Louise dipped her hand in the wash basin, scooped up water, shook her head, and washed her face. Water splattered everywhere.
“So, you’re the type that likes to move their face while they wash it, huh?”
Louise was slightly taken aback by Saito's comment. Her face blushed and she became angry. “G-Got a problem with that?”
“No, not at all…”
Saito then took Louise’s clothes from her closet and laid them face down on her bed, while Louise put on her underwear. Saito, holding Louise's uniform, turned around when he thought she was done. The next step was dressing Louise.
When Saito turned around, Louise, wearing only her underwear, started to panic and quickly covered her body with sheets.
“Leave the clothes there,” said Louise, with half her face covered by the sheets. “What happened?” thought Saito. “She would normally say something like ‘Quickly dress me...’ with a sleepy face. What's more, she's hiding behind the sheets. Normally, she wouldn’t care about being seen. Why is she so embarrassed?”
“Leave it there? Um... are you sure?”
Louise popped her head up above the sheets. “I said leave it there, didn’t I?!”
Louise then buried half of her face in the sheets again and glared at Saito.
Well this is strange, thought Saito as he placed the clothes beside Louise as he was told.
“Face that way.”
“Eh?”
“I said face that way.”
It seemed as if she was the type of person who didn’t want to be seen while changing. That's a very normal reaction for adolescent girls; however, Louise had been fine being seen in the past.
Saito turned his back to Louise thinking, What the hell happened?
Well, many things happened in Albion. Her fiancé had betrayed her and Henrietta. Her childhood friend. She had lost her lover. It was a horrible experience for Louise. Perhaps those events had changed her.
Had Louise really changed?
With an expressionless face, Saito remembered the feeling of Louise’s lips. He had kissed a half-asleep Louise softly on the lips while on the dragon. He knew that kissing someone in their sleep is cowardly and something that he ought not to have done, but he couldn’t control himself. He cared a great deal about her.
Could it be…, Saito thought. That Louise knows about that kiss? She didn’t change because she felt I was dangerous and thought I was going to make a move on her, right?
Saito stopped his thoughts abruptly and shook his head. If Louise had been awake at that time, she wouldn’t have kept quiet. She'd wake up. Get angry. Abuse. Any sense of harmony would have exploded into bits. Events like the time when I crept into her bed were horrible, weren’t they? A dog. That’s me, a dog. A dog that is led by a chain and goes ‘woof’.
Ah. I see now. Saito finally realized. She feels uneasy because I crept into her bed two nights before we left for Albion while she was sleeping. This isn’t about the kiss at all. Ah, that’s why she doesn’t want my help changing anymore.
Saito felt somewhat disheartened. In fact, he was deeply regretful. If only he hadn’t done such a thing. “She doesn’t want me making a move on her. Well that’s only natural, but it means she doesn’t like me. That’s also natural I guess…”
“It is only natural… yet saddening.”
“A ray of hope? Nope. None. Louise doesn’t like me. I’m only a familiar. That being said, I’ve only been a dangerous familiar so far. A bad familiar that transforms into a wolf at night. A barrier has already been erected between us.”
Dark clouds started forming. The hope inside Saito’s heart whispered desperately, “But on the way back home on the dragon, she cuddled with me, right?” The despair within Saito’s heart replied coldly, “That was just my imagination. She sent me flying when Kirche pointed it out, didn’t she?”
“… Ah, that’s right. There’s no mistake about it. Louise doesn’t think anything of me.”
Realizing his own feelings for Louise, misery overwhelmed Saito. Saito had a personality where once excited, he would become extremely excited, but when depressed, he would become excessively depressed.
“What are you whispering about?”
Saito had not realized he was whispering. When he turned around, Louise, who had already finished changing, looked into his face dubiously.
After a mere twenty seconds of thought, he had reached his conclusion. Feeling dispirited, Saito replied in a sickly voice, “Sorry. I won’t talk to myself again.”
“Yes, it’s somewhat revolting.”
Louise, looking dubiously at Saito, walked out. “Come on, let’s go for breakfast.”
“Yeah,” Saito followed after her, depressed.
Even in the Alviss Dining Hall, something surprising occurred.
Saito sat down on the floor as always, but his plate of soup was not there. Saito grew impatient. Did I do anything to make Louise angry enough to not feed me? No, I don’t think so.
Last night, after the five of them returned to the academy, they reported to Osman. Osman, who had already heard from Henrietta, thanked and praised them for their efforts.
Then they had returned to their rooms … and quickly fallen asleep. Saito hadn't done anything to anger Louise. With a miserable look on his face, Saito looked up at Louise, who was sitting on a chair.
Louise started blushing and while turning away she said, “From now on, eat at the table.”
“Eh?” Saito looked blankly at Louise. That was very unexpected of Louise.
“Come on, sit down quickly.”
Dumbfounded, he sat next to Louise. Malicorne, who always sat there and had caught a cold, started to protest, “Hey Louise, that’s my seat. What do you mean you’ll let your familiar sit on it?”
Louise glared at Malicorne. “If you don’t have a seat, then just go get a chair.”
“Don’t play around with me! Letting a commoner familiar sit down while I have to go get a chair? That’s just wrong! Hey familiar, piss off, that’s my seat. This is a dining table for nobles!”
The chubby Malicorne tried to look intimidating, but he was trembling slightly. This was the legendary familiar who supposedly defeated Guiche and caught Fouquet. What's more, it seemed they had accomplished some incredible feat while they were away from the academy the past couple of days. Malicorne was covered in cold sweat when he told Saito off.
Saito, feeling extremely down due to the growing wall between Louise and him, reacted to the pestering voice. He stood up and grabbed Malicorne’s collar.
He didn’t use much force, but whispered in a threatening voice, “Hey fatty, what'd you say?”
Terrified, Malicorne dropped his act and shook his head repeatedly, “A-Ah, nothing, I didn’t mean it!”
“I didn’t mean it, sir.”
“Y-yes, I didn’t mean it, sir!”
“Then go get a chair. Let’s eat happily together.”
Malicorne rushed off to get a chair. With an unconcerned look, Louise was waiting for the prayer time before the meal. I wonder what happened. What change of heart is this? Why is she being so nice? Surely there’s a reason. Nope, he thought, The trip to Albion changed Louise.
It must be … after seeing people injured and killed, these warm feelings must have started to blossom within her. This reminded Saito of the story about General Tokugawa Tsunayoshi of the Edo period and his command to be compassionate towards animals. The dog shogun took pity on a stray dog, and punished those who bullied it.
So that’s it.