In the end, I decided to sleep on the carpet.
In my previous life, I’d slept on hard floors, even on rocky terrain. At worst, I’d slept standing up. Compared to that, a carpet was hardly an issue.

...Or so I thought.

But my life as a pampered prince in this world had left me soft, and I found it hard to fall asleep.

Eventually, as my consciousness began to blur, the magical lamp was extinguished, leaving only the moonlight streaming through the window. It seemed Lili had finished her tasks and was ready to sleep.

Just as I was thinking that in a half-dream state, I felt my upper body being lifted. Arms slid beneath my back and under my knees, and before I knew it, I was being carried.

The sensation of floating startled me, and I snapped awake.

"Wh-what!?"

It was Lili.

She was surprisingly strong. No, perhaps it wasn’t surprising. She was Swordsmaster level, and I was now just a child. My limbs were short, my height was small, and I weighed next to nothing.

I looked up to find her face close to mine. In contrast to our past lives, the adult Lili was now looking down at me, the child.

I glared up at her with half-lidded eyes.

"…Hey."

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, but I can’t let a child sleep in a place like this. You’ll catch a cold."

She said this as she carried me over to the bed and sat down, holding me the whole time. My dangling legs flailed in protest.

"Stop squirming. It’s pointless. Just sleep beside me tonight."

"Don’t be ridiculous!"

I almost blurted out, I didn’t raise you to be such a shameless woman, but barely managed to hold back.

Lili watched me struggle for a while before letting out a faint chuckle.

"…Heh, you remind me of my younger self."

"What!? Stop talking nonsense and put me down!"

"I don’t mind, but you can’t run away."

"That depends on you."

Lili finally placed me on the bed.

Running away wouldn’t solve anything anyway. With this body of mine, I wouldn’t get far before she caught me.

I crossed my arms and sat cross-legged where she’d placed me.

Lili sat down in front of me, close enough for even a child like me to reach out and touch her.

"Once…"

Before I knew it, she had changed into thin sleepwear.

Her hair had grown long. She was taller now, and her figure had matured beautifully.

The only things that hadn’t changed were her expression and her inscrutable demeanor. Lili Ituka had always been like this—calm, composed, and hard to read.

"I once said the same thing as you, you know," she said.

"The same as me? What do you mean?"

Lili averted her gaze.

"Someone took me to their lodging."

What!? I couldn’t ignore this.

Suppressing my irritation, I glared at her.

"What a brute. But knowing you, you must have cut him down, right?"

What an idiot. To try something like that with a Swordsmaster-level woman? He must have been split in half and fed to the orcs.

But Lili slowly shook her head.

"No… At the time, I was about ten years old. I couldn’t resist. My clothes were stripped off, I was doused with water, made to wear thin garments, and tossed onto a bed—"

"Wait, wait, wait! What are you trying to tell a ten-year-old!? I’m just a kid, you know!?"

She looked at me blankly.

This was probably from before she met Blythe, back when she was with that troupe of traveling performers.

As we stared at each other, Lili suddenly seemed to understand and murmured, "Oh."

"Right. I should have clarified from the start. Nothing improper happened."

"Huh?"

"I fell asleep on that person’s bed, but they didn’t do anything. They were just insistent about offering me a warm place to sleep. Forcefully, yes, but that was all."

"Oh…"

I understood now. It was Blythe.

Hearing her words jogged my memory.

Right. I remember now. Lili was just a silent, expressionless kid back then, and I’d only thought of her as slightly above a stray dog or cat.

I’d grown tired of her resistance, stripped her down, washed her, and let her sleep beside me because there wasn’t an extra room at the inn. If she’d caught a cold, finding her a foster family the next day would’ve been impossible.

So this situation was something Blythe had caused. Damn it, Blythe.

...It was me.

"But to say nothing happened wouldn’t be entirely true," Lili added.

"What?"

I had no memory of this. I wasn’t into kids—never had been.

"That person snored so loudly I couldn’t sleep that night," she said.

"Ugh…"

Well, back then, I’d been fighting constantly. Fatigue must’ve caught up with me. Cut me some slack for snoring.

I wanted to crawl into a hole.

"…Sorry…"

"Heh, why is Eremia apologizing?"

"Huh!?"

"Do you snore too?"

Now that I think about it, Lili had resisted quite a bit on the first day.

Looking back, it made sense. Lili had been a survivor of a troupe of traveling performers. Their livelihoods included dancing, performances, and, for some, entertaining clients at night.

While she probably hadn’t experienced anything herself at that age, she must’ve known what happened to the dancers at night. No wonder she’d been so wary.

I see now. Blythe lacked delicacy.

To forcefully strip, wash, and put a girl in bed without considering her fears—what a tactless fool.

And that’s why even I…

"Blythe was a man who knew nothing but battle. Forgive him."

"…I never said it was Blythe."

"Hehh!?"

Her brows furrowed as she looked at me.

The expression was the same as when she had crushed Lawrence during the practical exam.