章節 25: Prelude to getting Foundation grade, officially

I opened my eyes to a strange sight.

A part of my vision was covered by locks of short brown hair. And my chest felt heavier than I was used to.

I turned my face a little to look at the adorable cause of it all.

Alice was sleeping with her head on my chest and cuddling my left side.

'Oh, right. They slept with me last night.'

Last night, after spending a while taking good care of me, my mother and Alice decided to sleep together with me. It wasn't anything new with Alice. She and I had slept together a couple of times in the past 2 years. More like she would request me to let her sleep with me, and I just couldn't refuse her puppy eyes. Seriously, whoever invented the idea of lolis using puppy eyes was truly dangerous for the world. They knew it was a weapon for mass destruction for people like us.

'Yup, cuteness is justice after all.'

[Good morning, Alex.]

'Hey. Morning, Iris.'

After my usual greeting with my friendly system, I placed my left hand on the small head occupying my chest and softly caressed her hair.

'Haah… I never thought I would find someone as adorable as my original younger sister. But Alice just did exactly that. Wonder how much Lili has grown…'

I shook my head to get that thought out. Since thinking of my family led me to nostalgia and then sadness. It wasn't as easy to completely get over my past life as I had hoped. For the most part, I was over it, but occasionally something made me think of it, like just now.

The protagonists in all those Isekais did it so effortlessly. I guess I was also something like that. Just not the center of the story, at least not yet.

I kept stroking my adorable sister's head as I stayed lying on the bed, not wanting to get up lest I woke up Alice. A good body pillow didn't disturb its user. And I was currently one for Alice.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, she's not here. Guess she woke up early.'

I wasn't early enough to see the face of my mother sleeping beside me.

'Pity.'

Though, the memories of her hugging me last night were now vivid to me. If not for Alice and my (temporary) poor state of body, I don't think I would have been able to sleep so easily.

…

I kept musing over various thoughts that came to my head. I was in no hurry to wake up since I had nothing to do today. Or tomorrow, or the day after that.

'Hmm, I guess I'll have a lot of free time this week.'

After a few minutes of stroking Alice's head, I heard a small moan and noticed some movement to my side.

Alice had woken up.

"Mn."

Alice moved her head a little and then rubbed her eyes to rid herself of her sleepiness.

"Are you up?"

I asked as I kept stroking her head.

She turned to see me and then gave me a lovely smile and nodded.

"Mm. Good morning, big brother."

"Good morning, Alice."

She then gave me a warm hug and then finally stopped cuddling me.

'Ah, truly a delightful girl.'

I too followed her and then sat up, stretching my body.

Curiously, as if waiting for that cue, a few knocks came from outside the door.

"Young master, young mistress, are you up? May I come in?"

Alice and I turned our attention to the closed door and the voice coming from behind it. I answered.

"Yes, come in."

The maid— actually, two of them, came inside and after some polite greetings, they guided us towards our bathrooms to get fresh. I was led to a different bathroom since the primary one was currently in the process of being cleaned.

'RIP to whoever is cleaning that mess. Hope they get a bonus pay or something.'

I was blissfully unaware of the currently ongoing horror comedy.

After that, I had breakfast with my family. My skin complexion had greatly improved since last night's dinner, but I was still skinnier than normal.

This time too I had an excessive amount of food. My hunger just wouldn't sate from 1 or 2 bowls of the porridge-like dish. It wasn't as great as the things I ate normally, but it was still good enough for me to want more.

My mother inquired about my health and was happy to hear I was feeling fine. In fact, I felt completely fine. Just a bit hungry.

Emma who sat beside me didn't say much but she was definitely listening in on us.

***

Just like that, a week passed. And I had reached 15 years of age, that is, adulthood in this world.

The said week was quite relaxing, actually. I was pampered by none other than The expressionless and cold-faced Head maid, Laura, who was much kinder and softer than she was normally. Mine and Laura's relationship had been quite good. She liked me and respected me a lot. She got over her… dilemma it seemed and was fully devoted to taking care of me.

And in the past week, she spent a lot of time taking care of my body, and providing me with more food, since I got hungry a lot. Thanks to her I was back in good shape.

…

No, I was in perfect shape. Literally.

'I'm flawless.'

I remarked as I stared at a lean and chiseled body in the mirror– my own body.

The skill description of Perfect Body wasn't lying when it said it'll make me perfect, physically. It might sound boastful, and it probably was, but I was absolutely perfect. The compressed muscles, the 8-pack abs, and their placement, everything was symmetrical and perfect.

But most importantly, I felt like I was truly in great condition.

I never felt as great in any of my two lives as I did now. I was ready to take on this world and its women if I had something as great as what I saw in the mirror. With the mighty dragon I now had, the Eroge-based world's females will bow before me!

"Heh… Hehehe."

[Stop it, Alex. It's getting cringey and annoying now. Even if you have the perfect body, you need more power. And as for women, last I checked, even with that big fat rod, you're still a single virgin. So, stop gawking at your muscles and dick and get ready. You have to get your Foundation graded… officially. And don't forget your birthday celebration party after that.]

'Of course, I remember. Let's go.'

Heeding Iris's polite(?) reminder, I got ready with a fancier than usual suit and then called for Laura.

"You can come in now, Laura."

Hearing my command, the head maid came back inside the room.

She was now not allowed inside my room while I was changing… unless, of course, she planned to get naked together or something, which was still not close since her affection hadn't reached anywhere near the 90s. In the last two years, slowly and steadily, I have put the strict maid in the right position.

"I, as the alpha male, shall not bow down to the likes of a maid! You'll follow my orders since I'm the alpha!"

That is what I had said… inside my head. In reality, I just argued that I was old enough to change my clothes and that it was embarrassing that a beautiful woman did it to me and as a teenager with exploding hormones, it was not a pleasant experience. She actually was quite understanding of it, surprisingly.

… So, yeah. I just acted a bit awkward and embarrassed and it worked. That, and she had a crazy high Obedience. So, she did obey most orders I gave her.

'She didn't show any reaction to me calling her beautiful though, neither outwardly, nor in her 'Observe' sheet. Sad.'

Her SS difficulty level wasn't a joke. Even if this was an Eroge-inspired world, the corny and cliché stuff didn't work with every woman. It did work with the rest of the maids though. Some smiled or laughed politely, while others blushed.

…

I left my room with Laura following behind me and reached the gates of the mansion.

I was greeted by a carriage designed for nobles and a few maids and guards standing in the vicinity. And near the carriage, my mother, Emma, and Alice were standing.

"Come on, sweetie. We must leave for the church."

My mother beckoned me while smiling. She was wearing a fancy green noble lady's dress, suited for her stature. Beside her, Alice was in a light blue one-piece dress, her slightly longer hair tied with pretty clips. Emma was beside her in a gray formal dress. She didn't seem comfortable in it. Understandable, since she tended to wear pants and shirts at home. Due to the part industrial theme of the world, it wasn't that bizarre for girls to wear pants.

Naturally, they made pants for females. But for a noble girl, it wasn't as common outside training and such scenarios where a dress would hinder them.

I reached them and gave a polite greeting to my mum, a smile to Alice, and a wave to Emma.

After receiving the mandatory hug and compliments about how handsome—not cute, mind you—I looked from my mother and Alice, I and the others entered the carriage. Laura bid us farewell and my mother asked her to look after the house, to which she bowed and affirmed. With Laura around, my mother had nothing to worry about.

We soon exited the mansion's main gates and headed out towards our destination: the church.

***