"Lord Sephi."
At the familiar sound of a girl's voice, Sephiroth opened his eyes. The brightness outside the window told him it was already morning.
He was still sleepy, though.
"...Let me sleep a little longer."
Yamato and the others had brought back all the Elbaf outfits Gerd had given them.
There had been no convenient opportunity to do anything in Elbaf. But once they returned to Babylon, Sephiroth, delighted by the tempting prospect, had launched his challenge with a determined, JoJo-style expression...
"...Hah-how long is 'a little longer,' Lord Sephi?"
Dressed in a blue-and-white maid uniform, Melise sighed softly.
After returning, Lord Sephi had challenged both Princes to a duel at once, and then Ulti had joined the fray.
If Robin hadn't had other things to do, the battle might have been even more brutal.
"I don't have any work scheduled today, so let me sleep until noon..."
"...No, Lord Sephi. If you don't get up now, you'll miss lunch..."
Melise had grown quite comfortable with Sephiroth. Though his doting hadn't made her arrogant, she had become much more relaxed and casual with him in private.
"Time to get up-"
Melise whipped away the blanket, grabbed Sephiroth by the shoulders, and, quite incongruously, easily pulled him upright with her less-than-150-centimeter frame.
"...Lunch?"
Sephiroth opened his eyes to find the girl's pouting, slightly flushed face right before him.
Even mildly annoyed, her baby face carried not a shred of intimidation.
Her long, curly golden hair was tied with a black ribbon. Her petite body was clad in a blue, long-sleeved maid dress that reached her feet, with a clean, tidy white apron over it.
"Ah...good morning, Melise."
Faint electrical arcs flickered across Sephiroth's forehead as electrical signals ran a few circuits through his nervous system. It was a wake-up method