”So now Miss Layla has become Layla Walker, and that makes her part of our family, doesn’t it?”
”Mm… I’ll do my best from now on…”
Layla and Kyle had their wedding ceremony just as quietly as Flare’s, with no reception afterward.
If one thought about how Layla had been living before, it made sense. She barely went out in society, and she spent most of her time shut up in her family home. Because of that, she didn’t really have any friends she could invite to the wedding.
Still, Mrs. Tori was so moved seeing her daughter in a wedding dress that she cried, and her mother also cried while begging Kyle, “Please take good care of Layla.”
The rumors about her were awful, but her family really did love her. That part reminded Kyle of Flare too.
And Layla in her pure white wedding dress, with her white skin, white hair, and those red eyes-she was honestly breathtakingly beautiful.
”Wait, Lord Kyle… are you for real, though? Is it actually okay if I stay here?” Mei blurted out, her eyes darting to the floor in a split second of self-conscious panic.
After the ceremony, while they were greeting each other and saying they’d get along from now on, there was another maid there who wasn’t Taris. It was Layla’s lady-in-waiting, Mei Karsmark.
When Layla married into Quinta, they had to discuss what to do with Mei, so her family and Kyle’s family talked it over.
Apparently Mei was the daughter of a distant relative of the old family. Her parents died when she was five, and since there was no male heir, the family lands were taken by the state. After that, Mei was taken in by the old family.
After that, Mei and Layla-who was three years younger-grew up almost like sisters. Officially she was a lady-in-waiting, but to Layla she was like an older sister who had always been by her side. And with Mei’s naturally caring personality, she’d been looking after the helpless Layla all this time.
So when it came to this marriage, Layla herself asked, “I can’t manage without Mei…,” and begged for Mei to come along too.
Mei wanted that as well, but the old family raised some concerns: “Having one more concubine is already a lot, but if she brings her lady-in-waiting too, won’t that be too much for House Walker?”
It was true that even having a concubine was unusual for a provincial lord like Kyle. He was already paying Taris, Flare’s lady-in-waiting, a salary. Adding another wife to support, and her lady-in-waiting on top of that-for an ordinary provincial lord, it might have been a real strain on the household budget.
But Kyle wasn’t bragging when he thought Quinta’s finances wouldn’t even flinch if they added one more wife and one more lady-in-waiting. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t be able to invest in Magicraft Devices.
So Kyle said, “It’s fine, I’ll take them all in. Layla will feel better that way too,” and agreed to take Mei as well.
The impressed look on Mrs. Tori’s face and the way Layla’s face lit up so brightly really stuck with him. Though Flare was standing next to her with a knowing smile, glancing back and forth between Mei’s chest and Kyle’s face. Hey, Flare, could you maybe stop reading my mind? Okay, sure, Kyle had a little ulterior motive. But she was the one who told him, “For a nobleman, it’s normal for the head of the household to make advances on his wife’s lady-in-waiting,” right?
And besides, Mei had lost both her parents too, just like Kyle. He could relate to her on that level.
Kyle was a man and already grown, so he could inherit his family’s title. But Mei was only five when her parents died, so there was nothing she could have done. Because of that, Kyle hoped she could find happiness here in Quinta, together with Layla. That emotional reason was part of it too.
”…Of course. I want you to keep serving Layla just like before.”
”Lord Kyle, you’re literally the goat. Like, I’m actually so grateful right now,” Mei said, bowing so hard it looked physical.
”Mei, do not allow thy focus to stray entirely from our presence,” Flare interjected, her lips curling into a sharp smile. “Pray, foster a suitable acquaintance with Taris, as ye both carry the noble duty of ladies-in-waiting.”
”Eep! Bruh-I mean, yes, ma’am! Totally! I’m on it, 100%!” Mei squeaked, practically vibrating with nervous energy as she bowed frantically.
Flare suddenly spoke to Mei, and she flinched so hard it was obvious even to someone watching from the side. I mean, yeah, she was scary at first. And Flare, that smile of hers was actually terrifying, so maybe stop that. But Mei, Flare was actually a kind woman, so don’t worry.
Taris, though, seemed to think Mei’s fear was disrespectful to Flare. She stood stiffly, staring at her with those dead-fish eyes of hers, glaring hard.
Hey, hey, cut it out. You’re just making Mei more scared. Taris, you’re not as intimidating as Flare, but you’re still pretty scary, you know? And Flare just told you to get along, remember?
”Alright, let’s all take baths in order and rest a bit. Today was busy with the ceremony and everything, so you’re probably tired. But… I’ll go to Layla’s room later, around midnight. Layla, Mei, just keep that in mind.”
”? Okay.”
”N-no cap, Lord Kyle,” Mei stammered, nodding super fast. “Got it, loud and clear.”
At his words, Layla made a face that Kyle couldn’t quite tell if she understood or not, but she gave an okay nod anyway.
Mei, on the other hand, seemed to realize exactly what he meant-that tonight was the wedding night, and him saying he’d visit Layla’s room meant that. Her face went bright red.
”Mei… make sure you explain to Layla what I just meant.”
Kyle gave a wry smile and told Mei to explain it to her. He knew she’d been sheltered, but he didn’t think it was this bad.
Layla tilted her head in confusion, and Mei stammered, “Wait, literally right now?! Okay, yeah, I’m on it, Lord Kyle!” in a panicked, high-pitched voice. Flare watched them with a faint, amused smile. Yeah, when Flare makes that expression, she really does look like she’s up to something.
Probably only Taris and Kyle noticed that her face was actually one of “warm, fond watching,” Anyway, tonight was Kyle and Layla’s first night together, and he was really relieved that Flare didn’t seem jealous or upset about it.
”…It’s Kyle.”
Kyle knocked on the door and called out from outside the room assigned to Layla. From inside he heard, “Ohmigosh! Is that you already, Lord Kyle?! I’m so sorry, opening it right now!”-Mei’s voice.
Looks like the two of them had been together until this late hour. It was the same with Flare-when you move to a new place and feel uneasy, you naturally want to be close to someone familiar.
Or maybe Mei had been explaining to Layla what she needed to be ready for, just as Kyle had asked. You know, what a wife does with her husband on the wedding night.
Layla was seventeen, so normally she should already know these things. Mei was only three years older at twenty, but she clearly understood.
But watching Layla’s behavior, it seemed like she was treating it as something happening to someone else. Like she didn’t really grasp that this was about to happen to her. She was just… clueless about that kind of stuff. Innocent, I guess.
But Kyle thought that very lack of worldly awareness-that pure, untarnished beauty-was one of her charms. Maybe this was what they called beautiful foolishness.
”Seriously, I am so sorry for taking forever, Lord Kyle!” Mei gasped, practically double-folding herself in half. “I was literally just about to dip to my own room!”
”Don’t worry about it. Layla must have felt lonely. Thank you for staying with her, Mei. I’m sure Layla felt better having you there.”
”Aww, you’re actually too nice, Lord Kyle,” Mei replied, her shoulders dropping as she visibly relaxed.
Mei let out a relieved breath at Kyle’s calm tone. Then she said, “Alright, I’m gonna head out now and let you two do your thing. I’m leaving Layla in your hands, okay?” and with that she slipped past him out the door, throwing one last quick bow.
Kyle nodded and smiled back at her, and then it was just him and Layla left in the room, with her sitting on the bed. When he closed the door, they were alone in the quiet space. The Magicraft Lantern hadn’t been installed in this room yet, so the light came from an ordinary lamp, casting a warm orange glow like soft indirect lighting.
”Man, I’m tired today. But hey, does it feel real yet? That we’re actually married?”
”…I don’t really know.”
Layla tilted her head slightly as she gave that honest answer. It was true-during the wedding, Tori and his wife were the ones crying with emotion. Layla herself seemed like she was just going through the motions, doing what she was told.
And honestly, for both of them, it made sense. They were complete strangers when they first met at the Marriage Meeting. No dating, no romance-just suddenly told, “This person is your wife/husband starting today,” Of course it wouldn’t feel real. Kyle felt the same way.
But for Kyle, there was one thing that did feel different now that they were married. The fact that Layla was now his wife meant she was now someone he was allowed to touch.
Layla looked at him with a flat expression, neither happy nor sad. Her face was young, still like a bud compared to Flare, who was in full bloom with her striking beauty.
Still, just knowing he was now in a position to hold a girl like her, still unopened like a flower bud, gave Kyle a different kind of excitement than he felt with Flare or Taris.
It felt like he was about to break a taboo.
That probably had something to do with his memories from his past life. Here, seventeen was a perfectly adult age. But in his old memories, a girl that age would still be wearing a school uniform.
”Um… can I sit next to you?”
Not knowing what else to say, the words just slipped out.
He felt oddly nervous.
Asking something like, “Do you know what we’re about to do?” would make him sound like an idiot. And being too direct would kill the mood completely.
But even alone like this, Layla just looked at him blankly. She didn’t seem to be giving off that “we’re about to have sex” vibe at all.
Still, she didn’t seem to dislike him. She gave a small nod at his question.
Carefully, Kyle sat down next to her.
So there they were, side by side on the bed. Layla looked at his face without any guard. Up close, she really was beautiful. Even her eyelashes were white, giving her an almost magical look, like an anime character stepped into real life.
But the faint sound of her breathing and the soft scent of a girl reminded Kyle that she was real.
”Listen… um. We’re married, and tonight is our first night together. So… I mean… how do I put this…”
Kyle searched through every word he knew to try and tell her he wanted to sleep with her, but nothing came out right. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, but somehow he felt guilty, like he was trying to lure a young girl.
”…So, you want to have sex?”
”!?”
Layla said it in a flat voice, like it was nothing. He had been trying to explain exactly that, so it should have been helpful, but for some reason Kyle froze for a second.
He never expected those words to come out of her mouth.
”Uh… are you okay with that?”
”Yeah. Married people have sex to make babies. That’s how it works.”
Whether she already knew or Mei had explained it to her earlier, Layla seemed to understand that Kyle was here for their first night together. She nodded and said it matter-of-factly.
”Then… we’re going to do it now. Is that alright?”
”…Okay.”
Layla agreed without much emotion, still wearing that dazed look. It was almost too easy, kind of anticlimactic. But Kyle still felt that flutter in his chest, like he was doing something wrong.
”Huh? Layla… where’s your underwear?”
”I always take it off when I sleep… it feels tight.”
”R-right…”
Clumsily, Kyle laid her down on the bed and started to take off her sleepwear. Even through the fabric, he could tell something was off.
There was no feeling of underwear underneath. Curious, he asked, and that was the answer he got.
”Um, can I kiss you?”
”…Okay.”
Somehow, Layla’s relaxed attitude was making Kyle awkward too. It felt like he was back to being a virgin. If he acted like this with Flare, she’d probably laugh at him.
He pictured Flare’s face-that thin smile she’d give him, almost mocking-and pulled myself together.
Right. He had been with Flare and Taris many times. He wasn’t a virgin. He was used to this, so he needed to calm down.
Telling himself that, he leaned in for a kiss and slipped his hand under her sleepwear. What he felt was the slender shape of Layla’s body.
(So thin…)
She was so delicate she might break if he touched her too hard. Her skin was smooth like silk. As he moved his hand from her waist up toward her chest, his fingers first found her ribs sticking out through her thin frame. Her chest was even smaller than Taris’s, like a middle schooler’s, still developing.
Her sleepwear was a two-piece set, like pajama tops and shorts. When he pulled off the top, her pale white body was draped with hair even whiter than her skin. Now everything was bathed in that orange lamplight.
Kyle brought his face to her small, unripe breasts and took the tip into his mouth. For the first time, Layla let out a tiny sound-“Ahh!”
”What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”
”No, it just feels… weird.”
”I see…”
Kyle worried that his teeth might have scraped her sensitive skin, but it seemed like she was just confused by the new sensation. Still, Layla’s innocent, fresh reactions started to stir something in him.
He took her nipple in his mouth again, licking and sucking while pulling off the rest of her clothes, leaving her completely naked.
”How does that feel?”
”Mmm… feels good…”
”Good. I’ll keep going then?”
”Okay.”
In the dim orange light, Kyle kissed and licked every part of Layla’s thin body.
(She really is tiny… now, what’s it like down here?)
He kissed his way down from her stomach to her navel, then gently spread her thighs and looked at her most private place. There was a bit of soft downy hair, but her sex was still childlike, small and undeveloped.
Even her pubic hair was white, making it look very sparse, which only made her seem younger.
(She’s definitely a virgin… I pretty much knew that, but it looks so tight down there. Can I even fit?)
He could already tell that entering that narrow opening would be a lot for her body to handle. He tried putting just the tip of his index finger in, and it was already impossibly tight, barely reaching the first knuckle.
Layla winced in pain from just that, and Kyle felt his desire start to fade. Still, he tried to help by licking her there, trying to loosen her up. And then-her reaction was surprisingly intense for such a young girl.
”Mmn… ahhh! ♡”
The moment his tongue touched her clit, her hips jerked hard, and a sound escaped her throat that could have been pain or pleasure.
”You okay?”
”Th-that’s… is this what sex is like?”
”No, not yet. But is this alright?”
”Mm, it feels really good.”
”Good. How about this?”
Kyle kissed her again, tongues intertwining, while sucking her nipples and stimulating her with his fingers. Layla turned out to be incredibly sensitive, so she came several times just from his touch.
”Ahh ♡, mmn… I’m… coming… ♡ Mmnn!! (Trembling)”
Her underwear was already soaked enough to leave a stain on the sheets, and her fingers were slick and slippery. When Kyle moved his fingers along her slit, wet like they’d been dipped in lotion, Layla reacted like crazy-completely different from her usual no-reaction self. For Kyle, it felt great to make this beautiful virgin climax again and again with his own fingers, so he kept making her come. But no matter what, Layla’s entrance stayed tight and wouldn’t loosen up. She flinched in pain just from him trying to insert a finger, so it seemed like actual penetration wasn’t going to happen tonight.
”Ah, hah, hah… nngh!! ♡”
(Well, whatever. Seeing her feel this good makes me happy too, and we’re married, so there’s no rush…)
After making her climax a bunch of times, Kyle pulled her legs together and hugged her close, then positioned himself so his penis was sandwiched between her thighs, rubbing their genitals together. The so-called “sumata1” move.
”Layla, this doesn’t hurt, right?”
He asked while thrusting a few times in that position. Layla, who had looked anxious about whether his penis would go inside, nodded like a little kid.
”Haah, haah, that doesn’t hurt… it feels good.”
”Yeah? Then just bear with me like this for a while, okay?”
Kyle hugged her slender thighs tight and started using Layla’s small body to stroke his penis. He wasn’t actually inside her, but it felt naughty-like he was teasing an innocent young girl-and the sense of taboo was intense. Kyle kept rubbing his penis between her thighs and eventually came. The semen that burst from his penis splattered across Layla’s belly.
”…It’s warm.”
”Haah, haah… We couldn’t go all the way today, but we’ll take it slow and work up to actual sex eventually. Is it okay if we keep doing stuff like this from now on?”
Layla curiously touched the semen on her belly with her finger, playing with it as if checking its temperature and thickness, and nodded over and over.
”Mm. It felt good, so you can do it again.”
”Great. Then I’ll count on you. When we do it, I’ll come to your room… actually, I could call you to mine. We can figure out the details later.”
”Okay.”
They didn’t have sex today-just some sexual teasing-but Kyle was happy to know that Layla didn’t feel uncomfortable with what they did.
Afterward, Kyle took Layla to the bathroom to wash off their messy bodies. But as he washed her, Layla just let him do whatever he wanted. Kyle felt less like they were having a romantic post-sex bath together and more like a dad bathing his daughter.
After dressing her back in her sleepwear and walking her to her room, Layla looked really sleepy, rubbing her eyes-probably because the bath had warmed her up.
”Alright, you must be tired today, so get some good rest, okay?”
”Mm. Going to sleep. Goodnight.”
”Yeah, goodnight.”
That exchange warmed his heart. He’d heard that in the outside world she was treated like a witch with an evil eye, but to Kyle, she was more like a girl who made him feel all soft and cozy inside. Yeah, not a “woman”-a “girl.”
Part of him felt disgusted with himself for doing pervy things to a girl like that, but at the same time, it gave him a strange thrill.
And sure, feeling all warm and fuzzy after walking her to her room was nice, but his crotch was still bulging.
I mean, come on-he’d just watched a beautiful, earnest girl lose her mind from fingering and cunnilingus. No way one smata orgasm was gonna be enough to calm that down.
If anything, the fact that he’d held back and played the nice guy worrying about her health just made him even more worked up.
”Still, I can’t just push Layla too hard or force it all the way…”
If he did that, she’d probably cry and be in pain, and it’d basically be rape. That would leave way too bad a taste in his mouth.
”In times like this, you can always count on your trusty maid.”
Kyle muttered that to himself, turned on his heel in front of Layla’s door, and headed off. He walked past Flare’s room, went to the door of Taris’s room-the capable maid and Flare’s lady-in-waiting-knocked, and was let inside.
Trivia:
- Kyle’s offer to take in Mei wasn’t purely generosity; he admits to having ulterior motives, which Flare picks up on immediately due to her ability to read his mind.
- The narrative draws a subtle parallel between Layla and Flare, noting that both were maligned by rumors but genuinely loved by their families.
- Despite her refined and intimidating exterior, Flare’s knowing smile and teasing comments often mask a genuine fondness for the household members she observes.
- Kyle’s past-life memories create a moral conflict for him, as he views seventeen as a school-age child while this world considers it fully adult.
- Layla’s complete lack of emotional reaction and practical acceptance of sex as “baby-making” contrasts sharply with Kyle’s internal turmoil and guilt.
- The contrast between Layla’s childlike body and her matter-of-fact consent highlights the dissonance between Kyle’s modern sensibilities and this world’s norms.
- Kyle’s internal comparison of himself to a father bathing his daughter highlights his conflicted feelings of caretaking and guilt intertwined with sexual desire.
- The term “smata” is a Japanese loanword for non-penetrative thigh sex, reflecting cultural terminology for intimate acts that stop short of full intercourse.
- Layla’s extreme politeness even in intimate moments (using “desu” and “masu”) reinforces her servant-class conditioning, making her physical reactions more striking against her formal speech.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A Japanese term for non-penetrative sexual activity involving rubbing the genitals against the partner’s thighs or external areas. It is often used as an alternative to intercourse and is a common trope in Japanese romantic or erotic fiction.