The Iudex's day off

Chapter 3 - A little trick

 Neuvillette's POV

 I could feel as Wriothesley lifted the two girls out of my arms and led the whole group out of the room as silently as you could possibly get 48 melusines out of here.

 Tough, their voices exploded once again when they reached the first floor.

 I couldn't help but smile as I heard Wriothesley hushing them with little success.

 But really, did the girls truly expect me to fall asleep just like that when there was someone else in the house?

 Still, it was because of Wriothesley that I could pull off this little trick and stop them from worrying about my health.

 I truly do not know how I can convince them that not sleeping for a few days will not kill me.

 While I was a bit more irritable, it wasn't to the point where it would hinder my daily life.

 And I would most definitely not lash out at the girls.

 I kept listening as Wriothesley tried to make some sense of the mess that was the time before they got to bed.

 "Don't climb on the counter."

 "Don't! No, not the shower- Damn it."

 "Haah... Where are the towels? All of you come over here."

 Even though they did tend to act out in an attempt to get babied these days, at this point it felt like they were simply messing with him.

 It took quite a while before I heard some of the footsteps fade towards the second floor and it took even longer for Wriothesley to eventually come downstairs to tuck the rest of them in as well.

 While I wasn't able to open my eyes at the moment, I could feel that his clothes were completely soaked through.

 I will have to have a talk with the girls about that little stunt. It wouldn't be good if he caught a cold because of this.

 The girls were surprisingly well-behaved while he tucked them in. I could only assume they were feeling bad for having soaked his clothes.

 "Will he be fine on the couch?" I heard him whisper suddenly, his voice closer than I thought.

 "He should be fine." A voice that I could recognize as Rhemia's answered.

 At the moment I was extremely thankful to her.

 Had she said anything else, the Duke might have made some nonsensically straightforward offer like carrying me up to the bedroom.

 Then it would have been highly unlikely that I would have been able to keep up the act.

 "Will you be fine on your own?"

 "Yes. Some of us have already recovered and are here only because Monsieur Neuvillette worries too much. Even if something were to happen that we couldn't handle ourselves, we can always wake up Monsieur Neuvillette." Rhemia answered again.

 It took a lot of me not to start smiling.

 Compared to when they started getting sick, it seemed like they finally felt like they could rely on me more.

 Though...

 I don't worry too much.

 I even allowed some of them to go back to work from tomorrow onwards. What is she on about?

 "Alright then. To bed with you all."

 Maybe it was the energy about him or that jokingly authoritative tone that he was using, but the girls all got into bed rather quickly.