To become a king and a magician

"Haha, I'm really sorry." Meryl laughed without any apology. "But... I see. It seems those fan service tactics are still effective. I'll have to intensify them in the future."

"You bastard—"

"Then, if you like me, why have you never told me?"

Interrupting Natsukawa, Meili leaned close to him and asked, the distance between them suddenly shrinking considerably until their noses were almost touching.

After a pause, Xia Chuanhu turned his head away: "Wouldn't what I said just give you another handle to use against me, and then you'd laugh at me for days? I don't have the habit of asking for trouble."

"Yeah, if you confessed to me, I really would."

That's why I didn't want to tell you!

But more importantly—

"Because I like you, but I also hate you at the same time."

"That's quite a contradictory statement. Is it because I've played too many pranks on you?"

"Well... that's part of the reason, and another thing is... I really dislike your attitude towards me—you treat me like a toy. I'm not a prop for you to play with and have fun with."

These words stunned Mary. She remained stunned for a moment before giving a soft laugh: "What? So you already knew."

"Yes, I treat you—no, I should say everyone I'm interested in—as toys. Anything that makes me happy is a good toy. Arthur is a great toy, and so are you."

"That's why I hate you."

“But you still like me, right?” Meryl smiled. “I like you too, Tiger.”

"Ah, saying I like you isn't quite right. My opinion of you hasn't changed. You're just a very good toy to me, nothing more. Just like Arthur, you became a hero as I imagined, showing me all your glory before going to your end."

“I did this to Arthur before, and now I want to do it to you. This is my [liking], my [love].

As a mentor, she personally nurtured an outstanding hero, and then one day left him, watching him walk step by step toward destruction. This was how Meryl expressed her love.

Lowering her head, and to Natsukawa Tora's astonishment, Meryl gently kissed his lips.

This was the second time Xia Chuanhu had kissed a girl. The fresh floral scent accompanying the kiss added color to Xia Chuanhu's consciousness.

"Ugh... Haa..."

Pulling up a long strand, Mary licked her lips: "How does it taste?"

"you......"

"Want more?"

"Ah."

"Then let's do it again."

His lips were sealed for the second time. Looking closely at the slightly trembling, closed eyes of Mary, Natsukawa Tiger couldn't help but reach out and press her waist, pulling her into his arms.

Their lips parted again, and Mary took a few breaths, slightly out of breath: "Ah... I'm a little out of breath. Well then, is that enough?"

"May I?"

"Can't I? This is just a dream after all. Or are you planning to take it seriously, confess to me, and propose to me after we get out? Let me make this clear beforehand, I won't agree." Meryl said, sitting on Natsukawa Tora, her legs wrapped around his waist. "I am just your Merlin, not your Guinevere. You have someone more worthy of your love."

"What if I can't live without you?"

"In that case...they won't be polite either."

That's good.

--------------------------

Two hours later.

Slowly waking up from the sofa, Mary rubbed her eyes and stretched her back. "Ugh... even though it was a dream, my back still aches a bit. Tiger, really! I told him to be gentle this first time. My stomach still feels warm..."

"Merry, I'm back."

Just then, Lydia's voice came in, and then Mary saw her walk into the living room.

"Welcome back, Lydia. Is the work in the Botany Department finished?"

"No, we've only dealt with what we could handle today; there's still some left to go."

"That must be really hard work... Well, I'm sorry, could I trouble you to stay here and watch the things in the kitchen for me? I need to go upstairs."

"Sure, but what are you going upstairs for?"

Upon hearing this, Mary's smile faltered, replaced by a hint of shyness: "Well... I just feel... my panties aren't very comfortable, I'd like to change them..."

"Huh?"

"And, um... I'm sorry, Lydia!"

Watching Mary disappear in a flash after saying those words, Lydia was completely baffled.

what's the situation?

33. Are you kidding me?

The next morning, around noon, Aozaki Aoko, who had been sleeping for three or four in the morning, finally got out of bed.

"Ugh... I'm so hungry... I'll go to the kitchen and see if there's anything to eat."

Touching her rumbling stomach, Aozaki Aoko headed towards the kitchen. However, as she approached the kitchen, she caught a whiff of the aroma of rice and meat.

Is someone cooking in the kitchen?

(Grey?)

There are four people living in this house now, but Grey is the one who goes to the kitchen the most. She is usually the one who cooks at mealtimes.

"Grey, what's for lunch?"

"Ah, good morning, Miss Aoko."

Upon hearing Aozaki Aoko's voice, Natsukawa Torato, who was standing in front of the stove, turned around and greeted her, "Wait a moment, I haven't finished making lunch yet. Also, Gray went downstairs to get her clothes from the laundry room, and Arcueid is still sleeping. If you can, go and wake her up."

"Oh...oh...uh?!"

Aozaki Aoko was stunned for a while before she came to her senses.

Why is it Natsukawa Torato in the kitchen?!

"Junior, why did you suddenly start cooking? You can actually cook?"

“I never said I couldn’t cook, okay?” Natsukawa Tora smiled. “Last year, when I was working for Orange-sensei at Garan no Do, I was basically the one preparing all three meals a day. At first, Shiki even disliked me because my cooking was just so-so.”

"Hey~~~~ So you're planning to show off your skills today?"

"I guess so. Also, I want to practice my cooking skills properly."

How about I practice my cooking skills properly?

Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why did you suddenly have this idea?"

"Well... there's no particular reason, I just want to make some preparations for the future."

"Preparing for the future?"

These words deepened Aozaki Aoko's doubts. She slowly left the kitchen and entered the living room, staring intently at Natsukawa Torato as she pondered deeply.

(Suddenly deciding to cook, and even saying it was for the future... This shouldn't be a sudden idea; it must be a decision made after deep thought. And since he thought of this, it means he experienced something last night.)

Speaking of Xia Chuanhu's experience last night.

(A gift from Arcueid!)

Thinking about this, Aozaki Aoko understood everything—Natsukawa Torato and Arcueid must have done something last night! And considering Arcueid was still asleep...

(Could it be!)

Aozaki Aoko's gaze suddenly sharpened as she looked at Natsukawa Torato. This sharp gaze made Natsukawa Torato, who was stirring the food, tremble involuntarily. He subconsciously looked up and saw Aozaki Aoko: "Miss Aoko? What's with your gaze?"

"Junior!"

"I'm here, what's wrong?"

"Arquette is a good girl."

Aozaki Aoko patted Natsukawa Tora on the shoulder and spoke to him earnestly.

"I will cheer you on."

“Although I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Aoko, you’ve probably misunderstood something, haven’t you?” Natsukawa Torato’s intuition made him keenly aware that something was wrong. “My cooking has nothing to do with Arcueid… ah, no, that’s not right, there’s a third of a connection, after all, the root cause is her gift last night… but strictly speaking, it really doesn’t have much to do with her, Miss Aoko, please don’t overthink it.”

"Don't overthink it? You've already piqued her curiosity with such vague and ambiguous statements, and you're telling her not to overthink it?"

And at that very moment—

"Oh my, it smells so good—it's Tiger who's cooking today! Good morning, Aoko too."

Arcueid, dressed in pajamas, came out of her bedroom, looked Natsukawa Tora up and down, and then suddenly smiled: "You seem to be in a good mood, which means you are very satisfied with my gift."

"If possible, I hope you can give me a different gift next time. What I received last night was really not very kind to me... although I was quite happy with the result."

"Oh, I see. I'll be more careful next time."

"Please be careful. Go to the table and wait, it'll be ready soon."

————————————————————————————

"So, Arcueid, your gift is actually a nightmare?"

At the dinner table, out of sheer curiosity, Aozaki Aoko couldn't help but ask about the details of the gift, and was dumbfounded upon hearing Arcueid's answer.

She thought it was that one, but it turned out to be this one?

Seeing Aozaki Aoko's expression, Natsukawa Torama chuckled twice: "I knew you were thinking about something else, Miss Aoko. I told you not to overthink it."

"Ahaha... Well, there's nothing I can do about it. You were acting so strangely, it's normal for me to overthink things, okay? — Speaking of which, if it's a dream demon, does that mean Arcueid's gift is to give your junior a sweet dream?"

"If a wet dream can be considered a beautiful dream."

"Oh, I see... Eh? What did you just say, junior?" Aozaki Aoko was a beat slow to react. "What kind of dream did you have?"

"A wet dream, the kind of dream that teenagers have during puberty, the kind that's so embarrassing to talk about, where you're having sex with the person you like. And you can still clearly retain your self-awareness in that dream. I was startled in my dream last night."

Natsukawa Tora spoke calmly, showing no trace of the shyness he claimed to have displayed.

Meanwhile, Arcueid aside, Aozaki Aoko had completely lost control, and Gray was so embarrassed that her face turned bright red, and she almost buried her head in her rice bowl.