Waking up next to a cute girl is generally a good thing. Well, generally at least. As for myself, I’m in one of those cases where it’s a bit of a bad situation. 

The moment I opened my eyes from my food induced slumber I was greeted by the sight of a peacefully sleeping Minerva. I almost thought she was Sekh for a moment but the ears were too different. 

“Looks like I should leave,” I thought, quite concerned about the situation that I had gotten into. 

Carefully, I extricated myself from Minerva’s bed. Thanks to all the experience I acquired from living with Sekh, I could easily make such a maneuver. And just for the sake of safety, I looked down to confirm the presence of my pants, which were still on. 

Peering out of the room, I noticed that the house was still lit up with candles, meaning that I either slept for a few hours or an entire day. As I made my way closer to the stairwell, I could hear the bustling sound of dinner still going on. 

“So it must have only been an hour or less,” I realized before heading downstairs. “Though I wonder if the people downstairs have noticed anything.”

When I arrived back at the dinner table, all eyes had shifted onto me. And to add insult to injury, there was no dessert left for me. 

“What took you so long?” Sekh asked with a sly smile. 

Looking around at the rest of the table, everyone else had similar sentiments. 

“Ah sorry about that,” I apologized. “She was really drunk so it took me a while to calm her down. She’s asleep right now so don’t worry.”

“Well that’s only natural,” Cornelia stated. “The both of you had a busy two days after all so it should be expected that you’re tired.”

“That holds a bit too much truth to it than I’d like,” I remarked mentally. 

But even if I was tired, it’s not too common for me to just roll over and sleep somewhere. If anything, I probably got too relaxed being around Minerva. Maybe it’s similar to how you let your guard down around people you trust or love. Am I really that fond of her to that point though? Or is my digestive system that keen on knocking me out?

“Hello? Azel you there?” Sekh interrupted, waving her hand in front of my face. 

Blinking, I realized that I had zoned out for just a bit. 

“Ah it’s fine,” I told her, smiling amiably. “I was just thinking about something our drunk friend said.”

“What was it?” Sekh asked while tilting her head.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “It was just drunk mumbling so I’m trying to discern what it was.”

“Oh, maybe she confessed her feelings,” Cadmus pointed out. “You think that’s possible.”

“Maybe,” I laughed. “Or maybe she was complaining about how we changed the exams.”

“Well the specific contents don’t matter,” Cadmus replied. “All that matters is that I can make fun of her about this for a while.”

“So nothing new,” I quipped. 

“Sticking up for her?” Cadmus remarked slyly. 

“It’d be hypocritical if I agreed,” I answered while scratching my head. “I’m planning on teasing her about this later too. 

To my slight displeasure, there were murmured “awes” coming from around the table, the main culprits being Cornelia and Cadmus’ wives. Anyhow, it’d be in my best interest to not let the people here know that I passed out in Minerva’s room. 

Although the merrymaking continued well into the night. However, I ended up holding back quite a bit, probably due to the fear of knocking out again. 

“You’ve been acting weird since you went to Minerva’s room,” Sekh told me while we were preparing to go to sleep. “Did something happen?”

Even though Sekh won’t misinterpret that I fell asleep in Minerva’s room, I doubt I’d hear the end of it if I told her what happened. Of course I’m certain that she won’t be mad, but I’ll just end up as the butt of a long running joke. More importantly, it’s not as though what happened is actually important. 

“Apart from hearing her ramble incoherently, nothing,” I answered. 

“So you’re just tired then?” Sekh asked.

“More or less,” I replied while scratching my head. 

Despite having one of the easier jobs in the whole examination, I was in fact quite tired. Of course it was mental exhaustion rather than physical. 

“You work too hard,” Sekh chided, while pulling me onto her lap. “You need to take more time off for yourself.”

At this point, Sekh had gotten me in a proper lap pillow, her hand running through my hair. 

“I’ll try,” I offered, provoking quite the displeased look from Sekh. 

“You better try very hard then,” she complained. “Besides, what’s the point in working so hard when you don’t have any time to enjoy your life?”

“But I do have time for fun,” I argued. “Did you forget that I kept going with you and Zeph to do stuff?”

“You were only with us for a fourth of the total time,” Sekh pointed out. 

“Fair enough,” I conceded. “I’ll make it up to you when we go back to Damask. Is there anything that you want to do back at home?”

“You,” she replied with a sly smile. “But in all seriousness, I’m really not upset that you didn’t spend enough time with me. I’m upset that you don’t spend enough time on yourself.”

“About that” I began with a warm grin. “I actually want to start informing people in Damask about my actual identity.”

“How come?” Sekh asked gently.

“Well I’ve noticed that the people here were fairly receptive to me,” I answered. “Fairly.”

“I’ve been telling you this for so long,” Sekh said while pulling my cheek. “Well it won’t be perfect, but most people will be accepting of you, especially after everything you’ve done in Damask.”

“Thanks for the encouragement, dear,” I replied happily. 

“That’s what I’m here for,” Sekh said with a wink. “Now let’s get some sleep.”

“Can we just sleep like this?” I asked, still enjoying the lap pillow.

“Then it wouldn’t be we,” Sekh replied, pushing me off her lap. “Anyways, I’m going to need compensation for that lap pillow. I also only take hugs as payment.”

“What’s next, are you going to ask me to hold your hand, you pervert?” I yawned. 

The next morning, I woke up early as usual, purely out of habit. However, I was sufficiently refreshed so I continued with my regular morning exercise routine while I waited for everyone else to wake up. More importantly, I would have to check up on Minerva since she’d probably have a hangover by now. 

I was quite correct when I came back to the house, seeing Minerva slumped over the dinner table with a large jug of tea in her hand with Cornelia watching over her.

“You ok?” I asked the very hungover elf. 

“Ugh, no,” she moaned. “I really regret drinking so much. Please stop me next time.”

“Shouldn’t you be the one responsible for that?” Cornelia chided her while pulling Minerva’s pointy ears. “It’s your mouth that the alcohol is entering after all.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Minerva mumbled. “I really do regret my choices.”

“Yeah, I know,” Cornelia said tiredly. “You’ll have to deal with the consequences of your choices though.”

“Right…” Minerva muttered, sinking her face into the jug of tea. 

“Does she even remember what happened last night?” I mentally complained. 

“Hey Minerva,” I called out to her. “You want to go out for tea after breakfast. I think some fresh air might help you feel better. We just have to avoid going anywhere bright.”

Blinking and slightly blushing, Minerva stammered a bit before replying. 

“Ummm… sure. I don’t mind. Is anyone else coming with us?”

“She probably does remember then,” I concluded. 

“No one else as of right now,” I answered. “Do you want to bring someone along?”

“It’s fine,” she replied. “Unless someone wants to come along.”

I guess I just have to make sure that no one else tags along in that case. Considering how shy Minerva gets, bringing someone along would only prolong things. And I’m getting tired of waiting for a resolution. I even got a confession already, albeit with the help of copious alcohol. 

Breakfast went along smoothly, at least for me. As for my date, she was being teased by her family about the fiasco last night. And although I would like to step in, I’m absolutely certain that my presence would only exacerbate the situation. So I had to sell myself to Sekh for her to bail out Minerva. It’s seriously impressive how intelligent I can be, with an emphasis on ‘can.’ 

After breakfast, Minerva and I left the house, myself with a parasol in hand for Minerva’ hangover. The place that we headed to was a cafe within Tyros’ inner district, so a high end establishment essentially. 

“Thanks for doing so much,” Minerva said warmly when the two of us sat down at our table. “That parasol really did help.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied with an easy grin. “And see, I was totally right about the parasol.”

“Yeah that’s true,” she responded. “You’re normally right after all.”

“Careful with feeding my ego,” I joked. “Anyways, do you remember anything from last night?”

“Umm...a bit,” she mumbled, her face now red. 

“Do you remember confessing then?” I asked while mimicking Sekh’s head tilt. 

To my slight chagrin, I only received silence instead of proper closure. But at least she looked really cute hiding her face behind her cup. 

“Well even if you don’t,” I continued. “I’ve made my decision already. I honestly want to start a closer relationship with you. I’ve already gone through this with Sekh and your family, albeit separately. All that matters now is your decision. If you don’t want to be in a polyamorous relationship it’s fine, I’ll respect your decision either way. And don’t worry about choosing now. Just let me know how you feel when you’re comfortable.”

Maybe it was a bit wordy on my part, but I truly wanted her to feel as comfortable as possible, knowing how she can get. 

“Can you say that thing from last night again,” Minerva mumbled finally after a period of silence. 

“Huh?” I said, now thoroughly confused. 

Mustering up her courage, Minerva issued her request again. 

“Tell me that you’re really fond of me like you did last night.”

“Is she serious?” I moaned in my head. 

“Uh sure,” I replied before recreating last night’s atmosphere to the best of my abilities. “I’m really fond of you. Really fond.”

“Thanks, I’m happy,” Minerva said joyfully, somehow reinvigorated by my slightly lackluster performance. “Don’t worry I’m not so mean that I’ll make you do that without giving my own reply. I’m fond of you too, Azel. I really want to be more than just close friends with you. I actually felt this way for a while, but you and Sekh just seemed so close to each other that I wasn’t sure there was any room for me.”

“That’s my fault too,” I admitted. “I wasn’t decisive enough about the whole harem thing. Like I want to be surrounded by beautiful women that love me, but I don’t want to hurt people in the process.”

“That’s good,” Minerva replied. “Well, I recently heard Sekh say offhandedly that she was fine with you having more partners.”

“When did you hear this?” I asked curiously.

“She said it during one of our visits to the baths,” Minerva told me.

“It was probably not as offhanded as you think,” I informed her. 

“So you all knew…” Minerva muttered in embarrassment. 

“It was pretty obvious,” I told her, causing her to turn even more red. “Well I think that the teasing should calm down when they know that we resolved things. I think.”

“Can you tell everyone then?” she requested. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I can do it.”

“Can you give me back the confident Minerva?” I teased. “The gap is really jarring.”

“Does it annoy you?” she asked, now looking downtrodden. 

Shit, I probably went a bit too far. Before I could do this without much repercussion, but now that we were progressing into something more, she was definitely more sensitive. 

“Sorry, I was just poking fun. It doesn’t really annoy me, but I do think that you should try to be more confident. It doesn't have to be immediate and I’ll help you along the way, but I want you to believe more in yourself.”

“Right, I’ll do my best,” Minerva said with forced confidence. “I won’t let you down.”

“I said it didn’t have to be right away,” I chided gently while poking her cheek. “But it’s a step in the right direction.”

“Thanks,” she replied happily. “You’re really sweet, you know?”

“Oh, thanks,” I responded, caught off guard by her comment. 

Seeing that I was now slightly blushing, Minerva’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you not used to hearing that?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “Apart from Sekh, it’s really rare.”

“I get it,” Minerva said sympathetically. “You know, the reason I’m so confident at work is because I know that I’m good at what I do. But I barely have any romantic experience and you’ve seen the result.”

“It was the opposite for me,” I replied while rubbing the back of my head. “I used to be absurdly confident when it came to courting girls before. I think I’m still confident, but I’ve mellowed out a lot.”

“So you were one of those people,” Minerva remarked, slight disdain radiating from her voice. 

“Yeah, I’m not proud of it,” I answered. “Well I’m glad that you’re getting more comfortable at least.”

“Me too,” Minerva said warmly. “So how are we going to tell everyone about our decision?”

Pausing a bit to formulate my plan, I decided to go with the one I liked the most. 

“We’ll enter the house while holding hands. So it won’t be one of us bearing the brunt, but we’ll share the hardship together.”

“That’s pretty cliche,” Minerva remarked. “But I think it’s a good idea.”

“I forgot that you’re a romance reader,” I commented. “Anyways, we’ll proceed with the plan once we finish here, okay?”

Nodding her head in agreement, Minerva resumed drinking her tea while I got to enjoy my coffee. Despite the silence, there was a warm atmosphere between the two of us.

Having finished with our beverages, the two of us left the cafe with our hands linked. At first she was a bit uncomfortable, but after some encouraging smiles from me, she gained enough confidence to not hide behind me as we were walking through the streets. 

On a side note, walking so close to her has made me realize that the two of us are the exact same height or at least close enough that it was indistinguishable. 

“You feeling alright?” I asked Minerva as we stood outside her home, still holding hands with each other.

Breathing in deeply for a bit, Minerva presented a slightly forced smile.

“I’m fine. Let’s not wait, I’ll only get more anxious.”

Fortunately or unfortunately for us, nearly the entire household was waiting for us on the first floor when we opened the door. However, I highly doubt that it was a coincidence since they were anticipating some development for quite a while.

The first person to speak up was Cadmus who was unusually considerate.

“Congrats sis. It took a while, but congrats anyways.”

The rest of the room nodded, including Minerva’s two younger siblings who seem to be more neutral towards me now. Once the congratulatory round of applause died down, most people returned to their usual behavior.

“Absolute degenerates,” Sekh declared jokingly while pointing at our locked hands.

“Azel, I’m calling you brother-in-law from now on,” Cadmus added from the sidelines, still surprising me by not teasing his sister. 

As for her parents, the two began to discuss the all time important topic of grandchildren.

Seeing that Minerva was starting to get embarrassed, I quickly whisked her upstairs away from the crowd.

“How are you faring right now?” I asked her when we were away from prying eyes. 

“It wasn’t too bad,” she replied while smiling awkwardly. “Definitely not enjoyable, but not as bad as I thought.”

“I’m glad then,” I replied. “Don’t worry, it should only get better from here on out.”

“Should?” she queried. “C’mon, aren’t you the one who told me to be more confident?”

“My bad,” I said cheerily. “It’ll definitely get better and I’ll be there for you the whole way.”