The sweet smell of perfumed oil wafted up.
It was the scent of my Teacher, one I smelled every day, one that clung so persistently it seeped into my skin and clothes.
Of course, if I smelled it closely, I could tell it was slightly different from my Teacher's. While my Teacher smelled of sweet peaches, this one had a mature scent, like grapes.
‘Come to think of it, they live in the same house…’
My Teacher and Margaret lived in the same house, and naturally, they both used perfumed oil made from the same ingredients.
That was because it was practically impossible to stock up on various types of such expensive and hard-to-find perfumed oils. It was different from modern Earth, where you could have a variety of scented body washes.
It wasn't just a matter of money; it was simply impossible to find perfumed oils with different scents. The only perfumed oil available around here was made by a specific alchemist's guild.
"Lift your arms."
"U-uh, okay..."
Margaret lowered her voice shyly and carefully raised her arms. Brushing past the soft flesh of her forearm, I adjusted the bra to make sure it properly cupped her breasts.
In the process, I naturally squeezed Margaret's breast. It was larger than my Teacher's—the same bare breast she so defenselessly exposed all the time, the one I'd always wanted to touch.
‘...It's soft.’
I'd never even touched my Teacher's, yet the first woman's breast I'd ever touched in my life was Margaret's.
As I kneaded her breast, which filled my hand, I recalled my first meeting with Margaret.
Could she have known back then? That she would end up in a relationship like this with the guy who was just whacking off?
"Hngh—!"
Just then, Margaret let out a soft moan. Though she quickly covered her mouth, startled as if she hadn't intended to make a sound, her moan echoed, filling the changing room.
It was a moan so lewd it made my dick get hard enough to strain against my clothes. It was already hard to hold back with her smelling just like my Teacher, but after hearing that moan, I was completely erect.
I rubbed my hard-on against her butt as I finished fastening the bra. Click. After hooking it, I carefully stepped back and took the panties from her hand.
"Lift your leg."
"I-I can put these on my..."
"I'm sure you can. Right?"
"...Ugh, ughh—how did it come to this—."
Margaret mumbled something and carefully lifted one leg. As I was slightly crouched to help her put on the panties, I was able to steal a glance at her vulva, exposed by her parted legs.
From the back, it had looked clean, without a single strand of hair, but I knew she had neatly trimmed hair on her mound.
After all, I'd seen the hair when she walked around naked.
"D-don't stare so intently."
"It's pretty."
"Sh-shut up..."
She usually showed it off as if for all to see, but I guess she was embarrassed to have it looked at so openly. Margaret quickly slipped both legs into the panties.
Unfortunately, I couldn't keep admiring her vulva any longer, so I quickly grabbed her underwear and pulled it up.
"Kyah!?"
I pulled them up so hard the fabric bit into her pussy, and startled by the soft stimulation, Margaret let out a small shriek and turned to look at me.
Her intense gaze held the clear intent to beat the shit out of me, but I paid it no mind and took the one-piece dress from her.
‘How do you put this on?’
But unlike how to put on a bra, something you see in porn or find online, there was no way I'd know how to put on a uniquely shaped dress like this.
Staring at the dress, which was so complex it was starting to piss me off, I felt my irritation spike and finally called for the clerk outside.
"Excuse me, clerk—."
"—Yes, yes! What can I help you with!"
"This... how do you put this dress on?"
"...Fucking bastard."
After hearing my request, the clerk muttered a very quiet curse, but then immediately showed her professionalism and guided me on how to put on the dress.
"F-first, untie the knot on the side, and then..."
"Untie the knot..."
"Once it's untied, slip it on over her head, fasten the shoulders, and then tie the knot again..."
"Ah, so that's how it works. Thank you."
"Mmmph... You have to buy it... You have to..."
The clerk made a sound like she was biting her lip hard and carefully moved away. Once I put the dress on Margaret as the clerk had instructed, my eyes fell on her incredibly lewd appearance, just as I'd expected.
The stocking-like mesh connecting her neck and chest was more blatantly arousing than if her upper breasts were simply exposed. And the side slits, though tied with strings, openly revealed her underwear, looking like an alluring invitation to grab and untie them.
Margaret checked her reflection in the mirror, and perhaps thinking the outfit was a bit lewd herself, she blushed demurely—before turning her back as if it were nothing and proudly showing herself off to me.
"What do you think? Hmm. I'm not that fond of it, but since you bought it for me, Disciple, maybe I'll wear it specially—?"
"If you dislike it that much, let's just not buy it, okay?"
"N-no! Suddenly, I absolutely love it! Wow—I never knew you had such a great fashion sense, Disciple..."
Abruptly changing her tune, Margaret insisted we had to get this one and walked out of the changing room in that very outfit.
Even if no one else would see her, wasn't it a bit too perverted to walk around in an outfit like that? ...But since she was the one who wanted to wear it, I had no grounds to stop her.
We went outside, and when I told the clerk I wanted to buy the clothes we'd looked at earlier, she smiled brightly and asked me for the items.
"Um, where are the clothes...?"
"Ah, she's wearing them right now. Just ring us up, please."
"...She's wearing them right now?"
The clerk started looking at me as if I were a bug.
The customer service at this shop was terrible.
After buying Margaret's clothes, I stopped by an accessory shop to buy a gift for my Teacher, then headed back to the cabin with Margaret.
Before long, dusk fell, and a blood-red sunset was swallowing the sky.
The moment we landed at the cabin, Margaret tilted her head as if something was off.
"What's wrong?"
"No... it's nothing. It must be my imagination."
I watched Margaret shake her head dismissively before going inside, where my Teacher, who had been waiting just for me, immediately ran up and hugged me.
"Yohaaaan! Why are you so late!?"
"Teacher... I wasn't that late..."
"Again, again! Talking back to your Teacher! Don't tell me you were late because you were out playing with another woman?"
As she said that, my Teacher buried her face in the nape of my neck and started sniffing me. This time, I hadn't even gotten close to another woman, let alone met one, so I could confidently let her do as she pleased.
Indeed, she must not have smelled anything suspicious, as she said nothing and just kept her face buried there. ...She kept it there for an excessively long time.
"Sniff— haah, sniiiff..."
"Teacher? That's enough..."
"Why are you trying to push me away? I want to smell you a little longer..."
I had to forcibly detach my whining, childlike Teacher. Before she could get sulky, I quickly took out the necklace I'd bought at the accessory shop.
She had been tilting her head while I fumbled in my pocket, but when a necklace popped out, her eyes widened in surprise.
"Th-that's..."
"Today isn't a special day or anything... but I wanted to give it to you, Teacher, so I bought it."
"A-are you really giving that to me? Really?"
"Yes. As thanks for taking me in and raising me."
At my words, my Teacher looked so moved that her eyes began to well up with tears. It was just a necklace. Was she really this happy?
I let out a small chuckle, and my Teacher looked at the necklace impatiently and spoke.
"Q-quickly... Put it on for me. You have to do it, Yohan..."
"Yes. Understood, Teacher."
"Hurry, okay? Hurry..."
My Teacher, having half-lost her ability to speak, lifted her voluminous hair, exposing her delicate nape to me.
Seeing her nape, which was usually hidden, exposed like that, I felt something deep inside my chest begin to pound.
I carefully approached her from behind, reached my arms over her shoulders, and fastened the necklace myself. As the back of my hand subtly brushed against her nape, my Teacher's body shuddered as if she'd been electrocuted.
"S-so? Is it pretty?"
My Teacher showed off the necklace on her neck and asked if it suited her. The answer to that was always the same.
"It suits you. Perfectly."
No matter how ugly the accessory, it would have suited my Teacher. That was just common sense.
Receiving her first gift from me, my Teacher was overjoyed. Seeing her so happy made me happy too.
Evangeline looked at the gift from her disciple and began to hesitate, torn. The desire to never take it off warred with the anxiety that it would be a disaster if the gift from her disciple got even a single scratch.
In the end, she chose to do both. After casting as many protection spells as she could on the necklace, Evangeline went to bed, clutching the necklace around her neck.
And so, while everyone in the cabin was asleep, a red, bloody mist seeped in through the cracks in the door.
The bloody mist that entered the cabin soon began to take a human form. The vampire, having regained its human shape, looked around to locate the master of the cabin.
‘This way.’
Sensing the witch's magic power, the vampire headed for Evangeline's room. There, it found the witch, fast asleep. No matter how powerful a witch she was, she could do nothing in such a defenseless state.
Raising its sharply honed nails, the vampire spotted the necklace the witch was clutching and lightly snapped its chain.
Judging by the dense magic power it felt, it must have been a magical tool meant to protect the witch's body. But it was useless. Such petty tricks wouldn't work on a vampire sensitive to magic pow—
"You, what are you?"
Evangeline, now awake, frowned at the vampire standing before her. She was weak in the mornings, but at night, she was sensitive enough to notice even a single mouse scurrying about.
Well, it wasn't the vampire's movements that had woken her up just now.
"What do you think you're doing, breaking the necklace Yohan gave me?"
"Damn it, die—!"
The vampire lunged without a second thought. The combination of its sharpened nails and superhuman strength could effortlessly pierce even a steel plate.
It thought a fragile witch whose protection was broken would die without any resistance, but when the vampire's hand reached the witch, it stopped dead.
Having made the very world reject the vampire before her, Evangeline casually sat up and pointed a finger at it.
"I don't know what you are... but you can die."
Flick—! The moment her finger tapped the vampire like a flick to the forehead, the electrons that composed its body repelled each other and scattered in all directions.
Staring intently at the spot where the vampire had turned to dust and vanished, Evangeline let out a soft sigh and went back to sleep.
"Ah."
And only then did she notice her broken necklace.