Release that Witch

After dinner, Nightingale returned to the bedroom while holding the unopened box in her hands. She was followed by Lightning, Maggy, Lily, and Mystery Moon, who also entered after her, keeping their attention focused on the box the entire time.

“How is it?” Wendy couldn’t stop herself from teasing them, “Would you like to take a look at what’s inside?”

Except for Lily, the three others nodded again and again.

“His Highness is totally biased!” Lightning muttered, “First he doesn’t let us taste the wine, and now we don’t even get a gift!”

“He said that it was only for the adult witches, ah,” Lily sighed, “Just wait until you are old enough, if you asked him then, you would also get one. Furthermore, I’m not interested at all about what kind of cloth is inside, so why did you drag me over here?”

“Hey,” Mystery Moon looked amazed, “I merely called you, no one pulled you along, ah.”

“I–“

“Stop, that isn’t the important point!” Lightning shouted, “Mystery Moon is already of age, and Maggie is also an adult, but they both didn’t get it!”

“That’s right, goo!” Maggie pushed the white hair which covered her face to the back and raised her chin in protest, “I also didn’t get it, goo!”

“This… His Royal Highness surely has his own reasons for doing that.” Nightingale also felt that it was a bit strange, previously Roland had never treated anyone differently, so why did he do so this time? “For now, let us just look at what is inside.”

When she opened the box, all she saw was a strange piece of “clothing” – it looked like something made out of a few bands and two pockets. When she touched it, it felt very soft and had evidently been made out of the highest quality silk fabric, but no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t understand what kind of cloth this should be, it was simply too small.”

“There is a piece of paper under it,” Lightning suddenly shouted.

After spreading out the sheet of paper, Nightingale discovered that it not only contained a description and usage for the gift, but also a diagram describing how it should be used.

“Uh…” Wendy who had opened her own box asked in confusion, “This thing is called a bra?”

“… it can bring relief to the chest area by reducing its weight, it promotes blood circulation, stabilized the posture while simultaneously lessening the discomfort caused by friction to the skin.” Reading the letter Nightingale’s voice became smaller and smaller, while her cheeks suddenly became hot and red. This thing is actually used to hold the chest? She couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering over to Wendy, only to discover that the other witches’ vision had simultaneously moved over to her. They all suddenly showed an understanding expression.

“Pfft,” Lily couldn’t suppress her laugh any longer, “Now you finally understand why you didn’t receive a present, right? Tsk, now I have to correct my words from before, even if Lightning was fully grown up, it might be possible that she still won’t receive a gift.”

“The same seems to be true for you,” Mystery Moon said while she goggled at her.

“I don’t want it anyway,” the latter turned away and showed a supercilious expression.

“This should be similar to a skintight corset, right?” Only Lightning seemed to be completely unmoved. Rather, she was looking at it with eyes full of curiosity and envy, “Can you wear it so that I can take a look?”

“Of course not!” Wendy suddenly exposed a rarely seen embarrassed appearance then started driving the four of them out, only then was she able to feel relief, “How can it be that His Highness suddenly… present us with this?”

Thinking about it Nightingale also felt a bit embarrassed. If he had given simple personal clothes it would have still been proper. After all, we usually fetched ours from the castle anyway, so no one would feel too embarrassed about it. But these clothes are made with different sizes, which means, that before Roland gave us our gift, he had carefully observed each person’s size? The idea of this caused her to blush, and she couldn’t help but want to hide in her fog to escape.

By the way, what would Anna do?

“I’m leaving, but I will return quickly,” Nightingale said then stepped into the fog, passed through the walls. Hesitating for only a moment when she came over to Anna’s bedroom, but she still decided to knock on the door.

Soon the door opened, showing Anna, dressed in a nightgown, looking the same as usual. “Is there anything?”

“Uh, I want to ask…” Nightingale stepped into the room and closed the door, “His Royal Highness also sent a gift to you right… what do you think about it?”

“I’m already wearing mine, it’s very convenient.”

The other side’s answer caught her somewhat off guard, “You already put it on?”

“Um,” Anna nodded, “Do you want to see?”

“No, no, that’s not necessary,” she hurriedly waved her hand to stop Anna, “I just want to ask, do you not think it’s strange?”

“Why,” Anna became clearly puzzled. “His Royal Highness already said that he wanted to promote it and sell it as a commodity to even more people. So we need to help him by wearing them in advance. And also, they are pretty good,” she patted her chest, “It’s both, soft and flexible. Also, with the hook at the back, it isn’t so easy for others to take it off, so it’s much better than wearing many layers of undergarments.”

So, that’s how it is… Nightingale couldn’t refrain from sighing in sorrow, she doesn’t care about these minutiae things. Instead, she only focuses on achieving His Highness goal. Perhaps this is what makes her so unique, she was pure and straightforward. Since it was a gift from Roland, Nightingale knew that she would try it in the end, so what reason was there to be so self-conscious about? Previously it has also been the same thing, it was completely unnecessary to wish that he didn’t see me. Instead, I should have confidently told him my thoughts right away – if it had been Anna that’s definitely what she would have done, right?”

Thinking of this, Nightingale returned to her room, picked up the bra and studied it for a while, then hid in the fog as she put it on, before covering herself with her usual outer clothing, and finally reappearing before Wendy afterward.

“It’s a little too big,” she tried jumping, “But it is indeed very comfortable to wear. At least it isn’t as rough as those boring old clothes, they would always painfully rub my chest. Moreover, they do not affect one’s movement, which makes it unnecessary to bind a cloth band around your chest, which is quite convenient… You should also to try it.”

“No, I still do not need…” Wendy shook her head.

“How can that be,” Nightingale chuckled while pulling the other into the fog. “I always feel it was because of you, that His Highness designed this.”

*

Sylvie felt that today she had seen more marvelous things than in the past few years put together.

The pipe which released water at the mere pull of a lever. The soap which cleared away dirt and left behind a fragrant odor. And the drink which set the throat a flame – but could it be, that Evelyn had already finished her task by accompanying His Highness to drink the three cups of wine?

Naturally, the most incredible part was the gifts which had been given out after dinner… She knew that the nobility had the practice of sending over corsets when they approached someone, however, others would usually pair it with a cinched waist dress. Who would just gift this outright by itself? And even if they send it as a gift, it would only be sent to people they are very close to… for example, lovers.

But listening to His Highness explanation, he didn’t plan on only giving this close-fitting garment to just the witches, but to also spread it even further.

Does he want to spread it through the whole Western Territory? Sylvie could feel goosebumps all over her body, what kind of noble would choose to do this business, or could it be… does he have some kind of unusual interest in the chest and buttocks?

After Nightingale pulled Wendy into the fog, she could only vaguely see two blurs of light and shadow floating near the bedside – since they didn’t come out after a long time, it was obviously that under the former’s coaxing Wendy had finally decided on accepting the gift. Then, what about the other witches? Do none of them understand the meaning of sending over personal clothes?

Recalling Ashes’ warning, Sylvie couldn’t help but swallow.

She was right – His Highness is indeed a dangerous person. If I can, it’s better to stay even further away from him.