Maria woke up slowly from the best sleep she had in a while. She could still feel the remains of sleep clinging to her and could not help herself.

She rolled back into the bed and shut her eyes. Her body followed her movement and decided to become heavier than it needed to be.

“Time to wake up. We need to leave this place now” Nao’s voice broke the tranquil sleep Maria had been having and her body shot up in alarm.

Maria felt her body protest against the motion and her lower side ache with a familiar pain and fullness.

“Do we have to? Can I sleep in for five more minutes?” Maria asked even as she struggles to get off of the bed.

Her brain decided to catch up with what had happened in that very bed a night before and Maria went red. Still, she pulled herself off of the bed and stood with a limp.

It was partly due to her recently lost virginity and partly due to the egg-shaped essence still inside of her. It had somehow not dissolved a lot and its cooling presence felt soothing to Maria.

It also made her horny but to an extent, Maria could ignore it on her own. As long as she remained careful in her steps and did not make any sudden moment, it would be as if she had nothing there at all.

‘Think of it as tampons’ Maria chanted inside her mind, knowing fully well that tampons were nothing like this.

“You can go back to sleep for five more minutes but it would leave you with no time to shower and change. Please choose your priorities carefully” Nao replied and Maria sighed in defeat.

She finally picked up the pair of fresh clothes Nao had left for her on her bed and moved toward the door Nao was pointing toward.

Maria did not look at Nao’s face the whole time she did this. She found herself unable to face the other after what had happened.

Did it count as cheating if Maria spend a night with Lady Karin when she spend it with Nao just a few days ago? But that had been a circumstance position as well and nothing major had happened.

Somehow, the situation made Maria’s head hurt so she decided to not think about it for now. She would ignore it till someone else brought it up.

The shower was a godsend and managed to wake Maria up from her mood. The water was a bit cold but nice enough on her dry skin.

Nao had everything already packed when Maria came out of her shower and she hurriedly opened a map and motioned for Maria to come closer toward her.

“Where did Lady Karin go? Is she going to come with is?” Maria asked as she approached Nao and the map. She recognized the map as a general map of Avalon but did not know much about reading it.

Her teacher had ignored Maria when she had asked to learn the art of map reading. Her mother had discouraged her as well and Maria had decided to drop the topic in the end.

“Lady Karin is out and will not be joining us any further. We will be joining Howl and her charge at the outskirts of the city gate tonight. The main problem is to leave the city undetected” Nao summarized their current situation.

Maria felt a sense of loss as her partner detailed out things for her. She had nothing to contribute toward their progress.

“How do we do it? Create a way out of this mess?” Maria asked as she looked at the map. Generally, she left such things up to the system but she felt a little uncertain to ask for help.

However, there seemed to be nothing else Maria could contribute herself so she decided to swallow her pride and uneasiness and ask her system.

‘Analyse the map and route out an exit for us’ Maria pretended to observe the map as she allowed the system to do its work.

She felt the mechanical rolling sound in her head followed by a ‘ding’.

Maria’s vision blurred before it sharpened to an unnatural level. She instantly focused on the map and there it was – their way out.

“Can we use the drainage system to get out? I’m sure there are a few lines that go down from here and here” Maria pointed toward the map with pink denotations.

Her system marked them as the best way to escape and Maria felt her chest heave at the thought of all that foul smell.

But she had to consider it as a possibility. Maybe their only possibility even and that was a thought that haunted Maria.

“That is the sewage system. It is an excellent idea but are you sure Miss Maria? Won’t that be a bit too much? Not to mention, completely inappropriate for someone of your status to be using” Nao complained and Maria wanted to agree with her.

The sewage system was not a place Maria ever thought she would end up using as an escape route but she had no other choice in sight. She had to utilize what she had after all.

“As much as I would rather not use it, it is our safest option. We can easily take out the guards and we will not need any allies to reach the end” Maria bargained with a straight face.

Nao seemed to be considering her words before she nodded in agreement. Maria felt her heart sink as they came to an agreement. She would be going through this but only because this was her only option.

The pair left the place and hid in the shadows all around the city.

The jerky moment was uncomfortable for Maria and moved the essence inside her to inappropriate positions but she somehow managed to keep pace with Nao. She made sure she was not walking funny as they passed populated areas but somehow it felt as if every eye was on Maria the whole time.

The hood felt too short on Maria’s head and she angles herself in such a way that her body hid behind Nao’s mass.

Maria felt relief and dream in equal measures as they reached the sewage area and it was followed by the most uncomfortable crawl of her life. The essence inside Maria’s lowers parts jiggled as she crawled and she had to do her best not to let it affect her.

She was more than turned on and ready to take a shower once she crawled out on the other part. Nao though looked unaffected and Maria felt envious of her luck. She wanted to not have these problems as well.

“Let’s go to the meet-up point. You can take another shower there” Maria felt all her resentment fade away at the thought of a shower. Maybe she could slip in some relief on her part as well.