Lilia's Tale

Chapter 21: On Hold

As I woke up the next morning, I felt refreshed both physically and mentally. My mind was clear and my body felt great. My back was still itching, but I was too focused on the positives to notice it. I got out of the bath and went to put on my clothes. However, I seemed to have forgotten to get them ready, as they weren't where I usually put them.

This made me slightly uncomfortable on the realisation that I was going to have to go to my room more or less naked. I didn't mind being seen too much, but I wasn't comfortable walking around naked either. As I looked around trying to find my options, I noticed a towel, and decided to wear that to go to my room, so I wouldn't be purely naked.

I grabbed a towel and tied it around my waist, then readied myself to leave. Before opening the door, I realized that I was wearing the towel wrong. I was wearing it as I normally would as a man in my previous life, but I was now a girl, and have been for quite a while now.

I removed it from my waist and tried a few times to wear it in order to hide my chest, until I could get it to hold itself properly. I moved around a bit to make sure it wouldn't fall, then left the bathroom and went directly towards my room. Luckily, I didn't see anybody on the way.

I entered my room and threw my towel on the bed, then picked a dress and underwear in my luggage and put them on. I then went to the living room and noticed that it was still night. I went outside and looked at the moon's position, noticing that it was quite faint, meaning it was either dawn or dusk. I stayed outside for a little bit, basking in the faint yet noticeable moonlight.

Once I was satisfied with my outside stay, I went back inside, unsure of what to do. I looked around and thought on potential activities, before deciding to cook breakfast for Father. Eventually, as I was cooking, I remembered Kyo was also staying, so I made an additional portion for him.

By the time I was finished, they still weren't up. I didn't want to lose on warm food, so I ate by myself and cleaned my plate. As I was cleaning my plate, Father was waking up and noticed the food on the table.

"Good morning Lilia. Back to good old habits of cooking?"

"Good morning, and I guess. I didn't have anything to do after I woke up so I figured I could cook for you two."

"That's kind of you, thank you."

He then sat down on the table and started eating. After I finished cleaning my plate, I wanted to not leave him all alone, so I sat with him.

"By the way, Lilia," he said between bites.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You fell asleep in the bath yesterday, and I had to make sure you wouldn't drown."

"I was just tired, I think. Being in water relaxes me for some reason, so I ended up falling asleep."

"If you say so, then it probably is what happened. By the way, about Kyo-"

Right as he said that, I noticed Kyo in the entrance to the hallway. When he saw us, he suddenly exclaimed:

"Good morning you two! Is breakfast already ready?"

This took Father by surprise, who jumped.

"Good morning Kyo-kun," I followed. "Yeah, I was up early so I thought I'd make breakfast."

"Thank you, Lilia. Are you okay, by the way? Father said yesterday that he was worried about-"

"I was just tired, don't worry. Water relaxes me, so I end up falling asleep in it," I explained, cutting him.

"A-Alright then, " he followed, taken aback by my sudden interruption. "By the way, I didn't get to ask yesterday, but how was the meeting with the King of Dwarves?" he continued as he sat down to eat breakfast.