"Sorry… I think I was still half-asleep after using the restroom…"
Yuri eventually woke up, sat up on the bed, and apologized in that manner.
Yuri had been mumbling cliché sleep-talk like "I can't eat anymore," but it seemed the reason she'd ended up in his bed was equally cliché.
"Apparently I unconsciously clung to you in my sleep… Sorry, forgive me."
"…Yeah."
Yuri looked genuinely remorseful, and Rest forced himself to look away with an iron will.
He'd noticed it back when they were living in the cottage, but Yuri had a habit of stripping in her sleep.
She'd shed her nightclothes during the night, and her undergarments had shifted, leaving her chest and backside in quite the state.
(Wait… a lucky pervert scene first thing in the morning? What kind of romantic comedy protagonist am I…)
It was hardly surprising Rest thought that way.
After all, he'd been reincarnated into a fantasy world, yet here he was encountering an event straight out of a completely different genre.
In any case… Rest had waded through his fair share of chaotic situations.
He wasn't about to lose his composure just because a girl he knew happened to be half-naked.
He forced himself to stay calm and picked up the clothes that had fallen off the bed.
"Well, I accept your apology. Just be more careful from now on, and we'll call it even."
"…Sorry."
"For now, put your clothes on. If you don't hurry, breakfast will…"
"Excuse me. Are you awake yet?"
The door swung open with a clatter, and an inn staff member stepped inside.
The staff member was a different person from yesterday. It was a young woman.
"I've brought your breakfast…… Eek!?"
She had come in pushing a cart, but upon seeing the two of them on the bed, she let out a shrill scream.
"S-s-s-s, I'm terribly sorry—!"
And then, still screaming, she fled the scene.
Yet another cliché scenario had played out.
Rest slumped his shoulders, still frozen in the pose of holding out the clothes.
"Ah, it seems breakfast has arrived right on time. Well then, let's get changed—"
"Pffh!"
Rest's trial was far from over.
Yuri, who had been apologizing just moments ago, was now pulling off her underwear.
The undergarment lifted with a soft rustle. Breasts spilled out. In that split second before he could avert his eyes, the pink tips were seared into his retinas.
What on earth had Rest done to deserve this?
(A-Is this a punishment!? Or is it a reward for working hard on the frontier development!?)
"W-Why are you stripping!? I told you to put clothes on!"
"No, my underwear was all sweaty and damp. I'm a young lady too, you know — I don't want to be standing in front of a boy smelling like sweat."
"A young lady doesn't strip in front of a man!"
Rest raised his voice and shot back.
Was he the one in the wrong here…? Without the slightest trace of embarrassment, Yuri continued to undress.
Behind Rest, who had turned his face away, the sound of clothes slipping off one after another came drifting over.
So if she had been taking off her top earlier... Did that mean she was now taking off her panties?
Faced with a situation he'd never encountered before, Rest's imagination was running wild.
"Alright, I'm done changing. Shall we have breakfast?"
Yuri, now fully changed, said with a smile as she wheeled the cart the staff had left behind into the room and arranged the dishes on the table.
"Oh, this looks delicious. You'll eat too, right, Rest?"
"...I'll eat."
Rest shot back with a sense of humiliation, as though he'd somehow been defeated.
(Why do I feel like I'm the one who got beat...? If anything, I won, didn't I?)
It wasn't really a matter of winning or losing.
After all, he'd seen her practically naked, so Rest should be the victor.
And yet... when he looked at Yuri's composed expression, he couldn't help feeling like the loser.
"I'll make you some tea. I learned how from Primula."
"..."
Rest glared at the cheerfully smiling Yuri with narrowed eyes, looking thoroughly frustrated.
--- I also have other works posted.
Please check them out if you're interested!
I'm Just a Mob Priest, but I Realized This World Is an Otome Game, So I'm Raising the Heroine.
I Followed My Little Sister's Advice and Fought My Way to Becoming King. The Princess I Forced into Marriage Is Super Pissed at Me—What Do I Do?
I Was Summoned to Another World and Abandoned, but No One Knows I'm an Evil God... Probably.