LIGHTNOVELONLINE “Huff!”
“Damn it.”
I shouted that silently to myself. It couldn’t be helped this time.
“Really tough.”
Carrying an adult man in the body of an ordinary woman, not as an agent, was really hard.
I’d probably wake up tomorrow with muscle pain for sure.
If I had Midori do it, she could’ve gotten the Commander to his private room more easily than I could.
But it felt somewhat wrong, so I just did it myself.
Midori had already called a designated driver and helped me put him in the car at the store.
She had helped enough, and she was drunk, too.
Even if it was Friday night, she would definitely want to get inside and rest quickly.
“……”
“Seriously, he’s sleeping like he knows nothing.”
The Commander was dead drunk and hadn’t woken up once since.
Not even mumbling in his sleep; he was really out cold.
Well, it was better than a man mumbling strange nonsense in his sleep or drunkenly ranting.
Of course, personally, I would’ve preferred he just woke up and walked to his private room on his own.
But it couldn’t be helped, and what’s unavoidable is indeed unavoidable.
“……”
Honestly, I was a bit tipsy myself and felt too tired to move.
It was getting annoying.
Really annoying.
“I should go to my room…”
Moving my body felt too bothersome.
I just laid him roughly on the bed and sat next to him, but moving was such a hassle.
The Commander was deep in slumber, so I figured it wouldn’t be too weird if I stayed there, but still, I had to go to my room.
After all, it was a bit weird for a woman to be hanging out in a man’s bed like this.
Yeah, I needed to go.
I really did….
“I’m drowsy.”
So sleepy.
Really.
It was hard to stay awake at all.
I had to stand up while sitting, but my consciousness kept trying to drift away.
My eyes were getting heavy and my breathing was becoming slower.
*
“……”
And when I finally opened my eyes, the room was completely dark.
Come to think of it, the Commander always kept the curtains drawn and the lights off, sleeping like the dead.
I had come to his private room every morning to wake him, so I knew.
Knowing that fact allowed me to grasp the current situation even better.
I usually drew the curtains just enough to let in a bit of sunlight.
So, during the day, light would have come somewhat into the private room through the window.
It had never gotten as dark as it was now.
“Damn….”
“Your usual tone seems a bit different, huh?”
“Whhhat?!”
I jumped in surprise at the sudden voice next to me.
After all, I hadn’t expected to hear the Commander’s voice out of nowhere!
Moreover, the private room was pitch-black, so I was genuinely startled.
I knew I was sleeping in the Commander’s room, but I hadn’t considered he would be awake.
Really.
“C, Commander?”
“Have you woken up?”
And with that, the light in his private room turned on.
The sudden light hurt my eyes a bit, but I quickly adjusted.
What appeared was… the Commander wearing a properly fitting bathrobe, unlike yesterday when he had clearly worn a shirt.
For some reason, he was now in a bathrobe.
“……”
“Huff… So, what exactly is going on right now?”
The Commander asked me, pressing his temples with his fingers.
Honestly, it was quite the situation.
From the Commander’s perspective… he woke up to find himself in bed with an employee.
I hadn’t expected this either.
Naturally, I had thought I’d just lay him down on the bed and head to my own room.
But somehow… I ended up falling asleep right there.
It felt a little embarrassing, but the truth was I had indeed dozed off.
Everything had gone smoothly to the point where I hadn’t woken up at all.
“When I woke up in the morning, why was I in my private room, and you were…. sleeping in my bed?”
“…….”
How do I explain this?
I knew I had to say something, but I was so flustered that my mind wasn’t working properly.
After all, this was my first time in such a scenario.
When I think about it, in terms of bodies, familiarity, and all that, I had only lain in bed with my parents, and that was it.
“Nothing happened.”
So all I could say was that much.
Nothing had happened.
Because really, nothing did happen.
There hadn’t been any body contact, and certainly no steamy business going on between a woman and a man.
“Really, Commander, you don’t have to worry about…. anything like that.”
“…Really?”
“Really. Really… nothing happened.”
Ah.
I want to die.
Since becoming Lindera, this was the most embarrassed I’ve felt.
Really.
“If that’s the case…. then that’s a relief. Good.”
“…Yes.”
I felt like I wanted to die from the sheer embarrassment.
No matter how I thought about it, it was way too embarrassing.
I was half-risen from the bed while the Commander sat on a random chair in the private room.
I guess he had woken up before me and decided to just sit there.
“…When did you wake up?”
“An hour ago.”
“…Yes?”
“I woke up at 9 a.m., so an hour ago.”
9 a.m…. that means it was 10 a.m. now.
10 a.m., far past the time I normally go to work.
“…….”
My face felt even hotter.
At the same time, my mind was growing colder, which felt strange.
Honestly, I wanted to die from embarrassment.
This was no wonder—I had someone watching me sleep for an hour.
And that someone was my boss!
“…….”
“Oh, by the way… the jersey I was wearing is… hung somewhere else.”
“…Huh?”
“…Sorry.”
“…….”
It felt a bit chilly since I had uncovered myself from the blanket.
But it turned out that it wasn’t the blanket; it was because the jersey I had worn yesterday was gone.
I… started to pull the blanket back toward me to cover myself.
After all, the only thing I was wearing beneath was an ordinary camisole.
It wasn’t even close to being underwear, but there was quite a bit of skin showing.
“Where did you… put it?”
“I’ll bring it.”
“…Thank you.”
Yeah, I could understand that.
If you were sleeping, it would be uncomfortable to be wearing an outer garment… that made sense.
I get that.
Yeah, I get… that.
“Damn….”
But still, this had turned into an unbearably embarrassing situation.
That meant while he was sleeping, he had taken off my clothes!
“Here it is.”
“…Commander.”
“Yes?”
“…Do you happen to remember doing anything weird while taking off the jersey?”
There was nothing particularly out of place, but I couldn’t help but have strange thoughts.
After all, it was about taking off a sleeping woman’s clothes.
Whatever the intent, that’s how it sounded.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Then… that’s good to hear.”
Since I slept from dinner until 10 a.m., it was normal to worry.
Of course, if I hadn’t fallen asleep here, I wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
“….”
“….”
I had put the jersey I had worn yesterday back on, and silence fell between us.
I had no idea what to say, and I had no clue what the Commander was thinking.
So for now…
“I’m sorry.”
I decided to start with an apology.
The Commander looked a bit puzzled by my sudden apology regarding giving back my clothes.
After all, it was abrupt.
“Well… don’t misunderstand. Until now, I haven’t had such… happenings with a man.”
No matter the reason, I had to offer some sort of apology.
After all, I could have potentially upset him by misunderstanding him.
If a person had suddenly accused you of sexually assaulting them, wouldn’t that make you feel bad?
At least, I think so.
“That’s understandable. I can see why you’d feel that way.”
“…Thank you.”
“So then, why were you sleeping together on my bed?”
“Ah, that would be….”
I briefly explained to the Commander what had happened yesterday.
Luckily, I had enough memories of the dinner gathering, so it wasn’t difficult to convince him.
I just told him that I drank a lot, got drunk, collapsed, called a designated driver, and they carried me to my room.
The Commander looked dumbfounded at the thought of himself passing out in the bathroom from drinking too much.
In some regards, it felt even more foolish than if I had merely dragged him all the way here while tipsy and gone to sleep.
“…So that happened?”
“Yes.”
“…I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I drank, so I think I lost my balance a bit.”
“That’s not the issue; I just think your alcohol tolerance is a bit low.”
That was my honest impression.
It wasn’t the speed at which he drank that was the problem.
Midori, the Commander, and I had all drunk about the same amount, but halfway through, the Commander had clearly started to become more and more tipsy.
If I asked Midori, I was pretty sure she’d laugh and retell the story enthusiastically.
He probably thought his alcohol tolerance was normal, but…
“…”
“Commander?”
“…No. Since this is how it turned out, how about we have breakfast together?”
“Sure, let’s do that.”
After all, I was hungry too, and I had planned to go to the dining room to get something to eat.
It wouldn’t be tricky to go out and grab a meal together.
Thanks to him being open about what happened yesterday, my embarrassment… had lessened a little.
Anyway, I finished getting ready in the Commander’s private room and we decided to head to the dining area.
Since we had drunk, it would be nice if we could find some way to sober up….