Chapter 21: Let’s Play ‘Prince And Princess’

After eating dinner, taking a walk, and even washing up.

“Now we’re going to play prince and princess!”

My lady takes my hand and leads me to the bed.

“It’s bedtime, so we can’t play for too long. You know that, right?”

“Yeah! Let’s go to sleep! Hurry and lie down!”

“Ah, am I the princess?”

“That’s right! Mana is the princess!”

Becoming the Sleeping Beauty at sixteen… It feels a little silly and amusing.

“Hurry and lie down!”

“Yes, yes~”

I lie down neatly on the bed and look at my lady.

“Really! You’re the sleeping princess! You have to close your eyes too!”

“Oh, right, that’s how it goes?”

“Huh? Oh… Right. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Hehe…”

Well, I kind of expected it.

I close my eyes just as my lady wants.

…But that fairy tale.

“My lady, wasn’t it a poisoned apple that made the princess fall into a deep sleep? Didn’t she collapse after eating it?”

“Uh… That’s right!”

“Should I go get an apple?”

“…No! Then I’d have to brush my teeth again! W-We’ll just say the witch cast a bad spell!”

“Magic, huh? Ahh… I’m getting sleepy~”

Zzz…

I pretend to sleep awkwardly, and my lady brings her hand close to my face and shakes me.

I can feel the breeze.

“You’re really sleeping, right?”

Protecting the innocence of an eight-year-old child is no easy task.

“Hehe… Alright! Prince… But a prince is a boy… Princess, appear!”

…Wasn’t this supposed to be a prince and princess game, my lady?

Anyway, the prince—no, the princess—makes an entrance.

“Oh no! A cute, pretty, and beautiful princess has fallen into an eternal sleep because of the witch’s curse!”

…She’s surprisingly good at acting.

“This won’t do! I’ll save you from this curse with a kiss full of love!”

…This play feels extremely condensed, but whatever.

I can feel my lady getting closer… Her lips approaching mine.

…Her hair tickles. My lady.

Slowly… She comes down, and I can feel her warm breath on my skin.

And then—

A soft touch.

My lady’s lips press against mine.

Soft, warm… And with a slight, pleasant scent.

Is it really okay for a maid and her lady to do something like this? The thought of wrongdoing crosses my mind, but…

An eight-year-old little lady wants to play like this, so I’ll just go along with it.

Thinking that way makes me feel more at ease.

…Hmm.

But how long does she plan to keep this up?

My lady seems entirely focused on the kiss, not even breathing.

…If she keeps this up, she might pass out.

Should I pretend to wake up?

Maybe she’s unsure how long the prince kissed the princess in the story?

Just as I’m debating what to do, my lady lifts her head.

“Phah!”

She was definitely running out of breath.

“Haa… Haa… Ah, the curse isn’t broken yet. I-I need to do it a little more.”

…My lady, if you go any longer, you’re going to faint.

Seeing her breathing so heavily, I figure it’s about time to wake up, so I make a sound.

“Mm…”

“Ah!”

“You are…”

When I open my eyes, my lady is looking down at me with a flushed face.

“You are… Here to save me…”

What should I call her?

The script says “prince,” but she insisted earlier that she was a princess.

“Call me Princess…!”

She whispers softly.

…So, in the end, she became the princess.

“Are you a princess?”

“Y-Yes! I am the princess! I’ve come to rescue you!”

“Oh, Princess, thank you so much. May I know your name?”

“Cieli! I am Cieli!”

“Thank you, Princess Cieli. Thanks to you, I have been freed from the witch’s curse!”

“T-Then come with me! I shall protect you!”

My lady takes my hand and slowly leads me out of the room.

“Princess, will you live happily with me from now on?”

“It would be an honor, Princess.”

As we step out of the room and gently close the door—

“Success!!!!”

“Wow~ You did an amazing job, my lady! You were such a cool… princess!”

“Really?! Was I really cool?!”

“Of course~ You were absolutely amazing~”

Haa… How adorable.

Seeing her jump around in excitement makes me glad I played along.

“I am a cool princess!”

“That you are~~”

I pat my lady’s head vigorously to celebrate her grand performance.

“Ehehehe… Then now, I want to be the princess!”

“You mean the sleeping princess?”

“Yeah!”

“You’ll go to sleep after that, right?”

“Okay!”

Whew, at least I got her to agree to sleep.

Kids need to sleep early to grow up healthy, after all.

“Then I’ll pretend to be asleep first, so you have to come in after a little while! Got it?”

“4||~”

Smiling brightly, my lady goes into the room first.

Hmm… I’ll wait a bit before going in.

About a minute later, I open the door and step inside.

Oh, she’s pretending to sleep surprisingly well.

Alright, then. I should match her energy.

“Ahh! Over there! A princess has fallen into an eternal sleep under the witch’s curse!”

I slowly approach my lady, reciting lines from the fairy tale.

How could such a beautiful princess be cursed so terribly? But do not fear, princess. I have come to—

“I…”

I…

“The princess shall awaken you from your slumber! With a kiss full of love!”

According to the script, I should just kiss her here, but…

Seeing her pretending to sleep so seriously makes me want to tease her a little.

…I really shouldn’t, though.

“Ah, princess. You are so breathtakingly beautiful.”

Let’s see how long she can endure my flattery.

“Your skin is as pure and radiant as freshly fallen snow in the heart of winter. So beautiful that all the women in the world would be envious.”

The lines are embarrassing, but…

The more I compliment her, the redder her face becomes.

“If only I could stay by your side forever, I would give up everything I have.”

With each word, the so-called sleeping princess turns redder and even starts breathing a little faster.

So my lady likes compliments this much? I’ll have to give her more in the future.

How adorable.

Now even her ears are red, and her lips twitch slightly. I hold back my laughter before finally—

A light peck on her lips.

“Now, wake up, Princess?”

“Mm?”

My lady shakes her head slightly.

What… isn’t right?

Smooch…

She gently presses her lips against mine once more.

“Wake up, beautiful princess~ The curse has been lifted~”

Shake shake shake.

…Ah, is it still not enough?

Hmm…

One more time?

Smooch.

Shake shake.

Smooch?

Shake shake.

“Hmm~ That’s strange~ The princess’s curse isn’t breaking~ I wonder why~~?”

My lady… do you want a longer kiss?

I wouldn’t mind, but for a lady to ask her maid for something like this… It’s absolutely not allowed.

…Well, I suppose that’s why she used magic to help me and secured a wish in the first place.

As I ponder how to wake my lady, who remains pretending to sleep despite several kisses…

“Tickle tickle tickle tickle~~~”

“Kyaha?! Kyahahaha! Wait! Kyahaha! That’s cheating..! Kyahahah!”

I attack her sides and stomach.

Hehe, my lady, it’s still too early for you to pretend to be asleep in front of me.

After tickling her for a while and finally stopping, my lady catches her breath, panting, and looks at me with a sulky expression.

“Haa… Haa… That’s cheating! Sleeping Beauty can only be woken up with a kiss!”

“But I did kiss you, and you didn’t wake up?”

“In that case, you should have kissed me… l-longer!”

“Hmm, but you woke up this way, so isn’t that fine?”

“No! That’s cheating! It’s bad! Do it again!”

No way…

So the play wasn’t her goal.

Was the kissing her real objective?

Hmm…

Do eight-year-olds normally want to kiss this much?

I’ve never felt that way before, so I wouldn’t know.

My lady closes her eyes again and pretends to sleep, even making soft “snooze” sounds.

“Princess~ Time to wake up~”

…It seems this curse is extremely strong.

I have no choice.

Since it was granted through a wish, after all…

Smooch…

Unlike before, I press my lips to hers and hold them there.

Since my lady did it this way earlier, this must be right.

Hmm… I feel incredibly guilty…

As a maid, I was taught that this is absolutely forbidden.

After about thirty seconds, I slowly lift my head.

Finally, my lady’s lips curl into a happy smile.

“Princess, are you awake?”

“Huaaaam…”

“Did you sleep well?”

“You… came to rescue me…?”

“Indeed. I am a princess from a neighboring kingdom, here to save you.”

Heave-ho!

I lift my lady into my arms.

“Now, you shall come with me and live happily ever after. Forever.”

“Yes… O-okay…”

“And once we step out of this room…?”

“The end! That was a wonderful performance, my lady!”

“M-Mana, you did great too…!”

Oh? Her face is red again.

I suppose thirty seconds was too long for my lady to hold her breath.

“My lady, shall we go to bed now?”

“…Okay!”

She buries her face into my chest as I carry her.

She’s especially warm tonight…

Carefully, I lay us both down on the bed.

“Good night, my lady.”

“Mm! Mana too! Kiss!”

“Yes~”

Smooch.

After a light kiss, my lady looks at me with dissatisfaction.

“Make it longer!”

“Huh? No, that’s not allowed. This is the only kind of kiss a maid can give her lady.”

“But longer kisses are better. Kissing makes you happy, right? So if you kiss longer, you’ll be even happier!”

…Oh?

My lady’s logic momentarily stuns me.

“If you kiss longer, you can live happily for a very, very long time!”

…My adorable lady.

So that was your plan?

A tiny, mischievous devil in disguise…

I can’t help but chuckle.

“My lady, this is the last one, alright? I’ll make it longer, but this is as far as we go.”

“Okay!!”

Smooch…

I kiss her softly, letting it linger.

With our lips pressed together for a long time…

For a moment, I feel as if I can sense her heartbeat through the kiss.

My precious lady.

Yes, you deserve to be happy.

But this is it.

The rest… should be saved for the person you fall in love with someday.

Smooch…

After about ten seconds, I pull away.

My lady’s face is bright red.

“H-huaaah…”

She blinks, clearly flustered, pressing her hands to her cheeks.

“Are you embarrassed?”

“A l-little…”

“See? Shorter kisses are better, right?”

“N-no! I’m just not used to all this happiness yet! Y-you said you’d help me get used to it! So… um… from now on, can you keep giving me goodnight kisses?”

…My lady.

How am I supposed to refuse when you look at me like that?

If this makes you happy, then…

“Alright. But this stays a secret, okay? And if you try to go beyond this, I really will scold you.”

“Beyond this…? You mean, like, if my heart feels like it’s about to explode from kissing too long?”

“Exactly. If it starts feeling like that, it’s too much.”

“Hmm… That makes sense. It already feels like my heart is going to burst. It’s pounding so hard…”

She places a hand on her chest, surprised by how fast it’s beating.

…Did I handle this properly?

“I’ll get used to this happiness…! It was the same when I had my first goodnight kiss with Mana!”

“Yes, yes. Now, go to sleep, my lady.”

“Okay! Sleep well, Mana!”

She tightly shuts her eyes, trying hard to sleep.

…How adorable.

Someday, someone will take my lady away, and they’ll get to see this side of her every day.

Whoever it is, they’d better realize how blessed they are.

Feeling mischievous, I gently poke my lady’s cheek.

“..?”

“You’re just too cute.”

“Hehe… Of course! I’m always cute!”

“Yes, you are, my lady.”

“Good night, Mana!”

“Good night, my lady.”

“Mm!”