Senior, I've Come to Visit - Chapter 44

In this area, the bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling, and even at that dizzying height, they were packed full of books. Nardi pulled out a brick-thick volume and handed it to me.

“This is it.”

“Yeah.”

Holding the heavy book with both hands, I carefully set it down on the nearby desk. With deliberate hands, I opened it and turned the pages.

“….”

Seeing her handwriting and the delicately drawn herb illustrations made me emotional inside. I was looking at the handwritten manuscript of a genius wizard I both liked and respected.

As Nardi had said, the manuscript that predated the first edition stored in the academy and the Magic Tower contained notes and annotations not found in the published version. Since I’d practically memorized the first edition, I immediately recognized the parts that had been omitted.

For example, in the case of the herb Meylind, boiling the dried root could be used to treat seizures or convulsions. That part was also in the first edition, so I already knew it. But this manuscript included an additional effect: that extracting juice from the stem and taking it in small amounts could calm anxiety symptoms in patients with neurosis. However, she’d written that this part wasn’t entirely accurate due to insufficient testing, so it seemed it was left out of the first edition. Even her vaguely scribbled ideas felt precious to me, and my heart raced.

“Eloise, you should have it. Keep the book.”

“What? No.”

“As a gift to commemorate your visit to our home. It’ll be far more valuable in your hands than sitting here.”

No matter what, that wasn’t right. This book belonged to House Gracian.

“I don’t want to have it. Can I just borrow it for a few days?”

“Of course, I’ll lend it to you indefinitely. Pick out other books too, take whatever you want.”

“Okay.”

I gently closed the herbal medical manuscript and went back to the shelves.

The shelves were filled with specialized books on herbalism, pharmacology, and magic-related topics. I selected only the ones I really wanted to borrow and gathered them onto the desk. When I stretched up on my toes to reach a book on a high shelf, extending my hand as far as I could—

“‘Encyclopedia of Mystical Herbs’?”

Nardi retrieved the book effortlessly.

“Yeah, must be nice being tall.”

“I’m on the taller side,” he answered with a subtle tone and a faint grin.

What was that?

It felt like he was about to steer the atmosphere somewhere strange again, so I ignored it.

I wanted to stay in this incredible study, and my mind was busy choosing books. I checked all the shelves within my reach, then climbed up the ladder.

“Careful, be careful.”

A rare anxious voice came from below.

“Yeah.”

As I climbed higher, new books came into view.

“Out of everything I’ve seen, this is the most energetic you’ve ever been, Eloise.”

Nardi clapped lightly, sounding half-amused and half-defeated.

“I really like this place.”

Honestly, I wanted to bring a camping bag like the ones we used on subjugation missions and live here.

“If you come to our home often, you can borrow books whenever you like.”

“Why are you trying to tempt me? Here, take this.”

As I turned my body to hand him a book, I froze.

“…Where are you looking?”

He was standing behind the ladder, blatantly looking up my skirt, even tilting his head for a better angle.

“Because I can see your underwear. You’re wearing white.”

Ha.

Nardi calmly accepted the book from my hand, but he still didn’t take his eyes off under my skirt. Flustered, I tried to bring my legs together, but it wasn’t easy. I had to keep my feet slightly apart on the ladder to stay balanced.

“Are you going to be like this? You’re not a pervert.”

“Huh? I am a pervert though?”

I was so dumbfounded that words caught in my throat. My lips parted soundlessly before, a beat later, I burst out.

“Don’t look…!”

“We even have sex, so why can’t I look at your underwear? Are you getting shy?”

Ah, seriously.

“That’s completely unrelated. How can you do this while I’m choosing books in the study?”

“It’s time for each of us to look at what we want. Eloise, keep looking at your books, and I’ll look at what I like.”

Nardi said that nonsense without even blinking. He was staring between my thighs like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I had no idea what to do.

I wanted to look at the books above, I needed to choose more books, but his stare drove me crazy. Maybe his perverted tendencies had rubbed off on me, because the way he stared so intensely made a strange thrill run through me, and my pussy tingled.

Who knew when I’d get to come here again? I forced myself to look forward and tried to bring my legs closer together, even just a little. But Nardi went one step further and lifted his face toward me. There was no way I could concentrate, so I gave up on the ladder.

“I’m getting down.”

“Come down carefully.”

So irritating….

Step by step, I climbed down, and from behind, Nardi supported my waist. The moment my feet touched the floor, he spun me halfway around and lifted me up.

“Nardi!”

“I’ll show you my bedroom now.”

“I haven’t finished looking at the books…!”

I’d planned to come down from the ladder, get rid of a certain someone’s indecent line of sight, and browse the lower shelves. But as if he’d been waiting, he lifted me up and strode forward with those long legs.

“We can come back later. Ever since we kissed earlier, I’ve been having a hard time. Could you please allow it?”

In an instant, we’d left the study and were moving down an empty hallway. Naturally, I had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist while he walked on his own.

Asking for permission while already marching there….

I wondered what I was even supposed to say, but my attention was stolen by the quickly passing interior of the mansion. Taking the stairs two or three steps at a time, he climbed to an upper floor and strode down a long corridor. Passing several doors on both sides, he turned a corner.

It was a relief no one else was around to see me clinging to him like a child. Like an arrow, he headed somewhere and threw the doors wide open.

Ah….

So this is Nardi’s bedroom?

Just like the spaces we’d passed, it was enormous and beautiful. Dark green wallpaper and luxurious wooden furniture created a comfortable atmosphere. When we reached the bed, Nardi leaned forward and set me down. The smooth sheet touched my back, and I instinctively rolled onto my side and sat up.

“….”

Why is the bed this big?

It looked like four normal beds put together. Even if I rolled around several times, I wouldn’t fall off.

“The bed is really big, ah…!”

He grabbed my hips from both sides and flipped me onto my stomach.

“It is big, right? Putting you on my bed makes you look even smaller and cuter.”

Going even further, he pushed my skirt up and flipped it over onto my back, exposing the white underwear and thighs he’d been peeking at from under the ladder.

“You pervert…!”

Startled, I tried to crawl forward, away from him. The bed was so big that the sheets stretched out endlessly like an escape route. But Nardi got onto the bed and followed right behind me.

“Call me a lover, not a pervert.”

“What lover…!”

“Eloise is the one who made me like this.”

His hands stroked my buttocks over the underwear in wide, slow circles before quickly grabbing the fabric and pulling it down. The underwear caught halfway down my thighs, and above it, my bare buttocks and the exposed cleft were completely revealed. The touch of open air made it feel cool and dizzying at the same time.

In the middle of the huge bed, I ended up on all fours like an animal, presenting my most intimate place.

Honestly, it wasn’t completely unexpected. We’d had sex like this in my house so many times, so why would it be any different in his? I did think something erotic might happen, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon, and in this position.

“Whose butt is this, so plump?”

His hands grabbed each cheek firmly and kneaded them like dough.