any fun and it’s going to be a long story, but do you still want to hear it?”
“I want to ask…isn’t that a secret?”
“It only takes a little research to find out.
It’s not a secret or anything.”
After letting out a sigh, Clarice began to speak.
Clarice’s father was the second son of a certain noble family.
Clarice has some magical power, but it comes from her father’s blood.
The eldest son inherited the family business, so my father worked as his assistant.
My father met my mother when he was wandering around alone in a town on his territory.
I happened to stop by a pharmacy and found a young girl working there.
My father was suffering from insomnia, so I asked if there was any good medicine for him, and instead of medicine I was recommended some fragrant tea.
Because medicines are strong, taking them continuously is not good for the body, but he was told that it’s fine to drink the tea every day, so he bought some and took it home.He tried drinking it that evening and was surprised at how well he was able to fall asleep.
My father liked the tea so much that he became a regular customer at the pharmacy and also became close friends with my mother.
And then my mother became pregnant with Clarice.
By this time, her father had been widowed for more than ten years, and their son, Clarice’s half-brother, was nearing adulthood.
My father decided without hesitation to take my mother as his second wife and had her live in the mansion where my father had been living, but that was a mistake.
An incident occurred in which her mother was poisoned by a maid and nearly suffered a miscarriage.
The maid was from an aristocratic family and had been aiming to become her father’s second wife, but committed the crime out of resentment that an ignorant commoner woman had taken her place.
Although they somehow managed to avoid a miscarriage, my mother, who was a bit timid, was completely scared, and my parents never got married.
However, as soon as Clarice was born, her father completed the paperwork and officially recognized her as his daughter.
Thanks to my father’s support, my mother and Clarice were able to make ends meet, and he even willingly paid the tuition fees for her to attend school to become a pharmacist.
Clarice is very grateful to her father for coming to see her about once every two months and giving her a present every year on her birthday.
Her parents died one after the other, as if by coincidence, soon after Clarice came of age and got a job as a fourth-class pharmacist.
“Someone from my background isn’t that uncommon, is it?
I’ve heard some stories of people being severely abused, but that has never happened to me.
Even though I didn’t come from a typical family background, I think I was lucky.”
“I agree.
But then why would you want to stand out?”
“My mother always took birth control pills.
In other words, I was not an unwanted child.”
At the time, there was a rare chance that women could become pregnant even while taking the contraceptives.
That’s how Clarice was born.
“My mother knew from the beginning that she and my father were of different social status.
So, from the start, he never intended to get married.
But then he got married because he had me, and he poisoned me and almost died…
My mother said it was a punishment for wanting something less than she deserved.”
“It’s not a punishment.
Neither you nor your mother have done anything wrong.”
“Excessive desire destroys the body.
If I apply to register my medicine recipe, I will probably be able to get promoted.
However, if that were to happen, I would be transferred from my current mixing room.
The only people working in the compounding room are commoners like me, but the majority of pharmacists in other departments are of noble descent.
If you do anything that stands out in that situation, you’re sure to get into trouble.
I’d be happy if I could live quietly alone.
Also, the only reason I was able to get a job was because my half-brother became my guardian.
I don’t want to do anything weird and cause trouble.”
“Do you get along with your brother?”
“I’ve never been involved enough with him to be able to say we were close.
The last time I saw him was at my father’s funeral.”
“I see…”
“That’s why I keep the recipe a secret.
Are you convinced?”
“Ah, I understand.
By the way, are you working tomorrow?”
“No, I’m on vacation.”
“Then it’ll be okay if you get a hangover.
I have tomorrow off too.”
Melvin refilled Clarice’s cup with wine.
When I woke up, I saw a familiar ceiling.
I looked at the clock and saw that it was already morning, but I wondered when I’d fallen asleep.
As I tried to get up, I felt something warm and heavy wrapped around my body.
It was Melvin.
Clarice was lying on the bed in the same clothes she had worn at dinner, with Melvin, shirtless, holding her in his arms.
Why did this happen?
When I search my memory, all I can remember is drinking wine and talking about my life story.
“…Hmm…Clarisse…?”
Melvin, who seemed to have woken up, hugged Clarice tightly.
“Good morning, Clarice.”
“Oh, good morning…”
I spent the night with Melvin two nights in a row.
It’s lewd, or something like that…
“Do you remember what happened yesterday, Clarice?”
“Yes. I managed to get halfway through…”
“Have you ever told me why you don’t want to stand out?”
“That much I remember.”
“Afterwards, we had some more wine and talked for a while, and then you suddenly fell asleep on the table.”
“picture⁉”
“I shook him and called out to him but he didn’t wake up.
Chico seemed fine so I knew he was just drunk and asleep, but it really worried me.”
So that’s why it’s like this…
Feeling so sorry, pathetic and ashamed, Clarice wanted to disappear.
“Clarisse isn’t used to drinking alcohol.”
“Yes… I think it was the first time I’ve ever drunk that much.”
“It’s dangerous, so be careful when drinking outside.
Or rather, please don’t drink when I’m not around.”
What does that mean?
Does this mean I’ll have another chance to drink with Melvin?
“it’s okay.
I don’t buy alcohol myself, and I don’t go out drinking with anyone.”
“That would be nice, but you never know what’s going to happen in life.
Don’t forget that when you get drunk, you suddenly fall asleep.
“Yes… I’ll keep that in mind.”
The two then talked and decided to continue exchanging materials and medicines.
However, they only meet in Clarice’s room, and only when they exchange gifts.
Melvin was reluctant, but when Clarice insisted that she would not trade unless she met these conditions, he was forced to give in.
“In return, could you let me try Clarice’s cooking again?”
Clarice wondered if she really liked such ordinary home-cooked food that much, but she nodded and agreed.
In truth, Clarice was happy to get the materials and put the excess medicine to good use, but she was even happier to be able to see Melvin again.
It’s not that she hates men, but she grew up watching her mother have an unhappy marriage, so she has always avoided men. However, she felt a strange sense of comfort in Melvin’s warm arms, and thought it would be a shame to lose that.
Melvin is kind and thoughtful, and doesn’t intrude on Clarice more than necessary.
The cute Kurt is also good friends with Chico.
Surely it’s ok to have such a rotten relationship at least once in your life?
Thus, the strange relationship between the two continued.
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