As the man left the room, Aura dashed off.
She flung open the bedroom door with a bang, leapt into the air, and landed with a poof on the grand bed. Giggling, she rolled around. This was the room Ainz-sama had used—surely he'd lain in this bed. The thought thrilled her. Such childish behavior, she knew, was only possible alone. (Note: A bed is a place to sleep. Landing on a sleeping place is aptly called landing.)
Not content with rolling, she sat in every chair in the parlor and living room. Ainz-sama must have sat in at least one. This mildly odd behavior was standard for Nazarick's minions. For Shalltear, cheek-rubbing would be added.
After conquering all chairs—twice—she headed to the bath. The luxury inn's tub was spacious, with endless hot water. Not infused with skin-glossing or fatigue-healing properties, it was still ample for washing and warming. At Nazarick, elf maids fussed over washing her hair or drying her, but Aura, more the caretaker big-sister type, found it slightly annoying—or not.
Emerging from the bath, Aura donned a night robe, choosing pink over black.
It was early for sleep. With level 100 stamina, she could go days without rest. Lying on the bed, she suddenly sat up, fetching a hand mirror from the desk.
Muttering, "He said all that…," she gazed into the mirror. Her youthful, refined face stared back—right eye green, left eye blue, heterochromatic like his (blue right, red left). Tilting her head, she eyed her body. The long robe hid her toes.
Raising her knees, she parted the robe, revealing glossy, lean legs—youthful and slender.
With a small grunt, she slipped off her plain white panties, far simpler than Shalltear's ornate ones or even Mare's.
"Hm…"
After a moment's thought, she untied the robe's waist cord.
Much had piled up.
That morning, he'd lectured her on female anatomy while hugging her from behind, pressing below her navel, stirring something new. That afternoon, he'd given her a shoulder ride. Aura had never played on monkey bars—Nazarick lacked them—but she'd climbed countless trees in her jungle-like guardian floor. Yet, she never straddled branches, her balance too perfect to need it.
As a ranger and expert beast tamer, riding magical beasts was routine, but they were massive—like her 20-meter-long black wolf, Fen. She stood or sat on their backs, never straddling. Her crotch had never been directly stimulated.
But the brief shoulder ride, straddling his neck, rubbed her entire crotch. Jumping off quickly, she felt an odd, not-unpleasant itch, urging her to scratch it away.
The sensation faded fast施
instantly, but it lingered in her mind. Intuition told her it tied to the morning's talk. She had to confirm.
Opening her robe, her childish frame was bare. Her chest was flat, barely budding. Her waist was slim, hardly curved; her hips and thighs were lean, lacking fullness.
Sitting up with knees raised and legs apart, she murmured, "Yeah, feels squishy."
Her hand reached her crotch's single slit. Unconsciously, her middle finger poked the soft flesh—softer than her budding chest, almost unreliable in its tenderness. It was fun to touch, addictive even. She chuckled at herself.
"Right, but more importantly…"
She positioned the mirror before her crotch, reflecting the hairless slit. Her dark elf skin remained dusky there. Her middle and index fingers formed a V on either side.
"…It's true. More red than pink, but maybe pink?" she mused, peering closer.
The slit parted, revealing pristine pink within her dusky skin, wet-looking and softer than the squishy exterior—melty, as he'd said. Holding the mirror with her left hand, she swapped her middle finger for her ring finger, cautiously touching the pink with her freed middle finger.
"Hm… soft, but feels good? What's so great about this? Oh, right—the hole. The vagina? Bottom of the slit, he said?"
She gently spread the lower slit with her index and ring fingers. Pink flesh filled it, no hole visible. She knew the urethra but not the vaginal opening.
"Feels like it's around here…"
Poking with her middle finger found no entry. He'd said it seemed too small for fingers and hard to locate without experience. Unlike Albedo or Shalltear, who'd explored such things, Aura, uninterested in this realm, was clueless.
"But the clitoris—I might find that. Top of the slit, a fleshy bean. This?"
Spreading the top, she found a tiny protrusion—not quite bean-sized but there.
Caught up, she forgot its sensitivity and tapped it firmly.
"Eek! This… maybe I should stop…"
Excited to find it, she'd ignored his warning. It wasn't painful but stung, like touching raw flesh—further prodding might hurt.
"…He said 'be careful.' And also…"
She recalled his demonstration: middle and ring fingers aligned with a slight gap, wide enough for the clitoris. Setting the mirror down, she spread the slit with her left hand, guiding her right fingers to the clitoris's root, moving them up and down.
"No pain this way…"
Curling to peer at her crotch, she rubbed the clitoris's base. She wasn't sure if it felt good—no pain like before, just her slender fingers working. Something felt different.
"…A bit swollen?" she noted.
The clitoris, small and hooded, seemed slightly larger. Pleasure was unclear, but it wasn't unpleasant, so she continued. No pain, just a ticklish, restless feeling, akin to the shoulder ride.
"Ha… huff… it's swelling, right?"
Her hands didn't stop. Peering down, the tiny bud looked bigger than before. Her fingers, rubbing its base, sensed growing firmness. Moving carefully to avoid the bud, she gradually widened the motion, eventually grazing it.
She noticed the clitoris's change but not her heated breaths.
"…This…"
She hadn't noticed when it happened. The hug's wet feeling was clear, but this crept up. Staring, she saw the slit's bottom glisten.
Why was it shining? What was it?
Her fingers left the clitoris, gently touching the gleam, scooping it. A sparkling thread connected her finger to the slit, then vanished. Bringing her finger up, it glistened like the slit.
"This… I'm wet? He said it happens when you feel good… Was I feeling good?"
Stunned, she stared at her slick finger. Acting unconsciously, her body moved on its own.
Her finger stroked the slit's base again, bolder, sinking in. It slid upward, feeling the slick inner slit, aiming for the clitoris. The initial sting was gone; the slickness promised no pain. Rubbing the base had eased the restlessness—she sensed relief ahead.
Just as her love-slicked finger neared the swollen clitoris, her ranger's sixth sense screamed danger. Was touching it bad, or something else? It wasn't painful, and wetness wasn't bad—direct touch felt promising. As she decided, a knock sounded.
Fwoosh! Aura gasped, hastily closing her robe.
"Excuse me, Aura-sama. Are you still awake?" His voice carried clearly to her elf ears, despite the closed bedroom door.
Frozen, she heard another knock—soft, considerate, but loud to her tense ears.
"…What?" she called, opening the door reluctantly. Endless knocking would keep her awake.
As expected, there he stood, eyes heterochromatic, in a gown like hers.
"I thought you might be cold and came to sleep with you," he said.
"Don't need it. I'm not cold."
"But I'm cold. Sleeping with you would be warm."
"You're not cold. Sleep alone—you're not a kid."
"Some adults can't sleep alone."
"Not you."
"True, but two is cozier."
He countered every point. Irritated at the interruption, Aura thought to push him away, but froze—her right hand, still slightly wet from her slit.
Could she touch him with that hand? It'd smear his clothes.
"Ah!"
"Whoops!"
Bad timing compounded. Stopping awkwardly, she stepped on her oversized robe's hem. Her balance was flawless, yet he grabbed her shoulders—or rather, her collar, pulling it loose. The untied robe fell open.
(Did he see? My naked body? Did he see it?)
She clutched the robe, turning as she stumbled, hoping—praying—he hadn't seen. Though young, she was a girl; being seen naked by a man wasn't nothing.
"Hey!" she snapped.
"I'll carry you."
He seized the moment, grinning, lifting her small frame. Escaping was easy—her strength surpassed his—but letting go of the robe risked exposure. Kicking could reveal worse.
Hesitating, she was carried to the bedroom. The bed held her discarded panties and mirror—worse than being seen naked.
"The light! Turn it off! I can't sleep unless it's dark!" she blurted.
"As you wish."
He veered from the bed, extinguishing the magical lights, leaving only starlight and moonlight.
Set down on the bed, she felt him climb up. Asking for darkness implied consent to share the bed.
Ugh, fine, she thought, hiding her panties and mirror under the pillow.
"…I'll sleep with you, but—"
"Your bed's huge! Could fit three," he said.
"No, I mean…" She sighed, unable to articulate don't do anything weird without knowing what weird meant.
Her night vision saw his large form on the bed. She lay a body's width away, turning her back.
"Goodnight—!?"
"Sleeping already?"
Despite the distance, it was the same bed. A roll could close the gap. She felt his body just behind hers.
Like on the dragon, his arms reached around. She guided them to her stomach to avoid her chest, realizing too late it seemed like she invited the embrace.
Her small body was easily drawn close.
If this hadn't happened on the dragon, she might've thrown him reflexively.
"Your body's so warm and nice, Aura-sama," he said.
"…Whatever," she muttered.
Both in thin nightwear, their skin felt close. His warmth enveloped her small frame. Rude, but not unpleasant. When had she last been held so warmly? Skin-to-skin wasn't so bad, she thought, holding his hands to keep them from wandering.
"Nn…"
He took it as a cue to hug tighter, pressing her stomach, drawing a muffled breath.
"Thank you for today's amazing experience," he said.
"Was just convenient," she replied.
"Still, it was invaluable. I'm glad I met you."
"…Good."
"Yes."
"…What else?"
"As thanks, more about women's bodies?"
"…Huh?" she stammered.
Thinking her a boy, he wasn't considering anything weird—just secrets of girls' bodies he assumed Aura-kun craved.
"As a dark elf, elf women differ slightly from humans," he said.
"Really?" Her elf ears twitched, listening despite facing away, hoping for clues about the elusive vaginal spot.
"Remember the pussy talk?"
"…Yeah."
She'd just tested it on this bed.
"They look similar but differ inside."
"Inside?"
"The pussy's hole."
"…Different location?"
"Same spot, different depth."
"Depth…?"
He released her stomach, taking her hand, palm to palm. "My fingers are longer than yours. A woman's vagina is deeper than this finger—too deep to reach the end."
"Even for humans?"
"Yes."
Such depth hidden in that slit was unimaginable. She trusted he wasn't lying but realized something else: how was depth measured if fingers fell short?
"Elf women's vaginas are deeper than humans', feeling all-encompassing when entered," he said.
Her question lingered: how could depth differences be known if fingers weren't enough? Handjobs used fingers, but something else seemed involved. What, she didn't know, yet her heart raced. Knowing might calm or heighten it. She wanted to ask but shouldn't.
In the starlit, nearly naked darkness, on the bed, embraced, warm and cozy, her heart pounded. After what she'd done, her mind was a mess.
"…The pussy's hole," she ventured.
"…"
"What goes in it? Not fingers, right? It's deeper than fingers, so fingers can't tell the depth difference, right?"
Her voice trembled; she swallowed. A moment later, she felt the wetness again.
"Nn…"
His grip loosened. Deeming it safe, she parted her robe's hem—slick.
"Hey…!" she started.
No reply. His breathing was steady, asleep.
"Asleep!? You're asleep!?" she cried.
Only healthy snores answered. He slept deeply, exhausted from the dragon flight and the Empire's sensory overload.
Aura felt her resolve trampled, deeply annoyed. With his grip loose, she rolled to face him.
"…"
Staring at his sleeping face, she confirmed he was out. She slipped her panties from under the pillow, put them on, and tied her robe tightly.
After hesitating, she extended one of his arms to rest her head on it, guiding the other around her back. Nestling into his chest, she closed her eyes.
Author's note: If I post within a week, assume quitting smoking isn't going well. (ノ∀;｀)