Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

Irisviel even had the urge to bang her head against the wall and covered her face in embarrassment.

Shirou walked up to her and placed his hand on the back of her hand.

"Ellie."

"Shi, Shirou..."

The silver-haired android looked up and saw the boy's face so close to its eyes, and its heart pounded even faster.

"If this continues, all the relationship we've built up so far will be destroyed."

"Yes, I'm sorry..."

The red-haired boy laughed upon hearing this: "Alice, you don't need to apologize. As I just said, this is a responsibility I should take."

"Shirou...?"

Irisviel's moist red eyes shimmered with a bewitching light.

This was the first time she had a new feeling about Shirou, beyond just thinking "he's so cute".

Irisviel no longer views Shirou through the eyes of a "boy," but rather through the eyes of a "man," and the result is—

Shirou looks so handsome tonight, like a grown-up, real man.

No, it's not "like".

Shirou is a true man, because he's about to make me a woman?

Irisviel quickly drifted off into a state of distraction again, but was soon shaken awake by Shirou.

"Listen to me, Alice."

"Yes...I'm listening, I'm not thinking anything!"

Shirou said, "After tonight, our relationship will completely fall apart."

Irisviel nodded slightly, a hint of melancholy in her voice. "Yes."

"But—it doesn't matter."

"N-It's alright!?"

"Yes, it's okay."

Shirou smiled and said, "Because I finally understand my true thoughts."

Relationships don't matter, as long as I can live with Irisviel from now on, that's enough for me.

Irisviel's eyes widened.

Shirou intertwined his fingers with hers and said softly, "As long as I'm with you, Alice, even if our old relationship can't be maintained, we can definitely build a new one—that's what I believe."

"Shirou...I..."

Tears welled up in Irisviel's eyes.

She wasn't sure whether these were tears of happiness or tears of emotion.

Perhaps these are tears of relief.

Who exactly said that "androids were not born under the blessing of God"?

Irisviel felt that she must be the luckiest woman in the world.

Meeting Shirou was the greatest fortune of her life.

"Wow! Shirou, you've grown up!"

Irisviel threw herself into the boy's arms, clutching his clothes tightly, and cried uncontrollably and sorrowfully.

"Shirou, Shirou, Shirou, Shirou...I...!"

She looks like a newborn baby right now.

Shirou put one arm around her shoulder, and with the other hand did the same thing Irisviel had done to him countless times—

He gently stroked her long, silver hair.

After a long time, probably exhausted, the crying in the room gradually subsided.

Irisviel fell asleep nestled in Shirou's arms.

A flawless, exquisite face, adorned with both a happy smile and tears.

Shirou gently carried her back to bed.

"So, what should we do next..."

Looking at the unsuspecting Irisviel before him, Shirou was in a dilemma.

The moment she falls asleep is the perfect opportunity.

Doing it now can minimize the embarrassment "later".

But...do you really want to do this?

While Irisviel was asleep?

--no.

Shirou no longer wanted to run away.

This kind of thing should be done when both parties are sober.

So, should we put Irisviel to sleep and continue tomorrow?

That’s even worse!

Shirou decisively climbed into bed.

"Alice, wake up, now is not the time to sleep."

He shook his shoulders and called out softly, but received no response.

Shirou sighed helplessly and moved his knees to Irisviel's pillow.

Then, a rustling sound came from inside the room.

"?"

Irisviel frowned slightly: Was that the sound of clothes being taken off?

That's right—Irisviel wasn't actually asleep; she'd been pretending to be asleep since just now.

Because it's just too embarrassing!!

After bursting into tears and calming down, Irisviel felt so humiliated by her previous actions that she couldn't bear to face Shirou.

Shirou is a boy, so I'll leave it to him... Irisviel thought to herself, and began to pretend to be asleep with a clear conscience.

How will I be treated, haha?

I waited and waited, but after Shirou climbed into bed, he didn't move.

They clearly heard the sound of clothes being taken off, but hesitated to make any further moves.

Hurry up, Shirou! How long are you going to make me wait?!

Irisviel was about to peek through a crack to see what Shirou was doing next to her pillow when...

"Stop pretending to be asleep, Alice."

"!"

...We were actually discovered!

Irisviel gritted her teeth and decided to continue pretending to be asleep.

"--Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, Irisviel felt a burning, numbing pain on her cheek.

Huh? I got hit by... Shirou?

She found it unbelievable; even if she wanted to wake me up, she didn't have to slap me in the face, did she?

Irisviel angrily opened her eyes, ready to give the child a good scolding, however—

The view was blocked.

"……what?"

What... what is this?

Irisviel's vision went black, and her mind went blank.

Although she had bathed with Shirou several years ago and even said with a smile, "Being small is also cute"...

Not "cute" at all! "Fierce" is the only word to describe it!

She finally realized: she had seriously underestimated Shirou...

"Oh, so you've finally stopped pretending to be asleep?"

Shirou roughly pulled her hair, completely different from the gentle boy he had been just moments before.

Irisviel was frightened: "Wait! Shirou, spare me..."

"--Snapped!"

The silver-haired android received another crisp slap on its right cheek.

Although it wasn't actually that heavy, Irisviel felt like she was almost knocked unconscious.

After a long while, she finally came to her senses from her dazed state.

"Alice, what are you standing there for?" Shirou urged impatiently.

"I'm sorry, I'll get right back..."

Following her instinct for obedience awakened by the boy, Irisviel slowly parted her lips and extended her tongue.

-------

Volume 4, Chapter 173: After returning, he settled into a slow-paced life of sowing in the Winter City.

I stayed at my family home for almost a month.

Irisviel stated that since she had become the head of the Einzbern family, she should take full responsibility for it.

As a result, she has to deal with a mountain of family affairs every day.

Key issues such as Einzbern's direction of magic research and future interactions with the human magic community require a new strategy.

In addition, a portion of the extensive alchemical techniques possessed by the Einzbern family also needed to be sent to the Magic Association for academic exchange.

Which technologies can be patented and which should be kept... these are all decisions that Irisviel must make.

She had no prior experience in this field, which made it quite difficult for her, but fortunately, Sera seemed to be very good at it.

Irisviel also selected a group of androids suitable for clerical work.

Einzbern's androids were not assigned tasks entirely based on "design function," but rather on "personal interests."

Her experience living in Fuyuki made her realize that this is one of the differences between humans and androids.

In short, Irisviel now works more than fifteen hours a day, spending all the time she spends soaking in the preservation solution working.

After her daytime work ended, Irisviel actually had another job—

Every night, Irisviel would dress up carefully and quietly enter Shirou's room.

Officially, this is a daily routine meeting with Shirou Amamiya, the magic advisor to the Irisviel family.

As for the actual situation...

"Shirou, I'm here~ Sorry to keep you waiting~?"

"Hmph, why are you so late again today?"

Shirou got out of bed and glanced casually at the beautiful woman standing in the doorway.

Irisviel was wearing a pure white evening gown that accentuated her figure, her skin had a faint reddish tinge, and her long silver hair was still damp with dew, clearly indicating that she had just finished taking a bath and rushed to Shirou's side.

With a restrained smile, she said, "Because I'm too busy with work, there are a lot of things to deal with."