Atelier Tanaka - Book 6: Chapter 6 (9)

Aufschnaiter Family

The fallout of my trip to Academy City seemed to have finally been taken care of.

The same day that I arrived back in Dragon City, I made the decision to delay our return to Kalis for a day. There was nothing urgent that needed my attention in the capital and I no longer needed to worry about bringing the shotachinpo back to Academy City. It’s a good opportunity to takes rest day.

The JC may be my ex-boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I hate him. He may have been a cocky shotachinpo when we first met, but when he took a stand against Pi-chan to defend me, he earned my respect.

I hope that he can enjoy his time in the baths of Dragon City and ease the weariness from our journey.

I forgot to bathe entirely and went to bad without even eating. My physical exhaustion can easily be managed with my recovery magic, but it has no effect on my mental exhaustion. After a stressful few days, I decided to go to sleep early to give myself a chance to recover.

However, just as I was beginning to fall asleep, a knock at my door woke me.

The sharp raps on the door echoed through my room.

“Yes, I’m coming.”

Who could it be? My first thought was the shotachinpo.

I’d be better off ignoring it if that’s the case.

I unlocked the door and opened it to see a person I wasn’t expecting.

“Sophia-san, what are you doing here this late at night?”

A surprise appearance from my maid.

She was wearing her usual maid uniform which, for some reason, she had decided was her everyday attire ever since she got a job at the school dormitory back in the capital. Her dimly lit figure combined with her exposing uniform to create a visually striking appearance. The moonlight filtering in from the window created a shimmering halo around her frame.

“I have something for you, T-Tanaka-san….”

“Something for me?”

My interest is piqued.

I carefully examined her and noticed she was holding something behind her back. Her shoulders were trembling as well. Is she holding a love letter? My heart is starting to race.

“H-Here!”

She finally settled herself before holding out a small bundle of papers.

A letter.

Or letters.

How nice.

“…what are these?”

“I found them in Ester-sama’s room.”

“Ester-san’s room?”

I don’t care about stuff like that.

Is it okay for me to see it without Ester-chan’s permission? It’s surprising for Sophia-chan to do something like this. Taking something from someone’s room without their permission is an invasion of privacy, and then handing it over to me is ridiculous.

“Yes.”

“You should return that to where you found it.”

“Please, p-please, just look at it!”

“I can’t. That would be rude to Ester-san.”

“I understand that, but please, look at it!”

“….”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this.

Sophia-chan’s desperate. It’s not uncommon to see her sweating from being nervous, but I can see that her armpits and even her chest is soaked in so much sweat that it has changed colors. A certain scent unfitting of a girl reached my nose.

What could cause her to act this way?

This reminded me of how she acted when she was trying to protect me back during the Academic Conference. Everyone I spoke to about her praised her for her efforts.

This leads me to believe she’s doing this for someone else. There are people like that. They’re nervous or weak when it comes to acting in a way that benefits themselves, but when it comes to someone else, they become bold. Oh no, I am still in love with her.

“….all right. I’ll look at it.”

“T-Thank you!”

My maid handed me the bundle of papers.

Our fingertips touched slightly and it sent a shiver up my arm. It reminded me of the few clerks that hold your hand when they hand you your change at convenience stores. If the clerk was ever a girl, I’d always fall in love. It made my heart skip a beat.

“….”

I took a brief glance at what was written on the paper using the light coming from my room.

It appeared to be an unfiltered list of Ester-chan’s desires back before she lost her memory. It was always obvious how she felt, but actually seeing it written out made me feel guilty rather than any sense of happiness.

“….”

“….”

My maid silently stared at me as I read over the page.

I flattened out the paper the best that I could and decided to give it a serious look. There were wrinkles all over every page which made me think these had been crumpled up before Sophia-chan took them. These are most likely rejected pages from the book Ester-chan planned to write.

I flipped through each page before finally reaching the last.

“…umm, T-Tanaka-san?”

“I understand why you wanted me to read these, Sophia-san.”

“Then, u-umm, please, Ester-sama –”

“It was rude of me to reject these pages, Sophia-san. I’d like to apologize to you for that. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the Ester that wrote these words no longer exists.”

“Eh? Umm, w-what does that mean….?”

“It’s a sad story, but she lost her memories.”

“…her m-memories?”

“That’s right. Much has happened while we’ve been away, but what you need to know is that she has lost all of her memories related to either of us. I do believe that she has retained some memories of you, even if she isn’t aware of it herself. I noticed that she didn’t hesitate to drink the tea you made which I believe related to the fondness she held for it prior to her memory loss.”

“That can’t….”

I forgot that Sophia-chan knew nothing about this.

I never told her and it’s clear that nobody else did while I was in Academy City.

“It’s impossible for me to know where her happiness will be, but I know that it doesn’t involve me. She can now return to her relationship with Allen-san so they can marry and lead the FitzClarence family in the future. She has no memories of me. I am little more than an insignificant baron to her that she is forced to interact with due to my relationship with her father.”

“….”

I noticed on either the fifth or sixth page an important fact.

Ester-chan was a slut but only when it came to her ass.

I don’t know if it’s changed since she lost her memories, but when she wrote those pages, she still had her hymen. That’s impressive. She had the willpower to maintain her hymen despite being together with such an attractive man like Allen.

It was probably out of concern for Allen’s life. If Richard found out he took her virginity, their happy life together would end and the lolibitch wouldn’t be able to fix it no matter how hard she tried.

Based on past evidence, I’d say he would have been killed outright nine out of ten times.

She must have watched Sophie-chan’s vagina getting slammed repeatedly with her fingers in her mouth as she imagined what it might feel like opposed to the anal she was doing. Thinking about it like this, she almost becomes cute. But, no, it’s not. I won’t be fooled.

Real life is more painful than whatever I can imagine.

Remain calm, my virgin heart.

There are many openings in the human body, but only one opening to the heart.

Once that one hole has been filled, having a hymen no longer matters. The act of breaking someone’s hymen is inextricably attached to youth and youth along with first love are deeply intertwined. Having one without the other will do nothing to satisfy the regret that has long festered in my heart from my wasted  youth.

The pussy is the beginning and the end.

“Thank you for showing me this, Sophia-san. I was able to better understand Ester-san thanks to you.”

“U-Umm, Tanaka-san, about Ester-sama….”

“Sophia-san, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. You and Ester-san will be able to achieve the same friendship you had before she lost her memories. You coming here despite your nerves and being unsure of how I’d react, is proof of this.”

“….”

Sophia-chan is still as cute as ever despite how pale she looks.

“Thank you. It was really helpful.”

“Eh? Umm, that’s….”

“It’s getting late so you should hurry back to bed.”

“Th–”

I was reluctant to do it, but I closed the door after saying goodbye to Sophia-chan.

I waited with my back against the door as I listened to the sound of her receding footsteps echoing in the hall. I stood there until the sound had completely faded before silently walking back to my bed.

This is for the best.

I ripped the pages containing the lolibitch’s words to shreds and threw them in the trash on my way back.

Nobody would want such intimate thoughts read by a stranger.