Gardenia’s Heart

When the middle-aged man mentioned he could help Lily take the exam, she almost jumped out of her seat.

“You would do that for me!?” Lily cried, her eyes wide, as if she couldn’t believe such a miracle.

“Calm down,” the man quickly placed a hand on her shoulder, his index finger raised to his lips. “Since it won’t be official, you must keep it a secret, alright, Gloria?”

Nodding vigorously, Lily pretended to wipe her tears with trembling fingers.

“Th-Thank you so much, truly! I never thought I’d find someone so kind outside my village!”

“Of course! In times of hardship, all we need is a helping hand. Rest assured, everything will work out—you have my word!” The man proudly pounded his chest with his fist.

He then rose from his chair and motioned for Lily to stand. With a cheerful expression, he went to one of the shelves, took down a white dress, and placed it in Lily’s hands.

“This dress will suit your hair perfectly, I’m sure of it.”

The garment was made from a light fabric, and despite its simple design, it was likely a dress that a girl from a nameless village could only dream of wearing.

“B-But sir, I don’t have much money right now! I can’t afford this!”

Lily tried earnestly to hand the dress back, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand.

“It’s fine; a lovely young lady like you shouldn’t be meeting a professor from the Mage Academy in such worn clothing. Think of this as a gift from me. I made this dress myself, and after talking with you, I feel it was meant for you, Gloria.”

Even though it was folded, Lily could tell the dress probably only reached slightly below the waist, with a neckline so wide that covering the wearer’s chest would be a joke.

However, hiding any hint of her thoughts, Lily shaped her lips into a smile.

“When I become a great mage, I’ll repay you in any way I can!” After bowing her head gratefully, Lily looked around the shop. “You’ve made so many beautiful dresses—you must have been a tailor for a long time, right?”

“Yes, I learned everything from my father. In fact, I inherited this shop from him; working with fabrics has been the passion of my life, ever since I was a child.”

As the man once more puffed out his chest proudly, Lily rose and bowed again.

“I will never forget this kindness—you have my word. As it’s getting late, I’ll take my leave now. I assume the shop is about to close, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes, it’s already night.” Glancing out the shop window to the street outside, as if he hadn’t realized how late it was, the man cleared his throat with a light cough. “Gloria, a lady shouldn’t walk alone so late. Wouldn’t you prefer to stay here tonight? I can lend you one of my rooms.”

“I-I couldn’t impose on your kindness any further.” Speaking as though embarrassed to have received so many favors, Lily scratched her head before adding, “Actually, I managed to reserve a cheap room at an inn nearby. I’ll come by in the morning to visit again; thank you once more.”

Leaving before the man could say anything more, the moment Lily stepped outside the store, her cheerful expression vanished. She walked quickly back to the alley and leaned against the wall, muttering in a low tone.

“Nia, are we being followed?”

(No, I checked several times. There was only that man in the store, and no one changed their path on the street after you left.)

Hearing her beloved’s reassuring answer, Lily looked at the white dress in her hands, which slowly began to freeze as blue crystals wrapped around it. Moments later, a sound like shattering glass echoed as the dress crumbled to pieces on the ground, completely destroyed.

“Talking to that man for so long made me feel sick.”

Sitting down, Lily felt her cloak and dress cover her body once again. Just as she was about to place her hand over her heart to thank Nia, a small, colorless sphere, about thirty centimeters in diameter, appeared on her lap, rubbing eagerly against her stomach.

(Lily, did you make yourself bait?)

Nia’s worried voice made it clear she understood what had happened.

Letting out a soft sigh and feeling her face soften at seeing her beloved so concerned for her, Lily began to gently stroke her gelatinous surface.

“I figured the chances of it being that shopkeeper, or someone connected to him, behind the kidnappings were high. So instead of searching the whole city for them, I thought it would be easier if they came to us.”

Nia listened closely, and even before Lily finished explaining, her six tentacles had wrapped tightly around Lily. The silver-haired girl knew exactly why; her metamorph wife felt uneasy putting her in even a small amount of danger.

“Don’t worry, I only did it because I know my dependable wife will be here to protect me, right?”

When Lily said this, stroking Nia’s gelatinous form, she suddenly felt the weight on her lap increase as a lovely girl in a black cardigan and nightgown appeared, wrapping her arms around her neck.

“I will protect you, Lily.”

“I know you will.”

As Nia’s warmth spread over her, Lily returned the embrace as tightly as she could, holding on until her beloved felt calm. After several minutes, with nothing but the warmth they shared in their thoughts, Nia slowly pulled back a bit. Still seated on Lily’s lap, she tilted her head and asked.

“But I don’t understand. What made you so sure it was that shop, Lily?”

“The windows,” Lily answered confidently, and Nia’s puzzled look only deepened, making her let out her first genuine laugh in the past hour. “Every store we’ve passed so far proudly displayed their products. In a city with so many competing shops, especially a clothing store, you need to do everything you can to attract customers, right? But that particular store had one-way windows, so it was impossible to see the products from the outside.”

Lily gestured with her head for Nia to check, and when Nia timidly peeked out from the alley with her two crimson eyes, she confirmed her beloved’s observation.

“You figured out it was that shop just from that!? You’re amazing, Lily!” Nia’s delighted, excited voice matched her bright, admiring crimson eyes fixed on Lily.

”Well, that was one of my guesses. I would try a few more stores if I was wrong. I believed the one-way glass was meant for someone inside to observe the streets, looking for victims without raising suspicion. Besides, since it’s a clothing store, even if someone enters, it would only give him more chances to ask questions and see if it’s feasible or beneficial to kidnap them.”

Nia listened attentively, and Lily noticed that even in her human form, the girl still had her mannerisms from when she was in her metamorph form, bouncing on Lily’s lap whenever she got excited.

”Of course, just suspicions wouldn’t be enough, so I had to check in person.” Lily chuckled subtly before continuing, ”A desperate girl would be such an easy target that he didn’t even hesitate to lure me in with things so good they seemed like a miracle. Besides, when I asked about his profession, he quickly forged a story. A tailor since childhood would have telltale scars on his hands, like needle pricks or calluses at the base of his fingers from using scissors. However, his hands showed signs of burn blisters and impact injuries from handling heavy objects—the same kinds of wounds I saw on Agatha’s hands, a blacksmith. That man wasn’t a tailor until recently, and now he’s pretending to be one.”

”So, is he the one responsible for the kidnappings?”

”I suspect it’s a large group. The ’professor at the Academy of Mages’ is likely an associate of his with some combat abilities. Since they take a few days to select their targets, he’s not in the shop all the time, so they probably got in touch tonight and will try to capture me or lure me somewhere tomorrow.”

The metamorph frowned at Lily’s explanation, tightening her arms even more around her.

”If any of them tries anything with you, I’ll make sure those are their final moments.”

Kissing her irritated beloved Nia and standing up, Lily waited for her wife to return to her body before turning her gaze toward the inn..

”Can you find out which room Abelia and Cleomel are in?”

(The fourth window on the third floor.) The answer came in less than a second, and Lily used her speed to cover the distance in the blink of an eye.

The moment she passed through the window, Abelia’s startled scream echoed as she sat on the bed. Before Lily’s feet even touched the ground, a tanned fist, glowing with a bluish aura, was already aiming for her face.

”It’s okay, it’s me,” Lily spoke softly, pulling back the hood from her head, a purple tentacle already holding Cleomel’s fist.

”L-Lady Lily!? I-I’m so sorry, I thought you were an intruder.”

”It’s alright, don’t worry about it. It’s my fault for not warning you that I’d enter this way.”

Although she was almost certain the inn wasn’t involved, Lily couldn’t completely rule out that possibility. Entering through the window so that no one knew she was here seemed ideal.

Realizing who it was, Cleomel felt her face flush with embarrassment and quickly stepped back. However, as Lily observed the knight’s back, now with the wraps removed from her arms, she could barely contain her surprise.

”She’s fast,” Lily murmured.

The very instant she jumped into the room, Cleomel’s fist was already aimed at her. If Nia hadn’t held it back, the attack would have certainly hit her, as even with her reflexes enhanced by dark mana, Lily hadn’t seen it coming.

(I didn’t sense any spell being formed; this was purely physical reinforcement.) Even Nia mentioning this made Lily reconsider how she viewed the knight.

Stepping away from the window, Lily began analyzing the room they had rented. In the approximately sixteen-square-meter space, there were two single beds, a small table, and two doors.

”Sorry, we tried to find a room with three beds, but only those with two beds were available,” Abelia said, now calm after Lily’s surprise entrance, while watching Lily glance at the beds.

”You did the right thing; to avoid suspicion, it’s better if people think it’s just the two of you.”

”Miss Abelia and Lady Lily, please use the beds. I’ll keep watch during the night,” Cleomel spoke confidently, her upright posture hiding any trace of the embarrassment she’d felt just moments before.

”Don’t worry about the watch; I have a spell that can detect any potential intruders. It’ll be more beneficial for you to recover by resting than staying up all night,” Lily promptly declined Cleomel’s offer, presenting arguments that would be difficult for the knight to refute.

Though she didn’t actually have a spell specifically for what she’d mentioned, Nia didn’t need to sleep and would protect them through the night, so it would be pointless for Cleomel to stay awake as well.

The knight furrowed her brows, a troubled expression crossing her face as if she felt that her small contributions to help the group were shrinking more and more.

”Lady Lily is right; you need to recover, so sleep in the bed,” Abelia, who had been sitting, stood up and took Cleomel’s hands in hers, her obsidian gaze showing her determination to make the tanned woman rest.

”B-But I couldn’t make you give up your bed!”

”We can just sleep together; the bed isn’t that small,” Abelia said matter-of-factly, placing her hands on her hips, and the knight’s face turned crimson. It took a few more minutes before Abelia finally persuaded Cleomel to agree.

Once the bed arrangements were settled, Lily remembered Abelia mentioning that the inn offered food, so she asked the women to go get some before she explained her plan.

After the two agreed and left through one of the room’s doors, Lily quickly slipped into the other door she’d been interested in from the start, a grin spreading across her face.

As she closed the door behind her, the silver-haired girl could feel the warm steam clinging to her skin.

”Finally~”

In front of Lily was a small bathroom that captivated her attention. Although simple by noble standards, to a young girl from a rural village, the mere existence of a toilet and plumbing seemed otherworldly.

However, it wasn’t these that caught her heterochromatic eyes but rather the structure filled with hot water. The rectangular, simple-looking bathtub appeared to be made of marble, and the water was at the perfect temperature for the skin. Unable to contain the excitement rising in her chest, Lily quickly began to undress.

As she was about to remove her clothes, however, her hands were gently held back by a presence that appeared behind her. Smiling, Lily turned to find her mischievous companion, but as she looked at her, she swallowed without realizing it.

”Allow me to help, my lady.”

A black dress with ruffles and a white apron around the waist extended from her neck to just below her knees. Each arm was adorned with a white glove reaching to her forearm with black lace, and a frilly headband held a small section of her purple hair. Beneath the dress, black stockings reached down from her thighs to her feet, which were covered by small, cute baby-doll shoes.

”N-Nia...?”

Unable to keep up with what was happening, Lily was caught off guard again when, instead of her clothes disappearing with a snap of Nia’s fingers, something different occurred.

”Nya~!”

A soft gasp escaped her lips as a slender hand slid down her back, unzipping her black dress. Glancing at Nia in confusion, Lily tried to ask what she intended but was met with her beloved wife nestling her face between her breasts.

”My dear lady has worked so hard today. I cannot allow her to keep pushing herself, so tonight, please let this humble maid tend to her needs.”