Arc-7 Ch-57.5

“Hey! How is it!?”

“…I think it suits you very well, Big Sister…”

“Big sis, could you please stop asking us the same thing over and over like you have since earlier…?”

“It’s too noisy. All of you, quiet down a little.”

She deliberately raised her voice just enough to quiet the commotion among the children gathered in the hall. 

In truth, however, only one of them was actually making a fuss. The others had long since been reduced to offering the same weary responses again and again.

Usually full of energy, Leah had become little more than a doll mechanically repeating the same words, while Roxanne, who would undoubtedly grow into a beautiful and refined young lady, had already lost all interest. Melanie, driven by her boundless thirst for knowledge, remained engrossed in her book without so much as sparing them a glance.　

Among all the children gathered in the hall, the only one still brimming with excitement was Ariel, the eldest daughter she had given birth to.

Ever since a package containing her Royal Academy uniform had arrived at the Bartfort earldom residence a few days earlier, Ariel had worn it nonstop, wandering throughout the mansion while asking everyone she met what they thought of it.

Ordinarily, unless they had lessons, training, or noble obligations to attend to, the children spent their free time however they pleased in their own rooms.

But the moment the Royal Academy uniform arrived, Ariel had put it on and begun making the rounds, seeking opinions from everyone in the residence, from her mother and father Leon, to her siblings, and even the servants.

At least she had enough sense to realize that pestering Leon, the lord of the house, and his aide, herself, over and over would eventually earn her a scolding.

The servants, meanwhile, could always escape Ariel's relentless pursuit by claiming they had work to do.

That left the unfortunate victims as Ariel's younger brothers and sisters.

Apparently, all of the children except Ariel had realized today that staying hidden in their own rooms would only leave them cornered once Ariel came looking for them, so they'd gathered together in the hall instead.

If they'd made one mistake, it was underestimating Ariel's persistence.

Now that all of her younger siblings were gathered in one place, Ariel seemed determined to ask for their opinions on the uniform all over again, just as she'd done the day before.

By this point, her persistence had become so relentless that, as her mother, she could no longer let it slide.

“Geh, Mother…”

“What kind of greeting is that? You make it sound as though an unwelcome guest has arrived.”

“T-That's not it at all… Ahaha…”

“You were making quite a racket earlier, but we can't have you staining your brand-new uniform before you've even enrolled.”

“I know…”

“Besides, since you failed to make it into the advanced class, you'll have to work that much harder as a daughter of House Bartfort.”

“Uu…”

“You should learn a thing or two from Lionel. That boy's still studying diligently in his room at this very moment.”

She and Leon had six children in total. Lionel, the eldest son, who had been born on the same day as Ariel, was also entering the Royal Academy as a new student this year.

What's more, Lionel had successfully earned a place in the advanced class, reserved exclusively for students who achieved exceptional results on the entrance examination.

Roughly twenty years earlier, when she herself had attended the Royal Academy, admission to the advanced class had been determined solely by the status of one's birth.

In other words, no matter how uncouth or ignorant someone might have been, as long as royal or noble blood flowed through their veins, they could receive the finest education the kingdom had to offer without lifting a finger to earn it.

The damage this profoundly unjust system had inflicted on the kingdom's ability to cultivate talent and strengthen the nation was beyond measure.

The disparity in competence between the young officials produced before and after the educational reforms had been so striking that even the royal family and the kingdom's highest officials had lamented together, “How much the preservation of noble prestige has weakened the Holfort Kingdom's power.”

These days, academic achievement at the Royal Academy had become the new benchmark for evaluating those destined to assume important positions within the kingdom.

Naturally, that system brought its own share of problems as well, such as insufferable know-it-alls strutting around with no understanding of the real world, but such growing pains were inevitable in an age of reform.

In any event, Lionel, the eldest son and heir to House Bartfort, had passed through that narrow gate and proven to everyone around him that he possessed the qualities worthy of becoming the family's next head.

Compared to Lionel, who remained hard at work in his room, the eldest daughter Ariel, who was racing around the residence in unrestrained excitement, was a constant source of headaches for House Bartfort.

It wasn't that Ariel looked down on commoners with the sense of superiority so typical of the nobility, nor did she throw around baseless slander against children from other families simply because she disliked them.

She simply had an exceptionally spirited personality and displayed extraordinary focus whenever something managed to capture her interest.

However, when it came to things that failed to interest her, she'd slack off so thoroughly that she could even fall behind younger sisters, avoiding involvement whenever she possibly could.

She had never intended to raise Ariel into a flawless young lady devoid of imperfections, as she herself had once been expected to become as a candidate for the next queen.

Being born as the daughter of House Redgrave, the foremost among the feudal nobles, and being betrothed from childhood to the heir of the royal family had been an exception among exceptions.

She merely wished for Ariel to possess enough humility and grace to navigate high society without difficulty as a daughter of House Bartfort.

A certain level of education and proper conduct would, in the end, come back to benefit oneself, but that was perhaps too much to expect from adolescents intoxicated by the boundless sense of invincibility so characteristic of youth.

“What are you doing~?”

“…Since when have you been there?”

“Since around the time Angie started lecturing Ariel.”

The one who called out to her from behind was Leon Fou Bartfort, the lord who governed this territory and her husband.

She'd been mindful of her surroundings, yet Leon had acquired the ability through years of training in his youth and countless real battles to approach without revealing either his presence or his footsteps, making his sudden appearances positively bad for the heart.

The fact that this, too, was completely at odds with the image the public held of a high-ranking noble only gave her another headache.

The reason so many of the children born to her and Leon had personalities that strayed so far from those of ordinary noble sons and daughters was probably because they'd inherited Leon's disposition.

As for her own decision to challenge Olivia, who would later become the Saint, to a duel and have her engagement dissolved, she still wanted to believe that at least fell within the bounds of behavior expected from a high-ranking noble.

Even now, nearly twenty years later, she still couldn't say with complete certainty.

In any case, if a mother's scolding had little effect on Ariel, the natural next step would be to rely on her father, Leon.

Unfortunately, the head of House Bartfort was a man infamous for doting shamelessly on his children.

In fact, Leon was so indulgent toward them that it practically forced her to become even stricter in their upbringing, reprimanding them more severely than she otherwise would have.

It wasn't as though she took any pleasure in lecturing her own children. It was only natural to cherish the sons and daughters she'd carried in her womb for ten months before enduring the pain of bringing them into the world.

Even so, having been born into a noble house, they were expected to shoulder the responsibilities that came with that birth and conduct themselves accordingly. If they refused to do so, they had no right to stand above the common people and govern the territory.

The greatest reason Leon lacked that awareness lay in the way he'd been raised.

Originally the son of a lower-ranking noble family and never expected to inherit its headship, Leon had received almost no education befitting a noble.

It was difficult for someone who had never been properly educated as a noble himself to provide that education to his own children. As a result, responsibility for their upbringing had inevitably fallen to her.

Watching the children who had once clung to her so dearly in infancy gradually grow fearful of her as the years passed filled her heart with a loneliness so profound it threatened to swallow her whole.

Leon, meanwhile, always seemed to appear at precisely the right moment to comfort them whenever they were feeling dejected.

At this rate, she'd be the only one who ever did the scolding, leaving her to play the villain. One of these days, she'd have to sit Leon down for a proper talk.

“Come on, calm down, Angie. If you keep frowning like that, you'll end up with wrinkles.”

“…That's an unnecessary concern. More importantly, why are you here?”

“Dylan said he wanted to see you.”

“…Mother.”

“Look, your beloved mother's here~”

The one who emerged from behind Leon after those words was their youngest son, Dylan.

For a child who had yet to reach the age of ten, being doted on by one's parents was an indispensable part of developing a sense of emotional security.

Among high-ranking nobles, it was common practice to entrust child-rearing almost entirely to wet nurses and tutors while the parents devoted themselves to their official duties.

House Bartfort followed the same custom during particularly busy periods or once the children reached a certain age. Even so, they had made a conscious effort to create as many opportunities as possible for the family to spend time together.

That way of doing things stemmed largely from Leon's own upbringing as the son of a lower-ranking noble family with many siblings.

It was an arrangement made possible precisely because House Bartfort was a newly ascendant noble family governing frontier territory within the Holfort Kingdom.

Even she had never imagined she'd one day become a mother who loved her children so deeply.

As she gathered Dylan's small, soft body into her arms, she could feel the irritation that had steadily built up inside her slowly melting away.

“So, what had you so worked up?”

“I merely scolded Ariel because, despite being on the verge of enrolling in the Royal Academy, she keeps shirking both her studies and her lessons in etiquette, all while spending days showing off her uniform to everyone in the residence.”

“Hmm. Well, there's no need to be angry anymore.”

“…Eh?”

She turned and looked across the room. Ariel, who had been proudly showing off her uniform in the middle of the hall only moments before, was nowhere to be seen.

Where she'd escaped to hardly mattered. Ariel excelled physically, and if she truly wanted to, she could climb down the decorative stonework and protrusions along the mansion walls to reach either the lower floors or the garden.

In the span of less than a hundred seconds, while her attention had been occupied by Leon, Ariel had already completed her escape.

There was no way this had been a coincidence. Leon had almost certainly created an opening on purpose and allowed Ariel to slip away.

It had been executed so deftly that she couldn't help admiring it, even as irritation welled up inside her.

If that was how he wanted to play it, then Leon could take full responsibility for soothing her irritation instead of Ariel.

“You planned this, didn't you?”

“I've no idea what you're talking about.”

“You mustn't spoil the children too much. Hardship while they're young will benefit them far more than regret when they're older.”

“I know that. I just don't like seeing you and the kids at odds with each other.”

“It's not as though I'm strict with Ariel because I dislike her, or any of the other children.”

“Yeah, I know. You're a wonderful wife and an amazing mother, Angie. So can't you let this one slide, just for my sake?”

“…I suppose it can't be helped.”

Whenever Leon spoke to her like that, he somehow made her feel as though she were the one being unreasonable, and she could never hold her ground. That was her greatest weakness.

More than fifteen years had passed since their marriage, yet she and Leon had settled into a delicate balance, each serving as the other's restraint.

Was this, too, what people meant when they spoke of love as a weakness?

No matter how firmly she resolved to stand her ground, she'd inevitably soften in the end, and their marital quarrels never lasted for very long.

Above all, the fact that she'd borne six children to the head of the house despite there being neither concubines nor mistresses was an astonishingly high number by noble standards.

Because of that, the closeness of their relationship had become a topic of gossip even in neighboring territories, which she found thoroughly exasperating. At this rate, it would eventually influence the children's perception of her as well.

“Wouldn't you come straight to me to show off a new dress whenever one was tailored for you, Angie? Ariel's doing the exact same thing.”

“How rude. I only ever show them to you. Besides, I'd never keep showing it off for days on end.”

“Either way, it's a good sign that she's looking forward to enrolling in the academy. There's plenty she can still learn, even in the regular class.”

“Well, that's true. Both the quality of the education and the students' attitude have improved tremendously since I attended.”

“Which means you wore the academy uniform back then too, Angie?”

“Yes. The finer details of the design have changed, but its overall appearance remains much the same.”

“Huuuh……”

Leon slowly let his gaze travel from the top of her head all the way down to her feet.

After so many years together, she understood exactly what was going through his mind, as though she were reading it from the palm of her hand.

Suppressing the urge to kick him squarely in the shin, she settled for lightly stepping on his foot instead.

After all, both of her arms were occupied with holding Dylan. Besides, something this mild wouldn't actually hurt him, and with Leon's absurdly sturdy body, it wouldn't leave so much as a bruise.　

“Angie.”

“What is it?”

“It hurts.”

“That's what you get for entertaining improper thoughts.”

“I wasn't thinking anything weird.”

“Then please tell me exactly what you were thinking.”

“Well, I was just thinking that the Angie from your academy days must've been beautiful too. And... I wish I'd been able to attend the academy as well.”

“…I see.”

A faint pang of guilt stirred within her at Leon's words.

Although he now bore the title of Earl and governed his own territory, the life Leon had lived up to this point had been nothing short of tragic.

In those days, the Royal Academy had been a place reserved for the sons and daughters of Holfort Kingdom's nobility, where they spent their days in the dormitories flaunting their family's status and wealth.

House Bartfort, then merely a poor frontier barony among the feudal nobles, had never possessed the financial means to send Leon, a third son treated little better than the child of a commoner, to the Royal Academy.

What's more, Leon had nearly been sold into slavery under the pretense of marrying him off as the husband of a noble widow before eventually enlisting in the kingdom's army, where he distinguished himself through remarkable achievements at a young age.

Yet the entirety of his academic education consisted of what he'd learned from his lower-ranking noble father and his commoner-born mother, the military studies he acquired during his service, and the noble education she'd personally given him after their engagement.

Despite possessing abilities that many high-ranking nobles couldn't even hope to match, Leon had never once been granted the opportunity to receive a proper higher education.

While noble sons and daughters his own age spent their youth in carefree indulgence, Leon had been left with no future beyond laboring in the family's fields or enduring grueling military training that forced him to grow up far too soon.

Whenever she thought about the first half of his life, spent without ever experiencing the carefree youth most people took for granted before becoming first a soldier and then a feudal noble, an overwhelming sense of pity welled up inside her.

“…What is it?”

“No, it's nothing in particular.”

Watching Leon effortlessly strike up a cheerful conversation with the children, she realized just how deeply his words had affected her.

✦✦✦✦✦

“…Yes, asking for the measurements to be altered in secret was definitely the right decision.”

The sun had long since set, and evening had settled over the mansion. The children had finished dinner and were now enjoying their baths and chatting among themselves.

Alone in the bedroom, she secretly examined herself in the full-length mirror.

Turning slowly before it, she carefully checked for loose threads, missing buttons, or any other imperfections. For the moment, nothing appeared to be out of place.

“Still... looking at myself like this, I do seem surprisingly young, don't I?”

She desperately tried to convince herself of exactly that as she gave her reflection another careful once-over.

How many years had it been since she'd last worn this uniform?

She tried to retrace her memories, only to abandon the effort halfway through. The very thought of counting the years was simply too terrifying.

It wasn't that she was afraid of confronting her own age. Rather, her mind had instinctively rejected the act of revisiting the memories of what had happened at the Royal Academy.

The incident in which her engagement had been broken off was both the greatest stain on her life and the very beginning of the life she now lived.

The woman who had once been a duke's daughter and the prince's fiancée felt like an entirely different person from the Earl's wife she was today.

If that engagement had never been broken, what kind of life would she have lived?

Well, she could picture it easily enough: a life devoted to duty, passing on the education she'd received to the children she bore, governing the nation without incident, and eventually spending her final years in the capital.

It was the loftiest dream any noble young lady could aspire to, and yet now it struck her as unbearably dull, drained of all color.

Her present life certainly came with its share of hardships and was, without question, less comfortable than the life she could have had in the capital.

Even so, the peace of mind she'd found here far surpassed anything she'd known back then.

A husband who loved only her, a quiet frontier far removed from endless power struggles and the crushing burdens of state affairs, and their adorable children.

This tranquil life on the frontier had completely cleansed her of the poison of ambition and jealousy.

“Looking at it this way, I'm definitely more beautiful than Ariel. It's true that I lose when it comes to youth, but in terms of mature intellect and seductive charm, I clearly have the upper hand.”

She turned this way and that before the full-length mirror, subtly adjusting her posture as she studied her reflection from every angle.

Back when she'd worn this uniform every day, she'd never paid much attention to the glow of her skin. But now, as she approached her thirties, the signs of aging had become impossible to ignore, no matter how much she tried to resist them.

A disciplined daily routine, carefully planned meals with balanced nutrition and proper portions, and cosmetics chosen to suit her skin.

And above all, the hot springs that had become this floating island's greatest tourist attraction.

Thanks to making full use of every one of those advantages and maintaining her efforts with unwavering diligence, the radiance of her skin had hardly diminished compared to her twenties.

The real problem, however, was the extra flesh that had settled around her chest, abdomen, and hips after giving birth six times.

Nobles who surrendered themselves to luxury and gluttony quickly slipped into decadence, becoming obese or developing lifestyle-related illnesses while they were still young.

To keep that fate at bay, she gave the cook meticulous instructions for carefully planned menus, made a habit of walking and horseback riding for exercise, and even did calisthenics whenever necessary, all in pursuit of preserving her figure.

Yet no matter how diligently she persevered, or how much she lamented the effort, her metabolism continued to slow with age, making it easier and easier for fat to accumulate.

This was simply the reality of aging, an unavoidable part of being human. There was nothing to be done about it.

If anything, the true measure of a woman's grace lay in how she embraced that reality.

Convincing herself that she was more beautiful than a girl still in her teens wasn't some pitiful act. It was a necessary little ritual, one that kept her heart intact.

It was by no means evidence that she'd become a foolish middle-aged woman.

“If it's like this, even Leon should notice my charm. Lately, he's started treating me even more casually than he treats the children, after all.”

“…………I don't think that's true.”

A man's voice suddenly came from behind her.

It belonged to the man who had been by her side longer than anyone else in her life.

There was no need to wonder who it was. The only men permitted to enter this bedroom were the children she'd given birth to and her beloved husband.

Her body stiffened, refusing to turn around. Left with no other choice, she shifted only her eyes, catching sight of the man behind her through the mirror.

There stood Leon Fou Bartfort, the Earl himself, wearing the bathrobe he always slipped into after bathing, staring at her back with a thoroughly dumbfounded expression.

“W-Wha... What are you doing?!”

“Well, I knocked before I came in.”

“I-Is that so...”

“I hesitated to say anything because you looked completely absorbed in admiring yourself, Angie.”

“H-How long have you been watching?!”

“From around the part where you said, ‘Looking at it this way, I'm definitely more beautiful than Ariel.’”

“Why didn't you say something sooner?!”

Flustered, she snatched a pillow from the bed she shared with him and hurled it straight at his chest.

Leon made no attempt to dodge. He simply accepted the pillow as it hit him.

Since he neither protested nor retaliated, an awkward silence gradually settled over the bedroom. At the very least, she'd wanted him to look surprised or flustered.

Leon gave the pillow a light pat after it dropped to the floor, set it back on the bed, and sat down.

Before him stood his wife, still dressed in the academy uniform she'd worn nearly twenty years earlier, fussing over herself in front of the mirror.

Seen from the outside, it really was a rather pitiful sight.

“I mean, it was hard to interrupt you. You looked like you were having so much fun.”

“I-I wasn't having fun or anything...”

“No, you definitely were. You kept staring at yourself in the mirror with this dreamy expression. You didn't even notice I was here until I spoke.”

“Guh...”

She had no reply.

There was no denying she'd gotten completely carried away.

Putting on the clothes of her youth simply because her own daughter had inspired her to do so was, without question, an embarrassing thing for the wife of a titled noble to be doing.

If Leon thought she'd finally lost her senses, she couldn't exactly blame him.

Even so, she wanted the chance to explain herself.

Everyone, at one time or another, felt nostalgic for the past, no matter how unpleasant those days might have been. Sometimes people simply wanted to look back on their lives and revisit the feelings they'd once carried.

For her, all it had taken was seeing her eldest daughter, who resembled her so closely, enroll at the academy. That was all.

As long as she wasn't breaking the law or acting against morality or basic decency, surely she couldn't be faulted for something so harmless.

The uniform belonged to her in the first place, and all she'd done was spend a reasonable sum to have it altered. Surely Leon could overlook something on that level.

“Well, if you're happy with it, Angie, then that's all that matters to me.”

“...Why does your answer feel so utterly lacking in flavor?”

“Because I never attended the Royal Academy. I might've envied the people who got to wear a uniform like that, but to me, it's just a set of clothes.”

“Muu...”

Apparently, there were people who found the opposite sex attractive in uniforms like these, but those feelings were rooted in the shared experiences and memories of having spent time together in that environment.

Since Leon had been unable to attend the Royal Academy for various reasons, he lacked the memories that gave that uniform any special meaning. That was probably why his reaction was so muted.

From the time they became engaged in their youth until the day they married, she had never once shown him her academy uniform.

Given that, she could only conclude that his response had been mechanical, utterly devoid of feeling.

“Then how do I compare to Ariel? I still think I look quite youthful.”

“No... I'd only say you should probably dress a little more appropriately for your age.”

“…What? What exactly are you trying to say, Leon?”

“Competing with your own daughter is taking it a bit too far, don't you think?”

Crack.

She could almost hear something snap inside her head.

The very woman who constantly lectured her children to master their emotions and conduct themselves with the dignity expected of a Earl's family now felt her own composure shatter. A wave of heat surged up from the pit of her stomach.

To begin with, the reason she'd deliberately taken out the uniform from her younger days had been for Leon's sake.

Knowing how harsh his youth had been, she'd thought that letting him catch a glimpse of the girl she'd once been might offer him some small comfort. That was why she'd gone to the trouble of dressing like this despite her age.

If he'd simply said something like, “You're beautiful,” or even, “You're more beautiful than Ariel,” she would've never become this angry.

Feeling as though he'd rejected not just her appearance but a part of who she was, she realized she'd already forced Leon back onto the bed.

“Hey, wai... Angie!”

“What's wrong, Leon?”

“This is definitely a bad idea!”

“Then tell me exactly what's so bad about it.”

“The children are still awake!”

“I don't care. You're the one who made light of my sincere feelings, Leon.”

“That's not fair!”

“Be quiet. Just stay still.”

She untied the sash of his bathrobe and pulled it open with little regard for his protests, exposing the well-trained physique beneath.

Even now, Leon regularly oversaw the territory's military training and occasionally joined the exercises himself. Despite being in his mid-thirties, his body remained firm and powerfully built.

It stood in stark contrast to her own, which had softened in places after bearing six children.

The comparison only fed her anger.

That frustration translated directly into rougher treatment of Leon.

The sight before her struck her as almost absurd.

Even she was surprised that such emotions had been lying dormant within her all this time.

Despite everything he'd just said, the unmistakable signs of his arousal remained.

Perhaps it was because she'd stripped him in a burst of emotion, giving herself no time to notice beforehand.

Ordinarily, she would've taken her time, but tonight she'd skipped every step of her usual routine.

Even so, his body's reaction was impossible to mistake.

That only irritated her further.

For all his blunt remarks, his body was telling an entirely different story.

As far as she knew, Leon had never been intimate with any woman but her.

If that was true, then surely she deserved a little admiration. Even if it sounded exaggerated, he could've offered her a few flattering words.

That lingering resentment only drove her to behave more rashly than usual.

Angie lowered herself into a nearby chair and deliberately rested her foot against him in a quiet display of dominance.

She had already removed her shoes.

No matter how angry she was, Leon was still the man she loved.

She had no desire to hurt him.

She simply intended to teach him a lesson.

“What's the matter? After saying all that, your body doesn't seem to agree with your words.”

“No, no, no... Any man would react under these circumstances, wouldn't he?”

“So you're saying it's only a physical reaction?”

“If I've upset you, Angie, then I'll apologize.”

“An apology isn't enough. Consider this your punishment. I'll make sure my stubborn husband learns his lesson.”

“You're seriously taking it this far?!”

Ignoring his bewilderment, she continued teasing him, fully aware of how provocative her behavior had become.

Even through her stockings, she couldn't ignore the warmth she felt, making her all too conscious of how indecent the situation had become.

Oddly enough, maintaining that position of control soothed the wounded pride she'd been struggling with only moments earlier.

The former Holfort Kingdom had been called a matriarchal society, but in reality that had applied only to the lower nobility under the laws of the time. Among the upper aristocracy, men still held authority, while women were expected to remain subordinate to the household.

Back then, she'd looked down on noblewomen who toyed with men, believing them vulgar and lacking dignity.

Yet now she found herself astonished to discover that same impulse within her.

It was as though the charged atmosphere had clouded her judgment.

Acting on pure impulse, she reached up and began unfastening the buttons of her uniform and shirt.

She slipped her arm into the opening of her unbuttoned shirt and reached around to her back.

Her unnecessarily large breasts got in the way, turning the simple task into something almost comically difficult. Yet right now even that struggle felt strangely enjoyable.

Above all, the knowledge that Leon’s gaze remained fixed on her sent a deep, irresistible satisfaction blooming through her chest, steadily stripping away whatever remained of her reason.

The cool metallic sensation her fingertips finally met was the hook of her bra. She fumbled with it several times before she finally managed to undo every last one.

With her free hand she then tugged the front strap, allowing her to slip the bra off without removing the uniform.

“Hey. Oi, Angie, what the hell are you planning to do?”

“Can’t you stay quiet for a little while?”

“I’m sorry, okay? If you’re angry I’ll apologize, so… please?”

“Then calm down this shameless thing that’s being stepped on by my foot.”

“That’s impossible!”

“You pervert.”

The more she scolded him, the hotter her own body grew. Heat radiated from deep inside her, and a slippery wetness spread between her thighs.

Even without looking she could tell that her love juices were gushing from her slit, soaking through her skirt and staining her stockings.

It was only then that she realized she had maneuvered herself into a rather compromising situation.

Since she was going to change clothes soon anyway, and wearing panties beneath the tight stockings always felt hot and stuffy, she had simply gone without them.

In this position Leon would surely notice she wasn’t wearing any.

No—he would realize she had already drenched her crotch with love juices while trampling his cock. To hide the sudden flare of panic, she lifted herself off the chair and sat on the bed instead.

What would happen if he noticed?

Even as the thought flickered through her mind, she had no intention of stopping her lewd behavior.

Drunk on the boiling carnal heat, she balled up her bra and covered Leon’s penis with it.

Her bra, which was exceptionally large even for her, easily enveloped his entire length.

His cock vanished completely beneath the fabric that still carried the warmth of her body.

Yet when she gripped it, the lewd heat that surpassed the cloth’s lingering temperature and the unmistakable hardness beneath pressed firmly into her palm.

This shameless, detestable yet beloved cock had taken her virginity, split open her secret folds countless times—dozens, hundreds of times—defiled her womb, and, outrageously, had impregnated her four times and given her six children.

It was unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable.

She would not yield to the likes of him.

No matter how drunk she was on carnal heat tonight, she would not accept him as easily as usual.

Rubbing her inner thighs together restlessly, she pressed her body against Rion’s.

Her soft breasts, placed upon his trained, hard chest, yielded and changed shape at once.

Leaning against Rion’s muscular frame, marked by numerous scars, strangely calmed her racing heart.

Her strong husband, with this powerful body, would surely not hesitate to get hurt in order to protect his wife and children. Just thinking that filled her with affection, causing yet more love juices to leak from her slit.

Before she knew it, she had begun licking Leon’s body while vigorously caressing his penis wrapped in her bra.

The bra was already wet from the fluids leaking from the tip of his cock and from her own sweat. No matter how hard she gripped it, the fabric acted as a soft cushion, so the pressure only tightened to a moderate, teasing degree.

At this rate, even if she moved it intensely, it probably wouldn’t cause him much pain. Thinking that, she stroked the cock up and down as if it were an extension of her own sex, fully savoring the heat and hardness that flowed into her palm.

At the same time, as she leaned against his body, his nipple came into view.

Recalling their past encounters, she remembered how Leon often licked and sucked on her nipples, sometimes even drinking her breast milk.

He must really like women with large breasts; he had groped or casually touched her chest on a daily basis.

Pregnancy and childbirth may have played a part, but there was no doubt that Leon bore some responsibility for her breasts becoming so bountiful.

That was why she impulsively took his nipple into her mouth.

“Hey, Angie.”

“What is it?”

“I think that’s going a bit too far.”

“Do you dislike it?”

“First of all, what’s so good about sucking on a man’s nipple when it doesn’t even produce milk?”

“Because it feels good for me.”

She resumed their little game after that.

A quiet satisfaction swelled in her chest as she watched Leon writhe beneath her—Leon, who had always held the upper hand in their lovemaking through the sheer difference in their size and strength.

She did not particularly dislike it when he took control. Even during their most intense moments he remained considerate, and the handful of times he had handled her roughly could be counted on one hand.

Precisely because of that, she understood just how wildly excited this unusual reversal made her.

She had known that some men harbored a special fetish for young women in school uniforms, yet she had never imagined she herself would share such a kink—slipping back into her younger self in uniform and growing hot from the very sight of it.

While she continued the seemingly endless caress, she noticed Leon’s expression beginning to darken.

For some time now his cock had remained trapped beneath her foot and wrapped in her bra as she stroked it, yet he had not reached climax.

For a man there was no greater sexual pleasure than finally spilling his seed.

She had been so caught up in the sight of him helplessly enduring her touch while denied release that she had completely forgotten.

She had forgotten how fiercely Leon had taken her in the past, how he had fucked her so hard it felt as if he might break her—and how she had still come through it perfectly fine.

“Yo!”

“Eh!?”

Suddenly the world flipped upside down.

By the time she realized what had happened, she was lying on her back on the bed with Leon looming directly over her, his body covering hers.

Because she had been too excited, her mind lagged in processing the new situation and deciding what to do next.

On top of that, panic made both her thoughts and movements sluggish. And Leon was not the kind of man who would overlook such an opening.

In an instant his lips crashed against hers and his tongue pushed into her mouth.

His long, thick tongue dwarfed her own. Like a small animal caught in the jaws of a large carnivore, her body was helplessly trapped.

No—she did not even feel the urge to resist.

The passionate kiss drained every ounce of strength from her limbs. Pushing his body away or kicking him was impossible.

Surely Leon was smirking to himself as he watched her like this.

While keeping the kiss going, he skillfully moved both hands and began undoing the buttons of her uniform with swift precision.

This was bad. Even as the thought flashed through her mind, her limbs still refused to obey.

In the end, not even a hundred seconds passed before the uniform she had been wearing was completely stripped away.

Calling it “stripped off” might be a little misleading. In truth she had been pressing her body closer to his hands, practically guiding him to which parts to remove next.

She had even lifted her hips to help him slide the skirt off.

Right now she lay in an utterly shameless state—completely naked except for the stockings still clinging to her legs.

She doubted she would ever regret skipping panties as much as she did tonight.

“No way… You look good like that, Angie.”

“…You’re awfully skilled at taking off a uniform.”

“Well, it’s a lot easier than the dresses you usually wear. Besides, you were into it too, weren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Good grief. My wife really isn’t honest, is she?”

“Kh—!?”

Suddenly something like an electric current shot through her crotch and she let out a cry.

It was closer to a moan than a scream.

Leon’s thick fingers had begun stroking her soaked slit without any warning.

The crotch of her stockings was already hopelessly drenched. Since she wasn’t wearing panties, there was no way to hide it.

Knowing that, Leon had deliberately chosen this method. It was incredibly frustrating.

“Kh… Hey! Stop it, Leon.”

“Eh~? You want me to stop?”

“Don’t rub it so much, you idiot!”

“Angry Angie is beautiful, but I like honest Angie even more.”

“Fwah—!?”

Rip.

A sound like tearing fabric suddenly rang out.

For a moment she panicked, thinking her uniform had been torn, but the removed uniform should have been lying on the bed or the floor.

At the same time as that sound, her crotch felt slightly cooler. When she looked down, she saw Rion’s hand roughly tearing through her stockings.

If things continued like this, she would be toyed with one-sidedly. The moment she tried to twist her body away, Leon’s fingers pinched her swollen clit.

The most sensitive erogenous zone was caught; escape was impossible. More than that, the pleasure surging through her lower body was so intense it felt as if she were melting, robbing her legs and hips of all strength.

The love juices that flowed even more freely were surely soaking her crotch and staining the bedsheets. Even if she tried to refuse, there was no way to resist.

Just as she thought Leon had finally stopped pinching her clit, a thick, gnarled, hard object now pushed its way into her vagina.

From their many past encounters, she could tell it was Leon’s fingers—hard and bumpy, yet able to bend in every direction.

Those fingers, which lacked any roughness and moved with gentle care inside her, caused her inner walls to grow wet and squirm, tightly clamping down on them as if revealing her true feelings.

He slowly moved them back and forth over a short distance again and again. That alone was enough for her vagina to finish preparing to welcome him.

At this point, all that remained was for him to insert his cock. Yet Leon showed no sign of doing so.

Instead, he kept deliberately rubbing the swollen, dark-red glans against her slit without stopping. Every time her melted labia tried to swallow him, he would pull his hips back and escape.

It was as if he were deliberately teasing her—arousing her more and more, fanning the flames of her desire, yet refusing to actually penetrate her.

That attitude made anger rise within her once again.

“Enough already, Leon.”

“I don’t mind stopping. If Angie really hates it, I won’t force you.”

“I won’t say it even if it kills me!”

“…Honestly, you really aren’t honest. Were you this prickly back in your school days too?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Fine, I get it. Then I’ll change my approach.”

“Nn—!?”

Leon’s body suddenly seemed to grow larger.

No—perhaps the distance between them had simply closed.

At the same time, she felt a hot presence pushing apart her labia and filling her vagina.

There was no need to even guess what it was.

Leon's robust penis had suddenly thrust inside her without any warning.

Her vagina, already sufficiently wet with love juices, easily accepted Leon's member.

No—rather, her inner folds seemed to actively coil around and writhe against his shaft of their own accord, as if welcoming him eagerly. She could feel it herself.

Above all, both of her hands had wrapped around Leon's back, while her legs spread wide open, clamping around his waist to draw him in deeper for more intense penetration.

From any angle, it was obvious that she was the one craving Leon.

"See? It went in properly."

"What are you doing all of a sudden!?"

"Sorry about that. My bad. Angie, you look beautiful no matter what you wear."

"That's how you always try to smooth things over, Leon..."

"I'm at fault too, but you're the one who won't be honest, Angie. Yet you keep doing things that rile me up."

"I wasn't trying to rile you up."

"It's because your uniform look is so damn attractive that I got this excited."

As Leon pressed his body against her, his hips pushed forward.

As a result, his penis, which had already penetrated even deeper, brushed against a pleasure spot that fingers could never reach.

The grinding, scraping thrusts against the depths of her vagina easily melted away her reason. On the contrary, she found herself moving her own hips to adjust the angle.

Under the ceaseless pistoning, the sounds leaking from her mouth gradually shifted from complaints toward Leon into sweet moans.

Her mind was flooded with euphoria, and even the will to resist was stripped away.

She had always ended up like this—melting under Leon, getting impregnated by him. The fact felt so sweet that every corner of her body had become utterly bound to him.

"So, the honest-to-a-fault Duke's daughter, Lady Angelica, was secretly indulging in lewd acts with a lowly commoner while still a student—is that the story?"

"...Back when I was a student, I was a serious young lady who devoted herself to her studies."

"A proper young lady from such a distinguished family probably wouldn't have had the chance to even speak with someone like me, let alone meet face-to-face."

"That may be true. So burn the sight of me in this uniform into your eyes."

"Won't you wear the uniform for me anymore?"

"Who knows? If you satisfy me properly, Leon, I might consider it."

"Then I'll have to work hard. Though honestly, I'm already in a pretty bad state right now."

"Don't worry. So am I."

"In that case, let's give it our all."

With those words, Leon began moving his hips even deeper, harder, and faster.

This was not a gentle embrace of love. It was the fierce, primal roughness of a man claiming a woman, intent on impregnating her with his child.

Even under such violent thrusts, her body—which had been embraced by him over a hundred times—could endure it fully.

In this world, she was the only woman who could accept him. The realization filled her with a sense of superiority.

Before long, her body began to move in sync with Leon's rhythm, as if performing a lewd dance.

Of course, they did not forget to kiss.

Having already lost their words, the two of them sought each other's bodies like beasts, connecting purely as male and female. They cast aside their noble status and parental roles entirely.

Eventually, her sensitive vagina sensed Leon's penis growing even harder and beginning to twitch inside her.

Realizing he would reach his limit in just a few more strokes, she wrapped her arms and legs tightly around his body.

That became the trigger. Leon slammed his hips forward with powerful force.

"...Ah."

In the next instant, she felt a warm sensation spreading deep inside her vagina.

It was not incontinence. Leon's glans had forcefully released his semen into her depths.

At the same time, an overwhelming wave of pleasure surged from her womanhood up through her brain.

It was a torrent of ecstasy so intense she could barely breathe.

With no way to resist, her body convulsed. All she could do was release a fresh gush of love juices mixed with semen from her entrance.

The dissatisfaction and anger she had held in her heart drifted far away under the overwhelming pleasure.

The tension drained from Leon’s stiffened body, and the arms that had been gripping her tightly shifted into a gentle, loving embrace.

Just that was enough to fill her heart with contentment, yet she could feel her body yearning for even more union.

Surely, today would not end after just two or three rounds.

While somewhere in her mind she anticipated exactly that, her consciousness slowly faded away.

✦✦✦✦✦

“No way, this is bad…”

The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

He had gotten far too excited. He had lost his usual restraint and thoroughly ravaged Angie.

Semen was leaking heavily from Angie’s vagina after multiple creampies. The woman herself had a dazed, hazy look in her eyes, with her whites showing.

Her torn stockings were in tatters, completely unwearable. Meaningless, slurred words spilled from Angie’s lips in a pitiful state.

On top of that, semen had splattered not just inside her womanhood but across her body and various spots on the bed.

To anyone who saw this, it would look like she had been gang-r*ped by multiple men. This was practically a r*pe case that would have the authorities launching an investigation.

But please, let him make an excuse.

If your beloved wife—the one you love so much you can’t stand it—dressed up in her youthful uniform, of course you’d get excited, right?

Especially when her chest, ass, and thighs were all straining against the fabric. There was no helping it.

He had tried desperately to hold back, so please believe him.

Yet when Angie suddenly got angry and came at him like that, how could he refuse? On top of that, she was strangely aggressive and pleasured him in ways different from usual. There was no way he could endure that!!

The result was the current situation. Seriously, what was he supposed to do about this?

Still, even in this miserable state, Angie was beautiful.

How should he put it? It was like the strange sense of release when something precious breaks, or the pleasure of deliberately smashing a carefully built-up tower of toys.

Ah, no good.

He was getting hard again.

Dawn would come in just a few hours. He had to fix Angie’s clothes before then, or it would be trouble.

“…But, just one more time before that.”

Unable to hold back, he aligned his glans with Angie’s entrance and began to insert himself once more.

In the end, he continued embracing Angie until the very last moment. As a result, the next day’s work was barely completed, and Angie got angry with him.

Angie, who had been ravished to the point of exhaustion by him, could not leave the bed and spent the day in the bedroom. The children worried about her, which left her feeling embarrassed.

However, perhaps because of the unusually high excitement, their relationship became even more passionate than usual for a while afterward. He thought that was a good thing.

┳⁠━━━━⁠━⁠⁠━⁠━⁠━━━⁠┳

Authors Note

┻━⁠━━━━⁠━━⁠━━━⁠┻

This is a commemorative adult-oriented short story for the Mobuseka anime Season 2.

In this series, Leon did not enroll in the academy, so I created a situation where Angie approaches him while wearing her uniform.

Although I has written erotic scenes with Angie in cosplay and dresses before, there had not been one featuring her in student uniform as depicted in various places, so this scenario was chosen.

I learned that uniform fetishism does not appeal to people from countries without a uniform-wearing culture or those who have never worn one, and used that as the theme.

The illustration for this chapter was drawn by Yamu-sama and BOCA-sama. Thank you so much.

Yamu-sama: Pixiv　Pixiv 2 (Adult content warning)  

BOCA-sama: Pixiv (Adult content warning)

I would appreciate any opinions or impressions, as they will serve as encouragement for future works.