Naoki felt like he might be under some kind of illusion. Considering Merlin's presence around him, this wasn't impossible. Although he believed in his mental strength and willpower, in a situation like this, aside from an illusion, he couldn't think of any other explanation for what was happening.
"Who can explain to me..."
Swallowing hard, Naoki, who was standing at the door, took a step or two back.
"Why is Gray wearing a maid outfit and lying on my bed?"
What is this?
What kind of situation is this?
Did he enter the wrong room? It's possible. Gray is only six years old, so it's natural for her to make mistakes. But what about the maid outfit?
Who changed her into it?
No, the real question is, why did Gray agree to wear a maid outfit?
'That damn Merlin!!'
Even after just a moment of thought, Naoki knew who was behind this! Only that chaos-loving succubus, who deserved to be shot a hundred times, would do something like this to trap him!
Thankfully, he entered the room fully conscious. If he hadn't cared and just gone straight to bed—tomorrow morning, photos of him and Gray sleeping in the same bed might have ended up on the front page of the Times!
"That damn succubus..."
Lifting his foot, Naoki wanted to immediately go back downstairs to demand an explanation from Merlin.
*THUD!*
But just as he turned around, his face hit something hard, as if he had run into an invisible wall. The pain was so intense he felt like his nose might have been broken.
"Damn it... what is this?"
Reaching out to touch the seemingly empty space in front of him, the solid sensation under his palm made a bad feeling rise in his heart.
And at that moment, on the other side of the invisible barrier, Merlin, who had already changed into her pajamas, walked toward him while laughing and swinging a camera in her hand: "Ehehe, got you~"
"You scheming succubus who planned this!"
"How can you call it a plan? I told you to stay downstairs for a bit. Who told you to be in such a hurry to go upstairs?"
Even though it was clearly her who set the trap, Merlin acted like the victim. Seeing this, Naoki wanted to take off his glasses and teach her a hard lesson!
"What do you want to do?"
"Nothing, I just thought it would be fun, so I did it. Also, as a little punishment for you. You came home late this time and made that child worry for a long time. You should be more aware of your role as someone important to her. So as punishment, you have to keep her company tonight—I'll be taking photos the whole time."
"Please delete that last sentence, thank you." Taking a deep breath, Naoki knocked on the transparent wall in front of him, "Even so, you don't need to use... this barrier to trap me, right?"
"This is purely because I want to see you in an embarrassing situation."
This Merlin really needs to die a few times!
Smiling for a moment, Merlin turned around: "Well then, I'll leave the child to you. After all, you're the one who brought her home, so fulfill your duty as her [guardian] properly. Good night, Your Majesty the King."
"Hey—"
Watching Merlin, who acted like a boss who had washed her hands of the matter, return to her room, Naoki fell silent for a moment, then sighed in resignation as he went back into his room, pulling a chair next to the experiment table and sitting down.
And as soon as he sat down, he saw the birdcage and Add inside it placed on the bedside table.
Naoki picked up the birdcage and shook it near the window: "Add, wake up."
"Ah~ huh?"
As if disturbed awake, Add's tone was extremely lazy.
"What's up... oh, you're back."
"Yeah, I ran into some trouble on the way, so I came home late. More importantly, explain to me, what's going on with Gray? Even if this was Merlin's doing... didn't you try to stop her?"
"Ah, about that, don't you think it's great? A maid."
Alright, let's sink this perverted Mystic Code along with its cage to the bottom of the Thames.
Naoki immediately acted as if he was about to throw it out the window. Seeing this, Add quickly begged for mercy: "No no no! I'm kidding, kidding, calm down!"
"Care to explain now?"
"Well... actually, it was that succubus who caused trouble, saying that men would be happy to come home and see a woman waiting. Innocent Gray believed it and wanted to make you happy, so she put on a maid outfit and waited for you."
"You didn't stop her?"
"Why would I stop her? Isn't this interesting? And aren't you happy to see this scene?"
Not happy, but scared half to death.
Sighing in resignation, Naoki leaned against the window: "From now on, if Merlin wants Gray to do something, no matter what it is, stop her first. Don't let her corrupt Gray. She's only six years old, very easily influenced by bad things."
"Well, that's true."
Add swayed inside the cage.
"But, this is also a form of Gray's foolish dependence on you. After all, you're the one who brought her out of that place."
"Dependence... Huh?"
Looking at Gray, who was asleep on the bed, Naoki fell silent for a moment, then pulled the chair over and sat beside her, reaching out to gently brush her hair aside.
"Mm... big brother..."
Letting out a soft murmur, Gray instinctively rolled toward Naoki, her small body curling up slightly, then slowly opening her eyes.
"Ah... sorry Gray, did I wake you?"
"Big brother?"
Looking at Naoki with sleepy eyes, Gray rubbed her eyes, and after clearly seeing Naoki, she immediately hugged him: "Big brother!"
"Yes yes yes, I'm here, I'm here." Patting her head, Naoki spoke with a bit of regret, "Sorry, I ran into some trouble on the way home, so I came back late and made you worry."
"Ran into some trouble... I see..." Gray immediately relaxed, "I thought... big brother didn't want me anymore..."
"That will never happen, don't worry too much."
"Mm... Oh right, big brother."
Gray stood on the bed, holding the skirt of her maid outfit and spinning in place: "Umm, it was Merlin's sister who helped me put this on. She said if I lay on the bed like this, big brother would be happy to see it when he came home..."
"Mm, very pretty."
Gray was immediately happy, but Naoki quickly patted her head: "But Gray, from now on you have to remember, you can't do things like this casually. And you also can't just believe everything Merlin says, she might turn you into a naughty child."
"A naughty child... so from now on I don't have to listen to Merlin's sister?"
"Some things about housework are fine, but if she asks you to wear strange clothes again, or says strange things to you, you should immediately cover your ears and run away."
Although she didn't fully understand why Naoki said that, Gray, who always tried to be a good child, nodded seriously: "I understand."
"Good. It's late, go to sleep, or you won't grow tall."
Lying back down on the bed, looking at Naoki sitting beside her, Gray asked timidly: "Big brother isn't sleeping?"
"About that..." Naoki covered his face, "Big brother still has some homework to finish, I'll sleep after I'm done."
"Oh, then good night, big brother."
"Good night, Gray."
Gently stroking Gray's hair, after seeing her fall asleep, Naoki finally breathed a sigh of relief: "This is bad... I feel like my tone just now was like a pervert's. Besides, sleeping with a six-year-old girl..."
If he really did that, tomorrow Naoki would be jailed for at least three years, or possibly even executed.
'Damn Merlin, what kind of trouble have you gotten me into...'