“Alice, I could have used some support back there! You know, dealing with her.”

“But it went better this way! I told you already—Vexina likes you!”

“Ugh, I’m going to lose it one of these days.”

“What was that?”

“N-Nothing…”

As the two of us chatted and followed the sound of running water to the witch’s nearby creek, I barely had enough time to collect my thoughts on what had just gone down—and what was about to. Even if that wicked witch would keep up her end of the deal and just made an excuse to get rid of us for a bit, something in the back of my mind made my palms sweat in anticipation, not the least of which because I hardly knew anything about Alice or what the heck went on in her head…

I cleared my throat. “Hey Alice, um, how old are you?”

She scratched her chin. “I just turned eighteen this month!”

How convenient…!

Well, from the moment I chose to reincarnate as a girl, I knew this time would come eventually. If I was ever going to get my own yuri harem—I mean, become a member of an all-girls adventuring party—it was probably inevitable that we would see each other in a state of undress one way or another. As much as I could really go for a hot shower right now, this crude outdoorsy alternative might have its perks.

So what was I so nervous about?

When we reached the edge of the creek’s blue-green water, Alice wasted no time getting to work. She gently set down her rucksack on a dry spot of riverbank, kicked off her shoes, and… started… disrobing.

My heart pounded in my chest. Her undergarments were off in no time at all, leaving nothing to the imagination. I wasn’t staring! I just, I couldn’t stop my surprise at noticing how Alice’s bare figure was so lean and lithe, her breasts not nearly as small as I had thought, her gorgeous, fair-skinned body flaunting more curves than her baggy robes would ever suggest—!

“Aren’t you going to get in?” Alice asked, looking back at me with one foot in the water.

Actually, this might be better than a hot shower! And there was nothing wrong with this, morally or legally! The water did feel a little chilly after I tested it with a finger, but that would be a small price to pay for this opportunity. All I had to do was just take that first step and undress…

Undress? Damn it, why’d it have to be that?! I really should have gotten some new clothes!

“Beryl, what’s wrong?” Alice asked, standing up after her first dip in the water. “Do you need me to help untie your corset? Or… could you be nervous?”

Why did she look so amused?! Well, it might not be that big of a deal to take off my dress, but thinking about having her help me put it back on launched a painfully disturbing flashback of that first time to the front of my mind. And how was she going to do that when she was already this wet, with water dripping from her every surface, even down…!

Fuck, I was so not mentally prepared for this!

“D-Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed. “This water is freezing cold! How am I supposed to use this? I’ll have you know that back on my world, I practically lived like a king! Er, queen. Same difference.”

“Hmm~?” she playfully hummed back.

I turned around. “Don’t mind me. I’ll stay on the lookout and, uh, keep the bears away.”

“But there aren’t any bears this close to the capital!” she replied.

“See? I’m doing a good job.”

I thought I heard her giggling behind me. Whatever.

I took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart and found a flat rock to sit on a good distance away, just in case Alice tried to splash me by surprise. Knowing her, that was definitely something she would try to do.

Although my seat left a lot to be desired, I finally had a moment to rest in relative comfort. I leaned back and listened to scattered birdsong from the forest around us and even Alice humming a cheerful, upbeat tune as she washed herself. Unfortunately it was a rather short moment of rest since a gentle breeze picked up again and sent my long hair flying back in my face. With a grunt of frustration, I noticed my hair had gotten slightly tangled and knotty as I held it steady with a hand. While the bonus to sex appeal would be nice for persuasion attempts, I was starting to realize how much more maintenance my unfamiliarly long, nearly waist-length head of hair would require. After my initial plans for this world had gone bust, maybe I should just make things easier for myself and go for a trim…

I pulled out my enchanted obsidian dagger from its sheath and held it up to my hair. I could hear a faint, ominous droning sound of the magical energy within it as the dagger drew closer to my ears. I grabbed a long lock of hair with my other hand and held it taut—

“Beryl, don’t!” Alice shrieked.

I almost fell over after she startled me that hard. How long was she even watching me?!

“Relax,” I said back to her. “I’m just going to cut my hair, don’t worry.”

“No, I can’t let you do that!” Alice shouted as she leapt out of the creek, even more drenched than before. “You can’t get rid of such beautiful hair like that!”

“Come on, my hair is even longer than yours, you know!” I shouted back.

“I… Here, just let me help!” She ran to her rucksack, and after a few moments of rummaging she pulled out a…

“Wait, you can’t be serious!” I said. “Can’t you at least put on some clothes first?”

“I have to dry off!” Alice didn’t bother covering herself as she hurried over to me, dripping and bouncing, a wooden comb in her hand. “Okay, just hold still.”

She lifted the back of my hair and began gently combing, starting at the ends and slowly working her way up to the roots. Alice hummed another happy tune all the while, occasionally running her fingers through my hair to lightly shake out a larger tangle, or to gather another section to sink her comb into, or maybe for no reason at all. I couldn’t really tell, but it actually felt kind of nice…

Hold on. I’m actually getting my long, womanly hair done by a naked girl? What the hell is happening to me?

Although, it wasn’t like I had this type of experience very often back on Earth…

I gave a start when I felt Alice suddenly rest a hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Uh, nothing?”

“I thought… You went pretty quiet all of a sudden.”

I took another deep breath. “Maybe I was just thinking about life before I came here.”

“Oh.” Alice set down her comb and put a hand on my other shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really. I mean, I kind of died at the end.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine, really. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I left a whole lot behind, at least compared to some people.”

Alice fell silent for a minute. Then another. Even though I couldn’t see her face, I could tell she probably had an expression I would have never seen from her before.

“Actually, I… I have a confession to make,” she finally said. Her hands tensed up on my shoulders. “As you can probably guess, it’s not easy to get by in the capital all on your own. Sometimes it’s difficult making it day by day without any connections or extraordinary skills to fall back on, and I can’t really go back home right now. Ever since found out I could cast magic, I hated thinking that I might never be able to learn any spells. So when I met you, I was… I was sort of hoping you could help me get where I couldn’t before. You just seemed like someone who could… I mean, it’s not like I was trying to use you! I just, I was, I only wanted to—”

I placed a hand over hers. “Hey, it’s fine. It’s normal to be a little selfish, you know?”

I heard her take a deep breath, and the tension evaporated from her grip. A moment later she whispered in my ear, “Then… I want to be just a little more selfish.”

Slowly, Alice slipped her hands under my arms and hugged me in a tight embrace. I quivered at the touch of her chin resting down on my shoulder, her silky hair tickling my neck, her soft, hot breaths kissing my cheek, her arms gently squeezing my waist, her tender breasts pressing into my back…

My heart threatened to pound out of my chest. I couldn’t help it. It was starting to beat so fast I was afraid she would hear it for sure. And yet, part of me wanted to stay here anyway, forever savoring this moment with her, soaking in this new feeling spreading across my body…!

Wait.

“Um, Alice? Why is my back getting wet?”

She jumped away. “I’m sorry, Beryl!”

God damn it! That fucking witch could have at least given us something to dry ourselves off with!

For some reason, Alice started fidgeting awkwardly while standing in front of me fully unclothed as if we had just met each other. For some reason, it felt like we had just met each other.

“I… I’ll be right back.”

In the brief time it took her to get redressed, the breeze reminded me that my freshly combed hair was straighter yet no safer than it was before. “This still makes me want to cut it,” I grumbled when she returned.

“I won’t allow it!” she huffed. “Turn around; I have an idea.”

I heard Alice pull something out of her rucksack before she gathered up my long hair near the back of my head. A gentle tug, a few quick motions with her hands, and then she stepped away and nodded in approval at the finished product. I checked out my reflection in the creek.

She used a ribbon to tie my hair in a ponytail?! That’s… Yeah, this could work! I totally dig girls with ponytails.

Alice stared from me to the water and back. “Beryl, you never did… Oh! I might have something else.”

I was beginning to question what the heck she carried around with her—and why. Regardless, another minute of rummaging led to her retrieving a thin vial full of a lightly colored, oily substance.

“Here, drink this.”

“Can you at least tell me what it is this time?” I asked.

“Nope!”

I figured as much. Well, what’s the worst that could happen?

I uncorked the vial and quickly downed the sweet-smelling liquid. The oily texture was pretty nasty, but at least it tasted sweet, too. I didn’t feel anything different though, even after Alice stored the empty vial and took a long whiff next to me with a weirdly contented expression on her face. Actually, that sweet smell still lingered on my nostrils, like freshly picked berries and cream. That must be…

Oh God, she definitely just made me drink some sort of perfume potion. Why did it smell so good?

***

Somehow, a trace of that awkward tension between us returned as we made our way back. I thought Alice would have been beyond ecstatic at her chance to finally learn some magic, but she was surprisingly aloof, casting nervous glances at me like she wanted to say something. I was starting to get more nervous with each passing second. I couldn’t tell how she really felt about me anymore, and even worse, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about her.

I had to know what was on her mind. “What is it?” I finally asked.

As much as she fidgeted, curiosity won out in the end. “Beryl… were you really a queen in your past life?”

Huh? She was just thinking about that casual remark from earlier? Sigh… Maybe that was for the best.

“Well, kind of,” I replied.

“Kind of?” she prodded.

Compared to living in a medieval world without toilet paper? Modern day Earth did have some perks even royalty here would lack. “Yeah, kind of.”

She crossed her arms. “You don’t sound terribly convincing.”

I flipped back my ponytail with an exaggerated gesture. “Heavy lies the crown, my dear Alice.”

“Oh, is that so?”

I might have to be more careful with my throwaway comments around her… “Look, I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Hmph! Please take your time, Your Majesty.”

“Very funny…”

But Alice just couldn’t leave it at that. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she playfully elbowed me in the side when I least expected it.

“Long live the queen, right?”

“Beryl, that’s mean!”

“Ugh, I was kidding! Hey, don’t give me that look!"