Weird Smell?

“What weird smell?” Maur was as arrogant as ever. Chin raised, he looked at the dumb dog waiting by the corner with open disdain.

Lilith was the Somaria Empire’s Second Princess, but she was also a disgraceful illegitimate child.

She’d been born after Her Majesty the Empress coupled with an unknown beastkin during a spring hunt. Rumor had it Lilith’s father was a majestic silver wolf, the young lord of the Silvermoon Wolf Clan, the legendary Lunar Descendants.

But even that couldn’t change the fact that she was a bastard.

And besides, who could guarantee those rumors were true, instead of some story the royal family made up to save face?

At least in Maur’s eyes, Lilith didn’t resemble a wolf at all. She was just a stupid dog with a rotten temper, always nitpicking pointless little details.

Like right now.

She could’ve just pretended not to notice and let it slide. Instead, she frowned and tried to describe the scent that was making her restless.

“At first sniff, it smells like roses. But it’s actually much richer than that. There’s also a faint sweet, bloody note mixed in... like, like...”

Lilith’s gaze drifted, almost unconsciously, toward a certain place beneath Maur’s formalwear. Hesitation tinged her voice.

“Maur... you didn’t do something ridiculous inside House Decora, did you?”

Maur instantly exploded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

“Me? Do something ridiculous? You’re actually saying I did something ridiculous?!”

He was the victim here. It was Mavis who forced him, and forced him for an entire night!

Wrapped in the rich, intoxicating fragrance of Swamp Rose pollen, he’d been forced without even a moment to rest.

He was the victim!

But in this stupid dog Lilith’s eyes, it had somehow become something Maur did willingly.

She actually suspected him of fooling around. Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!!!

This stupid dog, this giant idiot dog! She clearly didn’t know anything!

Lilith carefully studied Maur’s expression. She found only the grievance of someone falsely accused, not the guilt of someone caught doing something bad. Only then did she finally relax.

Maur had plenty of nasty noble habits. He was arrogant, extravagant, overbearing, and absurdly willful.

But he didn’t know how to lie. Every thought showed on his face. Even if he got caught doing something bad, he wouldn’t hide it. He’d just admit it openly.

That was one of his few redeeming qualities.

Though sometimes, that very quality only made him seem especially clumsy.

Lilith couldn’t help sneering. “Heh. Even if you weren’t off fooling around, you were definitely up to no good.”

Otherwise, why station a lackey here to keep everyone away?

“Why are you still hiding there, Student Lind? You worked so hard to stop me from getting close. Aren’t you going to ask your master for a reward?”

“A-a reward... I wasn’t doing it for something like that...” A small, fiery-red figure crawled out of the bushes. She glanced timidly at Maur, then lowered her head again. “As long as Lord Maur is happy, I-I’m satisfied.”

That petite red-haired figure was Maur’s little follower, the fox girl Tabitha Lind.

Maybe because they were both mixed-bloods, Lilith hadn’t forced her way in after Tabitha stopped her from entering the changing room last night.

Instead, she’d leaned silently against the corner and waited there the entire night.

Otherwise, whether by status or by strength alone, the fox girl could never have stopped Lilith if she’d truly wanted to investigate.

Lilith crossed her arms. “Go on. What stupid thing did you do this time?”

She wasn’t actually worried Maur had managed to pull off anything truly bad.

After all, this was the same Maur who once tried to cheat on finals with a self-writing magic pen, only to accidentally load it with disappearing ink that erased the answers as it wrote.

Last semester, Lilith had personally seen him acting all high and mighty in a magical free-for-all, planning to crush his opponent with the power of a magic scroll. Then the next second, he grabbed the wrong scroll and turned himself into a pet rabbit with zero combat ability.

...Anyway, no matter what kind of bad idea this guy came up with, it always ended with him making a mess of it.

Rather than worry about someone getting bullied by Maur, it was better to worry about what this idiot had screwed up this time.

Maur’s eyes widened. He felt insulted by the look in Lilith’s eyes.

“How could I possibly do something stupid?! The one who does stupid things is obviously you, you dumb dog!”

“Oh?” Lilith let out a cold laugh. “Then please explain what you were doing last night, Lord Maur.”

“I heard the roses Count Decora brought out last night were all sponsored by you. You spent that much money, yet never even showed your face. That’s not like you at all, Maur.”

“Th-that’s because...”

Maur started stammering.

Because he wanted revenge on that pollen-allergic freak Mavis, obviously!

...Who knew things would end up like this?

No matter how Maur thought about it, he was the one who got the short end of the stick last night. Mavis, on the other hand, had clearly been more than satisfied.

She’d even wanted more!

In his hazy state last night, Maur seemed to hear Mavis say they’d take him back to the Endless Mire, lock him beneath the swamp, then tie him up and keep doing this and that forever.

After all, Mavis’s tentacles could produce a special kind of fluid. As long as Maur drank it, he could stay awake the whole time.

No matter how long it lasted, it wouldn’t harm his body.

“Hiss—”

Just thinking about it was terrifying!

“Maur was with me the whole night, you know.”

A familiar clear voice came from behind Maur, bright and impossible to pin down as male or female.

Then Maur felt a pair of soft hands wrap around his arm.

“Last night, Maur and I talked heart-to-heart until dawn. That’s when we realized our souls are so perfectly in tune.”

The rich scent of Swamp Rose drifted over from beside him. Maur almost slipped back into that dazed state again.

His legs began to tremble. A heavy psychological shadow fell over his heart.

“Mavis?” Yes, Maur was indeed covered in the scent of Duke Fred’s youngest child. “But weren’t you two always at odds before?”

And after just one night, why had both of them changed into a different set of clothes?

Lilith looked the two of them over suspiciously.

Mavis revealed a proper, charming smile and said as if it were only natural, “At odds? That was obviously just a rumor. Maur and I have always been the best of friends. Maur even promised he’d come back with me to Duke Fred’s estate for a visit in a little while.”

A visit?

Like hell I agreed to visit Duke Fred’s estate with you!

Taking advantage of the fact that Lilith and the fox girl couldn’t see, Maur clearly felt slick little tentacles slipping in through the gap in the back of his formalwear.

Maur: “!!!”

M-Mavis, you bastard! Don’t tell me you’re planning to keep going right here, in broad daylight, in front of other people?!