"Ryo-kun! Ryo-kun~~~"

Alice Nakiri's chipper voice echoed across the corridors of the Nakiri estate.

Staff members had long gotten used to their mistress making a fuss. She was always with her aid or running around looking for him. Either way, there was hardly ever a quiet moment around the house.

"I'm bored, let's go watch a movie in my room!" Alice said as she burst into Ryo's room. Without knocking of course.

"Miss…please knock."

No matter how many times they had this conversation, it was never going to stick.

"Nothing I haven't seen befo-"

Alice trailed off mid-sentence when she saw Ryo in his underwear with a towel around his neck.

It was true she'd seen him topless many times before, but it still caught her by surprise. Ryo was good shape even as a teenager, but he'd really filled out over the last couple of years. He'd also become a little broader and more clean-cut. Since they saw each other every day, sometimes she'd forget how much of a grown-up he had become.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked.

"Hmm?" She felt her pale cheeks turning pink.

"For the movie."

"Oh, remember that new romance film I was talking about? I had a copy of the pre-released Blu-ray sent over."

"Ah... Isn't that movie a little explicit?"

"Yes! Isn't it great?"

"…"

His mistress's taste in romance movies had become somewhat mature as she got older. Ryo wasn't sure how he felt about this, but at least she wasn't falling asleep as much.

"Alright. Give me a second and I'll go set it up," he said as he threw on a black v-neck. The fabric clung to every contour of his sculpted body.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"No!" Alice jumped. "I'll be in my room!"

Ryo shook his head gently as his mistress stormed out as abruptly as she came in.

Later, in Alice's room–––

Alice was sprawled on the couch with a giant tub of caramel corn in her arms.

Ryo was right. Maybe the movie was a little too explicit for the occasion. They were on their second sex scene already and it'd only been ten minutes.

"Ryo-kun~Come sit! You don't have to stand behind me when we're not in public remember?"

How could he forget. She used to scold him for hours whenever he didn't stand in a perfect diagonal exactly two feet behind her.

"There's no room. You're taking up the whole couch."

"Oh sorry!" She giggled and scooted over to clear some space for him.

As soon as he sat down beside her, she started to stiffen.

There was a deep spice scent tickling at her nostrils. Maybe she'd been spending too much time at Hayama's lab, but the smell was making her oddly riled up.

"Ryo-kun, were you cooking something with spices before this? It smells weird in here!"

"No–and I just took a shower remember? It's probably just my aftershave."

"Oh."

"Does it bother you?"

"No, I guess it's not that bad."

The couple in the movie had just gotten into a steamy shower session. The sound of their moaning filled the room. Ryo reached casually into the popcorn bowl against her chest.

When the side of his palm grazed briefly across her chest, she suddenly forgot how to breath.

Alice tried to focus on what was happening on the screen. But for some reason, she couldn't stop thinking about how Ryo was in the shower just minutes before. Something about that fact made what was happening onscreen all the more embarrassing to watch.

"Miss."

"Huh?"

"You ok?"

"Of course!" Alice laughed nervously. "Why wouldn't I be!"

"You're acting like it's a horror movie… You look pale as a sheet."

"That's how my skin always looks!"

"I mean…more than usual.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I've studied all the intricacies of intimacy, you know! This is nothing!"

"Huh."

Even Alice herself didn't believe that lie.

Maybe she was getting a little too old not to have had any sexual experience. Most of her friends had found partners or even gotten married by now. For God's sake, even Erina was probably fucking her brains out as they speak.

"Say…Ryo-kun."

"…"

"Have you ever um… done it?"

"…"

"Never mind-forget it!" Alice snapped.

She almost forgot. Ryo had girlfriend at some point while they were in college. She was a nice girl, maybe even a little too pretty for him, but something about her always rubbed Alice the wrong way. She could never put her finger on it, but she was relieved when they broke up after only a couple weeks.

As close as they were, it was strange thinking about Ryo that way. Dating someone, having sex…She'd never seen him show interest in anything other than cooking and competition.

She peered at him through the corners of her eyes, at his sharp features, long arms, hard body, the slight bulge in his shorts…

She wondered what it'd be like to peel off his v-neck and climb on top of him, feeling the contours of his body press up against hers.

"Miss…"

His voice interrupted her train of thought.

Ryo had been observing her for a while. It wasn't hard to tell something filthy was going on inside her mind. He had to stop her before she started running around with weird ideas in her head.

"You're acting really strange. Maybe you should go to bed for the night."

"Huh? Oh. Now that you mention it, I do feel a little tired," Alice cleared her throat. Let's wrap up for tonight. We have a long day of meetings tomorrow."

"I'll turn down the bed," Ryo said as he turned off the TV.

"You know," she started to change the subject. "Grandpa was telling me something at lunch the other day. He thinks I'm at the age where I should really be looking for a partner or a fiancé."

"Huh."

"I think he might be right. I should get a boyfriend, or else all this beauty and knowledge I have about love is just gonna go to waste!"

"I guess."

"That stuff they do in the movie sure does look like a lot of fun, doesn't it?"

"I don't know. Your bed is ready."

Ryo seemed completely disinterested in her love life. It was only natural that he wouldn't care about these things.

"Thanks," Alice said. "Can you tuck me in now?"

"Sure."

Ryo waited for his mistress to climb in bed and wrapped the comforter tightly over her body, just how she liked it.

"Mmm that feels nice," Alice purred as she rolled to her side. "Say…when I have a husband, I guess you won't be able to follow me around as much."

"I'm not following you around, you keep dragging me everywhere."

"Same thing! What I mean is–it'll probably be different from it just being the two of us."

"I guess so."

"But then I'll finally get to try all those fun stuff from the movie. Like that shower scene?"

"Uh huh."

"It looked quite interesting, didn't it? I wonder how he managed not to drop her the whole time "

"Right."

He knew she would start overthinking things if she started watching movies like that. He never should've agreed to this. Now she'll probably spend the next three days going off about her imaginary husband.

"But maybe we could be like you, me, and Hayama back in high school! Remember? That was so much fun!"

"If you say so."

"We should visit Hayama again soon, it's been such a long time. I bet he's having no fun stuck in a classroom all the time…"

Ryo just stood there as she droned on. There was no point trying to explain how it would never be anything like their high school trio.

"Ryo-kun~" Alice called out from her bed.

"Hmm?"

"I had a great time today. Good night."

She smiled sweetly and closed her eyes to sleep.

"Good night, miss."

Ryo shut the door softly behind him and made his way back to his room.

His mistress's words lingered on his mind.

Ryo had never given much serious thought about Alice getting married or starting a family. When did she become so grown up?

Of course, she was the respected heir to Nakiri International and one of the most sought after molecular gastronomists in the field. But when it was just the two of them today, she still acted such a child…always pestering him with unreasonable requests… pouting whenever something doesn't go her way… showing no regard for personal space…

If Alice really met someone, she'd have someone else to boss around and preoccupy her time. Then there'd be no reason for him to remain at the estate, would there?

But one thing was for sure. Whatever made his mistress happy, that's the way it has to be.

Back inside her room, Alice rolled over and stared at the ceiling. The deep spicy scent from earlier was lingering on her sheets. It was somehow both comforting and invigorating. She pressed her face into her comforter and took a deep inhale.

Alice wondered if she could ever find someone to marry who would know her as well and treat her as nicely as Ryo did. Somehow she couldn't picture it, but maybe she really was just too inexperienced.

Her thoughts drifted naturally to Ryo hovering over her body as he wrapped the comforter around her. She imagined herself pulling him down on top of her, him looking into her eyes with the same intensity he had during their many shokugekis.

Alice slid her hand to cup one of her breasts and kneaded it through her nightgown. She let out a soft whimper. Ruffling against the silk sheets, she slid her other hand down and felt a warm moisture between her legs.

Admittedly, this was not the first time she had done this while thinking about Ryo. It was just because he was closest to her and also happened to be a guy. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Her fantasies never affected their day to day relationship, so she saw no harm in overthinking it.

Alice was always good at not thinking too much about things that made no difference and no sense. She was Alice Nakiri after all. She could do whatever she wanted.

"Ryo-kun…" she purred as she felt herself approaching climax.

Although it wasn't the first time, something was different. Her need for him felt intense, more urgent, as if he'd slip away somehow…

Meanwhile, in his own room, Ryo had just lied down in his own bed when he thought he heard his mistress calling for him. He got up instinctively and was about to go to check on her but then thought better of it.

She's definitely asleep by now. I must be losing my mind…

With that, he lied back down and tried to rest. Whatever the mistress had in mind for tomorrow, he knew it'd be long day ahead.